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An Abbots Langley resident has called on drivers to reduce their speed and be more courteous when approaching horses on the road after she was knocked off her horse by a bus. Catherine Belso, 28, of De Havilland Way, was riding her three-year-old horse, Prince, along the Bedmond Road when an Arriva Bus got too close and brushed her leg as it was pulling into a nearby bus stop.

The driver of the bus did not stop to see if Catherine and Prince were ok, but instead put the air brakes on before driving away. The sudden noise of the brakes petrified Prince and caused him to lose his balance, consequently falling over and throwing Catherine into the road. She told My Abbots: “The bus just drove off and nobody stopped to see if we were OK – cars just drove round us and carried on. “It’s really annoying and pure ignorance.” Catherine was pretty quick to get up out of the road but Prince was bleeding and badly shaken from the whole event. With two riding schools close by there are often young children taken out horse-riding, and Catherine would like to see drivers pay more attention when approaching horses and reduce their speed. “People just speed up and give rude signs as they drive past. “Horses were the first form of transport and are part of the English heritage, but some just don’t seem to care. “I would hate to think what might happen to the children riding if cars continue to whiz past like they do.” The Abbots Personal Trainer has been riding horses for 20 years and was taking Prince out for his first ride without other horses. “I’ve been training him for the last year so that he would be ok to ride on the roads. “He’s not like some other horses, he’s confident and is really road aware, standing in gaps to allow cars to drive by when we are on country lanes.” Catherine says that she has taken Prince out since the incident, which happened on Good Friday, but he is now very jumpy and has lost a lot of confidence. Some will argue that horses should not be on the road and should stick to fields, but Catherine says that unless they put more bridleways in place, riders will have no choice but to ride on the road. She also wished to point out that not only are the horses and riders at risk, but so are the drivers. “If a half-a-ton horse falls on the windscreen of a car, the driver and passengers are not going to have much of a chance.” The information has been passed on to the manager of the Hemel Hempstead bus garage who is responsible for the operation of the number six service between Watford and Hemel. This is not the first incident to occur on the Bedmond Road, with the local council doing its best to get speed restrictions put in place after a spate of accidents in the last 12 months. Let’s hope it happens soon.