So on this episode, we're delighted to welcome Alan Hiscox, who's the Director of Safety for the British Horse Society. Welcome Alan.

Hello, and thanks very much for the invitation for this podcast.

And thank you for coming on. So Alan, my first question is, because a lot of people will not know what the British Horse Society is. What actually is it? What do you do?

Okay, that's a, that's a very good question to start on. We are the, um, the largest EQU charity in the uk and, we cover four main areas, uh, the education, which is teaching people how to ride and how to look after, horses and, and, um, anything to do with that. So we have some, some stages there that people can, can take assessments. Then we have the welfare department that really looks after, the welfare of horses out and about in the UK. You know, especially perhaps if people see a horse in a field that's, undernourished, they can, they can let us know. Then there's the access department that looks after all the safe off road access for bridleways and getting horses, actually, which is very important, off the roads. And then there's the safety, team, which is, uh, I head up. We're a small but perfectly formed team of three to cover the whole of the UK. And, we are the one stop shop for anything and everything that may cause a carriage driver or horse rider, you know, an issue with safety. So it could be low flying aircraft, drones, slippery road surfaces. Dogs, you know, it's that great one, it's okay, my dog is okay with the horses, but my horse might not be okay with dogs, so we work with, uh, Dogs Trust, RSPCA and Kennel Club. Uh, fireworks, you know, far too many injuries are caused with fireworks being let off around horses. but I would say our main thrust, and 95 percent of our work, is all about, safety of horses and, uh, riders and carriage drivers and horses on the roads. And that's what we're really focused on with the, with the safety team. So, in a nutshell, that's the British Horse Society, and that is the safety team.

Obviously, I deal with, where we live, we're fairly close to the country. And we, I won't say we see them often, horses on the road, but we do come across them. but if you're living in somewhere like London, people that then move out to the country, I was shocked to see horses on the road and they think, well, I thought that was only part of the theory test that has a perception and they and they were going, what happens now? How do I deal with this? So the question I'm going to put it to you is what would you like to see? Drivers do when they meet a horse on the road.

Okay, well, it's actually, there's four simple messages that we try and, uh, ask drivers to, to adhere to. And in fact, they're in the highway code now, which is great. You know, we were part of the highway code review, um, over two years ago, and we asked for our message to be put in there. So. It's, it's, if I see a horse on the road, and actually, that first sentence is quite telling, because not just a ridden horse, it could be a carriage horse, it even could be a horse that is in Dartmoor or the New Forest or Exmoor. So it's, it's, if I see a horse on the roads, then I will slow down to a maximum of 10 miles an hour. I will not sound my horn or rev my engine and when safe to do so, I'll pass the horse, wide and slow, at least two meters distance and then drive slowly away. And each of those messages really are, they're important on their own, but together they will make a safe pass of the horse. So yeah, it's it is, I suppose, quite simple messaging. And it is, in fact, a behavioral change technique. and the reason the way I was, I was there. I'm not an academic, by the way, in case you haven't gathered that. I went to a road safety conference, and a road safety professional came up and said, Do you know you've got a, um, a behavioral change technique there? And I said, No, no, I didn't. And he said, Well, yes, you have. It's the, if I see a horse on the road, then I will. And then the full messages. So, as that was part of the, what the Department of Transport wanted to get into the Highway Code, they wanted it to be behavioral change. Then our messaging really sort of fitted in there. So. Um, yeah, four simple, phrases, that will make up for a slow pass. That's a safe pass as well as a slow pass. Yeah,