Horses on the road - rant !

[Itsabeautifuldayoutside]

Sorry just needed a bit of a rant. I know not everyone is like this, and to everyone who drives respectfully around horses- thank you so much, it’s so appreciated.

Unfortunately some people are completely selfish (and stupid!) and drive carelessly around horses and my post is directed towards them. It’s the law now- drive at less than 10mph, give at least 2 metres of space and don’t make unnecessary noise (engine reving, beeping horn). Why is this so difficult to understand? Going out hacking is so, so stressful because of other people’s selfishness. If you can’t follow the Highway Code then you shouldn’t have a driving license.

My stables has fields and off road areas for riding, but the destruction of bridle paths meant that to get to the off-road areas you have to hack on a country road. Also, sometimes horses need to be out hacking or on the roads for training, working or health reasons. It’s not just for leisure. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been sworn at, tailgated, hassled, overtaken at insane speeds, overtaken with no space.

Last week I was overtaken by someone at easily 40mph+ who was so busy hassling me and beeping their horn that they didn’t check for the oncoming traffic. After pulling out, they had to speed up even more and pull back in to our side of the road- nearly knocking my horse over. Luckily my boy is fantastic on the roads and is the most bombproof hacker, but this could have been so, so dangerous for everyone involved and unfortunately isn’t unusual.

side note- my horse weighs around 600kg. Even if you’re selfish and don’t care about me, or him, or other road users- why would you want to risk him landing on top of your car in an accident?!

Well YANBU, but do you think all these speedy roadsters are perusing mumsnet and will think twice about their actions?!

There are plenty of angry and selfish drivers on MN!

Our local riders like to wave us past, often when I don't feel it's safe to overtake them 🤦🏼‍♀️

Why wouldn’t they be? It’s drivers of both sexes and of all ages! I’m sure there will be plenty of dangerous drivers on here and hopefully this will reach some of them and make them think twice. Although the main point of my post was just a rant to be fair!

Yes but I can’t really see lots of people coming

I've driven past two horses recently. Both times I've gone over the white line when passing so given them loadsa room and crawled past so under 10mph.

Both times the riders though have got super cross and waved me on aggressively as if to say "hurry the F up," however like OP says the horses are blooming massive and my car is tiny. Why would I even risk an incident???

YANBU at all. Many drivers forget they are only on the road by licence, and it is a privilege that can be taken away. Pedestrians, cyclists, and horse riders are on the road by right.

Horses and traffic just don't mix. I love animals, and always over take the horses slowly and carefully, but I don't think that horses should be on the road. Only because the horse is put into a risky situation. If you have a horse, you should have the acres of land to go with it and ride it around the fields and woods.

A while ago I saw somebody on a horse with a dog on a long lead on a main road. Is this madness or what.

Yep, I don't want to be told when to overtake. Especially when I'm approaching a blind downhill bend like the last time I was waved on by a rider, and I don't feel it's safe.

Unfortunately some riders can have a chip on their shoulder, I’m really sorry you experienced that when you were doing the right thing and driving carefully! I understand some horses get stressed when cars are overtaking but you can’t ask drivers to slow down then get cross when they drive slowly! It’s like riders who don’t wear high viz- not only does it invalidate insurance but it’s completely unsafe!

This is an absolute pet hate of mine - I will not overtake on the say so of anyone waving me on when I can't see what's coming. It's my decision and I have to be comfortable with it.

Equally when working horses on the road, I never wave cars past. If someone is reluctant to pass, I pull in and stop, or trot on to a passing place if possible, to make it easier for them. And then I thank them for their patience.

Some of them are still absolute pillocks, but the majority are polite and sensible.

Some horses can’t be ridden in schools, arenas or fields and need ridden on hard surfaces, sometimes for medicinal and health reasons. Or some horses are on the road as part of work or training. There’s no bridle tracks anymore as they’ve all been destroyed for roads, so options are limited unfortunately. Most riders would rather avoid roads altogether for theirs and their horses safety but unfortunately it’s unavoidable sometimes.

No woods near me. The fields at my yard are for grazing. You can’t ride on farmers fields without permission. There is one very short Bridleway near my yard. I have to go on the road.

Do you seriously think it's reasonable for every horse owner to have access to hundreds of acres of private land, because some people can't be trusted to drive sensibly? Do you say the same of cyclists, walkers, dog owners etc?

Well then feel free to leave the thread? Not sure what point you’re trying to make?

100% I’m the same. I never wave people on as I know how stressful it is as a driver. I was waved on by a police horse rider recently and was terrified as I couldn’t see fully round the bend and was relying solely on their wave. I always move in to passing places or parking spaces to let drivers past and like you, wave and thank them for being so considerate

There is an equestrian centre quite near to where I live, so occasionally I have to pass horses on the road.
I try to give them as much space as I possibly can without endangering myself.
Not just for the safety of the horse and rider, but in case the horse becomes spooked and either collides with my car or throws the rider.
Yes, sometimes I think, get out of my way, haven't you got a field to ride in or something!
But it's best to err on the side of caution and give as wide a berth as possible while mentally foaming instead.

Ahh that's so horrible. I slow down and give a wide berth of horses, as I wouldn't want them to get spooked. I'd be worried for the horse, the rider and my car if I scared them, plus I just wouldn't want to be a dickhead tbh. The only thing I don't do, as others have mentioned, is go past a rider if I can't see it's clear and they are waving me on. That just puts myself in danger.
Tbh I quite like seeing horses, I think they're such beautiful animals!

100%

I always wonder where these people are going that a 2 minute delay to keep everyone safe is too much trouble.

I don't ride, but I live rurally with lots of country lanes and a couple of riding schools nearby and I just consider it part of the deal. If you don't want to pass horses safely, go live in a city centre where you won't need to.

If you don't want to pass horses safely, go live in a city centre where you won't need to

but then you have to pass about a million cyclists!

You say that, but I'm in London and live almost next to some police horse stables! So horses on the roads here are reasonably common.

All drivers should know how to drive safely around horses and animals, regardless of where they live.

I agree with you. But equally, I get annoyed at the riders who insist on taking up half the road or more by riding abreast so that they can gossip whilst riding, and prevent people from passing easily. There's selfish people everywhere.

As opposed to cars, which as everyone knows only take up 10% of the road width.

YANBU, I live off a narrow country lane and nearly had a head on collision with a twat driving too fast the other day. We only didn't collide because I was driving slowly. I was really hoping he didn't meet a horse, or a tractor.