Horse rider and her 'request'

[Harmonyrays]

I need to know if im being unreasonable here in thinking that this lady was being deliberately awkward or something if its else. For contex, we are non white, they were white.

So My children (2 + 6) and I were having a great time exploring the woods when a horse box pulled in and two women unloaded their horses. Kids were naturally excited by this and wanted to get closer to see. I made sure we were a good distance away, at least 10 metres and we were up on the slope. The kids were watching the horses being unloaded for a few minutes. My son had a stick in his hands as he was ramble around and likes to do this. I made sure they were quite. The horses were quickly taken around the other side of the box to saddle up.

After a few minutes we decided to head down to the path and walk around the other side so they could see the horses more cleary and continue our walk. Again they were quite. We found a little bridge that was going the opposite way to where the horses were and my son wanted to explore that so we headed that way. We dissapeared from the womens view for around 5 mins and then i went back to bridge to wait for my son. At this point one of the women, in her 60's, walked over and said 'we are about to take the horses up here (a path that was no where near me and my chldren) can you just move on somewhere else. I said to her im sorry but we are here well away from you and your horses. She then said 'well cant you just move on because the sticks are scaring the horses'. Bear in mind there were no sticks in view at this point at all. As this was the second time she had said 'just move on' with a dismissive hand wave i was getting annoyed and said well were not doing anything to you or the horses. She then said 'well what ARE you doing here'. I said to her 'i dont need to tell you what im doing here, we are in the woods and free to go where we please'. She then looked like she was getting exasperated and huffed saying 'yes i know that but im asking you nicely if you can just move on until we move the horses up the road'.

Given that we were over a bridge and a good 20 metres away from the horses i think it had nothing to do with sticks. I feel she had an entitled attitude and like there was something else bothering her.

The irony is we have been around horses for many years so are aware of how to behave which is exactly why we kept our distance.

If i were alone this wouldnt have bothered me but my son heard and was then saying oh lets just go mum. I feel like she made him feel he shouldnt be there and that upset me.

So i need to know your thoughts, yes i am being unreasonable the lady was right in asking us to move on. No im not being unreasonable and she was out of line telling us to move on.

Thank you

[Harmonyrays]

Just came across this!
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8471539/Countryfile-sparks-race-row-claim-people-BAME-backgrounds-feel-unwelcome-countryside.html

[whoissylvia]

The horsy lady sounds like she was very rude. She may have been worried the kids may get kicked if they got in the way of the horses though. But yeah she could have been polite about it.

[LookOnTheBrightSide1]

Before you said she asked you 'well what are you doing here' and waved her arm at you in a dismissive way, I would maybe thought that her horses were may be a bit spooky or highly strung and she was worried for your safety too (I have worked with racehorses (thoroughbreds) but if the lady said that to you I think she was being a snob or worse!...

[Studycast]

In return these are the rules for riders as set out by the Highway Code and the British Horse Society:

here

Rule 54 says ...
You must not take a horse onto a footpath or pavement and you should not take a horse onto a cycle track. Use a bridleway where possible.

The "where possible" part of this instruction - however much a rider does NOT want to take a horse where dog-walkers, cyclists, ramblers are - is problematic because so few bridle paths exist nowadays and even where they do exist, they can be obstructed as follows:

scroll down here

Common obstructions include:

-gates that are locked or difficult to use
-cultivation – ploughed or growing crop
-intimidating dogs, a bull, stallion, horses, other livestock preventing easy use of the path
-encroachment on width by fencing, collapsing wall, adjacent vegetation or building
-overgrowth or low overhanging branches
-intimidating signs – e.g. Keep Out, Private Road, Danger, Bull in Field
-poor drainage causing deep mud
-missing, damaged or inadequate bridges
-rutted, slippery or otherwise dangerous artificial surfaces
-sports on or adjacent to the path e.g. shooting, ballooning, golf, archery, paintballing, model aircraft flying

So, speaking as a rider, it's not as easy as you think to find a calm bridlepath in which to ride.

[Studycast]

CaptainButtock in case your post wasn't sarcastic (Mnset really needs a sarcasm emoticon) ... and in case any other posters are in any doubt ...

Why should I have to adapt to indulge them in their bloody hobbies?

Because the highway code directs you to do so in the passage titled 'road users requiring extra care (204 to 225)':

here

in which it reminds drivers to be particularly aware of horses-riders, especially when over-taking and that riders are often children.

It also says:

Look out for horse riders’ and horse drivers’ signals and heed a request to slow down or stop. Take great care and treat all horses as a potential hazard; they can be unpredictable, despite the efforts of their rider/driver.

[RagamuffinAndFidget]

CaptainButtock I am desperately hoping that your post was intended to be funny and just hasn't quite hit the mark, because it would be truly terrible to actually be that stupid

[mbosnz]

CaptainButtock was inconvenienced?! This is outrageous! Don't people know who CaptainButtock is?! There should be a Commission of Inquiry, immediately, this disgraceful chain of events simply cannot be allowed to happen again. . .

[Eckhart]

@CaptainButtock

If everyone else is such an inconvenience to you, stay in.

Please.

[MrsAvocet]

I indicated to a driver coming the other way that he should slow down when I was riding my bike recently. He clearly didn't like it and replied with an abusive hand gesture and a yell that I didn't catch but was probably abusive. I expect there was more swearing when he rounded the next bend and found a herd of Highland cattle in the middle of the road. Sometimes it pays to take notice of other road users - not everyone is out to inconvenience you. Those who are travelling more slowly, or in the case of horse riders, who can see over the hedgerows, might just have spotted a hazard that others aren't aware of.

[FamBae]

You were in no way being unreasonable, I have found that some people who live in beautiful places just do not like to share and consider the area their own, I'm so very sorry that the situation made your DS uncomfortable, I also feel that they would have had the same entitled attitude to anyone they didn't recognise as being "local" regardless of colour, I remember a post earlier in lock down where a villager kicked of at a family out on a walk because they felt they would contaminate their garden wall and announced that as their house was expensive only they should enjoy their village.

[BayandBlonde]

captainbuttock

Oh and people like you inconvenience me so go and fuck yourself.

We all have a right to use the roads and be safe.

[BayandBlonde]

captainbuttock why are you asked to slow down? Because a horse coming through your windscreen WILL kill you. It doesnt hurt to slow down just for a second. Horse riders do not want to be on the roads but unfortunately bridlepaths are not all interlinked and roadwork is sometimes required to get from one to another.

I assume then you don't slow down for cyclists, pedestrians, walkers etc etc

I recall a horse drawn hearse was hit by a car because the driver was like you and couldn't be bothered to slow up. The horses died, coffin on the road. By hey you don't give a shit!

[CaptainButtock]

I've never understood this attitude from horse riders. Waving at me to slow down when they're riding the bloody things on the road etc.
Why should I have to adapt to indulge them in their bloody hobbies?
Same as people who get in everyone's way riding bikes around for no reason....that 'holier than thou' attitude they seem to have.
Piss off and get a hobby that doesn't inconvenience other people.

[GazeboParty]

[quote SleepOhHowIMissYou]@GazeboParty how about people on shared used paths employ some common sense and humanity yeah?

[/quote]
I think we can all agree with that - which is what started this thread - someone (on a horse) thought they deserved more humanity than someone else.

[IntermittentParps]

That's why the woman asked the OP to move away, she even gave an explanation of why she requested this.

She waved a hand dismissively, accused the OP of scaring the horses with sticks when there were no sticks in view, told the OP to 'just move on' and asked her what she was doing – in a public woods.

Not the best way of going about giving an explanation.

[GazeboParty]

@SleepOhHowIMissYou - All the best to you!

[SleepOhHowIMissYou]

Literally "fuck you and the horse you rode in on" 🤣

[SleepOhHowIMissYou]

@GazeboParty how about people on shared used paths employ some common sense and humanity yeah?

[SleepOhHowIMissYou]

@Floatyboat how many horse owners who don't like animals do you know? Or is this another in your head scenario like @GazeboParty ?

[GazeboParty]

@SleepOhHowIMiss You and your horses are the most important living beings in the forest, no one else's needs are important. The End.

[Floatyboat]

@SleepOhHowIMissYou

No it doesn't. It says more about the stupidity of the horse rider and how a lot of animal owners don't actually like animals. They just enjoy using animals for their own enjoyment. If you actually cared about your horse why would you take it somewhere likely to make it stressed.

[SleepOhHowIMissYou]

@GazeboParty when did your disabled person scenario happen? Or did it happen in your head? Perhaps they are an orphan too?

And as for the bike situation. Where is your humanity? What type of person continues doing something they know is causing discomfort to another because they believe it is their right to do it. Your horse is scared? Well, it's my RIGHT to be here, so fuck you. This situation says more about the entitled, selfish mindset of the bike rider than the horse rider IMO.

[GazeboParty]

Disabled person in a space - person with dangerous animal moves into space and tells disabled person to clear off dangerous animal doesn’t like wheelchairs - if disabled person gets hurt it won’t be anyone else’s fault but their own.
It’s crazy that anyone thinks a dangerous animal has the right to occupy a space over a vulnerable human- whether than human be a child or disabled. The animal does not have the right to occupy the space just because they are dangerous and out of control. If they are dangerous and out of control they should not be in a public space exercise then in a field - just like responsible owners of dangerous dogs do.

[lastburritos]

I was once on a cycle path on my bike. A horse came the other way and spooked. The horse rider shouted at me to get off my bike as her horse doesn't like them! I did as she shouted and got myself and my bike into the hedgerow. Once he was calm, she told me off for scaring her horse with my bike.....on a cycle track!

[SomeoneInTheLaaaaaounge]

YANBU!!!
I get this sort of shite all the time when I’m in the forest. Honestly, some horse riders think they are better than other people using public spaces.
Shame as horses are so beautiful, it’s the humans on them who frequently have bad attitudes.