What should I have done? (almost hit horse and rider with my car)

Now you're well aware that you need to be more cautious, and that's good, but the rider bears some responsibility, too. They shouldn't have crossed where drivers may not have plenty of time to see them and stop, and if they did 'need' to cross there, they ought to have done so as swiftly as was safely possible rather than taking it so slowly.

Urgh, never mind. I thought I'd read that the rider was crossing the road. Now I see they were simply going down or alongside the road. I still think I'd be more careful as a rider in areas where I know drivers might not see me, but whatever. I'm sure I'll be told I'm stupid. 🙄

There are laws that you are required to follow that is to do with horses.

Highway Code will have it on it

byt they’re a more vulnerable road user so have priority.

You drive the speed for the road you can see. If you could not see around the bend, you should not be driving at 40mph. The permitted upper limit of the road is irrelevant.

This happened to me, the last time I rode a horse on the road. A car tried to pass too close, the horse reacted to this by turning his hind quarters into the road and literally sitting on the bonnet of the car. I was in control of the horse until that moment, experienced rider, but it was terrifying. I haven't hacked on a road since, and only ridden again a couple of times. Give horses more space than you think, and don't pass until the rider gives you the nod, always.

You shouldn’t be on the roads with that attitude.

Lack of any other options. To get to the nearest bridlepath. I don’t know anyone who loves riding on the roads and does it for pleasure. It is a necessary evil. Thankfully most drivers are sensible and considerate, but of course it only takes one…

Have you cancelled the cheque, OP?

Just because the speed limit is 60 doesn’t mean you have to drive near that speed especially on country roads. I grew up in the country on a narrow winding hill that was technically 60 but it wouldn’t be safe to do much more than 20.

Blond bend says to me slow down to 20, I know you were doing 40 but that’s still too fast for a blind bend.

You were at fault OP. You drive to the road conditions. You wouldn't cross a junction without making sure it was clear, you don't drive around a bend without expecting an obstruction, what if there had been some traffic, if you rear ended a carn would you still say "what could I have done?".

Country roads are dangerous.

Never pass a horse until the rider had signalled to you that it is OK. That's not the horse rider controlling you, it's making sure that half a ton of horse doesn't end up sitting on your bonnet.

Alow down.

Don't beat yourself up too much. Most roads would probably benefit from everyone driving more slowly but there is the balance in safety in not driving too slowly to cause an obstacle or driving in a manner not anticipated by other drivers yourself. They may even have reacted having been shaken by their own poor judgement.

Yes, you would have ideally been going around the corner more slowly but realistically the horse and handler were lucky it wasn't someone less respectful of the road.

All road users need to contribute to keeping themselves safe and as a walker or rider I wouldn't pass a blind bend without being aware of the traffic around me before travelling as wide as is safe (for earliest visibility) and then jogging/trotting on until I am far enough past the corner that there is time for a driver to see me and react again as quickly as possible. If I was leading a horse and couldn't run for long enough then I would have someone following to wait at the last point of visibility until we were safe.

A couple of years ago myself and two joggers were exceedingly lucky that nothing was coming the other way and that I was doing half the speed most vehicles do around that corner, when I had to avoid them. I drive these roads expecting to meet pedestrians, cyclists, horse riders, tractors, a bus that won't give way, and errant wildlife but they were jogging towards me, shoulder to shoulder around the inside of a blind bend on a country road with no verge and no Hi Vis. In ten years I have never seen walkers or joggers on that side or the road before or since...

I've been driving for more than 30 years, and I think the things that were instilled in me when I first learnt still stand: always expect something around every corner or bend; always check both ways at junctions before you set off in case an emergency vehicle is coming through; expect every driver to be about to do something daft; drive defensively.
You'll not forget this OP, it's definitely a moment to learn from, and thank god nothing worse happened.

You could have given the rider the middle finger, he shouldn't have shouted at you! I lived in an area where there were always horses and it's bloody annoying

Driver of a motor vehicle should ALWAYS be able to slow or stop safely in the distance he/she can see. From your description i.e. approaching a corner around which you couldn’t see a large horse, made even larger because it had a rider on board … you were driving too fast. Sounds like the driver behind you was doing the same. Horse rider justifiably upset. Just be thankful there were no cameras recording the situation. Take a breath. Don’t beat yourself up. Reflect on it and learn from it. You made an error of judgement but you’re not a bad person - sharing on here proves that. And your story is a good reminder to the rest of us on here, the majority of whom probably break road safety rules every day - to Drive Safely.

On the most simple level you need to go on roads to get to hacking tracks etc. Even turning the horses out in the morning means crossing a road that was not designed for multiple cars, vans or lorries. The problem is that as areas become more built up we all need to share roads and in many cases animals were there first

To be fair, she did stop in time

OP, I would ask for this post to be deleted. At this point you have your answer and despite owning your mistakes with great humility this is just turning into a pile on. I don't think the thread should be left up just for people to rip you a new one because they can't be bothered to read your replies. People are reacting to the first post without reading the full thread and it's not fair on you.

Because you need to get to bridleways. It’s important for the horse to go out for a hack. Why do you choose to get in a car and drive amongst tonnes of metal that can kill you.

There would be no issue if drivers drove correctly according to road conditions

The worst driving see is on rural roads and the most tail gating - so unsafe

Don't accelerate round blind corners obviously. It's a limit, not a target.

Not round here

Unfortunately, people just don’t seem able to drive on country roads anymore. There is concentration on getting to the speed limit. These types of roads have a 60 mph limit as that is the national speed limit and there are no factors that would reduce it.

But it is important to drive to road conditions. We have a lot of single track roads here, high side, blind bends. It’s coming to summer so we’re prepared for people from up country towing caravans down these roads because the sat nav told them to. And drivers being unable to reverse. So we have to be extra careful.

You need to drive according to road conditions you need to drive like there is an obstacle round each blind bend or round each blind hill.

Are you sure it was a 60 limit? Literally every country road around here is a 40.

Genuinely question to horse riders..
Why do you choose to ride your horse amongst tons of metal which need more than a few seconds to come to a stop?

I drive a lot in a similar kind of area. I try to think of the sightline of any bend as my stopping distance, which helps me pick the right kind of speed for winding NSL roads with lots of potential hazards. There will always be some asshole behind you bearing down at 60 but you just have to keep reminding yourself it won't be them in the dock if you plough into a peloton of cyclists.

The speed limit is the maximum speed allowed on a road, it is not a target speed and doesn't mean you should drive anywhere near it if unsafe to do so. On a blind bend on a country road you need to slow right down and be prepared to encounter any hazard in the road round the corner.

I failed my first driving test because I didn't slow down to 20 and drop my gears to 2nd on a blind bend NSL road. I think I did it at 27 in 3rd. I thought that was excessively strict at the time, but it has always stuck with me so in the long term maybe it has kept me safe!