When are the drivers who choose to use the lanes in the villages around Brighton and Hove going to develop some common sense when it comes to approaching and passing horses they encounter?

As a horse owner and rider, I am confronted continually by inconsiderate, ignorant, reckless and dangerous drivers.

I have experienced drivers deliberately speed up and swerve toward my horse because I have asked them to decrease their speed on the lanes they use as short cuts.

I have been verbally abused and threatened for no other reason than I was riding my horse.

I have had my stirrup struck by the side of a car that was attempting to squeeze past as another car was approaching on a very narrow lane. Luckily, my horse wasn't hit.

These are just a few examples but these sorts of incidents happen on a daily basis.

Horses are by nature unpredictable, flighty animals whose instinct is to flee from any perceived danger.

This may be something as small as a crisp bag in a hedge. The horse may well shy away, unable to reason there is a car approaching at 50mph (although being humans, drivers are able to reason) and leap straight into its path.

A speeding car may well provoke a similar response.

Take care around horses. Give them as wide a berth as possible and, above all, drive slowly. Is it worth killing someone or their horse in an attempt to knock three minutes off your journey time?

Please, before someone is killed, show a little tolerance and a couple of minutes' patience when driving along the lanes - a horse may be around the next corner.

-Name and address supplied