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!

That's perfect Ivy, thanks all cyclists that could encounter horses should read that.

On a lighter note, an old instructor of mine once told me her bomb proof old hack once stopped dead in the road and refused to move. She was mystified until a calf, followed by a cow - pushed their way through the hedge. She didn't know who was more shocked, her, the horse or the bud full of passengers coming the other way as they all tried to round them up!

To all the pps who wished violence against cyclists on this thread you must love what's happened in new York today!

Lethadrizal

Thing is - as happened in London- any motorist driving badly endangering others lives could find a gun to their head or shot, if they are thought to be terrorising people

Going round Vauxhall the other day, the cycle superhighway was empty and all the bikes were on the road. Is it not fit for purpose in parts?

I know this thread has moved on, but this super highway is rammed most mornings. Hardly any bikes on the road.

What an utterly hateful and unkind thing to say that people on here will be glad that people have been killed in new york terror attack just because they are cyclists.

How horrible OP. They completely startled your horse, glad you’re both okay.

@leamington99 interesting name 🤣😆😁

@Bruisedarse I'm surprised at some of the cyclists responses tbh, I genuinely thought as road users who also are at greater risk of injury or death when things go wrong, they would welcome the chance to help make the roads a little safer for all - in that belief I see I was a bit naïve.

Not sure if you saw my earlier reply OP, but basically said "the good guys already do this. That bad guys don't care - both sides regardless of whatever transport they use"

I'm glad you and the horse are feeling ok today.

Yep, apparently there's no point even trying to have a discussion on how cycling could improve - that would just be "deluded"🤦‍♀️

Nice post, lethal. Really flying the flag high for cyclists there.

Hey I'm just pointing out that pps on this thread have wished violence against cyclists!

Cycling could easily be improved if infrastructure was put in and millions spent on it - which in turn would be saved in other areas, hours lost through sickness and NHS

Cycling in France, Belgium and Nederland are all remarkably better and the first doesn’t have the infrastructure that the later two has. So why is Cycling in these countries so much better and why do motorists give cyclist plenty of room when passing? Why is it so different in the uk?

Whenever I approach a horse from behind, I slow right down, hang back and call out asking if I can get by - I then wait to be waved past. I'm a mountain biker though, I don't tend to do road riding as the standard of driving in the UK is so poor.

I also grew up in the countryside, so I kind of always had knowledge of how to approach horses (and not to feed them, because they'll get fat or might have laminitis...). I think some people don't quite appreciate that horses have their own personalities, and, as prey animals, tend to be instinctively a bit skittish about something rapidly approaching behind them with no warning.

(Or alternatively they might just be Strava wankers).

There's no problem with them riding two abreast though, perfectly allowed and quite often advisable on a lot of roads to encourage safer overtaking.

I don't think there is specific cyclist hate - just frustration with road users who don't behave responsibly.

I ride horses and I cycle. I can cite bad behaviour by both cyclists and horse riders locally, both when I'm in my car (dangerous to them) and when I've been on foot (dangerous to me).

I think its NBU to politely ask oblivous users of public spaces to be more aware of other users of the same space and to act in a way that allows everyone to be as safe as possible!

Ivykaty - I think because the uk is quite an insular country and not very forward thinking - stuck in its ways

OP

Not often horses on the road with me but just a thought, my latest car is a hybrid so sometimes is silent, if I'm approaching a horse from behind Usually slow down and just follow to the next junction but if my car is silent what should I do?

My instinct is to not use the horn.

Another thing, the last horses I came up behind there were two smallish horses / ponies. One had a child on it's back and an adult leading, the other was being led by a child who looked to be about 10. Horses were abreast.

We were coming up to a junction and I know they would probably be going left so I was happy to wait. The girl leading the horse indicated for me to go round but that would have put me totally on the other side of the road and something might be turning towards us from the junction.

Is there a universal signal for, 'carry on'? I did a sort of waft thing with my hand but she tried to get me to pass 2 or three times.

I acknowledge a 10 year old may well know more about horses than me, but I think I probably know more about not wanting to be on the wrong side of the road.

I'm a new cyclist and ex-rider who used to ride for miles on the roads in the olden days on a variety of horses. My cycling partner always gets grumpy with me because I slow down for horses and shout "am I OK to come past" before moving out to overtake them! Even when the horse looks so dozy that a bomb going off wouldn't spook it

Like the OP I have been on a horse which has been spooked by the 'whish' of the wheels as the cyclist sped past and would have loved a bit of warning.

sashh knowing when to overtake horses (or cyclists) is always tricky round our way! When I was a young rider (before learning to drive) I used to wave cars past but didn't appreciate how much room they needed so inadvertently caused a few issues

Nowadays I will only wave people past if I can see clearly ahead but when driving I only tend to obey the 'come past' wave if its an older person.

However, as a rider/cyclist it does get frustrating if there is a car sitting on your tail and you are worried about the driver getting cross and you can see its clear but they just wont overtake !!!!!

@Blobby10 However, as a rider/cyclist it does get frustrating if there is a car sitting on your tail and you are worried about the driver getting cross and you can see its clear but they just wont overtake !!!!!

I was on a discussion (maybe here, maybe somewhere else) where "waving on" waiting traffic was discussed. By and large all the wavers did it to acknowledge/show thanks for/help out traffic who has patiently waited behind them; and let them take advantage of the rider's ability to see a bit further forward.

The responders were split - half the people said it was helpful and thanked the wavers for doing so. The other half got extremely upset and said they would never trust anyone else and wavers could fuck off with their patronising waving.

As usual any road user not in a car couldn't win
(ditto bells, ditto horses, ditto lycra, ditto lights etc)

Bloody hate cyclists

Thanks for that well-considered contribution schoolgate.

Overall the 'default setting' is that roads are for cars/motorised vehicles and nothing else, though the roads themselves are a public utility and anyone can use them for anything lawful etc.

Threads like this only go one way, no matter how best-intent is measured. The lights one last week, I think, was exactly the same - someone comes on in all best-intent as a non-bike rider, and shortly after we have the shite that we saw only one post in on this one.

MN posters are not representative of the GBP in this regard.

School gate - you remind me of an old neighbour of mine who used to say she hated all foreigners. All I would say? Really?

People riding bicycles OR horses on the road are extremely irritating at the best of times, but when they get all entitled and sanctimonious about how we should accommodate them and their stupid hobbies I'm afraid 'irritating' doesn't even cover it.

(People who cycle in place of a car journey, I applaud btw. It's just the idiots riding around pretending they're in the Tour de France that annoy the shite out of me)

ShotsFired

@Bruisedarse I'm surprised at some of the cyclists responses tbh, I genuinely thought as road users who also are at greater risk of injury or death when things go wrong, they would welcome the chance to help make the roads a little safer for all - in that belief I see I was a bit naïve.

Not sure if you saw my earlier reply OP, but basically said "the good guys already do this. That bad guys don't care - both sides regardless of whatever transport they use"

I'm glad you and the horse are feeling ok today.

Shots - I did miss it I'm afraid but I've gone back and had a look, sorry there was a lot of posts to wade through! I agree that those who are inconsiderate and the 'bad guys' won't listen anyway, but it occurred to me that maybe cyclists don't know that they could cause a horse a problem, if they've never been around horses, and never had an incident, then they necessarily wouldn't know. Maybe because of my personality I'm still leaning towards the theory that the cyclists didn't even realise they caused the horse to spook because of the speed and manner of their approach and over taking - it would take a really twattish person to know that, and still not stop. For that reason I'm inclined to think they thought I just fell off and was nothing to do with them. I'd hope that was the case anyway, but honestly reading this and thinking about it logically, I wonder now, and that's sad and reflects on where we are as a society more than anything else. In general, I've encountered ignorance rather than out right nastiness from other road users with regards to riding a horse on the roads. They didn't know what to do, as they'd never been taught or never come across that situation.
And thank you, we went in the school today and I'm a bit stiff but she's her usual self and I indeed do have a bruised arse today (which oh thought was hilarious!)

sashh

OP

Not often horses on the road with me but just a thought, my latest car is a hybrid so sometimes is silent, if I'm approaching a horse from behind Usually slow down and just follow to the next junction but if my car is silent what should I do?

My instinct is to not use the horn.

Sashh - as I explained earlier, I've personally not come across an electric car, possibly because of where I live. But you raise a good point because no the horn wouldn't really be appropriate, and is markedly different from a human voice calling out. My instinct would be, purely from a personal view of me and my horse who I know, that you'd be seen as a car is obviously bigger than a bike, and the weight is more so the approach would make more noise? I look behind me regularly ( I missed the cyclists due to their speed and the road lay out) and horses frequently check around them with eyes and ears. I'd hope that any electric car would slow down and therefore slower moving would mean more chance to be seen by both. Personally I would move over and into a gateway when I could to allow the car clear run past me, but I realise not all riders do that. I can see it being a potential issue, as electric cars become more common.

Well you go ahead and be irritated MissMisery.
I for one am not being sanctimonious, or asking you to 'accommodate' my hobby, I'm expecting the rules of the road and highway code to be observed, which mostly people manage unless it's 'irritating' then they can do what they like. Roads are there for all to use not just cars, i take time out of my ride to pull into gateways and let cars go so I'm not quite so irritating but I realise not everyone does that.
Obviously to people like you, making the roads safer for all is an inconvenience. Sorry for that, but I'm not going to not do something I love because not endangering my life is 'irritating' to someone.