Horse rider thrown into ditch backs car campaign

4 hours ago

Alice Cunningham & Zoie O'Brien

BBC News, Suffolk

Alyson Lock has urged drivers to be more considerate towards other road users after a speeding car spooked her horse into a ditch

John Fairhall/BBC Alyson Lock riding her horse Mylo. She wears a black riding helmet with a purple fluorescent jacket and navy coat and black gloves. Mylo is a dark coloured horse with white hair down his face. — Alyson Lock has urged drivers to be more considerate towards other road users after a speeding car spooked her horse into a ditch

A horse rider has urged drivers to be more considerate after her horse fell into a ditch when a car sped past them.

Alyson Lock, from Rumburgh in Suffolk, was riding her Mylo two years ago along a narrow country lane when a speeding car spooked him.

While she said they were lucky to be alive, both were left injured and the driver did not stop to check on them.

Ms Lock was working with animal welfare charity Blue Cross as it launched a new safety code around the issue.

"I've never been in a ditch with a horse on top of me before," Ms Lock explained.

"It could have been a lot worse because the ditch was at least nice and soft, but I think it was the fall... it was probably a 4ft (1.2m) fall into the ditch with 600lb (272.15kg) of horse on top of me.

"Nobody stopped to see if I was alright or help me."

Ms Lock said drivers should look at the rider for any signals when passing a horse

John Fairhall/BBC Ms Lock stands outside a stable. She rests one hand on the underside of Mylo's head as he leans out of the stable door. Ms Lock has grey hair and wears a navy jumper with a pink polo top underneath. — Ms Lock said drivers should look at the rider for any signals when passing a horse

Ms Lock said she had urged the driver to slow down before she was thrown into the ditch causing her to suffer a grade two hamstring pull while Mylo strained his back.

She said she was aware of other riders whose horses had died in similar incidents and felt the issue was not always about drivers coming too close to horses, but rather that they needed to lower their speed, be patient and "read the situation".

"These lanes are very, very narrow and if you have two cars, one car would pull over to allow the other car to pass," she continued.

"But when you're on a horse they still think they can come past you without any problems."

'Be considerate'

Ms Lock said while her incident had shaken her at the time, it had not stopped her from hacking on roads which she often used to access bridleways.

However, she said she would do all she could to now move Mylo off the road when a car approached.

She felt the Blue Cross's new code was "very important" as roads were getting busier.

"We've been here for 30 years and I've not seen traffic like we do now," she added.

"So many people do ride on the roads and horse riding is a massive recreational sport, therefore everybody just needs to look after each other on the roads and be considerate."

Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.

Stories like this