Texting on a horse!

[brokenflipflop]

Don't trust horses or the silly young girls riding them - can't believe they're allowed on the road.

 

[brokenflipflop]

Cars are predictable and sometimes are driven by unpredictable drivers.

Horses are huge and dangerous and have a mind of their own. They are quite often ridden by kids. If I've got to pass a test to drive a vehicle that must also have VED and a valid MOT, what tests/safeguards does a kid have on a 1 tonne beast. It almost beggars belief really.

 

[col]

Do they have insurance?

 

[brokenflipflop]

That's why you pass them slow and wide.

Oh yeah. Silly me. What if there's a traffic jam tother side? What if the horse has a Christopher Reeve episode and goes berserk - it's a dumb animal ridden by a kid going slow and giving it a wide birth might not necessarily make any difference to a disaster.

 

[fenlandpsychocyclist]

I don't recall having ever startled a horse whilst passing in a car, but i've had a couple jump while i've cycled past.
They get used to the gradual increase of noise level and then a big metal box appearing beside them ... cycles are
just suddenly there.

How many stables have rattly diesel 4x4's moving around on a daily basis which the horses get used to?

 

[brokenflipflop]

Thanks for that. FYI when I'm waiting I normally use the time to think that I can't believe the authorities allow that huge unpredictable beast with that kid on its back onto the road. I often wonder if there has been any formal training/taxes etc and what would happen if the horse went berserk.

 

[brokenflipflop]

I don't recall having ever startled a horse whilst passing in a car, but i've had a couple jump while i've cycled past.
They get used to the gradual increase of noise level and then a big metal box appearing beside them ... cycles are
just suddenly there.

How many stables have rattly diesel 4x4's moving around on a daily basis which the horses get used to?

About 20 years ago I worked with a bloke who was almost totally deaf, had poor vision and minor brain damage as a result of a horse jumping onto his bonnet/windscreen - it only has to happen once doesn't it.

 

[coffeejo]

I don't recall having ever startled a horse whilst passing in a car, but i've had a couple jump while i've cycled past.
They get used to the gradual increase of noise level and then a big metal box appearing beside them ... cycles are
just suddenly there.

How many stables have rattly diesel 4x4's moving around on a daily basis which the horses get used to?

I grew up on a farm in west Wales and the RAF used one of our barns as a "target" on their training flights. I had a series of insane ponies as a kid but thanks to the RAF, they were all totally bombproof. A hee-hawing donkey = perfect excuse for an equine panic attack but a thundering lorry, no problem.

When cycling past horses, I always slow down and ask the rider if it's ok for me to pass (sometimes the rider likes to turn the horse to face the bikes so it can have a proper look at what's happening) and I keep talking as I'm going past so the horse knows that this strange creature is actually just a strange human.

 

[fenlandpsychocyclist]

I wonder if horses are like me?
Do they get restless and twitchy if they are followed a bit too long by a car?

At least we can turn our heads to see whats going on when followed, a horse on the other hand may suddenly
think "f*ck it ... i'm turning round now to see whats behind me".
And that's the point 14 year old emily finds she no longer has control of her horse.

They should ban horses and issue giraffes ... at least they can have a good old look round!!

(Sorry if my humour has offended anyone without a sense of humour).

 

[Bicycle]

...and I keep talking as I'm going past so the horse knows that this strange creature is actually just a strange human.

I always slow right down (even stop in extremis) and I never pass until eye contact has been made in a clear way.

Even if to the angry poster or the anti-car element my OP seemed to demonstrate some problem with patience, I do like the idea of horses on our roads and I appreciate the fact that they pretty much owned them until around a century ago. Cars and bicycles are the newcomers in this matter.

Most (horse) riders signal that it's OK to pass; and signal not to if the beast is spooked.

I often cycle past horses and I've never thought before of talking as I pass. I like the idea more the more I think about it.

Sometimes I'm too puffed-out to say much, but when I can I will. Thanks for passing on the idea.

 

[brokenflipflop]

I wonder if horses are like me?
Do they get restless and twitchy if they are followed a bit too long by a car?

At least we can turn our heads to see whats going on when followed, a horse on the other hand may suddenly
think "f*ck it ... i'm turning round now to see whats behind me".
And that's the point 14 year old emily finds she no longer has control of her horse.

They should ban horses and issue giraffes ... at least they can have a good old look round!!

(Sorry if my humour has offended anyone without a sense of humour).

I've seen plenty of horse races where a supposedly trained horse with an experienced jockey on its back has done something completely unpredictable - 15 year old tabitha sitting on rufus with cars, cyclists and dogs buzzing about is asking for trouble. Also, if I take a leak in a dark alley early one morning, I could face a fixed penalty. How come a horse can release 2 kilos of crap in the middle of the road in broad daylight ?

 

[col]

I always slow and even stop, where I go there can be 20 plus in a convoy. Some of my colleagues have had their vehicle kicked by the horses as they pass, but they shot off before exchanging details.

 

[brokenflipflop]

I always slow right down (even stop in extremis) and I never pass until eye contact has been made in a clear way.

Even if to the angry poster or the anti-car element my OP seemed to demonstrate some problem with patience, I do like the idea of horses on our roads and I appreciate the fact that they pretty much owned them until around a century ago. Cars and bicycles are the newcomers in this matter.

Most (horse) riders signal that it's OK to pass; and signal not to if the beast is spooked.

I often cycle past horses and I've never thought before of talking as I pass. I like the idea more the more I think about it.

Sometimes I'm too puffed-out to say much, but when I can I will. Thanks for passing on the idea.

What if you pass a horse that doesn't like talking ?

 

[col]

What if you pass a horse that doesn't like talking ?

It will just ignore you then wont it?

 

[Bicycle]

What if you pass a horse that doesn't like talking ?

Then I'd whisper. That always works. There was a film about it.