The drop date of this edition of Scottish Horse in The Scottish Farmer (March 24) coincides with both our UK National Equestrian Safety Awareness Day – an annual event aimed at highlighting safety while being around, handling, owning and riding equines; and the hours changing.

So, that means, it’s all hands on the reins as we can at last (now the snow has gone) ride before and after work and all weekend and far away!

With the strapline 'Highlighting the importance of thinking, acting and being safe around horses', this super initiative is driven by the Mark David Injured Riders Fund and will focus on education.

That means hat wearing, training for the horse and rider and having a horse that suits your ability, as well doing that internal risk assessment, will all come under the spotlight along with road safety, the proper use of equipment and, dare I say, the need for common sense.

Many equestrian accidents take place while people are simply hacking out or handling horses from the ground, so we all need to pay attention to our responsibilities in leisure riding and daily care so that we don’t become a statistic in the local accident and emergency ward.

Common sense is variously described as: ‘sound judgement derived from experience’, ‘a rational explanation most people could accept’ or ‘a sound practical judgement concerning everyday matters’. The fact is our behaviour as riders needs to be common and sensible.

The BHS recently made a short film with four members of Perth Hunt Pony Club to celebrate 2018 as 'The Year of Young People', one of the aims of which is to create a positive perception of young people at the heart of society. Our film was about the Scottish Outdoor Access Code and showed youngsters from 8-11 as they experienced their Pony Club Countryside Activity badge.

What good citizens the Pony Club creates when you hear them describing all the things they have to do before and after riding – catch, groom, tack up, then plan their route and undertake hazard perception, including considering the weather and time of day all while suitably equipped. We can all do much to be safer and it’s good to learn from the young – what an excellent example of common sense – it's an indicator of a wholesome approach to life in general.

Talking of safety, we have had a great deal of education spin off as part of the days of action surrounding Police Scotland's amazing and popular 'Lose the blinkers' campaign. In conjunction with which we are running several popular ‘Riding with responsibility’ days across Scotland where every time you hear PC Lisa Dunlop, or our lawyers speak – we learn something new.

The latest learning for me is the requirement (under section 170 of the Road Traffic (Scotland) 1988 Act) for a vehicle driver to report any accident concerning a horse, cattle, ass, mule, sheep, pig, goat or dog (poor cats are not included) within 24 hours even if there is no collision and definitely if there is injury. Now that’s interesting and throws new light on our 'Dead Slow' campaign on the responsibilities of car drivers. It is also important that riders report near misses to our horse accident reporting system on line.

Wherever we ride let’s take a leaf out of the Pony Club's book and never become part of the problem.

With all the controversy surrounding dogs in the countryside, we at BHS don’t believe anyone can fulfil this responsibility from the back of a horse. So, unless you ride on your own land only, leave your dog at home – let's be the change we want to see.