Public Roads as Places of Interspecies Conflict: A Study of Horse-Human Interactions on UK Roads and Impacts on Equine Exercise.
Authors: Pollard Danica, Furtado Tamzin
Journal: Animals : an open access journal from MDPI
Summary
# Editorial Summary With nearly seven out of ten UK equestrians experiencing a near-miss on roads annually and 6.1% sustaining injury-causing incidents, traffic presents a measurable and persistent threat to both horse and rider safety. Pollard and Furtado surveyed 6,390 equestrians to characterise road-use patterns, incident rates, and the psychological and environmental factors influencing decisions to ride on public highways, employing multivariable logistic regression to identify risk associations and qualitative analysis to explore equestrians' risk perceptions. Despite these hazards, 84% of respondents used roads at least weekly—driven partly by limited off-road alternatives—though younger riders experienced disproportionately higher rates of near-misses despite covering greater daily distances. Critical findings revealed that injury risk escalated following a near-miss, correlated with increased road anxiety, and was shaped by perceived traffic behaviour, individual horse temperament, and handler confidence rather than road type alone. For practitioners advising clients on exercise prescription and injury prevention, these findings underscore the value of assessing not only environmental risk factors but also riders' psychological readiness, advocating for targeted safety education alongside investment in off-road infrastructure to reduce the exercise limitations many equestrians face.
Read the full abstract on PubMed
Practical Takeaways
- •Road safety is a significant concern affecting equestrian exercise patterns; handlers should be aware that younger riders face elevated near-miss risk despite more frequent road use, suggesting inexperience or risk-taking behaviour warrants targeted safety education
- •Individual assessment of road hazards—considering road type, traffic patterns, horse temperament, and personal anxiety levels—should guide decisions about road use frequency and route selection to reduce injury risk
- •Development of off-road infrastructure and regionally-targeted road-safety campaigns could reduce handler anxiety and facilitate safer equestrian exercise, particularly in areas with limited alternatives
Key Findings
- •84% of UK equestrians use roads at least weekly, with 67.7% experiencing a near-miss and 6.1% an injury-causing incident in the previous year
- •Younger equestrians were more likely to use roads and cover greater daily distances, but paradoxically experienced higher risk of near-misses
- •Road use varied regionally and was influenced by exercise type, off-road route availability, and individualised risk assessments of road characteristics, other users, horse temperament, and handler anxiety
- •Injury-causing incidents were associated with increased road-use anxiety, ceasing to use roads, proximity of off-road alternatives, prior near-miss experiences, and type of road use