People riding on the road

[helle]

I know we have had some lovely hot and sunny days, but WHY do people find it necessary to ride their horses on the road with in strappy tops, shorts (!) and shok, horror no HATS? Ok, so your horse is totally bombproof, but he could still trip/ slip over or be stuck by a car, just immagine what state you will end up in then!!! Rant over!

[Admin]

I know what you are saying. I shudder to think what a state they would end up in should something go wrong.
A hat should be law on the public highway.

[ruftytuftyrider]

I know where you are coming from. I am just glad I have never seen anyone riding out in shorts, strappy tops and no hat.

I think hats should be law whenever you get on a horse. I know my hat saved me from injury.

[chalky284]

There are some idiots around with no common sense! But also consider low sun that blinds drivers, a friends horse died this way. The driver just couldn't see her, I always avoid roads when the sun is blinding:-(

[lillicob]

I know of someone years ago on my old yard that hacked out with no hat, always on her mobile and smoking a f*g, someone wrote a letter to the local paper and they published it.

What annoys me more than anything on the roads nowadays is the lack of respect for people that slow down, i always slow down for riders and 8/10 times they do not even acknowledge with a wave or even a nod of the head. Really rude and these people give the rest of us a bad name. I always thank people when they slow down for me. Around here they even look right at you but dont even flinch. A local riding school is the worst, the woman that runs the place thinks she owns the road and not once has she thanked me or other road users.

[ruftytuftyrider]

Agree with you lillicob. I always thank anyone and everyone who slows down (even if it is only slightly) or gives my pony and I a wide berth. If someone has there window down I have been known to actually say thank you.

I always pass horses wide and slow and get very frustrated when the rider doesn't say "thanks" - it is just rude and gives all horse riders a bad name.

We have the same situation with the local riding school round the corner from our field, they never say thank you no matter how slow or wide someone passes them. Surely they should be setting a good example rather than teaching bad manners.

Maybe if we all keep saying thank you frequently drivers will know that not all horse riders are rude/ignorant.

[B_31]

ahh but when you have seen them bareback/no hat/shorts/strappy top - thats when you almost run them over in shock!

stupid people!!! i wont go on the road full stop...its too dangerous round here.

[armada]

I meet a lot of the happy hacker type, reins like washing lines, legs going but for no apparent reason, stick shoved down the side of their boot, who wave at you frantically, using no recognisable hand signal, and when you stop, just give you a filthy look as they ride past on their half asleep nags.

I get so infuriated at some riders and their attitude, that those who dont acknowledge me, find me leaping out of the car to give them a piece of my mind, and quite frankly, if I see them again I dont slow down.
We have to take our youngsters out for them to see traffic, or actually to get anywhere off road, and without fail acknowledge everyone.
Its the other type that encourages car drivers to think s*d you, you ignorant b****r, that makes life difficult for the rest of us.

[Louise Dixon]

if someone doesn't thank me, i tend to pull over, get out and explain to them why i find it so annoying - could be me that is riding there next time etc. etc. i am a grumpy old woman, and i am only 33, is it all downhill from here?

[corrie]

There just seems to be a lack of common courtesy now a days, I was bought up to respect others & treat as you would like to be treated yourself (or I'd get a thick ear) ;D

If some one slows down, put your hand up & thank them, don't ride 3 abreast on busy roads, then pull faces when a car wants to pass.
Yes I agree it should be law to wear a hat on the road & full trousers, I shudder to think of the saddle sores from wearing shorts. I always wear Hi Viz kit too

Thankfully I live in the middle of nowhere now, (as a child my hacking was done around Aylesbury, Bucks town & out lying estates) Admittedly it was a lot quieter then

I still have the odd stupid person around here though, namely a woman in a grey pick up (who is also a pony owner), she thinks its funny to zoom up behind you, rev like hell as she drives past, gesticulating and swearing like a fish wife or when she meets me in my lorry she thinks it is funny to sit on her horn

[corrie]

Jul 14, 2011 18:31:58 GMT Louise Dixon said:

if someone doesn't thank me, i tend to pull over, get out and explain to them why i find it so annoying - could be me that is riding there next time etc. etc. i am a grumpy old woman, and i am only 33, is it all downhill from here?

Hehehe way to go mowhaugh ;D wait till you get as old as me ;D

[lillicob]

I dont slow down for the riding school people anymore, the dopey face you get staring back at you whilst im waiting for the wave of thanks is now too much to bare so ive given up.
My mum stopped a woman once who never acknowledged drivers, she thanked everyone after that.

The worst thing is alot of fellow horse riders are like cyclists, think they own the road then when you say anything you get a torrent of abuse back (had a run in with a cyclist last weekend) I am going to say something to the riding school woman, she is very rude, wouldnt mind but she looks you right in the eye when you slow down.

I thank the people that slow down, which where i am they are very good, if they are approaching at speed i ask them to slow down , my mare isnt bothered but you dont know what scary monster may leap out of the hedge, if they dont i tend to have a little swear so they can lip read it clearly.

[teri]

Amanda99 that is terrible especially from a woman who has horse's! you half expect it from some idiot that does not understand horses, I am shocked. Must say I would have to track her down and give her a piece of my mind!!!

Totally agree with there being so many rude riders, it really is frustrating and it does tar the rest of us with the same brush!

[sageandonion]

I completely agree with all of you. May I add, why do people choose to ride on the road and hold everyone up when they have wonderful hacking on their livery yard doorstep!

I have had complaints about my husband revving his engine when they are completely blocking the lane, two abreast and will not give way when he needs to catch his train to London. Obviously don't have the guts to complain to him and thing they will get a sympathetic response from me because I am the rider. They did get a response, but it wasn't sympathetic ;D

[chloe2]

Jul 14, 2011 18:43:40 GMT corrie said:

There just seems to be a lack of common courtesy now a days, I was bought up to respect others & treat as you would like to be treated yourself (or I'd get a thick ear) ;D

I still have the odd stupid person around here though, namely a woman in a grey pick up (who is also a pony owner), she thinks its funny to zoom up behind you, rev like hell as she drives past, gesticulating and swearing like a fish wife or when she meets me in my lorry she thinks it is funny to sit on her horn

I would be tempted to video her, show it to the police and ask them to warn her re. her dangerous driving as it is certainly more than careless. Should give her a fright and hopefully stop her - she sounds like a witch!

[chloe2]

Jul 15, 2011 10:14:58 GMT lillicob said:

I dont slow down for the riding school people anymore, the dopey face you get staring back at you whilst im waiting for the wave of thanks is now too much to bare so ive given up.
...what scary monster may leap out of the hedge, if they dont i tend to have a little swear so they can lip read it clearly.

Lillicob - agree people very rude but you surely should slow down for the horses sake in case, as you say a scary monster leaps out of the hedge and sends the horse into your car?

[lillicob]

Would normally agree but the horses arent even fit to trot let alone jump into the road. She rides down the main roads with her entourage of even ruder people like she owns it. Plus im not a fast driver a corsa has its limits, wouldnt dream off doing 50/60 past horses like many road users.

[sundance20]

I despise that even though i wear a tabard,my horse usually has quite a skitty fit in the road and theres a car parked opposite to wear im riding people still insist on squeezing past me and its usually older 70 year olds that look like they shouldnt really be driving that are the main culprits,they rev and set skitty horse more skitty.
I refuse to ride on the road on my 7yo now as he came from a lovely rural country side place and isnt used to the traffic we get near us,im waiting till i get the best part of the polite notice set to see if that makes any diffrence.
Just have to save hacking for my 22 year old trusty cob!

[honeybees]

I was riding towards the common about a month ago and a driver came right up behind us.
Asked with clear hand signals to slow down ... driver then sounded horn and told me to get a bl**dy move on!
Driver was attempting to go past us on a narrow road with a blind corner...Was asking driver to slow down for their own safety on the corner, not just mine and horses!
Anyway Horse spooked and began his terrified 'dance' , attempting to turn and run home, driver had to reverse pretty sharpish!
Driver then continued to attempt to get past my horse, veering side to side to try and dash past. Driver then mounted a tiny verge and drove up there to get past

Is there any where to report incidents like this?
Unfortantely unable to get their plate numbers -- too busy attempting to calm horse down

[cedar]

We had a incident last winter with a gritter truck. We were riding through our local village as the roads had been gritted and everywhere else was icy. The roads were fine but the pavements were sheer ice. The gritter truck came up the road towards us so I gave clear signals for him to slow down and turn the gritting off as the horses hadn't seen this before. He went faster!!! Flew past us and stuck his finger up!! Luckily my horses weren't bothered but if they had jumped on the icy pavement it could have been horrendous!!
I reported him to the county council. Got a phone call back with a full apology and told he will no longer be working for them.
Best result so always worth reporting any incidents.
Oh and we don't do that ride anymore in that weather because of that. Shame as the only place we can really ride in icy weather.

[honeybees]

Hi Cedar,
Glad it's not just us who get the rude, ignorant drivers. He should have known better especially in a work vechile! Not like it was incospicous lol
Down here it seems to be drivers in 'fancy' cars that just want to drive at 110 mph...
Happy yours could get sorted like that and i'm sure that bloke will never be rude to riders again !!

Do the BHS/Police have some kind of reporting system in place for horse riders?
Have now almost reached the point were i'm considering not riding on the road anymore due to the risk, which is such a shame as it means I will have to box up and drive to the common just to have a "relaxing" hack !

[showingfanatic]

I hate riding on roads, they make me nervous and when possible I avoid them at all costs. However, there is a lovely route (off road) to hack along near us and you have to spend a short while on the roads to get to and back from it. Now I wouldn't dream of taking a skittish horse down there cause of the speed and arrogance of some drivers, the first time we tried my youngster in traffic, they were cutting haylage nearby and we where passed by 2/3 huge combine harvesters, only one slowed down and waited for us to move out of the way, the other two flew past at speeds you simply wouldn't expect of a tractor and on a blind corner too! Thank god my youngster isn't spooky, I shudder to think what could have so easily happened if she'd had a hissy fit at the huge monsters coming up her backside. And the idiots who think it's fun to wizz past in their sports car convertibles at 60mph are just as bad!!
On a nicer note I do always say thank you when people do slow down, usually just a nod and a smile if i don't feel like taking my hands off the reins at that particular moment in time. It'd be rude not too.

[amanda1975]

I hate people riding out with minimal clothing on, I always make my daughter wear a hoody no matter what the weather, I have a fell who is 'bombproof' nothing bothers him but they where out the other day and he fell on the road, she managed to get away with bruises and cuts on her hands but without her hoody on i wouldnt like to think!

[Ziggy]

I really hate to see people riding on roads with horses/ponies that are NOT roadworthy. Are these people mad!!! Was driving through a neighbouring village a while back two girls on horses were riding two abreast. Now this is not a particularly quiet village and often has cars parked on both sides of the road, lorries buses etc. One horse was reasonbly quiet but the other was a nutcase. Going sideways, trying to rear up, with cars and buses everywhere, children coming out of school etc it was soooo dangerous. How the horse, rider, pedestrain was not hurt is beyond me. Traffic help up for ten minutes while this horse carreered through village. Surely you would know if your horse was like this?

[Deleted]

i ride on the roads quite a bit as life in the country but get sick and tired of other riders riding a breast talking and laughing and no consideration for other road users, all it does is wind drivers up so they lose respect for all horses and drive past like lunatics ,i always ride in my high vis vest and thank drivers for pulling over or driving past slow a small thankyou doesn't take much

[honeybees]

I don't know whether the comment
"I really hate to see people riding on roads with horses/ponies that are NOT roadworthy. Are these people mad!!! "
was in relation to my comment
"Anyway Horse spooked and began his terrified 'dance' , attempting to turn and run home, driver had to reverse pretty sharpish!"

If so, I would like to say my horse is roadworthy, but it is a little different when some body is approaching us at around 60mph on a country lane, revving/honking, shouting abuse and veering side to side almost hitting us!

If the comment wasn't relevant then I apologise...

[sarahp]

It was ever thus. I stopped riding on our narrow A road 20 years ago as cars would squeeze past between the horse I was riding and cars coming towards them. I used to hold a schooling whip out horizontally to try to get them to leave us more room, and tap the car on the roof with it if it came too near. But all horses and ponies have to learn about traffic, so have to start going on the roads at some point in that education. And as has been said, ANY horse can have a moment, they are living creatures not machines.

Nursey, riding two abreast with an experienced, steady horse on the outside of a novice always used to be the recommended strategy for those horses learning, hopefully coupled with "Young Horse" tabard or something of the sort. It does sound from your post that the time and place was badly chosen, but there could have been a good reason for riding abreast. I always used to ride on the outside of my child when she was small, and on our road it did at least make sure cars stayed behind until it was safe to pass rather than squeezing through as above. On this point, I always took issue with the BHS Riding Test requirement at the time which said I should stand in the gutter on the LHS of the road, hence with two lines of traffic whizzing past me in opposite directions and nowhere to go on my left in case of trouble, to turn right into our drive. I would ride in the centre of the LH lane with a very obvious hand signal that I was turning right so that traffic had to stay behind me until I'd turned, and then thank them very obviously.

S&O - we used to have a polo yard near us that would exercise the ponies on the lanes at peak of commuter traffic to the nearby station time. Ride one, lead one each side in strings of 6 or so of these - they all got tied in a large knot outside our house once (house before the A road one!).

[crimson]

I hate riding on the roads, luckily the roads are not too busy or fast but the drivers around me are very ignorant and not many slow down or pass wide. Unfortunatley there is little off road hacking in the area so I do need to go on the roads, it really annoys me when non-horsey people moan at me in conversation about riders on the roads - I have to say to them, trust me I don't know anyone who actually enjoys/prefers riding on the roads, they seem to think we can just ride in random fields where ever we like - if only!!!

[auntiebarb]

One of the problems we have round here is the milk lorry coming from the local dairy farm. You would think he would know better, but once he has got to his usual speed coming up the hill from the village, he is reluctant to drop his revs, even if I am leading two large horses to their field down the lane.

However, he is taking the milk to the Muller Light dairy, so I forgive him, as the horses have now accepted him now and ignore the noise the tanker makes going past. I live on Muller Light.

[helle]

Sarahp- I was told that wearing a tabbard with 'Young Horse' or 'Caution' could affect my insurance cover in case of an incident as 'advertising' the fact that my horse was young and in-experienced I was 'admitting' it could be a liablility on the road?? Don't know if anyone has any experience of this??? I am going to get one of the 'polite' tabbards anyway, can see how they can be ultra usefull ;D