Horses/cyclists on the road

[sconeorscone]

Do you feel nervous on the roads too, or do you just get on with it and don’t feel anxious about it?

im really fortunate that in the area I’m in most people are fantastic at driving past my horse, as it’s quite a rural area and most people are used to waiting for horses, trackers, kids etc. I always pull in to the side, or trot to a passing place so they can get past. Unfortunately some people are so fucking selfish and speed past, or rev the engine deliberately, leave no space behind or to the side of me and don’t wait 2 seconds for me to pull into the side when I’m clearly indicating I will. I imagine cyclists have similar issues with some selfish drivers.

some of my friends are nervous going on the roads and others are not that bothered, I suppose it depends how many dickhead drivers you’ve come across and if you’ve had a bad experience but it made me realise I’m actually quite nervous about it although still do it because my horse loves it and it’s good for him. But if it were up to me we would never ride on the road because the few dickheads spoil it for everyone.

how do you feel about it?

And if you’re one of the arseholes that speeds past/tailgates/breaks the law around horses and bikes on the road, how do you sleep at night knowing you could have caused an accident?

It's so dangerous riding horses on the roads now, I'm sure it didn't used to be like this. I was recently riding my horse along a single track road, this car came speeding up to us, I waved my arm to ask him to slow down but instead of doing so he speeded up even more, got right beside me then beeped his horn deliberately to scare my horse. Crazy!! He must have been half a metre away from her.!

If you enjoy a bit of terror check out the Facebook pass wide and slow group.

It's riders who wear hat cams posting their videos. Bloody terrifying.

I've started wearing one now too, you can report any driver who is unsafe to the police very easily and are encouraged to do so. The highway code says you should pass at 10mph at a distance of 2m. If this isnt possible you should wait until it is. The police offer training or a fine if its not deemed dangerous driving .

There are very few bridleways in most of Britain, and horses are not allowed to ride on random farmers fields without permission, or the grass verge or village green. People may not like horses on the roads but it's legal so not up to you to risk someone's life because you don't think they should be there.

But cyclists aren't supposed to block the flow of traffic. The highway code is pretty specific about this.

It's the knobheads who cycle down country lanes with 30 cars behind them that give cyclists a bad name. The ones who just keep trundling along for 10 mins without even attempting to pull in for a few seconds. It's particularly dangerous when I'm driving one of the mixers at work. The cars behind can't see the cyclist if they're too far out and assume it's me holding up the traffic.

They often then attempt risky overtakes and only see the cyclist when they're level with me and need to pull in again - they've not usually accounted for the extra space needed to overtake the cyclist who they'd not seen so it becomes a last second panic to cut in front before they have a head on collision with oncoming cars.

Also for added terror we ride over a single track motorway bridge with a guard rail that only comes up to an adults waist so I'm entirely above it. You would not believe the number of motorway drivers who purposefully beep their horns to try to scare the horses.

I honestly can't imagine what's going through their minds. Do they want someone to plummet to their death??

FWIW I gave up riding after dc because it just seemed too dangerous, I've recently spent a fortune buying a bombproof horse so I can ride again. She is epic.

YANBU at all. We’ve recently moved to a very remote area so it’s not such a worry atm, but at our last home I became so anxious I almost stopped riding. It’s difficult to help horses learn not to be scared with traffic when drivers are so very selfish, distracted, preoccupied and rushed

I don’t know that much about cycling, but surely in the scenario you’ve explained it’s still the cars behind you who are at fault? If they can’t see the cyclist infront of your big truck then they don’t have a safe enough view to overtake at all. Whether there is a cyclist or not. If they can’t view infront or you to see a cyclist then by default then must have a somewhat obstructed view of oncoming traffic, the road layout, anything else that could be on the road. They shouldn’t therefore be overtaking.

besides, if your vehicle is so big then chances are you may not have room to safely overtake a cyclist and leave the legal 2m space. In which case, what do you expect the cyclist to do? Pull out on to the side verge (which isn’t always safe) just to let you past? Seems slightly entitled tbh.

I cycle, I used to ride (money and children mean I don’t anymore). When hacking we’d deliberately plan routes to avoid the road as much as possible, but sometimes it’s unavoidable to get to bridleways. The behaviour of drivers and the risk that a horse might spook just meant it felt too risky to me.

I cycle in London, and a fair bit in rural bits of the UK and Europe. For the most part I don’t let drivers put me off; my bike won’t spook, I ride defensively and I choose my routes carefully to avoid A-roads. Even with all that, I’ve still encountered drivers who’ve come close to seriously injuring me.

I just want to go for a bike ride without worrying if I’m going to make it home in safety. I’m not trying to hold anyone up. Please have a little patience.

You missed quite a key part of my post there:

I get out in the middle of the road where it would be dangerous to squeeze past

If they’re going to squeeze through and hit me, I’m getting in the middle of the rod al they can’t. Fuck that, I’m the most important person to me in that situation!

• getting in the middle of the road so they can’t.

I ride on the roads a lot. Most people are lovely and sensible, and I spend most of my time pulling off / trotting on to get out of the way. There are a handful of idiots who fly around blind bends at stupid speeds, but they're easy enough to avoid if you're paying attention and staying away from the worst bits of roads, where you can't pull off yourself.

I don't mind the few idiots who try to speed past on the straights so much - it's easy enough to stop them by plonking a good horse in the middle of the road so they physically can't get past until they've slowed down. I do object to the one local arsehole who thinks he can force us off the road though. He does it to people in cars too - he doesn't seem to be aware his car has a reverse gear 🙄

I now use a Go Pro so I can report anyone who does anything really daft to the police.

Sooooooo, you are still trying to claim cyclists don't have the right to cycle on a shared path?

The memorable one I had was putting my hand up to a car coming up behind and asking him to stop, on a blind bend
He stuck his fingers up at me, mouthed fuck off and whizzed past
Only to have to reverse as he nearly crashed into the tractor I was trying to warn him I had seen over the hedge...

If you give any kind of a sht about your horse, why are you riding it down busy roads anyway? Ride down a bridleway. Get permission to ride on a farmers fields. Why you have a horse just to trot it 20 mins down an A road and back is incomprehensible to me.

As someone not into horses can I just ask what the reason for benefit of riding on a road is?

Who's riding on an A-road?

And tell me you don't know shit about horses or the countryside without telling me you don't know shit ... 😂

Much as any other road user - horse riders use roads to get from A to B. That might be from their yard to an arena, or to a bridleway or other off-road riding.

Horse riders also use roads for exercise as constant circles and work on artificial surfaces is bad for horses' legs (soft tissue injuries - pulled tendons etc), and because tarmac's a flat, safe surface when other ground conditions might be dangerous.

Kind of need to use a road to get to a bridle way...
farmers don't tend to like you using their fields because they need them for crops and animals
Also not out for 20 mins, that's the time on the road to get to a bridleway!
Most places don't have one giant link of off road ways, it's more like a bit of road, off road, round a field, down a path, cross a road and so on

It's almost as though you should hire a stable near a suitable exercise area, rather than one in some random place........

Ok so you're looking for a stable
You need easy access form your home. Then the facilities you need and staff. Then the right price. And they have to have availability and be the right place for your horse

Think of it like finding a nursery or school
Most of them are in the countryside, on country lanes. That STILL doesn't mean you can ride off the stables to a bridleway
Finding that with all the other things is like a needle in a haystack
I've ridden at I don't know how many stables all over the country and not one had direct access to a bridleway. Also because if they do, that usually means people trampling about with dogs/kids etc close to the yard and easy access for people to break in. We had a footpath on one and that was bad enough

I'm sure no one can be arsed but just in case, have a look at a map of your area and check for bridle paths.

I live in a rural area, in a 5 mile radius there is a half mile of rutted gravel private road which is designated as a bridle path, it has a busy dual carriageway at one end and a locked gate at the other.

If you don't like horses on roads you could support riders in petitioning for more bridle paths. Councils are given money earmarked for such rights of way but are allowed to spend it on anything in their budget so it just goes missing.

It's almost as though you should just focus on obeying the Highway Code and not concern yourself with other people's life choices.

I haven't upset any horses.

Btw - did the horse make the "life choices" you made for it? No, you imposed them on the horse for your selfish and penny pinching interests. Just so you can ride along a road on a horse - and for what? - to imagine you're Lady Muck of Cowshit Farm?

Hahahahaha. Your comment is completely stupid but I have to admit the last part actually made me laugh a bit

I definitely don’t ride my horse to pretend I’m lady of anything🤣 one of my horses has to be ridden on hard road surfaces and not in circles in an arena. No amount of penny pinching involved, but last time I checked it’s not possible to purchase public roads!

I didn't accuse you of upsetting any horses - perhaps you're confused? This post certainly suggests you're struggling for a grip on reality.

Obviously I'm Sir Gallops-Alot of Horseshit Hall 🙄

Yeah well, they are legally entitled to be there and you are legally required to give them priority so suck it up I guess.