Carli Butturini with her horse Lenox demonstrates how to manage riding on the side of the road when vehicles are passing.
Carli Butturini with her horse Lenox demonstrates how to manage riding on the side of the road when vehicles are passing.
A Northland horse rider is sick of having ''frightening experiences'' while riding her mount on roads and is urging motorists to show more caution and consideration.
While riding on Maungatapere roads, Carli Butturini has had a couple of frightening experiences with motorists driving recklessly around her and her horse, Lenox.
She said "nothing angers me more" than drivers passing dangerously.
A Whangārei Pony Club Association member, Butturini said horses on the road should "be treated like school buses that are parked on the side of the road" - as though a child is going to run out from it.
Horses and their riders need to be given a wide berth and should not be passed when there is traffic travelling on the other side of the road too, she said.
When drivers are going too fast, she slowly raises her hands up and down to indicate they need to slow down. On a few occasions she has noticed they wave back in a "cheeky" manner but don't slow down.
Carli Butturini with her horse Lenox demonstrates how to manage riding on the side of the road when vehicles are passing.
Although normally only riding on the road for a short length of time, Butturini said she still comes across drivers who are rude to her.
She said she is usually only on the road between two driveways while riding to the farm next door.
Butturini was verbally abused by one person, who put their head out the window and yelled what she assumed was "get off the road."
She said it is legal for horses to be ridden on roads.
Although the law calls for drivers to slow to 70 km/h and give a two-metre berth where possible when passing horses, the Ride for Road Safety campaign called for the speed to be dropped to 20km/h.
