Around 150 riders are taking part in a mounted rally set up by a campaign group to raise awareness of people riding horses on roads.
The Horse Awareness Campaign has been set up by riders in Notts with the rally taking place on Sunday from Wollaton Park to Nottingham Castle.
There have been 13 reported road traffic collisions involving ridden horses in the county over the last six years with eight happening in national speed limit zones.
Five have happened in Rushcliffe with a further five in Newark and Sherwood; two took place in Broxtowe with the remaining incident occurring in Ashfield.
Penny Stocks from the Horse Awareness Campaign said: “As a horse rider myself I’ve had some scary incidents with speeding cars.
“There was one that was so close to my horse that it ripped off one of its stirrups; we were lucky not to have been seriously hurt.
“Incidents like this are why we are campaigning for vehicles to reduce their speed when travelling past horse riders on the road.”
A frightened horse can go from 0-60 much quicker than a car
The campaign has received the backing of Nottinghamshire County Council and Notts Police.
Police and crime commissioner Paddy Tipping said: “It’s important to improve road safety for everyone, be they drivers, cyclists, pedestrians, horses and their riders.
“We all need to be considerate of other road-users and drive appropriately for the local conditions.
“Many motorists may not know that a frightened horse can go from 0-60 much quicker than a car, so I hope this event will encourage drivers to ‘think horse.'”
Nottinghamshire County Council is providing a £540 grant to make reflective armbands available to local riders.
Chair of the County Council’s Community Safety Committee Glynn Gilfoyle said: “It’s all too easy for motorists to take for granted that they are on a clear, open road; particularly on winding rural lanes that are often used by horse riders.
“It’s hoped that the armbands will make horse riders more visible and the awareness event will help send out the message to motorists that they need to be mindful of horse riders.”
