An ex-police officer and his business partner have launched an ID scheme for horse riders who are injured in riding accidents.

The Eastern Daily Press reports that Andy Keats and Adrian Soskin launched the Ride-Alert product in February – and it has already been recognised internationally after winning the Innovation Award in the safety and security category at the British Equestrian Trade Association International trade fair.

Ex-police officer Mr Keats recognised there was a gap in the market when he met Mr Soskin at a business function. He was running the Keepsafe business from Dereham in Norfolk before setting up Alert ID two years ago.

Ride-Alert provides personal identification products for riders and their horses using either a wristband or saddle tag with a unique code and phone number that provides a direct link to a 24/7 incident response centre.

If a member of the public comes across an injured rider or horse, they can contact the response team, who will contact next of kin and relay any vital medical and allergy information to those treating the injured rider.

Experts in the equine world have welcomed the innovation, including internationally known riders, such as show jumper Tim Stockdale.

Chairman of BETA and Riding for the Disabled Jane Holderness Roddam – and vet and academic Professor Derek Knottenbelt – both agree that the Ride-Alert is an ‘impressive device that fills an obvious gap in rider safety’.

‘It is a credible system with cutting-edge technology and the back-up behind it to make sure it keeps going’, they added.

Mr Keats said:

‘I went to see the Air Ambulance recently because we want to give 10 per cent of our profits to charity – and they told us there were 38 riding accidents a week in the UK that they attended. But that is less than one per cent of all accidents requiring an ambulance, so there must be around 4,000 riding accidents a week.’

He added that he was confident that the Ride-Alert was going to be successful.

‘After I met Adrian at Christmas, we decided to go ahead with the product on 5 January and worked on it for about six weeks.

‘Then I entered it for the awards and we won. I told my team we were going to win it because there is nothing else like this in the riding market, even though we were up against 78 other companies.

‘As an ex-police officer, I know that nine times out of 10 you don't know who the person is who has been injured. Often the person is not able to give the right phone numbers to call –

or even say who they are. They could be whisked off to hospital and as far as their relatives are concerned they have gone out for a ride and disappeared into thin air.

‘People are then left scouring the countryside, while their loved one is at Papworth Hospital or wherever they have been taken. We don't expect every second horse or rider to be lost or found, but it is reassurance in case something did go wrong.’

More information about Ride-Alert is available at www.ride-alert.co.uk.

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