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Would you like to pay a tribute to David
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us your stories and memories.
And photographs, if you have any.
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Horseytalk.net Special Interview
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There is probably no greater advocate of high visibility
clothing for horses and riders in the country than David
Kerry.
First, because he is a rider himself. Admittedly,
a late starter. He didn’t start riding until his 30s.
But he has had over 25 years experience riding all kinds
of horses, on all kinds of roads, in all weather and traffic
conditions.
Second, because he is a Senior Road Safety Officer
for Cumbria. He knows the importance of road safety. He knows
first-hand what can happen if people do not pay attention
to road safety on the roads.
Third, because he is a British
Horse Society trustee, a BHS Regional Safety
Representative for the North of England, a winner of
the coveted Sefton Award for outstanding services to
BHS safety and, finally, because he has recently been
working with Carole Mewton on revising the 12th edition
of the BHS Riding and Roadcraft Manual.
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Says David, “When you’ve seen horses hit by
vehicles, seen the horrendous injuries sustained in road
traffic collisions and seen the distress to both horse and
rider, you realise how unsafe roads can be and how important
it is to give yourself the best possible chance of survival.
Wearing high-visibility gear gives you that chance.”
David went on to say, “In Cumbria we had one rider,
who was not wearing high-viz, was not seen by a driver and
whose horse then spooked. She ended up in a ditch, the horse
rolled over her, and she went to hospital with a broken jaw.
In her interview with the police she was asked about her
road knowledge and training, and most importantly about what
she and her horse were wearing at the time.
“ In another accident, a few years earlier, I was
asked to help with the aftermath. Two horses were involved.
One was trapped in a ditch and its companion was distressed
and needed calming. I was asked to assist by holding the
companion horse and trying to placate it whilst its friend
was pulled out. It took nearly two hours and the session
ended in the dark. When I got home, my wife asked if I’d
seen the state of my road safety jacket. It was drenched
down one side with blood. When a horse bleeds the amount
it looses is amazing and very upsetting to owners and on-lookers.
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“In both those incidents the owners survived but some
riders are not so lucky. Sometimes it’s the vehicle
occupants who die. When half a ton of horse slides up the
bonnet of a car and enters the passenger compartment there
is little hope of survival for the driver and their front
seat passenger.”
David, who comes from Oxford, originally started his working
life in finance but was involved with motorcycle road safety
training, in a voluntary capacity, at the weekends. On moving
to Surrey, in the 1980s, he decided on a career change and
applied to be District Road Safety Officer for Woking, a
post he held for four years before moving to Cumbria.
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It was a life-style change decision that meant that David
had to take any job he could before a vacancy occurred in
road safety in his new county. He worked for a rural
pub (and says that it helped him have a more balanced view
on the issues around drink driving) and then as Assistant
Riding Instructor for the Calvert Trust (an adventure centre
for disabled persons).
He was still actively involved in equestrian road safety
training and testing during this time. In 1991 he became
Area Road Safety Officer for the north of Cumbria and in
1996 was promoted to his present post of Senior Road Safety
Officer for Cumbria.
David only started riding in 1983, largely because of his
wife, Helen, who as a child began her riding in the Pony
Club.
Says David, “When I first started going out with
Helen she let me have a sit on her horse. I’d
never sat on anything so big and remember her asking if I
was cold – because my legs were shaking.
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About five years later when I was working for Surrey County
Council Road Safety Unit my boss invited me to join him to
help with BHS Riding and Road Safety training. He then announced
that he was organising a demonstration for local trainers
and examiners (in the days before the BHS standardised the
training) and that he needed a guinea-pig rider. That
was when my rider training really became intense.”
He said, “I kept thinking to myself that at
least when you’re on a motorcycle you can decide for
yourself when you’re going to stop or go – a
horse has a brain of its own. Riding on Surrey’s
busy road network certainly highlighted for me the problems
that horse riders experience when they try to share road
space with motorised traffic. When we first moved north
I used to ride out on our rural road network on a daily basis. Twenty-two
years later there are a number of those roads on which my
wife and I would never consider riding – simply because
traffic levels have increased dramatically, as have speeds.”
Not surprisingly, both David and Helen are staunch advocates
of hi-viz. Says David, “Hi-viz is vitally important
for riders, horses and other road users.
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“With insurance companies and judges looking to re-apportion
blame in road collision cases, it is vital that riders wear
high visibility clothing at all times of the year and in
all weather conditions. In any case, you owe it to yourself
and your horse to give yourselves as much protection as possible.
Don’t give drivers a chance to say they didn’t
see you.
When not involved in road safety promotion David and Helen
compete successfully in local shows.
Says David, “You can probably work out our ages – I’m
58 and Helen 54 and we’ve been married 29 years. The
woman deserves a medal. She is a Senior Lecturer at the University
of Cumbria and was presented with a BHS Good Guys Award for
all the times the BHS and I had roped her in to help.
They have two horses, Gentle Breeze, a 23-year-old chestnut
mare and Blitzen, a 14-year-old grey gelding.
They’ve taken part in the Trailblazers national finals
in 2007 and 2008 and last year won ten rosettes in 48 hours.
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David had his first go at the Kelly Marks Perfect Partners Trec
competition in March 2009, gained 3rd place on the day and as
a result his score got him into the top 35% in the Newcomers
section in the UK placings.
Helen always puts Breeze in for the Veteran Horse Society Performance
Achievement Awards and has been placed for the last five years – first
place in 2007 and 2008.
Blitzen, a recent acquisition, has already started to follow
in the hoof marks of Breeze by featuring in the rosette placings.
This year both horses have qualified for Trailblazers.
David and Helen not only believe in high visibility clothing,
they are obviously determined to achieve a high visibility for
their riding skills as well.
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