The following letter - in the August 8 edition of the SNJ - was written in response to our article on a 10-year-old girl who was nearly knocked from her horse by a speeding car near Stroud.

Slow down!

I sympathise with the mother of the 10-year-old rider, featured in last week’s SNJ, concerned about a speeding car passing her daughter on the road to Bisley.

This week two particularly fast drivers, car followed by lorry, passed me way too fast when I was out riding, despite my clear signals to them to slow down.

Luckily there were no serious consequences, other than the dented confidence of a young horse.

The British Horse Society suggests drivers should pass horses in either direction at 15mph maximum, give them a wide berth and be prepared to stop.

Horses retain the unpredictable reactions of a prey animal, however well schooled or ridden, and half a ton of equine on your bonnet can be very damaging, or indeed fatal.

Speed, noisy exhausts, splashing of wheels through puddles, bouncy trailers, unusual loads, motorcyclists blipping the throttle, silent cyclists etc can all trigger a flight reaction even in a plodding dobbin.

Drivers please slow down, cyclists please speak when approaching and horseriders please acknowledge their consideration with thanks.

The Toadsmoor valley stream-and lake-side bridleway SW of Bismore Bridge, a much needed alternative to the busy road mentioned in your report, is not closed.

On the contrary the county council has recently made an order confirming its original status of bridleway, after it was incorrectly recorded as footpath.

For some reason there are objectors, which necessitates tax-payers’ money being spent on an expensive future public inquiry.

Is this a good use of depleted resources I ask?

If people don’t wish to meet horses they can stick to footpath-only routes, which make up a massive 80 per cent of the public Rights of Way network.

Jacky German

Stroud