To be FED UP of inconsiderate drivers towards horses

[SaltAndVinegarIsTheBest]

I know this thread has been done to death, but I just needed to rant sorry

I’m sick of drivers who just don’t give a shit about horses on the road. Most people are lovely and try their best to give space and drive slowly and it is so much appreciated unfortunately there’s a minority who don’t. I’ve had cars go right up to about a foot away from my horse. I’ve had cars speed past without slowing or giving any space. I’ve been shouted at and called every name under the sun for daring to be out on the road with my horse. I think most riders have experienced similar and try to avoid hacking where possible.

Why can’t people appreciate the dangers involved in horse riding and that if you spook the horse it could have disastrous consequences? My horse is 16.3 and if he rears and I end up crushed, I’d be lucky to even survive.

I’ve been there. I’ve been stuck behind a tractor or cyclist whilst late to work. I know how frustrating it is! But ultimately if a 5 minute delay was enough to make me late, then the problem lies with my timekeeping more than anything else.

And before anyone says anything, horses have every right to be on the road. I avoid it where possible as the risks are too great, but sometimes it is necessary and at the end of the day it is allowed. Blaming horse riders is victim blaming as we should be able to safely hack out without fearing ending up in hospital.

Thanks to everyone who is considerate around horses on the road. To those who aren’t, remember that horse riders want to get themselves and their horse home safely- don’t be the reason that doesn’t happen.

@Postivepants

Yes on my yard its a rule that you have to wear hi viz and riding hat. They also have a light on a timer that once it's deemed unsafe due to it going dark to hack out you cannot leave the yard on your horse if its lit.

We have the hat rule too. I remember going through a phase as a kid where it was uncool to wear a hat and I was upset at my parents for being strict about me always wearing it.

I recently came off badly and dented the side of my hat and I hate to think of the outcome if I hadn’t been wearing it. I don’t understand why people take the risk. Our yard has a 0 tolerance to not wearing a hat when riding and everyone follows the rules.

Your yards system with the timer light for hacking sounds great actually!

The stereotype about horse riders all being rich and entitled is irrelevant. No matter how rich or poor a rider is, or is whether they are middle class or not, NOBODY deserves to be involved in an accident with their horse all because of a small group of selfish drivers who refuse to drive considerately.

@saltandvinegaristhebest the light system was brought in because of one rider going out when it was turning dusk and got back in the dark. The yard owner was not happy and therefore the light was installed along with a stern message.

I really do hope that your post has helped at least a few more drivers to think twice when they see a horse.

@sanbeiji

Sorry if I’m being a thick city girl. But how do you expect the general public to know that horses spook? Fair enough to not be impatient, ride into a horse’s arse or not give space. But ‘spook’? Really? People would just assume that anything ridden on the road will have been trained. Just like guide dogs are trained to not be distracted any any old thing.

I don’t think people should be twats. But equally horse riding is dangerous (that’s how Christopher Reeve got paralysed), and such uncontrollable animals really should be limited to certain roads.

Rule 215 Horse riders and horse-drawn vehicles.

Be particularly careful of horse riders and horse-drawn vehicles especially when approaching, overtaking, passing or moving away. Always pass wide and slowly. When you see a horse on a road, you should slow down to a maximum of 10 mph. Be patient, do not sound your horn or rev your engine. When safe to do so, pass wide and slow, allowing at least 2 metres of space.

Feral or semi feral ponies found in areas such as the New Forest, Exmoor and Dartmoor require the same consideration as ridden horses when approaching or passing.

Horse riders are often children, so take extra care and remember riders may ride in double file when escorting a young or inexperienced horse or rider. 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. Remember there are three brains at work when you pass a horse; the rider’s, the driver’s and the horse’s. Do not forget horses are flight animals and can move incredibly quickly if startled.

On that subject, we learned during Covid that no one's actually got a clue just how far two metres is. So here's a tip - a Land Rover Discovery is 2m wide, so if you couldn't drive a big vehicle like that between you and the horse, then you are overtaking too close.

@Ozanj

Was it a work horse? No? Then not a necessity in any way shape or form. Fed up of twats risking animals lives on narrow roads just to show off to other twats. Horse riding on public roads should be made illegal.

I'm fed up with twats risking the lives of both animals and humans just to show off to other twats too. Private cars should therefore be banned from public roads. Though I am prepared to compromise with a reintroduction of the Locomotive Act.

I'm only half joking.

Nuisance hobbyists!!! So every single road trip you take is essential and never for pleasure?! No, thought not.

We could ride everywhere when I was younger, so sad that it’s no longer the case. I avoid roads now due to selfish drivers who clearly think if they are in a car they own the road. Twats

I'm terrified of passing horses after knowing a few people be really badly injured whilst out riding.

Snails pace and as wide a berths possible is the only way to go.

KloppsTeeth
I love horses, but I have never been a rider or involved in anything equestrian. I like to see them on the road, the vast majority of riders and cars round here are respectful.

There are exceptions on both sides. Just before Christmas I was driving along a wide country lane, doing 30mph at dusk. Speed limit is 60mph but that is too fast so I was driving steadily. All the cars had lights on. Came round a corner and was so surprised to see two dark brown horses being ridden, each rider dressed fully in dark clothing and hates and you could hardly tell they were there. They disappeared in an illusion against the hedge which looked black due it being dusk.
The moment they saw me, (and I slowed immediately to a crawl), they started flicking the V’s at me! WTF?! I slowed in plenty of time to a crawl, had already turned off my radio to cut any noise and I was well away from them and passed them wide and slow, yet they had no high visibility clothing on themselves or the horses. I really think there should be rules about making sure horses can be seen if riding on the roads after sunset. Perhaps they had had drives swearing at them and were getting in first. Odd behaviour.
Very odd, considering that they were so difficult to see and yet you could tell what hand gestures they were making.

@Lockheart Not odd at all. The lights of my car lit them up as soon as I was close enough, although a car travelling at 60mph would’ve had less time to react. Whilst the riders were in dark clothing and on dark horses at dusk, I could clearly see their hands which, as white people, we’re very obvious as I crawled slowly past them.

I give horses a wide berth but I remain concerned that they are so easily spooked - I really don’t think they are safe on the roads.

@Cluckingtell

I give horses a wide berth but I remain concerned that they are so easily spooked - I really don’t think they are safe on the roads.

I'm not sure that it's true that "they are so easily spooked". Any more than it's true that cars in general are likely to have a tyre blow, or a motorbike skid, or a cyclist fall foul of a pothole. Most horses on the road are fine most of the time, just that we need to be aware that they occasionally, and unpredictably might not be.

The difference with horses is (a) they're a living creature and crashing into them is likely to kill or maim them rather than just being an insurance claim and (b) a motorist's inappropriate behaviour may directly be the cause of the horse reacting.

@Cluckingtell

I give horses a wide berth but I remain concerned that they are so easily spooked - I really don’t think they are safe on the roads.

Not all are, it really depends I had ridden mine down a A road, past a hedge cutter, she had a puppy sit on her back hoof and didn't move an inch (despite flies landing on her), lorries, motorway bridges, motorbike parades.. no issue More anything that would make a human jump if you were out walking is something that will spook a horse! So if you were walking and a bird flew out the hedge into your face or a dog suddenly appeared barking at a gate etc Her spook was to stop dead though so that doesn't really cause issues on the road

What would happen if a horse on the road heard sirens behind it?

Her spook was to stop dead though so that doesn't really cause issues on the road

So long as drivers aren't driving too fast/close behind of course!

@ErrolTheDragon

Her spook was to stop dead though so that doesn't really cause issues on the road

So long as drivers aren't driving too fast/close behind of course!

@user1471504747 not bothered but emergency services will switch sirens off for horses

You should be moving out to be positioned to move past, and not sitting a metre or so directly behind a horse anyway. She would spook as in slam the brakes on, and then carry on walking
It's the same principle as once you've moved past something, you don't move back in so the rear of your car is about to hit it

To be honest she wasn't bothered about cars being behind her but if they were so close they couldn't stop then that's on them! I would often say to people you're ok to pass or move into a gateway/verge if they weren't sure

The number of people arguing that horses have no place on the road is concerning! Horses have just as much right to be there as cars do, possibly more since they were on the roads long before cars were.

@SaltAndVinegarIsTheBest

The number of people arguing that horses have no place on the road is concerning! Horses have just as much right to be there as cars do, possibly more since they were on the roads long before cars were.

I think when horse riders keep mentioning unpredictable horses who get spooked over odd stuff like crisp packets, some people will conclude they are not safe on the roads and should jot be there. I don’t think there’s a chance they’ll be taken off the road but keep talking about their unpredictable behaviour and that’s what your arguing for.

There are some ridiculous responses on this thread. Of course horses are perfectly entitled to be on the road. The majority of time you meet horses are on single track roads, just slow right down, keep your distance and let the rider find a space for you to pass them. It’s not difficult, pretty similar to meeting a pedestrian. There’s lots of potential hazards on country roads, that’s why you should drive at a sensible speed.

@SaltAndVinegarIsTheBest

The stereotype about horse riders all being rich and entitled is irrelevant. No matter how rich or poor a rider is, or is whether they are middle class or not, NOBODY deserves to be involved in an accident with their horse all because of a small group of selfish drivers who refuse to drive considerately.

Well this is really the heart of the issue isn't it?

It's interesting that people use the 'posh horsey people' stereotype to justify aggressive and dangerous driving towards that group of road users. It's really quite a poor excuse for that type of behaviour.

@Frightmare

There are some ridiculous responses on this thread. Of course horses are perfectly entitled to be on the road. The majority of time you meet horses are on single track roads, just slow right down, keep your distance and let the rider find a space for you to pass them. It’s not difficult, pretty similar to meeting a pedestrian. There’s lots of potential hazards on country roads, that’s why you should drive at a sensible speed.

Horses are not just on country roads - saw one last week on a dual carriageway.

All the people moaning about horses on the road would hate it round here! I work in Newmarket - 2,500 racehorses in training and out using the roads every morning. They don’t ride down the roads anymore, we have special horse walkways that either run alongside roads like pavements or cut through the town in order to get access to the work gallops on either side of the town.

There are plenty of idiots who think they shouldn’t have to stop at the horse crossings - some are traffic light controlled but the majority are not. There are near misses on a daily basis, if you’re on Twitter I’d recommend following @LifeofBean which follows a racehorse in town on his daily exercise and regularly shows the idiotic driving via his riders GoPro.

This article is about a horse hit by a car (thankfully only superficial injuries) ridden by the sister of the woman who runs the LifeOfBean account: www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/katie-margarson-newmarket-road-safety-748050

My point is, as has already been said, not every horse on the road is there for a “hobby”.

I always wear a go pro when I hack out.
It would help riders greatly if we were allowed on public footpaths

I know it's a problem but it does go both ways, some mornings I have to pass 3 or 4 riders going to work (not together) plus maybe a couple of cyclists doing 1 mph on the steep bending hill - my 15 minute journey can become 50 mins some days and I don't think that is right either when the riders are out for leisure, waiting until after 9am for instance would help me and the rest of the queue of traffic (a police motorbike actually made a cyclist get off and push in Thursday because he had caused a 2 mile tailback (I know the policeman). Frustration does cause a lot of the problems and employers can be less than understanding. I pass as far away as possible but the road is narrow where the stables are, riders need to keep left to enable as wide a berth as possible.

By the way my biggest bugbear is the stupid national grid contractors whose underpowered trucks can't get up the aforementioned steep bendy hill at more than 5mph, and they have a motor so no excuses! I wish they would sort out the roads here. Rural living hey!

I once witnessed a horrific, fatal incident involving a horse. The horse was being ridden down a country lane and on the path was a mother walking a little boy. The horse, for some reason, suddenly spooked, and kicked out at the little boy killing him instantly. I'll never forget that. Truly horrendous.