Road safety officers from Bridgend County Borough Council have joined forces with the Llangeinor Pony Club to help more than a hundred young members stay safe when riding horses on local roads.
It follows new rules introduced by the national Pony Club organisation which requires all members to undertake formal road safety training.
Delivered by senior club members with the co-operation of the council’s road safety team, the training allowed the children to participate in practical sessions and provided them with copies of the Highway Code. After completing a formal road safety exam, the children also received high visibility yellow tabards and equine-related road safety books.
Pony Club District Commissioner Marion Elliott said: “We are very grateful to the road safety team. I have been very impressed with the way our young riders have applied themselves to the seriousness of their road safety training. They have been a credit to themselves and a credit to our club.
“The partnership between the Llangeinor Pony Club and Bridgend County Borough Council had been most beneficial and successful. We wanted to provide formal road safety training for all of our members, but with over one hundred young people to train, we knew that this would have been impossible without some sort of public assistance. The road safety team at Bridgend County Borough Council responded immediately to our request for help and kindly met up with us to discuss how they could best be of assistance.”
Council Leader Mel Nott said: “The council is always keen to support innovative road safety programmes and this was the first time we have done anything involving horse riders on such a large scale.
“My congratulations to both the club and the road safety team for providing help and support to more than a hundred of our local young people.”
