Video: Never mind the half-naked rider, look out for that horse

Gayle Finnis, 19, from Aylesbury took the brave step to encourage drivers to slow down for horses, riding her horse Athena wearing just her underwear – while photographer friend Fae Loundon took pictures.

But the stunt had a serious message; Gayle herself has suffered near misses in the past, where drivers have acted inconsiderately while she is riding on country roads.

She said: “Well it worked, a lot of drivers did slow down, if only to take a video.

“I wasn’t really nervous because I am a bit wacky, it was a good laugh.

“I’ve had a near miss myself, a car tried to overtake on a bend and another car was coming the other way, with me on the horse in the middle.

“I was lucky because my horses are absolutely amazing in traffic, but if it was a younger horse, or a child was on the back it could have been so much worse, the horse could have bolted.”

Gayle and Fae’s campaign is part of a national push to encourage drivers to be more aware.

The campaign is encouraging riders to use the hashtag #willyouslowdownnow when posting images on social media.

Photographer Fae is now considering turning the images into a poster, to raise money for charity.

Gayle added: “My message to drivers would be please pass wide and slow.

“We will pull over when we can, but horses are living things and do have a mind of their own.”