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.

[higgle]

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

[SoleSource]

Yanbu horses should not be on footpaths.

[piprabbit]

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

[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.

[Raum]

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

[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.

[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.

[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 .

[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.

[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.

[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 .

[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.

[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.