A young rider left traumatised by bad experiences on the road has regained her confidence and found new inspiration after leading a road safety awareness event alongside her grandmother.
Eight-year-old Brooke Pitt only recently started hacking her pony Chance, but found herself “hysterical and in tears” after experiencing a series of unpleasant incidents with motorists passing inconsiderately.
At one point, after a tractor with a trailer “hurtled past without slowing down”, she was so upset her brother had to ride Chance home as she was too scared to get back in the saddle.
Her grandmother, Lynn Mullen wanted to help Brooke and do something positive to promote responsible driving around horses, so she organised an awareness ride with local equestrians.
Thirty riders, walkers and a cyclist attended the event around Culzean Country Park in South Ayrshire, Scotland, with local police in support. The ride was part of the Pass Wide and Slow annual awareness rides taking place across the country in September and October.
“When I spoke to other riders they all had there own stories of things that had happened to them on the roads,” Lynn told Your Horse. “I felt like someone had to do something about this in our area.”
Brooke proudly told her friends at school about the ride, which was only thwarted by some spooky livestock, which she successfully navigated and described as “a bit of llama drama”.
“She was thrilled to take part,” Lynn added. “She thoroughly enjoyed the ride and was so excited to do something to help other children.”
Pass Wide and Slow has launched an emotive film to coincide with this year’s awareness rides. To find out more, click here.
