The owner of a pony who fell on the road after she was spooked by a car which did not slow down said more drivers need to be educated about horses.
Georgia Hoskins, 19, was five minutes from her livery yard with her 16-year-old part-bred Welsh section D mare Chelsea when a car came “speeding“ towards them in Chelsfield, Kent, on 14 November.
“The car came straight towards us and didn’t slow down,” Georgia told H&H.
“Chelsea jumped to the side where there are trees and an embankment. She fell on her side and my leg was stuck underneath her.”
Georgia said the driver did not stop.
“Chelsea scrambled back up and I managed to get off. It was terrifying but luckily she wasn’t injured; I checked her over and led her back to the yard,” she said. “We were very lucky, Chelsea is so good but if I had been on a different horse it could have been different.
“I don’t know if the driver saw us fall or not, if they did they kept going. I was wearing a high-vis bib and Chelsea had a high-vis exercise sheet on.”
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Georgia said she suffered some aches and pains but that she and Chelsea were uninjured.
“I took Chelsea on the road a week later and we had another incident with a car where the driver beeped its horn at us,” she said.
“People need to slow down for riders. Some drivers seem angry that horses are on the road and it makes it dangerous for us.”
“Many drivers are uneducated about horses and what can happen – they need to be more aware. It only takes 10 seconds out of someone’s day to slow down.”
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Since joining H&H in 2018, Becky has covered a broad range of equestrian news including welfare matters, veterinary studies, FEI Tribunal hearings and road safety campaigns. She has also interviewed top riders including Scott Brash, John Whitaker and Ian Stark, to name just a few. Becky’s reporting has taken her to Canada for Spruce Meadows and France for Pau five-star, as well as the Royal Highland and Blair Castle International Horse Trials closer to home. She was also a key part of the remote reporting team for the Tokyo Olympics and the Europeans.
