Nice horsey...

[GrumpyGregry]

So there I was pootling along this country lane at a nice gentle 25kph thinking about stopping for a pint and a bite. I see some fresh arse fruit lying in the road and think 'gee gee', around the bend I go, sure enough there is a horse and rider ambling along on the middle of the singletrack lane.

"May I pass please rider?" I call. No response. I slow and keep my distance, "Hello cyclist behind you may I pass please?" The horse starts a bit but no response from the rider. I start talking loudly "There's good boy, nice horse, good horse" as I close on him (though he's not entirely a he - if you catch my drift). The horse does what any horse would do and shies slowly away off to the left, just as I'd hoped he would, and I call loudly "on your right" and as I pass the reason for the lack of response from the rider becomes clear.

Little white wires from her iPod going into her ears, reins in right hand, texting on mobile furiously with her left. Seriously. Must be one placid dobbin. Hope it stays fine for her.

 

[Aperitif]

That's all foal Greg - you should have hoofed it to the local stables - perhaps write to the mare?

 

[Arch]

blimey,that's confidence, or stupidity.

I found myself behind a couple of riders the other week, on my recumbent - even more of an issue than a standard upright. They saw me and moved up to a trot, so I ambled behind them, happy enough. When they could pull over and turn the horses to face me (gives a horse more confidence than seeing something out of the corner of their eye), they did. One dismounted to hold hers, the other I noticed was on the phone...

I think your rider was a bit over confident. I'm happy to have my MP3 player in on a country ride (on the bike, not a horse), but I can always hear over the top of it. Riding one handed and texting at the same time is lunatic!

 

[longers]

Sounds daft to me. I used to pass a bombproof old war horse on my way to work, he had one eye and wasn't fazed by much at all according to the girls that rode him.

In the book "Don't lets go to the dogs tonight" the author talks of training her horse to be confident around gunfire in case it all kicks off. It was fine around gunfire after the training but still scared of everything else.

 

[Arch]

Sounds daft to me. I used to pass a bombproof old war horse on my way to work, he had one eye and wasn't fazed by much at all according to the girls that rode him.

In the book "Don't lets go to the dogs tonight" the author talks of training her horse to be confident around gunfire in case it all kicks off. It was fine around gunfire after the training but still scared of everything else.

Doesn't surprise me. I was told by a friend who trained as a vet that a horse has around the IQ of a human 3 year old. Old enough to have some self awareness and desires, and the will to do as they wish, not old enough to have outgrown irrational fears. I was on one once, got spooked by a saddle hanging over a rail. But then when I was little, I was terrified of our living room curtains, because part of the design looked like a pair of eyes. Mum had to draw it out, step by step, to explain it to me.

Anyone else remember a film, back in the 70's, about Cicero, the drumhorse of one of the military bands. He'd been rescued from an Irish tinker, and was fine until his first dress rehearsal when the drummer used brand new sticks with fresh white ends. He's been fine with the old dirty ones, but the fresh new ones freaked him out. They reckoned (but I dunno how they knew, maybe it was made up) that he'd been spooked by some flapping white laundry as a young horse.

 

[rich p]

You were wasting your breath, Greg, shouting yourself horse
There's no foal like an old foal though

 

[661-Pete]

Some horses will spook at a bike. Some won't. Some will spook at the most unexpected things: I remember having it explained to me by a competent rider, after she had skilfully calmed down her twitchy mount, that it wasn't my bike that had scared it, but a bale of straw wrapped in black polythene in a neighbouring field. Apparently the horse was more afraid of black polythene than anything else.

You never can tell - but the rider will know if they are acquainted with the animal. That's why I think the rider should be as attentive as a cyclist or a motorist. No mobile phones. No texting!

 

[lukesdad]

I ride both bike and horse They re a litle more intellegent than Arch suggests not so much irrational fears as past experience. Obviously its a question of training and confidence as with a lot of leisure activities.

One of mine hates black and white cows the other wont walk through a puddle without a little persuassion

Horses have very keen hearing and will hear the displacement of air created by a cyclist from a greater distance than most people would think. This is totally alien to them as any other vehcile would have associated engine noise, but once seen by the horse it becomes a familar sight.

The warning I would give and expect would simply be "Im behind you" called at about 20 metres.

I dont carry even a mobile with me when I ride My wife doe s in case of emergency

 

[Baggy]

I ride both bike and horse They re a litle more intellegent than Arch suggests not so much irrational fears as past experience. Obviously its a question of training and confidence as with a lot of leisure activities.

One of mine hates black and white cows the other wont walk through a puddle without a little persuassion

My last horse had a deep fear of...daffodils

As well as past experience they are also hard-wired to to run away from predators - silent things moving up behind them at speed probably triggers off the brain message that they're about to get eaten.

As others have said though, some don't seem to spook at anything, but there's always the chance they might. If I was still 14 years old I might risk sending a text if I knew my neddy was steady, but earphones, no way.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

my ex-boss does carriage dressage. Her husband took me out for a ride (and I admit it was great fun) to show me what it was like. Bird scarer? No bother. Very loud motorbike? No bother. Cyclists shooting past without warning? No bother. Orange Sainsbury's carrier bag in the hedge? Bolt-tastic. White ones? No trouble at all.

 

[661-Pete]

Horses wearing blinkers will help a lot in that sort of thing. Are blinkers allowed in carriage dressage? It renders the animal almost completely blind (horses can't see directly ahead of them anyway) but they can be trained to accept that and don't seem to mind.

 

[Norm]

Are blinkers allowed in carriage dressage?

Their use in competitive events is almost universal, as you can see from a quick nose (hee hee) at the images on the HDT's home page.

Blimey, that takes me back. Mrs Norm used to compete at that, fortunately she gave up about 10 years ago but we still head over to the park to watch them play.

The closest thing I have to a claim to fame is getting one of my images used for the front cover of Carriage Driving. And yes, my mother was very proud.

 

[Arch]

I ride both bike and horse They re a litle more intellegent than Arch suggests not so much irrational fears as past experience. Obviously its a question of training and confidence as with a lot of leisure activities.

I didn't mean irrational disparagingly - I should perhaps have said 'seemingly irrational' - I wouldn't disparage a three year old for being scared of something that seemed harmless, because you can never tell how or why they have formed that fear.

It annoys me when people call animals stupid - each species is as 'clever' as it needs to be, evolutionarily. Obviously, within a species, there are brighter and dimmer individuals, but comparing a horse's intellect to ours in that way is daft.

And far too often people say stupid, when they mean "won't do what they are told' - which could be seen as a sign of being quite smart!

 

[lukesdad]

Quite so Arch,They can be cever buggars when they want to be, especially as you say when they don t want to do something.

Far to many people ride horses that have not been schooled properly. My wife backs and schools youngsters, and far too many people wont give their mount enough time or effort in her OP.

Another problem is Im afraid, and its mainly women. More money than sense. That they buy a horse that is way beyond their abilities. Then blame the horse.

 

[Arch]

Quite so Arch,They can be cever buggars when they want to be, especially as you say when they don t want to do something.

Far to many people ride horses that have not been schooled properly. My wife backs and schools youngsters, and far too many people wont give their mount enough time or effort in her OP.

Another problem is Im afraid, and its mainly women. More money than sense. That they buy a horse that is way beyond their abilities. Then blame the horse.

Ah, like middle aged men and big motorbikes....

When I was riding (I went for lessons for a couple of years, with some friends), there was this horse called Seamus. Lovely looking, but he could be contrary. He just needed a firm confident hand. When we lined up at the start of a lesson one day, I looked at him, and I swear from the look in his eye he was thinking "Now, shall I behave today?".

I had to give it eventually, no money, and I'd reached the limit of my nerve, but I did enjoy it.