Horse and rider put at risk by driver's actions

Rosshaven Last Flight, also known as Playboy, was left shaken and suffering a serious nosebleed after being terrified by a driver speeding past blaring his horn.

Adam Gibson was riding his horse, Rosshaven Last Flight, along Huntly Road at around 3.30pm on Saturday (August 12) when the incident happened.

Posting the details on Facebook and asking people to share, Adam claimed the driver was “doing the guts of 60mph and blaring their horn”.

He posted: “I sincerely hope you are happy with yourself. Not only did you nearly hit both the horse and myself, you scared my horse so badly that he took off down the Huntly Road in gallop for a good half mile as I couldn’t stop him no matter how hard I tried. Not only could both myself and my horse have been seriously hurt, you put other drivers and pedestrians at risk.”

He continued: “Luckily I was eventually able to pull the horse up and had to get off and walk the rest of the way home. The horse has suffered a serve nosebleed due to the fright and I too have been badly shaken up!

“I really don’t get why people can’t have respect for horses on the roads as it’s an absolute disgrace!”

He went on to appeal to motorists to “pass equines slowly and wide”, warning that horses can be “totally unpredictable”.

Speaking to the Banbridge Leader, the 19-year-old added: “I need to use Huntly Road to get to the quieter country lanes, but unfortunately this driver just had no consideration for my safety, my horse’s safety or the safety of other drivers and pedestrians. This could have been a lot worse.

“It was terrifying. It’s a very long time since I have been frightened to get on a horse, but this was very traumatic for me and for the horse.

“Huntly Road has always been quite bad for speeding cars, but never to this extent where someone has deliberately tried to scare a horse.”

Adam confirmed that the horse has been looked over by a vet and is “sound” and now enjoying a few days peace and quiet in the fields.