Cycling around equines

[LufbraAl]

Quick question; what about a horse without a rider? I assume it's the same process of making sure the horse knows you are there (probably verbally) then passing slowly. I cycle on a path next to some horses that aren't fenced at all and I've always passed them on the cycle path without saying a thing.

If they're free in a field and you're just passing though, I would just slow down gently and be prepared to stop. Horses have a vast viewing angle and have most likely seen you coming. While loose, they're not restrained by tack or harnesses and will just distance themselves from the strange red spinny thing.

However, if you do see them stop moving, the head come up and/or the ears turn backwards, then they're getting nervous and might bolt. Best to dismount and walk past.

 

[StuartG]

Our club procedure is for the leader to give warning, slow, move as far to the right as safely possible, we follow in single file. The last cyclist shouts 'last one' so the horse riders can relax.

We nearly always get a polite thank you.

 

[Bollo]

Quick question; what about a horse without a rider? I assume it's the same process of making sure the horse knows you are there (probably verbally) then passing slowly. I cycle on a path next to some horses that aren't fenced at all and I've always passed them on the cycle path without saying a thing.

If it's a New Forest pony, just cycle on by, they really don't give a fudge. One of the pleasures of a New Forest ride is pedalling past a queue of cars blocked by a pony that's stood in the middle of the road, staring enigmatically into space.

+1 for a verbal interaction and I always ask the rider if the horse is ok before passing. I've heard this advice from nearly every horse rider I've known or met. The voice is important as it's the best way for the horse to realise you're not going to kill it and eat it. I like a bit of Pot-au-feu de cheval, but dobbin doesn't need to know that.

 

[LufbraAl]

If it's a New Forest pony, just cycle on by, they really don't give a fudge.

If only that were true for my one! Ok, fair enough, those wild on the forest are generally far more interested in the green stuff than anything else.

Another +1 for the voice - I can hear most things coming behind me, and tell whether it's a small car or one of those bl**dy double-decker tour buses. Cyclists are ninjas by comparison!

 

[Winnershsaint]

My daughter who has ridden to a fair standard reckons if you see them hacking out on roads then a verbal warning such as 'bike behind' will suffice and if approaching from the front just slow down. Most horses/ponies that are on the roads are capable of coping with most road situations otherwise owners, riding centres etc wouldn't let them out there, particularly in this litiginous and H&S obsessed age like in cycling it's often the riders that are the problem though.

 

[Winnershsaint]

I grew up in the New Forest

Me too, whereabouts? We were right on the edge in Breamore, so know Woodgreen, Godshill and the north-western part of The Forest well.

 

[LufbraAl]

Me too, whereabouts? We were right on the edge in Breamore, so know Woodgreen, Godshill and the north-western part of The Forest well.

Out on the eastern edge in Bartley, so Cadnam, Lyndhurst, Bramshaw area. Most of the time I'm at uni in Loughborough though.

 

[Andy_R]

Thank you to a rider met on the TPT. Ride up behind a horse, wearing bright colours, silently and sneakily ... and horse thinks "sabre-toothed tiger", just off its shoulder.

Predictable.

Anything you can do to disabuse the horse of such an absurd notion - go for it! Slowing, speaking (at whatever length necessary), bell, whatever.

And hang back! A spooked horse ain't no fun!

I was told something similar by a horsey type friend. Horses are about as stupid as you can get. Anything bright, quiet, and fast is a predator and horsey prepares to run like buggery fark - unless the fast, bright, quiet thing talks, at which point it is no longer a predator. Horsey relaxes.

 

[Apollonius]

Definitely no bells. Voice is something the animal will recognize as non-threatening. Horses are big, but edible. Threatened, they want to run away. Chatter away and they know what they are dealing with.

 

[Hip Priest]

My experiences with people on horseback are always 100% positive and friendly. My experiences with people in 4x4s towing horseboxes are often terrible. Are they the same people? I guess they must be, to some extent.

 

[LufbraAl]

My experiences with people on horseback are always 100% positive and friendly. My experiences with people in 4x4s towing horseboxes are often terrible. Are they the same people? I guess they must be, to some extent.

Often they are, but in my experience a fair amount of those transporting horses (especially in shiny modern lorries/boes) is they've spent an hour getting the stupid horse in the box, they're in the middle of a long drive with the love of their life in the back, and are on the way to some stressful competition (or on the way back having lost/fallen off/gone lame). It shouldn't be used as an excuse for bad driving, but it's probably at least a part of the reason why.

 

[Winnershsaint]

Out on the eastern edge in Bartley, so Cadnam, Lyndhurst, Bramshaw area. Most of the time I'm at uni in Loughborough though.

It really is one of my favourite parts of the country and it's well over 40 years since we left. Go across pretty regularly as aged parents are in Blandford.

 

[Hip Priest]

Often they are, but in my experience a fair amount of those transporting horses (especially in shiny modern lorries/boes) is they've spent an hour getting the stupid horse in the box, they're in the middle of a long drive with the love of their life in the back, and are on the way to some stressful competition (or on the way back having lost/fallen off/gone lame). It shouldn't be used as an excuse for bad driving, but it's probably at least a part of the reason why.

My heart bleeds for them as they sound their horn at me before passing with an inch to spare.

 

[LufbraAl]

My heart bleeds for them as they sound their horn at me before passing with an inch to spare.

That may have sounded rather more sympathetic than intended - I'm not a fan of being pushed into roadside hedges either.

 

[Bollo]

I tend to avoid the New Forest in the summer as it all gets a bit overheated. Although I've never had any direct grief from a horse rider or horsebox driver, I have been horribly cut up by one of the cycle-hire vans. Brockenhurst Station. That is all.

A few months ago I went for a ride out with @Mattonsea up around Newbury. Matt farms in the NF. The ride passed a few stables and north of Kingsclere things get very horsey. My interactions with horse riders around mid-Hants are almost always positive, so it was interesting to hear his take on the relationship between bike and horse riders in the NF.