Just over a week ago, OnTheWight reported about the tragic case of Georgia Hedley-Ward’s horse having to be put to sleep after slipping on the main Yarmouth Road and breaking its shoulder.
It was a particularly horrific experience, because her horse – Archie – fell onto Georgia and she witnessed 30-40 drivers passing by without stopping to offer help.
Insist on particular road surface
Following our report, another horse owner on the Isle of Wight has been in touch.
She told OnTheWight that she “fought hard with Island Roads”, and with the help of her insurance company has been able to secure a change to the road surfaces around her stables.
The stable owner told OnTheWight the roads were eventually treated to a 25mm thick UL-M surface course.
Investigation underway
Following the incident with Georgia Hedley-Ward’s horse, a spokesperson on behalf of Island Roads told OnTheWight,
“We are very sorry to hear of this incident and send our sincere condolences to Georgia Hedley-Ward for her loss.
“During discussions via a forum held in 2014 and including the then MP and representatives of the equine community including the British Horse Society (BHS), we undertook to investigate reported incidents of horses slipping on the highway. We have begun that process in relation to this incident.
“Our initial finding is that the location at which we believe the incident took place was resurfaced in 2014 using materials that meet all British standards and are used extensively on the Island and throughout the UK. The latest data shows the surface condition of this section to be above the required standard set out in 2006.”
OnTheWight has asked whether the road surface that Georgia’s horse slipped on had received a 25mm thick UL-M surface course. At time of publishing we’d not heard back, but will update when we do.
The spokesperson went on to say,
“Since 2013, in excess of 300 kilometres of the network have been resurfaced and all this work meets the British Standards with regards to both quality and safety.
“We will continue to work with the equine community and the BHS to play our part in ensuring the network remains safe for all users and any improvements to the network will be considered.”
Image: dbaron under a CC BY-SA 2.0 license
