Conspicuity Equipment and Its Contribution to the Welfare of Horse and Rider Combinations Using the Road System in the United Kingdom.

Limited research exists regarding proximity of vehicles to "vulnerable road users" and effects of "conspicuity equipment". Previous studies stated over 60% of horse/rider combinations experience near-miss traffic collisions in any one year, whereas use of fluorescent/reflective (FR) equipment did not decrease occurrences. Similarly, research into vehicle proximity to bicycles reported no significance in cyclists wearing FR. This study undertook a similar field experiment using a horse/rider combination wearing different conspicuity equipment to test proximity distance. Two horses with similar height, age, base coat color, and temperament were ridden using four conspicuity measures 60 times each (n = 240) along a straight 0.8 km lane. Measures were chosen by random crossover with two selected for each separate trip. These were an FR "tabard", a novel black/white pattern (BW), flashing lights on a helmet (L), and control of mid-blue (C). A novel proximity meter was used on the saddle pommel and distance/approach either front or rear were logged into a voice recorder. Analysis reported a significant difference between all measures and proximities observed (P = .000). Mann-Whitney tests concluded significant differences in proximity in C versus L and BW (P = .000; P = .000), respectively. FR versus C showed no significant difference in proximity (P = .005). L versus BW reported no significant difference in proximity (W = 3640.0, P = .958). Results may suggest wearing conspicuity equipment of L or BW outperforms both C and FR. Further study is recommended to test these findings, and it is pertinent to still consider suggesting the use of FR equipment due to previous positive findings with other road users.