Horse riders

[DRHysted]

Can an experienced horse person answer something I've always wondered about?

I've ridden the New Forest all my life (going back to when you could ride where you liked) & have never spooked a wild pony. So how come they become nervous when there is a rider on their backs?

 

[ColinJ]

But that is in the nature of horses. It is what they are like. Unpredictable.

I had an unproductive conversation last week with a guy who had passed my bike at about 60mph missing me by a few cm last week. (He had pulled into a pub, i followed him to remonstrate.)
"Suppose I had to swerve round a pot-hole," I said. "You shouldn't be on such narrow tyres." was his reply.

It is the same argument. We cannot pick and choose another's choice of road-using equipment. Allow for what is on the road with you, is the only way.

Not all horses are crazy, as other people have pointed out. Police horses do not freak out when people are screaming and throwing things at them!

Ride the non-crazy horses!

In fact, for you and User even daring to suggest that crazy horses are ok, suck up some Osmonds!

 

[ozboz]

My GF has a horse ,( and is a cyclist ), I've rode around the fields with them , no problem , but horses are like us , all very different , hers is an Arab , and very nervous , but she , all 5' of her is a well experienced rider , so she knows how to handle him when he gets spooked , personally, if im confronted with a horse ill stop and let them pass , overtaking , go wide if you can , or where you can , yep , slows it down a bit , but hey ,

 

[Bazzer]

Generally OK, even with 2 stables along the road I live on. You get some riders who are knobbers, but that is the same as the all other road users.
My biggest concern with them is how some are so easily spooked. Several times I have seen horses all over the road where the rider is struggling to maintain control, with no obvious reason what has set the horse off in the first place.

 

[Saluki]

We see loads of horses around here and the riders are all fine, as far as I can tell. When approaching from behind, we call out 'good afternoon passing on your right' or similar. It might be morning or evening. I never ring a bell. My horses didn't like bike bells so I assume other people's horses are not keen either. A verbal notification of being passed is much nicer all around.
If the horse is coming towards me I either slow right down or stop, depending on the body language of the horse. The vast majority of horse riders appreciate this sort of approach and will ask you to hold on a sec if they are having any sort of difficulty.

My horses were not fond of recumbents, when they first started seeing them. We used to see Mike Burrows out and about as he lived up the road. He used to say 'oh they'll soon get used to them'. They did, he was right, but it took all summer and most of the autumn. He always called out and didn't just whizz by without a word.

Unlike a lot of people nowadays, I put a lot of time and effort in schooling my horses into good behaviour, not being afraid of things and generally being safe out of the field. There were always a few odd things that would freak them out, from time to time, such as idiots in cars or on motorbikes getting as close as possible and revving the knackers off their engines. There do seem to be more riders out there who haven't spent enough time working on their horses foibles and think it's then someone elses fault but that does seem to be a general thing everywhere, not just horse riders. I see loads of badly behaved dogs when out, who's owners cannot be faffed to train them.

Did have difficulty last week, passing a horse. We called out, 'passing slowly on your right' but got no acknowledgement so got as far over to the right as possible and passed. Rider had her iPod on and her earbuds in and the horse did become a bit bouncy as we passed. She was all "you could have given me warning". Teenagers eh.

 

[ColinJ]

Most cyclists that I ride with have been very sensible and cautious when passing horses but I remember one idiot doing a high-speed descent past a couple of horses on a narrow road, which understandably terrified them. I caught up further down the hill and told the rider what I thought of what he had done and his response was basically "F*** 'em - they shouldn't be on the road"! Totally selfish, and totally stupid - if half a ton of frightened horse had collided with him then he would have come off far worse than the horse!

 

[John the Monkey]

You must have seen Mr Ed.

Wilbuuur

 

[Twinks]

I gave up cycling and went back to horseriding as I found the bike much more unpredictable than a horse . Only popped in here to see if anyone had responded to my ad for the bike. Always found cyclists very courteous when I have been on the horse, especially mountain bikers who share a lot of the tracks in the Peak District, and never had an issue with horse riders when on the bike but I suppose its about mutual respect really. Just like it ought to be with other vehicles on the road.

 

[Yazzoo]

As a horsey person I'd just like to remind some of you that a horse is still an animal, with it's own mind, however well trained. Most horses can be perfect on roads most of the time but they are a flight animal, and if startled may go into 'flight mode'. I don't think I've had any trouble with horse riders around here, normally shout ahead if approaching from behind, always very slow regardless of direction and other traffic. A lot of horses may be comfortable with cars that they recognise as a regular occurrence but bikes can come out of nowhere, very quietly - not to mention the odd noises different brands of wheels can make when freewheeling!

At the end of the day its prob a tonne of animal that could do whatever it liked if a) it chose to, or b) it felt in danger. Treat with caution, I know I couldn't live with myself if I thought my impatience about a slow pass had caused some kind of accident or injury.

Some horse riders are courteous and polite, in the same way that some cyclists are, some drivers are, some shop keepers are - you get them everywhere - some people are just morons, it's not what they're doing at the time that defines them.

Just because one horse rider didn't thank you for slowing down doesn't mean you should treat the next one any worse than you did the first, gives us all a bad name and there's probably a similar post on a horsey forum now moaning about cyclists who spook horses!

Understanding and respect, no-one is in that much of a hurry.

 

[jonny jeez]

Sometimes idiots ride horses.

If we choose to brand them.all the same then we are no better than people who.argue that all.cyclists are a menace
Sorry. For the extra stops....bloody phone

 

[growingvegetables]

...... Didn't want to ring the bell as I understand they don't like high pitch noises so just sat back until one of the riders clocked me. ....

The rider who explained the "sabre-toothed tiger" bit above said she had trained her horse to recognise bike bells - I'm not sure what she meant by that, and never thought to ask. Sorry, folks!

 

[outlash]

My GF has a horse ,( and is a cyclist )

We need pictures of this horse....

Anyway, I always slow down for horses, just like the car window sticker suggests. Off road is an interesting one, Bridleways are frequently quite narrow round these parts so I tend to stop and let the horse pass, I don't fancy being kicked and landing in one of those thorny hedgerows.

 

[Venod]

No issues with the riders but I wish they would at least sweep the humongous piles of shoot to the side rather than leaving them in the middle of a shared path

What is the law on this ? pick up or pay up is what dog owners are confronted with (quite rightly too) but I don't know about horse dung, surley the right and civilised thing to do is move it including the police horses dung.

 

[PhilDawson8270]

What is the law on this ? pick up or pay up is what dog owners are confronted with (quite rightly too) but I don't know about horse dung, surley the right and civilised thing to do is move it including the police horses dung.

Dog waste is really quite nasty and poses serious health risks to humans. Horse waste on the other hand is pretty much just chewed up grass.

 

[Tim Hall]

We need pictures of this horse....

Anyway, I always slow down for horses, just like the car window sticker suggests. Off road is an interesting one, Bridleways are frequently quite narrow round these parts so I tend to stop and let the horse pass, I don't fancy being kicked and landing in one of those thorny hedgerows.

There's a legal obligation for cyclists to give way to horse riders (and pedestrians) on bridleways anyway.