The Great Southern Carriage Driving Club are hosting the Pass Wide and Slow event in Mt Barker on Sunday to promote the safety and awareness of equestrians on roads.

The club are encouraging all equestrians and horse rides to meet at the Frost Park Equestrian Centre at 10am to help educate road users about how to approach a horse and rider on the road.

The purpose of the event is to send a message and educate motorists to slow down to 20km/h, to pass horses with a 2m clearance and to give the horses and their riders right of way.

Riders will start from the equestrian centre in Mt Barker and then proceed along McDonald Avenue, Lowood Rd, Mondurup St, Menston St, Langton Rd, Marmion St, McDonald Ave returning to Frost Park.

All riders and drivers will be required to wear hi-vis vests and helmets on the day.

The Albany Natural Trail Riders are also hosting the same event in the City of Albany on Saturday.

The Pass Wide and Slow initiative is an international Equestrian Road Safety Awareness Campaign and is sponsored by the WA Horse Council and the WA Road Safety Commission.

There are 12 of these safety events planned for WA, with others planned in the UK, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, France, USA and Spain.

Great Southern Carriage Driving Club Inc president Merryn Bojcun said that the Great Southern have large amounts of horses, so it is an important initiative to educate the public on.

“It’s really a road safety initiative for equestrians on the roads,” she said.

“It’s an awareness thing to remind the public that horses can be well by nature but they can also be unpredictable and it doesn’t matter how trained they may be.

“We all know equestrian sports are high risk activities but nevertheless, I think we need to take every opportunity that we can to raise awareness.”

Ms Bojcun said she hopes if all goes well they can host the event again next year.

“It’s not our intention to cause any disruption to Sunday morning traffic and the event has been support by the shire and local police which is great,” she said.

“I hope that we will be able to do it again next year.”

Participating in the event is free and entry forms are available from local stock feed stores and at the Mt Barker Veterinary Hospital, or you can call Merryn on 0439 561 226.