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....

Just told my DH about this thread. He's an HGV driver.

Roads are for all road users. Everyone should respect each other, no matter what.

That is all.

I saw a horse coming sideways down the road the other day. The woman on its back could barely hold it. I pulled into a field entrance, switched off my engine and waited until it had gone past. I don't know what spooked it but I didn't want it even more spooked or getting anywhere near my car. It would have taken me longer to wait for a tractor as that road is long and has about two passing spaces so waiting for thirty seconds for a horse wasn't exactly time consuming. Because I am not an entitled twat that thinks I am more important than all other road users. That's basically what it boils down to. Nobody has the manners or the patience anymore to be tolerant of others. It's all me, me, me and I'm so important. Makes me sick.

My sister rides and wears a head cam at all times. She says she's been sworn at and raced past so many times that she won't go out without one. She lives near a network of fabulous bridleways but she has to go down 100 yards of main road to get to it. In that short space she has encountered so much rudeness and dangerous driving it's just ridiculous.

When my mum died, at her request we had a black horse drawn funeral hearse pulled by four magnificent Friesians with great big black plumes on their heads. Looked absolutely stunning and brought the village to a complete halt as people stopped to pay their respects and admire it. She was a horsey lady and wanted to go out in style. Don't remember anybody complaining at that.

That's shit cat. Sorry that happened to you.

I also think it should be made law that all horses ridden on the road must wear hi-viz. I see those out and about that don't and I can't comprehend why they are not minimising the risk to themselves, their horses and others. Grinds my gears that.

Miow - there's good and bad in all aspects of life, road users and horse riders included. Absolutely.
But please don't tar us all with the same brush, just because we're on a horse, same as I take each driver that goes past on face value, they're not all idiots, not all horse riders are "(Incidentally they were somewhat privileged and entitled - and utter bullies - and I was the kid from the single parent family in financial shite most of the time)" I was also from the single parent family in financial shite, and my mum went without for the £5 a week lesson I had, and I just kinda hung about after my lesson to spend time with horses. I have a min wage job and am a single parent. I saved for 10 years (birthday/Christmas money plus whatever whenever) to buy my horse, and strict budgeting enables me to keep her, along with not having to have a latest most expensive gadget and some savvy choices regarding insurance.
By no means do I think that I'm a poor downtrodden horse owner, I think I work hard to do what I love. There are undoubtedly ppl like you describe in the horse world, they piss me off too, but not everyone is like that and those 'bitches' would have been bullies on or off their horses, and as someone who faces the stereotype all the time, it's a disgusting way to be treated, but the horses aren't the issue, the girls are. I'm not surprised you're scared of them, can't say I blame you because it can be pretty intimidating. If it helps though just imagine that at, at least one point, each of those girls will have been dumped unceremoniously by their horse, because everyone is and then probably had to walk home covered in mud!

If you are are a road user unable to cope with hazards commonly encountered on the road then you are not fit to use the road.

That goes for anyone - pedestrian, cyclist, horse rider or car driver.

I'm going to stick up for pedestrians because that's me, mainly, and I always look both ways. Then I do it again. Not to do that would be suicidal

MiaowTheCat Your experience sounds horrible but I think it's a bit niche.

I don't get why riders have to go on the roads.
Isn't that what fields and hacking trails and tracks are for?
I can understand a horse and rider venturing onto the road for brief moments, when it's unavaoidable (a bit like when a farmer is moving his tractor from one field to another)
But to actually go for a long ride on the roads? Why?
It's not as if you ever see horses trotting or cantering and going at a decent speed on the road.
All the ones I see are going at a snail's pace.
Roads are mainly for vehicles moving at speed. Something going at a snail's pace shouldn't be on the road.

It's all very well saying, ''but horses were here before cars''
People were here before cars, but you don't see people walking in the middle of the road, really slowly, holding up all the traffic .
We stick the the paths and the pavements.

Roads are for fast moving vehicles. They are not for horses. Maybe they were in the days before cars were invented.
Not any more.

"there are many footpaths and fields that riders could use but they choose to use roads! "

idoido, at last someone else who understands what I mean.

The rider should be confident and experienced enough (if they're out by themselves) with a horse that can handle it down somewhere that is appropriate such as a country road.

Drivers should be more aware when they're going down places such as country roads. If the driver is careless when driving near a horse then they could cause endanger themselves and/or the rider & horse.

It's not as simple as to say that roads are for driving. You should be aware of cyclists if you're in London as you should be used to riders if you're in the country or somewhere heavily populated by a horse industry.

I have six horses and I hunt and event up to novice. I'm a decent rider, I teamchase and I'm fairly brave where a decent hedge or a youngster is concerned.

However, I was on one of my more sensible horses last summer and got driven into by an idiot who was going too fast on a country lane.

He was completely at fault and luckily my horse recovered. But I decided it wasn't worth mine or my horses' lives to risk roads and trust people to not be moron.

I'm very lucky in that I'm married to a farmer so I have thousands of acres to go at. If I didn't, I'd have to give up.

Sorry! Posted too soon!

"there are many footpaths and fields that riders could use but they choose to use roads! "

I'm sorry Ku but you're not allowed to ride on footpaths though I may have done on the odd occasion and riding in fields without permission is akin to me riding in your garden.

Farmers get subsidies for keeping set aside for wildlife and wild flowers and may well lose this if people ride on their land without permission (or perhaps even with, I'm not 100% sure).

It's a sad day when even a young kid can reliably and politely reeducate an AA driving instructor as to why they can't ride on fields and have to ride on the roads:

I also appreciate that some riders can be rude, and I apologise on their behalf because as a pp has said, the next horse rider they see and think 'fuck it, all riders are arrogant twats' could be me, and I promise I'm neither!

Roads round here aren't for fast moving vehicles, they all crawl along at between 4-6mph and even school children on scooters go faster than motorcars. So what would it matter if horses go slow, so do cars

Trevorthebikethief said:

idoido at last someone else who understands what I mean.

At least, there are two of you.

Polly -
"Just told my DH about this thread. He's an HGV driver."

IME 'professional' drivers are often the ones I have least issues with, HGV, bus, bin wagon etc, and I would think they are the ones up against time more than most.

Idoido -
"But to actually go for a long ride on the roads? Why?
It's not as if you ever see horses trotting or cantering and going at a decent speed on the road.
All the ones I see are going at a snail's pace.
Roads are mainly for vehicles moving at speed. Something going at a snail's pace shouldn't be on the road."

I personally don't, I use the roads to get to somewhere - beach, woods, bridleway etc, and honestly don't know any one that rides on the roads for any other reason. Years ago it was believed that 'road work' hardened tendons and assisted with fitness work, however it seems to be a less popular theory these days.

If I'd cantered on the roads in my riding and road safety I'd have failed. Horses are more prone to slip the faster they go on tarmac, therefore it is recommended that trot is the fastest you go on a road. Walk and trot, whilst slow are safer for all concerned, a cantering horse slipping and sliding in front of a moving vehicle is more dangerous than a walking horse that takes a few seconds longer to pass. Plus the fact an average horse canters at maybe 20mph (?) - hardly much faster really.
And I actually agree with your sentiment on the 'horses were on the roads before cars' doesn't matter really, the chronological order of how roads were used, is irrelevant to the argument.

I don't know why you bothered to answer that post about cantering on the road Ihaveabloodyheadache.

It was just a bit idiotic

Limited -
Just wanted to explain something that might not be obvious to someone that doesn't ride. Some people seem to think we're on the roads just to get in the way and go slow to annoy people, just explaining it's not the case really.

I didn't think I sound idiotic though? I thought it was a genuine question tbh

Roads, in certain areas particularly, are terrifying. I've had many near misses because of car drivers being utterly stupid (speeding around bends on the wrong side of the road) - mostly avoided by my trained horses being shoved down ditches at a moment's notice because I can hear that someone is being an idiot...

What non-horsey people don't understand is that hacking isn't actually just a jolly. Most fields aren't accessible for horse riders - they aren't PROWs, farmers have to keep their margins maintained without horses trampling them (subsidies, insurance reasons, heck, it's just their land and their choice) and there aren't that many bridlepaths. We are not allowed on footpaths. I do have an arena and I do use it for as much of my horses' exercise as I can.

However, horses need to work on a variety of surfaces (it's essential for their feet if they're not shod) and working on a soft arena surface is terrible for soft tissue in the legs. If I work in the arena every single day, I massively increase the risk of my horse breaking. That is a welfare concern (and a huge personal concern too). Working on circles all the time is also bad for the horse's legs and the only way to avoid this is to hack out - this is especially true if you're trying to rehabilitate a horse after an injury. A rehab horse may be confined to walk. Most riders will not move beyond trot (on a good, flat or uphill stretch of road) because of the risk of slipping and the concussive forces on the joints of the horse's legs (especially in shod horses).

I have to hack tomorrow (and, indeed, regularly beyond that) - for the above reasons. I've picked a yard with good hacking, mostly off-road, minimal quiet roads to link them. I will pick a route and a time to make sure my horse is as safe as possible. He will be under control, hi-vised and reflective geared, and I've trained him a lot. I'm still not looking forward to it - because of idiots like some of the posters on this thread.

I'm not calling you idiotic Ihaveabloodyheadache You have been very patient.

It was a play on the poster Idoido

Lame, I know. What can I say?

Lame from Canter on the road limited? 😊

Oh sorry limited I misunderstood your post

Limited and 50bales -

Does anyone think it's a good idea for a someone to merrily canter a horse down the road just to keep up with the traffic flow?

I don't know about anyone else but I have to say that would spook me in my car and I was used to

Not RTFT but I study vehicle collision as part of my degree and both I and a lot of my tutors believe horses should be banned from roads as they can be unpredictable and no matter how much you train them accidents happen whether caused by the rider, the driver or anything else.

If cars had a chance of suddenly swerving and crashing/harming people or its passengers they wouldn't be road worthy just incase. The same thing should happen for horses - they should be banned from roads and restricted to bridal paths etc (Obviously these need to be improved).

We don't trot on the road because dh horse has sidebones. So what f traffic on the village is slowed, isn't that a good thing?

And if we never road on the road how would we get to the pub?