Horses and recumbent bikes

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
I ride a recumbent trike and I've worked with horses so I know it from both sides.

From in front:- I'll slow down and get ready to stop as needed. I also talk to the horse in a soft voice as I think it help to reassure them. If theres a driveway and the horse looks very skittish then I may well pull in off the road to increase the gap.

From behind:- I'll shout out to the rider "Funny bike behind, can I come passed". I rider says yes then I overtake on the other side of the road at a steady/sensible pace.
If not then I wait untill the rider either pulls in/turns off or finally says it's safe.

A horse will eventually get used to the bent and get less skittish but it may take a bit of time, like seeing it once/twice a week for a year or so.
 

byegad

Legendary Member
Location
NE England
I don't think it's the flag. I don't use one on the Kettwiesel and see no difference in Dobbin Behaviour between that and the other two trikes, both of which use a flag.

I find passing head to head the best thing is to stop as soon as you see the horse react and chat loudly to the rider. From behind I bellow from a very long way back, asking if I'm OK to pass, then once the rider confirms I pass at the extreme right side of the road. Some horses ignore me, others (Most!) are spooked to some degree, as we all have to share the road I do my best to make things as calm as I can.
 

Ridelegalforfun

New Member
Location
Fleet or London
My Mum keeps horses and it would be the flappy flag, not the geometry, that I'd expect some horses may be unsure of.

Seeing as you've dealt with that risk, could anything else you're wearing make unusual noises to worry equines.

You're clearly not the only "bent" pilot to encounter such reactions and have already been reassured that conversation with the rider is a very welcome and positive reinforcement strategy.

North Shrops/ Cheshire plains are almost Holland in topography, so enjoy the leafy lanes and byways on wheels and the freedom of mobility it allows you!
 

davyboy

Active Member
Location
soham
Hi I was talking to a horse owner yesterday whilst out on my trike.He said its not the flags what upsets the horse but because we are low they cannot work out what we are.Hope this helps.
 
Some claim it is the flags, personally most of the time I think it is simply they have no idea what we are. If you talk to them, they often haven't seen you because we are so low to the ground and don't have anything to associate the voice with. Talking and a flag seems to help 19 times out of 20. The 20th time is just a twitchy horse. Around here and on routes I do regularly, I have been offering the rider the opportunity to introduce the horse to my trike. All riders have so far taken me up on my offer. I also always make sure that the rider bring a twitchy horse passed me, so I am stationary and the horse is moving. It is better that way for the horse and I have only had issues with 1 horse to date and to be frank I think it was the rider that was the problem. The horse had been fine right up until the rider realised I was something different. Ironically the horse concerned I see almost everyday in a field and I can ride within 3 foot of it with a fence between us and it is fine. At the weekend when the rider rides it, there is a problem! Work that one out. Anyhow, I have few issues with horses around here and there are masses of horses where I live. If I don't meet a horse every 5 miles (as an average) something is wrong!
 
OP
OP
andytheflyer
Location
South Cheshire
I've covered about 900 miles on the 'bent since I started this thread, and passed a lot of horses, mostly from behind for some reason.

With one exception (meeting head on) I've not had a problem. The one exception was a particularly skittish horse, and I simply stopped, kept talking and waited until it had danced its way past. As I contemplated the hawthorn hedge on my left elbow.

When coming up behind a horse and rider, I call out "Behind you" and wait for recognition, before slowly overtaking giving as wide a berth as possible. I keep talking all the time so that the horse knows that it's something that should be familiar. I think without exception the riders have expressed their appreciation for the tactic.I explain as I go past that the "strange bike" may spook them so I'll keep talking.

I quickly abandoned the flag idea - I think it may make matters worse as an additional distraction/stimulus.
 
Horses no longer have natural predators since they were domesticated. They have a great fear of snakes and anything that hisses, rustles etc. They have acute hearing. Flags and noisy hubs are the usual stimuli. The sight of the vehicle of any size or shape is not the issue, its the sound of something small that seem to spook them.

Call out loudly in a conversational tone to the rider moment you see them. The horse would have heard you anyway quite a way back and the rider would have sensed the horse acting to a sound and would expect someone to call out. The rider will know the animal and will provide specific instructions. As you pass, talk to the horse as you would do a dog especially if your hubs are loud.

Seasoned riders will not ask you to walk the bike but will ask you to talk to the horse as you ride or they will intentionally keep the conversation going as you pass. Interestingly a large group of riders would not stir them. Anyway keep the chatter going.
 

Sandman-bm

Regular
Location
Brighton
I make a point of dropping my flag and standing up when a rider approaches on a horse or telling the rider I am coming up from behind, the usual response is "thankyou" even if I have to ask what it was in Dutch
regards
John
 

Recycle

Über Member
Location
Caterham
I don't think it's the flag. I don't use one on the Kettwiesel and see no difference in Dobbin Behaviour between that and the other two trikes, both of which use a flag.
.
Depends on each horse, they all react differently. I had an impasse with a horse and rider on a bridal path. The path was fenced in on both sides and the horse was skittish on my approach. After unsuccessfully trying all the usual things the rider suggested I remove the flag. As soon as I did so the horse walked by quite happily.
Strange creatures...
 

byegad

Legendary Member
Location
NE England
Depends on each horse, they all react differently. I had an impasse with a horse and rider on a bridal path. The path was fenced in on both sides and the horse was skittish on my approach. After unsuccessfully trying all the usual things the rider suggested I remove the flag. As soon as I did so the horse walked by quite happily.
Strange creatures...

I suspect the Kett' upsets some that a flagged tadpole doesn't. Over the years I'd say the number of upset horses per trike was about even. I did get one young 'lady'* scream at me that I shouldn't ride 'that thing' on the roads. This as dobbin was prancing and snorting at the Kett'. We'd met at a junction so I'd done a hasty stop as soon as I'd seen her.

My rather dusty reply was along the lines that, while I could control my mount, she appeared to be incompetent! I then offered to ride past her unless she moderated her tone. The tone was suddenly much less strident as I sat and chortled while making helpful suggestions. While I do my level best around horses I do rather expect a bit of give and take.

*I use the term in its broadest sense.
 
The rider will know the animal
Around here there are plenty of stables and riding schools as well as equestrian centres (don't ask me I have no idea what the difference is) and equestrian vets which means riders don't know the horse they are riding. OK, there are also lots of stables as well, but that only adds to the number of horses on the roads and lanes in particular.

Quite often along a certain narrow lane (6 foot wide job with hedges on both sides, the type you can't get out of) I will get from a rider that doesn't know the horse they are riding, it is the first time they have ridden the horse and they will often tell me this. A couple of weeks ago I accidentally saved an experienced rider from an equestrian centre when the horse she was riding for the first time having already been spooked by something else was galloping out of control and came across me and stopped dead in its tracks. It had been galloping uncontrollably towards a busy B road and there were vehicles in both directions. She had run out of options until I arrived on the scene and stopped the horse in its tracks. Her response was an apology and an explanation that not only was it the first time she had ridden the horse, and that it has already been spooked by something she had no idea about, but that it was with her to try to deal with this issue! She was very grateful for me arriving on the scene, and rather glad that the horse had no idea what to do next because she was then able to calm it down.
 
Around here there are plenty of stables and riding schools as well as equestrian centres (don't ask me I have no idea what the difference is) and equestrian vets which means riders don't know the horse they are riding. OK, there are also lots of stables as well, but that only adds to the number of horses on the roads and lanes in particular.

Quite often along a certain narrow lane (6 foot wide job with hedges on both sides, the type you can't get out of) I will get from a rider that doesn't know the horse they are riding, it is the first time they have ridden the horse and they will often tell me this. A couple of weeks ago I accidentally saved an experienced rider from an equestrian centre when the horse she was riding for the first time having already been spooked by something else was galloping out of control and came across me and stopped dead in its tracks. It had been galloping uncontrollably towards a busy B road and there were vehicles in both directions. She had run out of options until I arrived on the scene and stopped the horse in its tracks. Her response was an apology and an explanation that not only was it the first time she had ridden the horse, and that it has already been spooked by something she had no idea about, but that it was with her to try to deal with this issue! She was very grateful for me arriving on the scene, and rather glad that the horse had no idea what to do next because she was then able to calm it down.


Granted there will be riders that will not know. The general rule around stables is that no horses are to be taken out to public pathways and roads until the horse and rider are reasonably conditoned. Thats means, within their own yard. My worry is owner run hobby stables which are now growing.

Good thing you knew what to do. A lot of people would struggle. I am lot more comfortable with farms and large stables where there are professional staff and use of bicycles and the sounds that they make are commonplace within the yards.

Your point about narrow lane and high hedges are spot on. To the horse, they feel trapped.
 
Granted there will be riders that will not know. The general rule around stables is that no horses are to be taken out to public pathways and roads until the horse and rider are reasonably conditoned. Thats means, within their own yard. My worry is owner run hobby stables which are now growing.

Good thing you knew what to do. A lot of people would struggle. I am lot more comfortable with farms and large stables where there are professional staff and use of bicycles and the sounds that they make are commonplace within the yards.

Your point about narrow lane and high hedges are spot on. To the horse, they feel trapped.
I live on a farm with a stables. All horses have to come out and down into the courtyard to get to anything they can be ridden on (other than the school) so am familiar with them, plus my sister had a horse.
Yesterday we stopped going up the middle of a hill to free a sheep that was trapped in a fence. We are both used to it... that and rounding up herds of cows. The number of times they destroy the fences to fields around here is astonishing! but it is fun hand feeding the calves but they don't half consume a lot of milk! :laugh:
 

Twinks

Über Member
Throughout this topic I have been pleasantly surprised at the consideration being given to horse riders. I have owned horses most of my life and can tell you it isn't always so with other road users. If a young horse's first experience of a bike, be it a recumbent or otherwise is good then they usually won't be a problem in the future so your patience and consideration is very valuable to the horserider. I had a Connemara pony who was bombproof with any traffic but was terrified of bikes after a mountain biker coming down the Pennine Bridleway on Mount Famine hit a rock, he fell off and his bike came flying through the air to land at the pony's feet. Very unfortunate and it took a lot to reassure her whenever we saw any bikes after that. Sometimes though there just isn't a reason and as someone else has said sometimes it's the rider. A nervous rider is telling the horse there is something to worry about, then the horse decides the focus of the fear.
I am very disappointed at the response you had @byegad from the lady rider. I expect she was panicking but no excuse. We should all have tolerance and a care for the safety of others, it cuts both ways.
 
I live on a farm with a stables. All horses have to come out and down into the courtyard to get to anything they can be ridden on (other than the school) so am familiar with them, plus my sister had a horse.
Yesterday we stopped going up the middle of a hill to free a sheep that was trapped in a fence. We are both used to it... that and rounding up herds of cows. The number of times they destroy the fences to fields around here is astonishing! but it is fun hand feeding the calves but they don't half consume a lot of milk! :laugh:

You are lucky. A great and a balanced life where I am concerned.
 
Top Bottom