# Important - for all those that wish to ride off road.



## PeterNatt (19 May 2016)

The Government have drafted a cycling and walking strategy and people can respond by 23 May, 11:45. The British Horse Society has responded, however, it would be extremely useful if there were a lot of responses from individual equestrians. Please do use any part of the below template for your own response, and forward this to other riders if you think they might want to use the text for their own use.

Lets work together to bring riders in the forefront of Government strategies.

Department of Transport

Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy

Response of (name) of (address)

I request that routes being developed for walking and cyclists be made available for equestrian use and that equestrian use is fully included in the strategy and in its title.

I support the Governments ambition to encourage walking and cycling in England, provided that in achieving this, the opportunity is not lost to include horse riding in this worthwhile ambition. The Governments desire to reduce each year the rate of cyclists killed or seriously injured on English roads cannot be argued with, but it seems strange that the Government does not want to achieve the same for equestrians at the same time. Recent government statistics show that many more equestrians (4052 hospital admissions) are injured in vehicle related accidents on the roads compared to cyclists (2820 hospital admissions)_. Removing the on road dangers for walkers and cyclists but expecting horse riders to have to continue to endure those risks, not only to their own lives but the lives of vehicle drivers as well, does not make sense. 

Our Public Rights of Way network caters for walkers, riders and cyclists, thus I request that all new routes being developed should similarly include use by equines.

Dated

Please email your response to walking.cycling@dft.gsi.gov.uk
Before 11.45pm 23 May

https://www.gov.uk//draft-cycling-and-walking-investment-s

Draft cycling and walking investment strategy - Consultations - GOV.UK

Seeking views on the draft cycling and walking investment strategy.

gov.uk_


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## JulesRules (19 May 2016)

Will do it tonight &#9786;


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## Ormsweird (19 May 2016)

Responded and shared.


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## timbobs (19 May 2016)

Done


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## gunnergundog (19 May 2016)

Done - thanks for sharing, otherwise would have been totally unaware.


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## MrsMozart (19 May 2016)

thank you for that Peter. 

Will do and will share.


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## MrsMurs (19 May 2016)

Done


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## Pedantic (19 May 2016)

Done.


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## KautoStar1 (19 May 2016)

Just done.  thanks for bringing it to our attention Peter


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## Greylegs (19 May 2016)

Done and thanks for bringing this to our attention.

I have taken the liberty of amending your copy slightly, as follows. Hope it's OK .... please feel free to copy.

Dear Sirs,

With reference to the above consultation, as a horse rider and owner, I would strongly urge that proposed routes being developed for walking and cyclists be made available for equestrian use and that equestrian use is fully included in the strategy and in its title.

I fully support the Government&#8217;s ambition to encourage walking and cycling in England, provided that in achieving this, the opportunity is not lost to include horse riding in this worthwhile aim. The Government&#8217;s wish to reduce each year the rate of cyclists killed or seriously injured on English roads cannot be argued with. But it seems contradictory that the Government does not want to maximise this opportunity to achieve the same for equestrians at the same time. 

Recent government statistics show that many more equestrians (4052 hospital admissions) are injured in vehicle related accidents on the roads, compared to cyclists (2820 hospital admissions). Removing the on road dangers for walkers and cyclists but requiring horse riders to have to continue to endure those risks simply does not make sense, not only to their own lives but the lives of vehicle drivers as well, and the associated trauma and carnage relating to horses involved in impacts with vehicles.  

Our Public Rights of Way network caters for walkers, riders and cyclists, thus I request that all new routes being developed should similarly include use by equines and their riders.

Thank you for considering my views on this subject.

Sincerely (name)


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## benz (19 May 2016)

Done and sent to all on my email list, thanks for posting.


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## Pebble101 (19 May 2016)

Will do later, can we get this on Facebook?


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## Crackerz (19 May 2016)

Done


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## Mike007 (19 May 2016)

Done


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## oldjumper (19 May 2016)

Pebble101 said:



			Will do later, can we get this on Facebook?
		
Click to expand...

Just found a link to it on BHS Facebook page.


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## JoannaC (19 May 2016)

Done and shared


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## tiga71 (19 May 2016)

Done


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## Makemineacob (19 May 2016)

Done and shared.  Thank you for highlighting this to us.


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## conkers (19 May 2016)

tiga71 said:



			Done
		
Click to expand...

Done.  And shared on Facebook.


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## dixie (19 May 2016)

Done. Thanks for the link and drafted letter.


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## The Fuzzy Furry (19 May 2016)

Done


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## smja (19 May 2016)

Done, thank you.

Greylegs, I pinched your draft and edited a bit, I hope you don't mind!


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## OWLIE185 (19 May 2016)

Just need the other 4 million horse riders to send an E-mail.


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## Nothing Original (19 May 2016)

Done. Thank you for the draft letter


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## SallyBatty (19 May 2016)

Done and shared on FB.


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## TheSylv007 (19 May 2016)

Done


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## Maesfen (19 May 2016)

Please note the original link does not work but this one takes you to it.
https://www.gov.uk/search?q=draft+walking+&+cycling+investment+strategy


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## BentleyBelly (19 May 2016)

Done


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## Cymraes1158 (19 May 2016)

Done

In addition please do not forget the many CARRIAGE DRIVERS that we have, many of whom are disabled and/or no longer able to ride who also have a right to enjoy the wonderful outdoors with the minimum of risk.


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## JenJ (19 May 2016)

PeterNatt said:



			Recent government statistics show that many more equestrians (4052 hospital admissions) are injured in vehicle related accidents on the roads compared to cyclists (2820 hospital admissions)_. _

Click to expand...

_

do you have a link to the data to back this up please? the link in your post didn't work for me. That seems an astounding number. Is it suggesting that there were 4052 admissions as a result of incidents between a horse and car? In what time period? I'd be amazed if twice as many horses were in incidents with cars than cyclists with cars._


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## OrangeAndLemon (19 May 2016)

Done.
Thanks for highlighting this


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## PeterNatt (19 May 2016)

Please can more people respond.


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## Maesfen (19 May 2016)

Lots of people have responded and shared my posts on FB so hopefully it's getting around.


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## Shooting Star (19 May 2016)

Done!


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## JenJ (19 May 2016)

PeterNatt said:



			Please can more people respond.
		
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Please could you answer my question about the data? It does not look correct at all, and if it is wrong, then when people share it they may not be taken seriously if there are incorrect facts in there.


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## Pebble101 (19 May 2016)

I have done it, posted on my FB page and also to a local bridleways group.


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## curio (20 May 2016)

done


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## Nativelover (20 May 2016)

Done


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## Mad_Cow347 (20 May 2016)

Done!


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## ester (20 May 2016)

JenJ said:



			Please could you answer my question about the data? It does not look correct at all, and if it is wrong, then when people share it they may not be taken seriously if there are incorrect facts in there.
		
Click to expand...

this


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## Carrots&Mints (20 May 2016)

Done! lets hope we get our way!


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## Darbs (20 May 2016)

JenJ said:



			Please could you answer my question about the data? It does not look correct at all, and if it is wrong, then when people share it they may not be taken seriously if there are incorrect facts in there.
		
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I agree, the data does look wrong. The most recent complete data is from 2014 (but its doesn't change much year to year)

According to RoSPA, There was one adult horse rider killed and 23 who were seriously injured in vehicle related accidents recorded by the police in Great Britain in 2014. Overall there was a *total of 104 horse rider casualties*.  One child horse rider was seriously injured in a collision with a vehicle.


Cyclist Casualties reported to the Police in 2014.

*Killed*	- Children 6	, Adults 107, Total 113

*Seriously Injured* - Children 273, Adults 3,090, Total 3,401

*Slightly Injured* - Children 1,726, Adults 15,684, Total 17,773

Total Injuries - Children 2005, Adults 18,881, *All injuries total 21,287*

Logically this looks correct, as a large proportion of homes in the UK have a bike and a car, hence there is a much greater chance of them coming together at some point. RoSPA also comments that there are many more cycling accidents that occur on the road where the cyclist attends hospital but it is not reported to the Police. I would suspect that in most cases where a horse rider is injured by on the road the Police are informed.


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## Kaida (20 May 2016)

Hmm. Agree - we need to get the facts straight before sending hundreds of emails or they may be discredited! 

If the facts do not back up the quoted statistics, I would recommend leaving them out as the sentiment still stands.

What are the percentages (are these data available?) in terms of total [cyclists|horse riders]/numbers injured on roads/numbers killed on roads?


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## Kaida (20 May 2016)

Has everyone sending this response read the full strategy? 

Reading through it, it seems to be very focussed around health of the population and largely engineered towards commuting - work, school etc - so I'm going to amend my response to be around the safety aspect that, if horse riders can use these new routes, it will be safer, but also to include details about how riding is beneficial to mental and physical health and should therefore be encouraged etc...

HOWEVER I can see an early objection to be around horse poo on these routes as a part of their strategy is about "better streets" - clean places where walkers and cyclists are the priority. 

I think it's important in all our responses that we can forestall these sorts of objections so that there's a better chance they won't just dismiss our emails and online responses. Any good statisticians out there who can get us some good numbers and info about health benefits of riding????


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## oldjumper (20 May 2016)

http://www.bhs.org.uk/enjoy-riding/health-benefits


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## Pearlsasinger (22 May 2016)

Done with some amendments to the suggested wording


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## Django Pony (22 May 2016)

Done


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