Horses on the roads - AIBU to think its just not safe anymore - who is at fault?

[Heliom]

I am a rider, I consider myself a sensible and safe rider. I've been riding for over 25 years and feel the roads are becoming increasingly dangerous, drivers increasingly inconsiderate and quite literally now forcing riders off the road. I've worked really hard with my horse to make sure she is completely as road safe as possible, trained her to be calm around bikes, motobikes, tractors, buses, lorries etc and thank god I have after today...
this is the list of what I encountered today on a 'quiet' hack on country lanes.

1. Three motorbikes speeding down the road who saw us some way off and didn't even slow down, came thundering past.
2. A car speeding around a blind bend on a single track lane nearly took us and had to mount the verge to avoid us before speeding off
3. a HUGE tractor which took up most of the road which went straight passed a pull over spot and just stopped on the road. He expected us to pass inbetween him and the plough he was towing where we had less than 6inches either side and he refused to switch off his engine. Our horses are extremely good on the road and did pass but this was at their limit!
4. A massive group of cyclists who just came charging pass
5. A car who refused to pull off the road at all (there was room) forcing us to basically ake the horses down a ditch
6. Being beeped at (yes someone actually through it was sensible to beep their horn loudly at us) when they were behind us and we were going round a blind bend trotting as we knew we could pull in just a little way up and let the car pass. This was without doubt a particularly bad hack and probably one of the worst I've had but other roads users behaviours made it a horrid and quite frankly dangerous experience for us. If I had been on a younger or more inexperienced horse I have no doubt today would have ended very badly! Of course there are lots of very courteous drivers on the road, and we always make sure we move over when can, let people pass, say thanks, wear fluorescent clothing, etc. But I do feel it is becoming increasingly dangerous to ride on the road and the attitude seems to be that its my fault for taking on my horse on the road. Sadly I have few places left to ride and all bridleways need some road work inbetween. So AIBU to ride on the road, AIBU to expect drivers to take care of horses or am I being reasonable in thinking some/ many (not all) drivers are increasingly not caring about horses and other on the road....

I drove on some quiet rural roads today. The same ones that DD rides on when out on a hack. I was nearly wiped out by a speeding car who was on the wrong side of the road. Luckily I was in an SUV with brakes ( which I used) and airbags (which fortunately I didn't need) but it did make me even more concerned for DD's safety than I was before.

Fuckwits People who cannot drive responsibly should not be driving at all.

This is one I saw a while ago, wait until they're across the roundabouts and then you can see the speeding car
https://www.facebook.com/robyn.s.90/posts/10154324494992327

I forgot the suicidal pheasants, the belligerent sheep on Exmoor and the weird-eyed goats in the Valley of the Rocks katronfon.

And the caravanners. Not to mention the elderly drivers who live there. Still live and let live.

I don't hack out much these days, OP. The older I get the more nervous I get of other road users. I ride only on very quiet roads at quiet times of the day.

I also moved my horse to somewhere quiet and also with a ménage and fields to ride in because hacking out is such an issue.

Driving seems to be getting worse. I worry everytime DH goes out on his bike

This is why people who passed more than 10-15 years ago need to be retested. Horses and how to manage them are part of the Highway code and you can get a dangerous fault by not managing appropriately in tests.

Would be interested to know what part of the uk you are in as I've read threads similar to yours on here before and always thought we must be very lucky where my DDs ride as I've literally never seen anyone in a vehicle behaving anything other than considerately. I realise we're not always on the roads and may have just got lucky of course.

It's just basic hazard awareness.

If I was driving to MIL's in Somerset late on Friday I'd expect people to be walking across the road; I'd expect some of them to be a bit tipsy; I'd expect that they might have to step into the road because there might be pavements or good street lighting in villages; I wouldn't be surprised to find them walking on unlit rural roads between villages - people are allowed to do that - though it's sensible to walk towards oncoming traffic rather than with your back to it; I'd be aware of drunk drivers in an area with no public transport.

That doesn't stop me. I'm just aware of it.

I wouldn't expect riders, cyclists or ramblers. But I bloody well would during the day.

If you can't deal with that then you shouldn't be driving.

Horses have been on the roads a lot longer than cars or bikes! Why shouldn't they use PUBLIC highways to move about. I don't understand why people can't show each other respect and travel sensibly!

Uppity - I don't necessarily think it's older people. The majority that have sped past me I would say are 20-45 age group
Motorbikes = generally brilliant
Cyclists = usually great, it's best they shout hello/morning then they don't seem like a silent alien to a horse and 99% do

My dad is 65+ and I asked him how slow he would go past a horse. He looked confused and said "er about 10mph and as far away as I could get and oh I would switch the radio off. And if it was looking naughty then I would switch my engine off and stop" (I trained him well )

Well I think its lovely to see horses on the road and unless you're in a city centre or similar you should be able to use the road, horses were here before cars after all. I live in a small town and regularly drive past horse riders on the road. I make sure I slow right down and give a very wide berth. Most other drivers here seem to do the same from what I've observed. I love to see these beautiful animals and its fascinating to see how well behaved they are. I would be sad to see this stopped due to inconsiderate drivers because its just another aspect of people speeding and being aggressive behind the wheel, which seems to be increasing IMO. OP please keep riding your beautiful horse on a public highway where you have a right to be.

Yeah, I'm with Judashascomeintosomemoney on this one. Where are you from OP?
Lots of my family and friends ride and this sort of discourteous and unsafe behaviour from drivers is not very common at all in my neck of the woods.

skerrywind- 'total self indulgence by rich people'

Off the top of my head the owners on my yard include a cleaner, several oap care home workers, a shop worker, an office junior, a couple of self employed people. Hardly what I'd term 'rich' people. The difference being that they hardly ever go on holiday, have meals out, smoke, buy new clothes or have nice cars etc. So your theory is bollocks.

I digress; I specifically chose my yard because it has off road hacking. If I had to go on the roads I would invest in huge amounts of hi viz and also a very obvious helmet cam. People are idiots but a cam would help prove any misdemeanours and also be visible enough to slow most people down. Shame it has to be like that but to some selfish wankers human and animal life is cheap.

We live rural but did live in Newmarket so respect the rules .... not many here do and it does make me sad to see very distressed horses and riders.
We do live rurally though and there are many footpaths and fields that riders could use but they choose to use roads!
Cyclists are prolific here too.... they get the same treatment from me.... a wide birth and slow speed as I do want to be responsible for anyone's death.... today we were on a double track road without marking and two cyclist were in coming side by side to the stage where we had to slow and pull over to let them past ..... now that is bloody entitled!!!!

YANBU.
I used to ride from my parents farm to the woods for the bridal paths.
I wouldn't do it now at all.
There used to be about a car an hour, if that.
Now the road is a rat run/race track from small town to city.
Used to be considered very rural. Now we have urban sprawl which means more homes and businesses and therefore more commuters.

My parents farm also has cattle and they have to be moved from field to field for grazing. It used to be great fun helping.
Now we all do it together with adrenaline pumping for fear of an accident.

We've had cars and cyclists ploughing thru the cows despite numbers of helping hands to flag down road users.

We've been verbally abused at times. Roars of " my right of way!"
"Get those bloody animals off the f**ing road!" Etc etc....

It only takes minutes to shift the cows.
Road users can be very impatient. Sadly our rural and agricultural way of life is taking a beating.

Frequently there are deaths reported in the paper due to reckless driving. No one learns. It's not just horses who are in danger.

I learned to drive 30 years ago in a not so rural area. My instructor deliberately took me round rural roads and past the stables. So i learned how to drive past horses and how to watch for flighty behaviour when it is better to stop and wait until the horse is under proper control.

We are moving, I went for my last ever hack on the roads around where I currently live. Horse will be at a large equestrian centre with loads of off road hacking. Hacking used to be nice but massive immigration has made our roads dangerous.

The very worst drivers are mothers with children - they speed, diving without care and attention and are arrogant beyond belief. If I dare to take my horse out on the lane we currently live every time I have a run in with at least one of these people. Will not miss living here

Yanbu, however there are horse riders and cyclists who aren't as safe as you on the road.
I always passed wide and slow for fear of them landing on my car, but I have seen horses spooked by even slightest noise and riders need to be aware which horses are ok and which aren't.

I always slow down to a crawl if not stop when I see horses on the roads. I don't ride that often nowadays, but when I do I've fortunately never encountered any twattish drivers; the vast majority slow down. Some road work is often essential to get to the places you want to ride. A helmet cam sounds like a good idea.

I didn't enjoy hacking that much when I rode as a child. It was quite a built-up area and we had to cross a busy A road with no crossing to get to the quieter roads and a few bridlepaths (in that area, I think there was just as much traffic 25+ years ago). Years later my dad's friend was riding his motorbike and killed a horse from that stables as well as severely injuring himself. Someone was leading it across the road at night with no high-vis on and he crashed into it.

"massive immigration" has made our country roads dangerous, user147....?

Of all the mass generalisations on this thread....

I do feel sorry for users of country roads: 'ordinary' cyclists, pedestrians, and riders. My family live in a very rural area and my nieces and nephews have far less freedom than my townie kids because the lanes are so dangerous.

Mad townie drivers, yes, but also the number of deaths amongst young locals is shocking. My brother is doing community education about it. Lads drive as soon as they are 17 (no public transport) and it is a way of life that they get a cheap old car, 'supe' it up, often with illegal modifications and then go mad. 3 ex pupils from the local school in the last year alone.

And one of the vehicles that the poor OP had to cope with was a tractor, so I doubt they were immigrants or townies.

Anyone can behave like a dick, all of us can, if we choose, engage common sense and consideration.

Cyclists fine, providing the stay in single file. Police horses are doing a job of work not trotting around admiring the view. As I said before horses should be in a field or something, not on the roads. Pedestrians as they're less likely to panic when a car passes , no problem.

trevor

What about army horses? Are they acceptable to be allowed out on the roads under your rules?
Given they are only kept to do ceremonial duties once a week, and the rest of their time on the roads is just exercise for them

Crikey, trevor.

There are some entitled idiots on here, let alone the road! If you can't slow down for a horse then what are YOU doing on the road? Is your journey really so important that you can't take literally a minute to have a bit of courtesy for others. Speeding down country lanes is dangerous for everyone.