Annual Awareness Rides
Documenting the annual equestrian rides from 2018 to 2024,
PWAS rides and drives are all about people raising awareness to non equestrians in their local hometowns. This way the importance of how to pass horses on the roads is more widespread, all over the UK. All these people are volunteers which shows the lack of awareness and the importance of more support needed.
2023
16th & 17th September over 150 PWAS Awareness Rides took to the roads again throughout England, Scotland, Wales, Northern and Southern Ireland and abroad and achieved major media coverage of the issues Equestrians have on the roads.
2022
over 200 were due to go out nationwide on or around 18th September.
With the unexpected death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II a discussion was held with all the co-ordinators of the ride/drives and the majority felt that they still wanted to proceed with the Pass Wide & Slow Awareness Ride/Drives but to incorporate a tribute to her majesty who had a profound love of horses and to this end all ride/drives held a 2 minute silence at the start and everyone was asked to wear either a black armband or black ribbons on their horses. One ride incorporated in their ride the local memorial where they laid a wreath in honour of her majesty.
Ride/Drives were again supported by local Police Forces, MPs, Mayors, Councillors and a few local celebrities and local heroes either by their attendance or publicly announcing their support.
2022 is even more important with the changes to the Highway Code launched in January and especially with the distinct lack of publicity to non-equestrians regarding how to pass horses safely on the roads.
2021
178 ride/drives went out covering the whole of England, Scotland, Wales, Northern & Southern Ireland.
These ride/drives ranged from individuals going out with 1 or two friends to the largest ride which had over 70 horse riders.
There were 127 sponsors for individual rides and these ranged from individuals who were sponsoring in memory of horses that had been killed on the roads to large companies and we would like to thank everyone of them
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Individual ride/drives were also supported by over 40 police forces which included a Police Crime Commissioner who attended one of the rides, two mounted divisions of the police force who again attended rides (one in the UK and one in Ireland).
One of the rides in Ireland also did a stop at a local Care Home where the residents got to meet the horses and riders and we have wonderful pictures of this.
Over 144 articles appeared in numerous papers, both physical and online. The BBC & ITV regional programs also covered the awareness rides
2020
124 rides planned to go out across the UK to raise awareness, however cancelled due to covid
2018
52 Pass Wide & Slow Awareness Ride/Drives happened throughout the UK on 14th April 2019.
Over 400 riders, 20+ carriage drivers, 4 mounted police officers. Walking, driving and motorbike police officers from various divisions. 30+ cyclists, over 60 walkers some of whom bought their very well behaved dogs along and a few runners attended the different organised ride/drives.
The organised rides were anything from a couple of riders going out to a large group of over 23 riders.
One ride included riders from Gloucestershire Mounted Police and one organiser arranged to take her horses along to a local car boot to give out leaflets.
The majority of rides went off without a hitch with the exception of one car driver who endangered himself, other vehicles and horse riders by overtaking when it was not safe to do so and another car driver was unfortunately spotted using his mobile phone by a mounted police officer.
15 rides went out Nationwide
2019
