Main findings

  • Of the 1,731 people surveyed, 1,401 came from the sport horse sector. A further 42 were involved in the thoroughbred sector, and 288 were involved in both sport horses and thoroughbreds.
  • The highest proportion, 157, came from Kildare. The next highest was Cork, with 146 respondents.
  • A total of 896 (51.76%) of respondents said they held third-party insurance. A further 598 (34.55%) said they did not, and 237 (13.69%) said they didn’t know if they were covered for third-party when using the roads with horses.
  • Just over 93% of those surveyed felt that the Road Safety Authority (RSA) did not highlight road safety sufficiently (for horses) in their road safety campaigns.
  • A total of 1,531 respondents (88.45%) felt the Garda Mounted Unit should be involved in RSA horse road safety promotional campaigns.
  • Just over 88% of those surveyed felt that ‘horses on the road’ should be a stand-alone learning outcome for all levels of training with the RSA motorcycle and driving programmes.
  • Of the 1,731 surveyed, 1,652 (95.44%) said there was a safety issue at present with bringing a horse on the road.
  • A total of 1,471 respondents (84.98%) said they had a bad experience (safety issue) as a result of another road user when having a horse on the road. The majority of those involved a car or jeep (1,057).
  • In relation to those incidents, 185 of those respondents said either they or their horse, or both, were injured.
  • A total of 1,166 (67.36%) respondents said they always wore fluorescent or reflective clothing when on the road with a horse. A further 497 (28.71%) wore them on occasion.