Neigh problem – tail cameras aim to stop drivers horsing around riders
Careless driving and foul-mouthed abuse from motorists are among the potential dangers faced by horse riders using the roads.
But thanks to a South Staffordshire inventor, the riders now have a new weapon in their armoury to catch the offenders.
David Daly came up with the idea for a miniature camera attached to a horse tail sleeve after speaking with equestrian groups.
Only a week after launching the product, priced at £49.95, the 43-year-old has had 50 orders come in from across the country.
Mr Daly, from Swindon, near Wombourne, said: "Horse riders say when they are on the main roads they see motorists not slowing down and not passing them wide enough, causing an obvious danger to them and the horse.
"The problem they have is they don't have the evidence to bring prosecutions against the offending motorists. There were 3,000 reported incidents from riders across the UK last year. The camera records vehicles passing and the recording can be passed on to police with any reported incident," said Mr Daly, who also runs the tea shop at Baggeridge Country Park.
Two years ago, Mr Daly, a former Ounsdale High School pupil, worked at Rolls Royce before taking over the tea shop at Baggeridge 14 years ago. Two years ago he invented a coloured sleeve to attach to leads and and collars for dogs to warn other people about the animal's temperament.
The product is sold by his firm Gizapaw, with 1,500 provided to customers so far. He then found a gap in the market for a similar idea to warn people about horses on the road. A green tail sleeve signalled the horse was a novice, a red one to say it was a kicker and a white one to warn it was a stallion.
The sleeve has been made by Wolverhampton-based LS Manufacturing.
