To think I shouldn’t have to stop my run to walk past a horse?

[Famousperson2023]

This has happened twice now. Out for a run and the horse riders have asked me to stop running while I go past their horse!!

I’ll put this in context- daughter rides, I used to ride. When passing a horse or pony I’ll go wide and slow, or stop and wait at a passing place on narrow roads (often while the riders amble up at a slow walk deep in conversation with their fellow riders, 3 abreast….and without a hint of thank you). When I’m out with our dog I’ll make sure she is on the lead while we pass. but being asked to stop and walk???

But so is everybody else enjoying the paths as they are supposed to be enjoyed.

It might be best to keep your child at home if you can’t, or won’t, raise them to extend courtesy.

Baffling.

Why would it be common sense? The majority of people have never ridden a horse nor spent considerable time around them, lots of people who have been around horses assume lots of things that actually aren't are obvious. Personally I'd walk past if asked by a rider, it's very odd behaviour to ride on the back of an animal for leisure and so I'd listen to get away from them ASAP.

And remove your child, remove the risk.

I don’t understand how you can’t see your double standards? Just have some courtesy for others!

Nope, remove the child and you have removed the rider's risk.

We could do this all day 😂

Only some people using the paths pose a risk to others.

The burden is on those people to protect against the risk that they pose.

If they won't/ can't do this, then they should stay home.

I always stop for the horse to pass, can’t see the problem. I am usually on the way to my horse, I have not ridden on the road since I moved, far too dangerous!

Yes, and you would still be wrong.

What on earth is so terrible about being asked to walk for a few steps? Quite simply, horses are allowed to use the roads, if you running past them is potentially dangerous for you and/or the rider, it's an utterly reasonable request to make.

No. Your child poses a risk to a rider.

And the rider requesting you walk IS them taking ownership of protecting other path users by providing some very obvious and easy to follow safety instructions.

If you were really a “proper” runner you’d hire a track then. Because all sorts of things not least other pedestrians can break your stride on public rights of way.

You cannot rely on others behaving in a certain way to mitigate a danger you have yourself introduced. What if someone is hard of hearing or slow to respond?

And running children will still be a risk to riders.

The risk to the rider is created by the horse, not my child. Remove the horse, no risk to either my child or the rider.

Remove the house, no risk to either child or rider.

Again, remove your running child and we’ve removed the danger.

How can you be so blinkered to not understand that we all should play a role in helping where possible to safeguard each other?

Now a house risk is a different matter...

I think you're being very unreasonable, OP. I used to ride when I was younger, and there's no way I'd have wanted someone running up behind my horse. It's just too risky all round. All you have to do is be considerate and slow to a walk until you go past them. What's so difficult about that?

Valiant effort but you'll never win against horsey people I'd save your energy 🤣

Of course, the child is free to run around peoples homes. It’s their own fault if they have furniture or obstructions. Remove the house, remove the risk to the running child.

I'm a runner and I usually stop to walk past horses (and sometimes dogs!) because I think animals are unpredictable and I'm a bit nervous about them. It's not a huge problem, I only encounter horses a few times a year.

Once though I was on a fairly narrow footpath and a horse was ahead, I thought it would be way to close to pass so walked behind the horse for maybe 100m or so until a junction in the path. The rider then saw me and berated me for not saying I was there!

It's a very small ask. It would take a very spiteful person not to comply.

I would personally stop and step to the side of slow down to a walking pace. I wouldn't want to spook a horse and cause any potential harm

Ugh other species are just as entitled to this world as you are - or that’s what I believe anyway. Quite radical I know.

I can’t get my head around being so selfish and pig-headed as to think like this. I’m not exaggerating when I say it blows my mind

But posts like these are also a sobering reminder of how we live in a world with so much conflict

It’s the same sort of mindset and total inflexibility of thought that causes the worst and most long-running problems in the world

This is like drivers complaining about having to wait to go past cyclists. We all have the right to use the road. Horses present a danger to you, themselves and the person on their back if you spook them. Cars present a danger to the occupant and vastly more to other road users. If a car overtook you at the speed it was going and therefore threatened your health and safety without slowing down, you’d probably have a problem with that if you hadn’t been mown down on your run.