A rider “terrorized” by 20 teenagers on mopeds who raced her galloping horse along the road has urged others to be vigilant. Christina Campbell was riding Karen Ludford’s 16hh cob Raffles in Mayles Lane, Funtley, Fareham when she heard engines approaching from behind. Christina said: “It sounded like a lot of motorbikes, which wouldn’t normally wouldn’t faze me – I usually find them very aware of horses and courteous.
Motorbike riders usually slow down or I’ve even known them to stop, but these didn’t sound like they were slowing down. “Then 20 mopeds came round the blind bend extremely fast. I waved my arm to ask them to slow down but they came very close behind Raffles, revving their engines. One decided to overtake; Raffles was distressed and I kept asking them to stop but they shouted abuse at me.”
Christina said the riders, who she believes was aged about 16 or 17, raced beside Raffles as he galloped away. “It was pretty scary but all I could think about at the time was Raffles and making sure he was ok – anything could have happened, he could have slipped on a drain cover on the road,” she said. “I managed to turn into a housing estate and a cyclist who saw what was happening stopped and made sure the mopeds had gone – I don’t know what I would have done if they’d followed me,” Christina said Raffles, who was not injured during the incident, calmed down very quickly.
“I’ve only recently started hacking out Raffles for Karen – he’s not a plod, but he’s very sane. I have my own mare and if I had been riding her it would have been a different story. I’m a confident rider but I hate to think what could have happened if it had been a novice riding, or if the road had been busy,” she said.
