Horse and Stable Safety

• When choosing a yard/grazing or designing stables of your own, consider the safety aspects. How isolated are they? How many people will be there when you are? Are they well-lit? Is there someone living on the premises etc.
• Consider how you will be travelling there and back.
• If it’s by public transport, what is the access like? Do you have far to walk from the bus stop? Is the route well-lit etc?
• Always let someone know where you are and when you expect to be home. If you are not back when expected, they should contact you to check that you are ok.
• Always wear fluorescent clothing when out hacking. This will make you much more visible to other road users.
• Be courteous to other road users. This could avoid confrontational situations. Verbal abuse can be up-setting but if you become a victim of it, try to ignore it and keep going.
• Try to carry a mobile phone with you at all times so that you could call for help in case of accidents.
• When out hacking, regularly check that you can get a signal. If you can’t get a signal, change your route until you are in range and can communicate again.
• Dogs can be a problem to horse riders, if a dog causes problems try to get your horse to stand still and call for the owner to call the dog away. If you try to trot away this could make the situation worse, aggravate the dog and panic your horse!
• If you see a person or vehicle acting suspiciously, make a mental note of descriptions/registration numbers etc. If you are carrying a mobile phone, you can add things like this in the notes area!
• Avoid being on your own at the stables/grazing, whenever possible. If you think no-one else will be there when you plan to go, ask a friend to go with you.
• When out on your own, avoid danger spots like quiet or badly-lit areas.
• Trust your instinct. If something doesn’t feel right, e.g. You feel that you are vulnerable, change what you are doing, where you are etc. Think about what you could do or how you could react if you felt threatened.
• You can use reasonable force in self-defence. You are allowed to protect yourself with something you are carrying anyway, e.g. keys, whip but you are not allowed to carry a weapon.

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD YOU TAKE PERSONAL RISKS TO PREVENT CRIME.

Please feel free to download and print copies of the Horsewatch Leaflet for your use.