To think that horses shouldn't be on footpaths.

[Kasterborous]

I was out walking down the footpath yesterday with DD in her pushchair and this woman riding a horse appeared on the path in front of us. It wasn't a path down a country lane or a rural area. I moved out the way because I had DD with me, if it had been just me I would have stood my ground. It's not a one off either because there have been piles of horse poo on the path in the past too. I can see they don't want to be on the road either but a footpath is not for horses.

[bonzo77]

2 abreast is safest. Take up more space= more respect from drivers. Do you ever see mounted police riding single file?

OP YANBU. However, you could just ask the rider politely to move aside so you don't need to.

[pussycatwillum]

That's interestin Plomino. I didn't realise that about riding teo abreast. Unfortunately if you come round a bend and meet two or threeof them riding along with enough room between them for a bicycle they take up a lot of room, and unlike large vehicles they can be unpredictable.

[Plomino]

Having ridden in suburbia for over twenty years till I moved out to ruralsville , I would never have ridden on the pavement . But then there are some tossers who ride horses , as well as there are tossers who drive cars , ride bikes , or walk on pavements .

Riding two abreast is actually encouraged by the Highway Code , as it takes a shorter time to pass the horses , and also tends to discourage drivers from trying to slide down the same side of the road as the horse . But not always .

[50BalesOfHay]

I would never ride on a pavement by choice but there have been a handful of times when a short distance on the pavement is the only thing to do (massive queue of traffic behind, huge combine harvester etc). I would not go onto a pavement with pedestrians on it though.

[pussycatwillum]

Horses should be on the road, not a pavement. Horse riders are a bit of a pain round here because they quite often ride two or three abreast on the roads, but I've never seen anyone ride a horse on a pavement.
Bridle paths are quite different and the clue is in the name.

[Floralnomad]

YANBU , and I say the following as a horse owner of over 30 years . We have a horse issue where I live which has only arisen in the last few months .there are a couple of teenagers who are riding on the local trim trail ( no bridle path crosses it ) , in the community orchard ( think play area with fruit trees) and also riding on footpaths . On paper it doesn't sound too bad but these are areas where there are off lead dogs and children playing and these riders are galloping about using the trim trail equipment as miniature cross country jumps . Fortunately the Parish council are now trying to deal with it before an accident occurs . What really annoys me is that we live literally minutes from some lovely quiet hacking country but these idiots want to show off and ride on playing fields in the middle of a housing development ! Rant over .

[digerd]

Going into the past, I remember when the horse and cart delivered milk and everybody rushed out with shovels to collect the manure for their veg patch in the garden. That was in the post WW2 years < nostalgia of my childhood>. The rag and bone man also had a horse and cart.
But the horse was on the road and cars were a rarity.

I miss the bridle ways. In those days we never rode on the roads or footpaths. Even today, I have not seen a horse being ridden on a pavement.
Bridle ways have disappeared under housing estates.

[higgle]

I know, but some people were talking about the alternative scenario.
When I was the owner of a very fat and cheeky highland I always kept well away from children as given half a chance he would try to steal any crisps or icecreams they had. Unless the rider looked petrified and was struggling with a horse who had just had a nasty experience with a lorry or similar then she certainly should not have been on the pavement.

[Raum]

I and my daughter would have been thrilled.. Should have enjoyed it :-)

[pinkandpurplesparkle]

higgle irrespective of permission, horseriders should still give way to pedestrians. Pedestrians must have priority.

puppyfat that sounds grim. My horse pooped on the road yesterday outside someone's driveway. I went back later with a shovel and moved it.

[piprabbit]

higgle - but it wasn't a footpath over a field. It was a pavement beside a road.

[SoleSource]

Yanbu horses should not be on footpaths.

[higgle]

If it was a footpath over a field then any horseriders might be the owners of the land or riding with their permission.

[sonlypuppyfat]

I live on a normal road in a built up town houses both sides cars etc and they come down our paths so bloody stupid but then they use the excuse horses were here before cars BS do they pay road tax. Its bad enough dodging dog mess never mind great piles of horse shit

[pinkandpurplesparkle]

Yanbu. As a horserider who does a fair bit of hacking on roads, there is very little that would ever persuade me to use a footpath. The only possible occasion that I can see would require this would be if there was a very large vehicle coming towards us (or from behind) and I had to get out of the way for safety. However, if a pedestrian, and especially a pedestrian with a child, happened to be on the path, it would be inconceivable to put them in danger by riding on the path. Item 54 in the Highway Code says "You MUST NOT take a horse onto a footpath or pavement, and you should not take a horse onto a cycle track," so the answer is there.

Having said all that, some horseriders are rude. They should be on the road - simples.

[ComposHat]

Glad to see rhe mumanet horsetapo are out in force.

op jave you not realised that horse riders are never in the wrong and everyone wlse should never access the road or footpath in case the horsrs spook?

[Kasterborous]

I wouldn't have any issues on the kind of path you describe quote but it was clearly a pavement and I had to stand on the road.

[BoneyBackJefferson]

"the estate is withdrawing access."

good luck with that.

"but really what harm was it causing other than offending your sensibilities?"

you mean other than the danger of the baby/child making a noise spooking the horse and either the parent or the child getting kicked?

[quoteunquote]

and this is one of the reason why a lot of the permissive pathways are been closed around here and else where,

Humans not being able to share with others.

we have a lovely long route alongside the river near here, land owned by a client of mine, who has kindly kept it open to the public, there is no right of way,

but because walkers constantly get cross about other uses, or livestock, the estate is withdrawing access.

I appreciate that this is a pavement, but really what harm was it causing other than offending your sensibilities?

ring and ask your local council if horses are allowed.

[maddening]

Yanbu - it is ridiculous that she expected you to move a baby on to a main road while she rode her horse on the pavement. The horse rider was a twat and should not be there unsupervised if unable to manoeuvre the horse on to the road to avoid pedestrians - particularly with vulnerable children.

[Twattybollocks]

Yes you are correct, they shouldn't have been on the path, and she certainly should have gone onto the road to pass you. My old horse was bombproof and I still wouldn't have let someone push a pram past him at close range, or walked him past one if he was close enough to kick out at it.
Next time please do stand your ground, and ask her politely to move onto the road. Pavements are for pedestrians.
I say this as a horse owner with 20 years experience of riding on the roads, yes I have ridden on pavements and on grass verges when the traffic or the road is bad, but I always move onto the road if we meet pedestrians as I realise its safer for me and the horse to be walking on the road than it is for the pedestrians

[burberryqueen]

horse and rider should have got out of your way not the other way round, as they are not really supposed to be there.

It is hard for riders tho to access bridlepaths sometimes.

[OldMacEIEIO]

Some horses have feet. There is a stallion in a field near me that has two feet at least. possibly more

[piprabbit]

We get horses on the pavements (tarmac strips for pedestrians next to the road) and the horses do great piles of poo which cover a large area of the pavement.

I assume the owners take them out for walkies to make a change to thrashing the poor beasts around the local streets attached to a racing cart thingy.

[SoupDragon]

And they shouldn't be on a public footpath either for the same reasons. It seems pedestrians are indeed the lowest of the low.