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?!

thats why they take risks

No it's because they're shit drivers

@Jalisco the Highway Code advises riders to ride two abreast. Riders doing so are doing nothing wrong! It's not about having a chat it's about safety!

I’m an ordinary working person, with an ordinary, average salary.

I keep my horse on a livery yard, and ride it everywhere I’m legally allowed to, whether that be the yard arena, bridleways, the beach, local forest or the road.

but you see, this is my point.

I wonder if you live near me.

Every day I think, has this woman got a death wish!

I don't drive quickly, but even slowing down round a blind corner is 20mph.

NOTHING should be on a road with blind corners in my opinion - certainly nothing that is at walking speed . There's also a guy who walks his dog practically in the middle of the same country lane with blind corners. Again, death wish?!

Horse riders, cyclists, we all get it. People in cats feel they own the roads and HATE having to slow down when they are happily crusing. As a cyclist, I know what it's like for horses. I must do it right because I always get a thumb up when I pass them!

What a stupid stupid comment!!! I've owned horses for more than a decade and I'm a carer. All the people who I am friendly with who keep horses are normal everyday working people. Horses cost as much as you let them cost

It's not just horses. I was out with a DofE group a couple of weeks ago, and even the short stretches of "quiet lanes" were pretty hairy. I don't feel comfortable bringing teenagers out on these lanes any more- I don't know what we'll do next year.

Nothing? What about cars coming the other way?! Do we have to make all lanes one way, so that people can chuck their vans round the corners as fast as they like?

I'd strongly recommend getting a helmet or body camera - both for cyclists and horse riders.

I have the techalogic DC1 camera which films front and back and straps on my helmet. Go Pros also good with a chest strap on.

The better police forces now have online portals you can upload footage to and have drivers fined/given points for breaking the law. You need to include about 2 mins of footage before and after the incident. They can't really do speeding as the videos don't provide court level evidence of excess speed but close passes/dangerous overtaking/being on the phone etc can all be prosecuted through the footage.

Getting the notification saying drivers have been fined/given points is quite satisfying but I'd prefer they just drove safely

Bad drivers need to feel the consequences of their actions and either change their driving or get banned.

Pass Pixi make tabards with a camera sign on them - so idiots approaching see you are filming and hopefully slow down.

Vehicles can only be on the roads by licence and that licence should be revoked if they are not driving safely. Pedestrians, horse riders and cyclists have the right to be there.
There are a lot of drivers who need reminding of that. You have no right to drive.

(And yes I can also drive).

Cyclists and traffic don't mix either

Cyclists are traffic FFS. Anything that uses the road is traffic and some of them - pedestrians, cyclists, horses - don't even need a licence. Unlike motorised vehicles.

When are car drivers going to realise that they don't own the road, metaphorically, practically or legally?

Cyclists are usually great and will call out something rather than silently appearing
My old horse was fine with anything apart from bikes with people stood by them. Cyclists should be on their bike she thought, not stood beside them

Absolutely - I never said anyone was taking the bends at 40, just an indication of the size of the road in general. And I agree, slow to 10mph or be able to emergency stop. My point is that I wouldn't ever approach a horse at even 10mph!

I trail run, we're mostly at 6-8mph, and we even stop and walk when we meet horses out on bridleways so as not to spook them. It really is a daft road to take a horse down, and funnily enough she's the only one, all the others take the straighter, more open road. I do think there needs to be a bit of common sense on both sides.

Well I always step off to the side of the road anyway when I hear a car coming but that’s not something a horse rider could do.

the roads aren’t just for cars.

There was a story about this last night on my local bbc news. It was terrifying how close some drivers drive past horses, and how fast! We always slow down and give room, even before the new law came in. The amount of horses killed by this sort of carelessness is really sad.

Yabu.
A road is for vehicles.
Not for riding horses ffs.

Poor horse anyway. Being ridden by someone whilst being forced to walk over a bitumen road on dangerous and loud roads...

I'm not the person quoted - but to be fair, yes, I do say that about dogs. I adore dogs but you need a garden, and to be within reasonable walking distance of a dog-friendly park. I'd love a dog but I live in a flat so haven't got one. Both dogs and horses are a choice, so you do need to make provision for the right circumstances in which to keep them without it being unfair on the dog or the horse, and without taking an unreasonable amount of others people's consideration.

...but agree with everyone who says that cars don't own the road, they are sharing it, and they shouldn't have priority.

Are you joking?
You can't make a horse do anything it doesn't want to, it's like trying to walk a cat

I walked the Isle of Wight coastal path last year. Its all beautifully signposted as such - but it's not a path and it's not on the coast. Some of it, especially the bits where there was no possibility of flinging yourself into a hedge if a car came too close, was terrifying.

No, they want to use the roads without being put in danger.

Impatience is not an excuse to drive dangerously. Your convenience takes a back seat to safety.

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.

oh FFS!

Who do you think first made and used the roads you think your car should dominate?

People on foot, and on horseback, and in horse-drawn carts and carriages. If you think sharing the road with other users is so dangerous, stay off the road.

A road is for vehicles.
Not for riding horses ffs.

I leave you to inform the police of this

Cyclists are usually great and will call out something rather than silently appearing

I am aware from my bike how big a horse is & have seen the damage they can do to a car - I don’t want that damage to me. It’s common sense to call out

The point is that no one who rides on the roads actually wants to. It's shit. Not just because of the drivers. Why on earth would any of us want to be on a road when the point of horses is that you can literally go off road.

Other than some fittening work and road training for younger horses we avoid them at all costs.

But we have no choice. A yard I ride at on Exmoor has no choice but to ride for 10 mins on the road to get on the moor. All the local drivers are brilliant but last time an absolute tool on a single track road revved and beeped - we were trotting to get out of the way - it was bloody obvious that one of our group of 4 was a child (DD) on a saint of a pony who was all over the place because a car was right up it's bum revving the engine.

Why in a million years would I want my child to have that experience.

So if you see riders in the road they are mostly trying to get from one bridle path to another - they don't join up - and just want to get out of your way safely.

It's not possible to hack from my current yard because a bridleway has been blocked and to get to the next one I'd have to go 10 mins down a busy A road that seems to be a racetrack for huge lorries.

I'm 100% certain I'd be hit by something. I used to cycle down it and that was terrifying. On a horse?

We don't like being on the roads. Cut us some slack! No one spends their entire disposable income on trying to get a half ton animal safely down a strip of concrete with bloody cars and lorries hurtling past.

We need a public campaign to re-emphasise that safety of all road users (pedestrians, cyclists, horse riders, horse and carriages, cars, motorbikes) is far more important than convenience for a car driver

A widespread advertising campaign that shows a dead horse or a dead child might help - preferably with the driver then being shown going to prison so even the most self centered might think twice about dangerous driving for their own benefit if not everyone else's.

I think modern cars cocoon drivers so much - cars are so much bigger, higher, more robust than they used to be with music and soundproofing to isolate themselves from their immediate surroundings - that many drivers are becoming more atomistic and selfish

Unfortunately traffic planners put an economic cost on any theoretical car delays so a new project is deemed economically less attractive if cars are delayed by a few minutes even if it makes it much safer for pedestrians or cyclists or any other road users. It's why council often need there to be a certain number of deaths or serious injuries FIRST before they will fund a scheme.