HORSE riders across the country will host rides to raise awareness for rider safety and bring down drivers’s speeds.

Pass Wide and Slow is an annual national event which aims to educate drivers on the safest way to pass horses and riders on the road.

This year, 212 groups of riders are set to take the streets in the UK with ride 31 setting off from Eden’s Farmhouse in Great Bentley.

Organiser Jane Hubert, 53, rode through the villages of Great Bentley and Aingers Green with other riders and pedestrians last year and will follow the same route.

In highlighting the importance of the event, Mrs Hubert has called for more horse friendly paths in the Tendring district.

She said: “The main thing that I would like to see is more access to off-road horse friendly paths.

“We ride in the road because we don’t have any off-road riding in Bentley, by drivers passing wide and slow we are reducing the element of risk.”

At this year’s ride in Great Bentley the riders will be covered in their usual hi-vis equipment and will have hat cameras developed by Techalogic in Clacton.

The hats have rear and front cameras and were initially developed for motorcyclists but have since been adapted for horse riders.

Mrs Hubert has lauded this equipment as well as the new highway code.

She added: “I very much support the new laws, if there was a critique I’d say the rules could be more specific to horse riders.

Clacton and Frinton Gazette: Organiser - Jane Hubert has invited anyone to come along to the ride.Organiser - Jane Hubert has invited anyone to come along to the ride.

“However, I will say locally we have noticed a positive difference in driver behaviour since the changes on the Highway Code.

“I did buy a hat cam around the same time so it could be because drivers are being filmed.”

Mrs Hubert has been riding horses for most of her life and belongs to both the Tendring Hundred Riding Club and Colne Valley Riding Club.

She has one horse living at home named Twitter and mainly rides for leisure and wants to create an environment in which riders feel safe to ride.

Mrs Hubert said: “There have been lots of bad experiences mainly publicised by the British Horse Society who publish death stats annually.

“The purpose of this ride is to raise awareness on issues like people driving too fast, not leaving sufficient width when passing riders, blasting their horns and shouting out of car windows.

“All of these can be distressing for a horse which can be disastrous for a rider.”

Pass Wide and Slow will start from Eden’s Farmhouse in Great Bentley 11am on Sunday, September 18.

Mrs Hubert is encouraging any pedestrians, riders or cyclists to join the ride.