About nervous horses on public roads

[pinkcardi]

AIBU that nervous and skittish horses shouldn't be on public roads.

I live in a small village with a stables in it. The village has a very narrow road and sections without pavements.

Today I was walking my DC in the pram. We went to look, from a distance, at the horses at the stable (allowed and encouraged by the owner who we know) On the way home two horses were walking a bit behind us.

At our drive I stopped the pram, pulled it up about 8 m from the road and stopped to watch the horses go past. We do this regularly, the children know not to move about etc. Never had any issues. No bright colours, no movement, DC being quiet.

First horse went past fine, second had a massive panic and wasn't entirely in control. The rider shouted that he didn't like the pram, so I hastily pulled it back out of sight. Lady implied it was my fault for being there, on my own drive, with the pram. Horse then calmed down and off they went.

But if a horse is this nervous of a very ordinary thing, surely it shouldn't be on the road. What if we'd been walking on the road and couldn't hide away? Or if a bright tractor went past, group of cyclists, children playing noisily in their garden, someone chainsawing??

I guess AIBU that a horse this sensitive shouldn't be on public roads? Or was I at fault for stopping to watch?

My daughter’s horse can be rock solid with something 999 times, then the 1000th time that same thing will spook her

She’s fine with bikes, but a couple of weeks ago DD was riding her on a bridleway and had been overtaken too close and too fast by about 1047592017 cyclists, the next bike just about finished her off - and she spooked

DD does always try to acknowledge or apologise, but she’s focussed on getting her horse back in control and past whatever random thing she’s taken exception to. I hope she doesn’t appear rude.

DD hates riding on roads, unfortunately there are times where she has no choice. Our bridleways are all close by, but she does have to ride on the road to get to them - plus, our local bridleways have become a bit of a no-go at weekends for horse riders due to the behaviour of a certain type of cyclist

Horses can be such silly beggars!

You're not being silly to feel annoyed OP, just have some consideration that the rider was probably a little panicked! It wasn't your fault. They really need to start exposing that horse to prams in the stable yard so it can get better used to them. But horses should totally train out on the road, they need to get used to being there :)

Ugh your poor DD Elly. People can be such arsehats about getting past horses. It's not that hard! Slow down, give enough space. Job done.

Horse owner here too.. I expect the lady was a bit short and abrupt because she was panicking herself.. in fact she could have been very nervous of the potential outcome. Horses do spook at the most ridiculous things, period. My friends old bomb proof polo pony (27 years young) spooks at a certain type of leaf.. I certainly don't think that means they shouldn't be out on the road, due to the very limited bridleways most horse owners have no choice but to go on roads and sometimes objects like prams or large rucksacks etc cause them to spook a bit. It's relatively normal.

I had a mare who would happily do an all-on-road hack with busy roads, farm vehicles, combines, cars, lorries, buses, you name it. We once met a woman with a pram and she completely lost it. She was terrified of it! There is no such thing as a horse which is completely safe, ever. They can and will spook at things that you think they have seen 100 times.

@pinkcardi just to be clear - I don't think you did anything wrong. Just that the rider might not intentionally have been having a go at you and that it isn't something worth getting upset/hurt over.

And yes, as someone else mention - well done for having respect for the horse and rider and teaching your DCs. I've seen some beyond crazy videos of people acting like nobs around horses on roads.

As a dog walker, I have met a rider on a horse that was spooked by dogs carrying sticks and people in hooded raincoats!

YABU and so was the rider for two different reasons.

Horse was NBU.

Problem is that horses are just so unpredictable. That horse could have possibly been fine on the roads every other time. I was exercising my old boy in the ring one day and he suddenly refused to go down one end, diving out of the way each time. I eventually got him over to try and reassure him about whatever the hell it was he was scared of. It turned out to be a chair that was 30 ft away from the ring outside that he could see through the window. Another pony I had was an old riding school schoolmaster, completely unflappable or so I thought, until someone in the gallery of the ring opened a packet of crisps and he bolted in the other direction.

I think the rider was probably flustered trying to manage her spooked horse (which could have been dangerous if not handled well, which it was in this situation, by both of you).

It's a reverse of a situation I've been in. My dog is scared of horses. Won't hurt them, but will howl and pull on his lead. If I see horses coming I can distract him and move out of sight but sometimes they just pop up on road, in which case I would hope riders would do the same thing and give us a moment to move. Recently a lane we were driving on was very narrow and to safely pass a horse and rider I had to stop, turn off the engine, and let them carry on. The horse was fine but ddog popped up (thinking we had arrived at our destination and were going to get out), saw a horse right at the window, and lost his mind screaming. Thankfully the horse was chilled!

The thing is, if your not an equestrian you wouldn't know that all horses have their moments.

Their survival instinct is "flight" and they are actually real chickens - a lot of them I LOL all the time at the things my horse reacts to. She's a total scaredy cat - a huge, strong, mahoosive scaredy cat!!

What that looks like to a non horsey person is probably more than what it actually is - a regular occurrence with horses in general...

I understand how you feel OP but I think you are overthinking it.

Even the msot steady, reliable plod can have a bit of a tizz at the most mundane things.

What matters is how quickly they come back to their ride. A few moments skittering about, probably snorting while their eyes are on stalks, and the brain catches up with their feet.

Also a stern voice can work wonders to bring their attention back to the job at hand. A sharp 'ah ah!', or growled 'behave yourself' etc can make all the difference so the rider could have automatically sharpened up her voice.

Thank you for pulling the pram in and I hope you go on to have many more pleasant encounters with the horses in your area.

This made me go wow. My pram was kicked by a panicking horse (with DS1 so about 7 years ago).
We were out for a walk near a popular livery stables. We were on a nature trail footpath that is a loop next to a bridleway. A lady came down on an already frightened looking horse (it was jigging about and snorting from quite far I the distance) and I moved the pram off the path and down into the woods at the side to give her space. I just stood and waited for her to go past. I obviously didn't give her enough space as just as she was getting past the horse kicked out and bolted, just catching the pram and knocking it over.
DS was fine but a bit damp.
The lady came back about 10 minutes later without the horse and in floods of tears.

I gave horses a very amazingly wide berth with the pram after that.

penguin snorting and jigging about isn't often a sign of being scared. It can just mean that the horse is full of energy and wants to up the pace! And as horses are prey animals they are unlikely to move towards whatever scares them.

That horse was probably just being a bit of a tit and then perhaps spooked at your pram when it gets up close. I ride a horse that currently associates all grassy tracks / fields with cantering. As I am trying to get him out of this habit, I often walk when he thinks he should be cantering. This results in plenty of beautiful piaffe (that I'd never be able to get in the school!) and snorting. I'm always in control: if I wasn't he'd be off!

I think so many of the issues people have with horses is that they can't understand / read horse behaviour. And why should they? It makes no sense to anyone not horsey that a tractor can be fine, but a wheelie bin the most terrifying thing. That's why passing wide and slow and making enough noise to make sure the horse knows you're there is such an important message to convey.

You'd hate being near where I live (not my photo but I did get stuck in the traffic!)