Driving instructor’s ‘disgusting’ rant at young riders caught on camera
A young rider has been left shaken after a driving instructor pulled his car over, got out and shouted at him and his friend as they hacked along a country road.
Wigan-based Callum Mullock, 12, was riding with Megan Lockett, 14, last weekend when an AA driving instructor pulled up his car and started shouting at the pair.
The incident was caught on video as Megan was wearing a hat camera.
First the man can be heard telling the riders that they should be riding in a field. Callum explains that the fields belong to farmers, to which the driving instructor responds: “What gives you the right to ride your horses on the road?”
Callum and Megan explain that by law horses are allowed to ride on the roads.
The driving instructor then complains about horse manure getting stuck in his car’s tyres.
“You don’t expect us to carry a wheelbarrow with us?” asks Megan.
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The man then tells the pair that it is “cruel” to ride a horse before Callum and Megan walk away on their ponies.
Calum’s mother, Amanda Cumberbatch, said she was “disgusted” by the driving instructor’s behaviour.
“He should know better,” she told H&H. “He made a learner stop so he could get out and shout at Callum and Megan, who were just walking along the road.
“Calum was a bit shaken, he wasn’t sure what the man was going to do as [the driving instructor] was angry.”
Thankfully both Callum’s Welsh section C, Picasso, and Megan’s coloured cob, Bruno, remained calm.
The pair shares the use of the hat camera when they hack and also enjoy capturing footage with it when out hunting on their ponies.
Callum and Megan have been rewarded by local police for remaining calm throughout the incident.
“The police has been in contact with Callum and Megan and, as they dealt with it so well, on Thursday (13 April) they are going up to Manchester to meet the mounted police,” added Ms Cumberbatch.
An AA spokesman told H&H it was “disappointed” to see the instructor’s behaviour, which “in no way upholds the views and values of the AA or AA Driving School”.
“Driving school instructors are franchisees and are not directly employed by the AA,” she said.
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“If drivers adhere to these messages then we
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“However, this has been investigated as a matter of utmost importance and appropriate action has been taken.
“We apologise for any upset, particularly to the two children, who dealt with the incident in a mature and commendable manner.
“The roads are there to be shared safely by all and we teach pupils how they should interact with horses as well as other road users.
“Of course we expect our instructors to follow that advice.”
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Rachael joined Horse & Hound in 2014, initially as a digital sub editor then became part of the news team as a writer in 2015. The philosophy graduate studied journalism at the Press Association before working as a local reporter at the Brentwood Gazette. Rachael is now a mum of two and still loves all things equestrian, including hacking, dressage and jumping with her cob Bert. Rachael left the H&H staff to go freelance in June 2019, but still contributes to our magazine and website, as well as our sister magazine Country Life, among others.