Footage filmed which has gone viral shows a driver getting aggressive at a horse and its rider before driving into the pair.
Natalie McGoldrick was walking with her horse Johnnie on a single track country lane when she heard a car approaching behind her beeping its horn.
Left with nowhere to pull in, Natalie, who is also a vet, continued walking attempting to ignore the car behind her despite the driver revving her engine and beeping the horn.
As the aggression continued, Natalie decided to capture it on camera. You can watch that footage here:
Then forced to stop filming as Johnnie became upset, Natalie described what happened next on her Facebook page:
As she got even closer I had to stop filming. She then held her hand down on her horn for at least a minute whilst I was walking towards the lay by.
Johnnie got upset at that point so I jumped off him to put myself between him and the car and she drove at me and hit my legs twice!!! And then drove into the back of Johnnie’s legs as I tried to walk him away.
She then got out of her car, pushed me backwards, and started patting Johnnie?! Saying she had had horses all of her life, and he deserved a pat for what I (me!) had just put him through?!?!
Natalie also confirmed the slightly inaudible shouting you can hear in the video is the driver saying ‘you’re the reason riders get knocked off their horses on the road!’.
While Natalie can understand the driver getting angry if she had held her up for a few minutes, the woman started beeping as soon as she approached which could terrify the horse.
Speaking to UNILAD, Natalie explained she was lucky that day to be riding Johnnie:
Horses are flight animals so any sudden noise is likely to scare them. A car horn is something a horse would never likely hear as most drivers are considerate.
I was lucky I was riding Johnnie who is a top event horse – he’s used to lots of loud noises and being at big competitions.
He trusts me 100 per cent and stayed relatively calm but I have two other horses who would have bolted hearing a car horn and could have caused serious injury or death to the rider.
Natalie confirmed Johnnie is fine and police are currently investigating the incident.
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