So where will you be on April 7, 8 and 9?

Hopefully spending some, or all of it, at our national convention at Morris Equestrian Centre in the company of such industry greats as Yogi Breisner, Dicky Waygood, Ros Canter, Andrew Bennie and Lucy Katan. And, of course, our own Police Scotland Mounted Branch and Susan Maxwell from Scottish Fire and Rescue will be there too.

With a ‘Horses Inside Out’ demo, the support of Dengie and others, plus safety advice to hand, these days could not only save your life but will enhance your horse ownership. BHS Scotland would like as big a turn out as possible, so book on: https://www.bhs.org.uk/enjoy-riding/events-and-competitions/national-convention-2019

It’s been busy for BHS Scotland lately with a trip to see our Western Isles committee on the Isle of Lewis where, along with our lawyers, BHS presented a ‘Riding with responsibility’ event to a good turnout. There are nearly 200 horses and ponies in and around Stornoway, so ensuring they have their access rights to off road riding and are given respect on the roads is important.

In respect of road safety, BHS held a road safety briefing at the Scottish Parliament recently to promote our 'Dead Slow' campaign. We had a grand turn out of interested MSPs and other partners keen to spread the message:

If I see a horse on the road then I will …

Slow down to a maximum of 15mph

Be patient – do not sound the horn or rev the engine

Pass the horse wide and slow, (if safe to do so) at least a car’s width if possible

Drive slowly away

It is badly needed. BHS launched its road incident stats last week too and there were 845 equine incidents and 87 horse deaths on the roads in a single year. This is a horrific number given we think only one in 10 road incidents are reported to us.

In Scotland, our reported incidents have gone from 25 in a year to 40 – so education for car drivers and horse riders has never been more important.

Finally the Scottish Government is consulting on the use and regulation of fireworks in Scotland and the community safety department has undertaken an ambitious road trip to garner views on this.

UK accident stats:

• 272 incidents reported

• 20 horse fatalities

• 98 horses injured

Scotland

• 23 incidents reported

• 1 horse fatality

• 10 horses injured

The BHS is responding from a position of knowledge voicing our concerns over the noisy, disruptive and unpredictable nature of ad hoc local fire work displays.

Our bottom line is that fireworks should be regulated and operated under licence at pre-announced organised displays.