Make your bike more Horse Friendly....fit a bell

[Saluki]

If it is likely to behave like that, have you considered that it might not be a good idea to ride that horse on the roads?

He is fine with artics, busses, tractors with or without trailers, vans, cars, kids on rollerskates, sweet wrappers, dogs, pheasants leaping out of the undergrowth, he is not keen on bikes, or bell noises its a funny pitch for horses. Most comp horses are a bit jumpy, not much fun competing on a plodder. My ex boss would point out that horses were on the roads first. Like bikes and pedestrians, they have a right to be on the road.
He is one of my comp horses and I have to get from field A to field B and until they invent teleportation I don't have much choice.

Is it just too much to ask for a cyclist to call out a 'hello'. I always do when passing horses.

 

[the_mikey]

Noisy freewheel does the trick for me, also I slow down and ask the rider "is it safe to pass?"

 

[MontyVeda]

IMO, the bell is one of the best bits of kit I've purchased... more for peds on the shared use paths than for horses as i don't see many of those. Why people feel a bell is impersonal i really don't know... ding ding is just as friendly, if not more so, than shouting 'HELLO I'M A CYCLIST!" from 20 feet away.

I don't know horses, but surely if they get startled by a bell, or a cyclist who says nothing... how do they react to the noise of a car or truck?

edit... question probably answered above

 

[400bhp]

Bell = No

 

[Saluki]

Horses can hear the engine noise fairly well and it gradually gets louder. Bikes are nice and quiet and the horse thinks that something is sneaking up on them from behind. All my lot are quite happy when a bike approaches them from the front as they can see something.

Horses are animals that other animals eat and will sneak up on them quietly and then pounce and kill. I realise that Norfolk doesn't have much in the way of lions and tigers and bears (oh my) but that fear is hardwired in to a horse.

 

[the_mikey]

IMO, the bell is one of the best bits of kit I've purchased... more for peds on the shared use paths than for horses as i don't see many of those. Why people feel a bell is impersonal i really don't know... ding ding is just as friendly, if not more so, than shouting 'HELLO I'M A CYCLIST!" from 20 feet away.

Bells just seem to antagonise people around here or stir up indignation. I find it's much easier to just slow down and politely say "just passing on your left", and then "thank you" when I've safely passed them.

 

[MontyVeda]

maybe it's a northern thing... people don't have a problem with me slowing down, ringing my bell and saying thank you as i pass

 

[buggi]

personally i prefer to use my voice. wouldn't a bell startle a horse, hardly the sort of noise it's used to??

 

[Profpointy]

He is fine with artics, busses, tractors with or without trailers, vans, cars, kids on rollerskates, sweet wrappers, dogs, pheasants leaping out of the undergrowth, he is not keen on bikes, or bell noises its a funny pitch for horses. Most comp horses are a bit jumpy, not much fun competing on a plodder. My ex boss would point out that horses were on the roads first. Like bikes and pedestrians, they have a right to be on the road.
He is one of my comp horses and I have to get from field A to field B and until they invent teleportation I don't have much choice.

Is it just too much to ask for a cyclist to call out a 'hello'. I always do when passing horses.

Horses shouldn't be on the road, they don't even pay road tax ,
..er ,,,oh, hang on...

 

[Cuchilo]

I wouldn't ding a bell behind a horse and was the first thing I removed from my bike after dinging two police bikes for taking up the whole road
I would give a very wide berth at a very slow pace past them rather than shouting out or spooking them in any way .

 

[ufkacbln]

Horses shouldn't be on the road, they don't even pay road tax ,
..er ,,,oh, hang on...

.... Horses do have emissions though

 

[Globalti]

Bells are a good non-threatening way of warning horse riders and pedestrians but older folk sometimes don't hear them so I've given up on bells and find that just a vocal "bike behind" warning is effective.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

I'm no horse psychologist, but if you use your voice and preferably get the rider to exchange a couple of words ( e.g. ''Ok to come past?''), the horse has a chance of knowing that you're there but not a threat. To me, it seems preferable to using a bell.

Meanwhile, how to make your friend more bike horsey:

 

[y2blade]

Horses can hear the engine noise fairly well and it gradually gets louder. Bikes are nice and quiet and the horse thinks that something is sneaking up on them from behind. All my lot are quite happy when a bike approaches them from the front as they can see something.

Horses are animals that other animals eat and will sneak up on them quietly and then pounce and kill. I realise that Norfolk doesn't have much in the way of lions and tigers and bears (oh my) but that fear is hardwired in to a horse.

EXACTLY.

 

[y2blade]

He is fine with artics, busses, tractors with or without trailers, vans, cars, kids on rollerskates, sweet wrappers, dogs, pheasants leaping out of the undergrowth, he is not keen on bikes, or bell noises its a funny pitch for horses. Most comp horses are a bit jumpy, not much fun competing on a plodder. My ex boss would point out that horses were on the roads first. Like bikes and pedestrians, they have a right to be on the road.
He is one of my comp horses and I have to get from field A to field B and until they invent teleportation I don't have much choice.

Is it just too much to ask for a cyclist to call out a 'hello'. I always do when passing horses.

Hang on..he's ok scary Sweet wrappers blowing about in the wind....I thought you said he was an Ex-Race horse?