WIBU to politely ask cyclists.....

[Bruisedarse]

.... To shout a warning, ring their bell, sing Bohemian Rhapsody, in fact anything to warn you are coming up behind a horse?

As my (changed from regular) username suggests, I landed on a hard lane from a large horse this morning because 4 cyclists appeared from no where, going quite a pace and scared the living daylights out of me and my horse. She launched forward as they approached from behind but as I regained control, myself not knowing the issue at that moment, they flew past, 2 abreast. Horse shied away and spun and I came off over the shoulder. Not one stopped, despite looking back. Luckily I'm pretty tough and once she realised what they were she stopped.
A warning shout could have totally prevented it, bikes are silent as they approach more or less until they're very close, and if the lead bikes could have warned me they were there then I could have let the horse see, and she'd have heard them call out as well and it wouldn't have completely taken both of us by nasty surprise. I was wearing fluorescent and reflective clothing, and I know that you can see parts of the road from the lane though admittedly they may have missed me.
Luckily there were no cars about or it could have been worse, but I'd like to say a big thank you to the farmer who legged me back on in the safety of his field gateway because I'd have had to walk quite a way to safely get back on and not do it at the side of the road, causing a hazard.
So all you cyclists out there, please, please warn us horse riders you're approaching behind, I can hear a car, so can the horse so we know what to expect, both cyclists and horse riders are vulnerable road users and if we look out for each other then there may be less accidents.

Thank you!

Regularly cycle down National cycle route 1 with the kids. The looks from some pedestrians ( clue in the name ) horses are tricky do you nearly stop or carry on. Lots of horse riders seem to go 2 abreast. They probably had as little time as you to realise you were both converging. Guess horse needs more cyclists to get used to them. Sorry you fell

Suggest better schooling for your horse if it is skittish.

Cyclists are fab around me. I do shout hi most of the time and they say something back like morning/hello/coming past

Should add a cycling group once asked us what they should do, and it resulted in a great Facebook post with loads of helpful stuff
Mine might spook when something silently appears next to her and weirdly doesn't like humans stood next to a bicycle her theory is humans shouldn't walk bikes
But say hi or coming past or anything to show you're not an alien!

I wasn't going to post again but
We often ride two abreast then tuck in when we see a car. Drivers often see wide and slow as 6 inches and 40mph, and riding two abreast makes us more of an "obstacle" so drivers slow down. I've had cars come within mm of my stirrup or so close they touch my whip. Luckily mine doesn't bother but all it takes is a pheasant out the hedge...
I don't want to kill myself or my horse, I always am plastered in high viz and polite. But if the horse goes through a windscreen, it's probably going to kill the driver too. For the sake of 5-10 seconds
15mph and a metre width

I was going to say there is always one that has to be a violent nasty git, but looky here we had 2, straight up!

The cyclists caused the OP to get hurt. Why is it so awful to wish the people who caused the horse to freak out had had the fall instead?

Thanks Igotta

I am a slow and noisy runner so don't think it's too much of a problem!

Last time I was running and overtook a horse, shortly after the horse sped up and was running alongside me and gave me a glare!

I'll definitely give as wide a berth as possible if it happens again.

Cyclists in a busy city are a menace. And the way TFL in particular panders to them is ridiculous. Building sodding super cycle highways that take roads that are already busy and narrowing them to one lane whilst the cyclists, many of whom are only focused on how fit they are and how fast they can go, blithely ignore them and bomb around the cars on all sides at once because, to quote the charming fellow who knocked the wing mirror off my taxi the other morning, "it's fucking optional innit."

I would make cyclists in cities have little licence plates and insurance. There's enough traffic cameras to catch them. And I'd ban them from really busy main roads and junctions, for everyone's sake. Use the back streets. If you don't want to register your bike, you can use a boris bike. Sorted.

Outside cities, they tend to be much more considerate and I have never had an issue with anyone. But I do think some sort of mandatory training or even just safety awareness on things like how to pass horses safely would be good.

Cars in a busy city centre are a real menace. Taking up all of that room just for one person. Belching out times. Parking in bike lanes speeding suddenly changing direction with no indication taking up all of those places to park which could be better used running red lights etc.

Real menace.

Menace? Cycling is a way of life all across Europe, Asia, etc. They manage.

Then again they dont have vile attitides to cyclists and love affairs with gas guzzling 4x4s like here.

NikiBabe

Ah cyclist hate again......wishes of violence.

Get your bloody wild animal off a public path where it is a danger to everyone!

No cyclist hate and wishes of violence from me actually Niki, and why? Why should I? I'm legally allowed to ride on the road, and it's not a wild animal, she's trained, and I'm trained. However the speed the cyclists approached and passed without warning is what caused the incident. So I should get off the road because then others can go about their hobby and pass time without having a little bit of consideration? No, it's not going to happen. Regardless of your opinion on where a horse should and shouldn't be ridden, horses are on the roads, and are there legally, and covered by the highway code. You have no more right to tell me to get off the road than I have to tell cyclists to get off the road.
What difference would a shout of hello make if your horse was spooked by them passing. It would be spooked by them anyway.

The bikes weren't the issue, it was the speed at which they approached and passed. Due to having no engine you can't hear them coming like you can a car. 4 bikes appearing behind and whizzing past, with no warning would make any animal or human jump. And as I said in the OP - when she realised what they were she stopped because she realised they weren't dangerous.

I really hope you're not a road user who expects tolerance, respect and safety from other road users because you display none yourself!

Horse rider here. Luckily the horses I ride are utterly road proof (as much as half a tonne of animal wired for flight can be). I appreciate cyclists who give us a wide berth, maintain speed and call out “bike” before they pass. Most horses encounter raised voices day to day and it doesn’t bother them.

Drivers and motor bikes: please pass wide and slow, and do not rev your engine till you are past us.

Horse riders will often ride 2 abreast in groups of 4 or more. This means that motorists can over take more rapidly as soon as safe to do so. Let’s face it, even to overtake a single file of horses safely will necessitate straddling the middle of the road. When riding 2 abreast, it’s usual to put the more confident / experienced horse (or rider) on the outside, so if you do see riders doing this they may be doing it to keep themselves (and other road users) safer.

Riders and cyclists: we are very vulnerable. FFS wear high vis. It keeps you safer. Rode out on Sunday with 5 others. Only me in High vis. One twat all in black on a dark gray horse, almost invisible. Another in black on a dark bay. Also invisible (but wearing a white hat which helps).

Menace? Cycling is a way of life all across Europe, Asia, etc. They manage.

Sure, but people just jump onto bikes in most countries in any old clobber and go from A to B.

In London there are too many aggressive male citywanker cyclists with the trying to outdo each other with the most expensive bike, equipment and racing one another and themselves, regardless of who or what is in the road in front of them.

Pannn - it ain't cars that speed through pedestrian crossings and swear at pedestrians who happen to be using them. I had a teacher at school who had a replacement hip because a cyclist mowed her down by ignoring red lights. I see so many near misses day in day out in central London and it's nearly always the young male cyclists who cause them.

Perhaps cars wouldn't belch out so many fumes if there weren't heaps of cyclists pushing to the front of the queue and then setting off en masse so that a junction which should let through 10 cars manages about 2 by the time all the cyclists have pedalled away, eh?

Why on earth would you think all cars have just 1 passenger in them?! I taxi share with 3 colleagues who live nearby when I get a cab to work. Not to mention the many people who make a living out of driving them and who pay tax as a consequence.

Other cities were built differently and/or have smaller populations. UK cities tend to have narrow lanes and lots of people. It's always always always the cyclists who are aggressive, in your face and causing problems for cars and pedestrians alike.

Obviously it's not ALL cyclists. It's far from all cyclists. We all know that. But sorry, the selfish muppets who spoil it have really really spoiled it for everyone else.

Sounds about right from cyclists.

Bunch of entitled individuals they are. They want all the rules of the road to go their way. Do my head in they do.

YANBU to be pissed off OP.

Again the utter lack of self awareness of car drivers is breath-taking. The menace and risks they present to other road users is well established in statistics.
Yet we still have moany arsed car drivers complaining because a cyclist looked at them funny.

But bruise - you did laugh when someone suggested that your horse kick a cyclist off their bike. That does not suggest an inherent love of cyclists ! I'll just be off to do some more hurly burly now!

On the rare occasions when I've seen a horse on one of my bike rides, I slow down/stop. I would be wary of ringing my bell or shouting as I would be worried this would scare the horse. I know horses can spook at anything - plastic bags, umbrellas, pushchairs.

I hate it when people make blanket statements like they 'hate cyclists' - I wouldn't say, for example, 'I hate car drivers'. I don't get out on my bike very often nowadays because of having young children, but to think that someone hates me just for cycling along country lanes, doing something I love and that is of immense benefit to both my physical and mental health, is quite depressing.

Looked at them funny. Rode into their car and damaged it. Swore at them. Clogged up the road. Slowed down the traffic. Presented a danger to pedestrians. Face it - so many people dislike cyclists because of how they behave and the fact that they are just not good at riding bikes in cities. Sorry to be the bearer and all that.

Ghosts you're fighting a losing battle. ThIs is mumsnet

Rebecca - given that in most cycle accidents and cyclist deaths - the driver of the motor vehicle is to blame (statistically) - perhaps you're looking at this the wrong way

Nope. I know what I see, day in and day out - it's only my view but it's been informed by 30 years of being mostly a pedestrian around London cars and cyclists. And it's getting worse. The new kit and new bikes don't seem to help; the cyclists just get more fanatical.

As I said above, cyclists out of the city are a different breed altogether - even though some of them must be the same people - and I have zero problem with them.

I’m staggered by the number of posters with strong anger at other categories of road user. It’s not helpful and it’s not clever. I ride horses and bicycles and drive a car. So do lots of others.

As for people suggesting violence, you are encouraging or suggesting a crime. Please stop it.

All road users should be safe in how they use the road and show courtesy and consideration for others at all times.

Ah so you just hate city cyclists