Loud Exhausts And Horses

Totally agree no need for it, something I always do around horses is to give them as much room as possible and pull clutch as I go past them being as quiet as possible, just respect for other road users

 

Hmmm.... I like loud exhausts
I always give horses plenty of room and pull the clutch in passing as quietly as possible
BUT and it’s a BIG BUT I don’t think that horses should be allowed on the road if I road horses the last place I would take it is in amongst the traffic
Just asking for trouble if you do

 

Like Dilli I like loud pipes
I also like horses
most of all I respect other and nearly all road users

 

Because the noise is mightily impressive and macho.
And most horse riders are female.
‍♂️

 

I have no idea why it put that symbol! ☝️

 

Yeah of course
Mine’s Feckin HUGE and LOUD

 

Aren't they????

 

Always have always will pass horses as quietly and safely as possible...those that dont just have no brain or consideration.....mind you there are those that will take a nervy horse on busy road who are equally stupid.

Having said that a guy i knew years ago had a horse jump a fence in front of him when he was on his bike...caused a nasty accident.

 

Horses terrify me. I do give them as much room as possible and pass as quite as I can. Actually seen one kick a stable door of its hinges. But around Burnham here and the country roads in the beeches. Several times I have rode along those roads and some riders are there and two or three abreast with a massive line of traffic behind them and they will not move. People are peeping horns and revving their engines. And you can clearly see the horses are disturbed. So point is there is ignorance on both sides.
Ride Safe
Joe.

 

I don't see that many horses on my travels, but if I do I always slow right down so not to spook them,i can't actually remember the last time I saw a horse on the road, maybe it's more of a problem down south?
Plenty in fields up here though,so i'm guessing they either ride them in the fields or on tracks next to fields without actually having to go on the roads
i do see Sheep,Deer & Highland Coos on the road though!

 

As teenagers a friend's girlfriend borrowed his horse and she was a capable rider. It got spooked and she couldn't stop it before trying to go straight across a live dual carriageway. Caused a bad accident and she broke a limb if I remember correctly.

Isle of man; TT accident and the helicopter caused a horse to spook and entered the course after crossing two fields causing a bad accident.

An ex work colleague was well into bikes. His wife was into horses, so he had both. They were galloping across a field and his words were there was only one tree on the far side. Horse aims for it and at last minute despite his best efforts side steps it the wrong side to what he was trying to go. This smashed him into the tree (Horse totally missed it) and if it wasn't for his wife being a Hospital Registrar he wouldn't be here today.

These are unreliable creatures with a dubious quantity of brain. I do always respect horse riders on quiet country lanes but some plonkers take theirs through busy built up areas and I just shake my head at them in disbelief.

 

There are some stables about 400m away from home. Anyone who rides past them in a way liable to frighten them is completely stupid. The roads past my house consist of narrow 2 lane b-roads to single track unclassifieds where the scope for passing wide and slow is limited/impossible. I have sat, engine off, virtually in the ditch at the side of the road when you can spot a horse who is very nervous. Anyone who doesnt do the same, obviously hasnt seen (i have), as previously mentioned, the damage a horse can do to solid things let alone a squishy biker. I dont give a fuck about the big stinky things but value my own skin rather more than take a chance.

 

I always slow, reduce revs, pass wide... they have a right to be there too. I’m not gonna cause an accident due to my deliberate selfishness...
I’ve also ridden a few horses on the road (accessing trails etc) and try to ride predictively to reduce interfacing with the morons who don’t give a fuck.

It’s the same old same old!!! If two people are respectful and considerate, most times they meet, there will be no issues. But give one person an inflated sense of self importance and invariably they become the focus of a “situation”!

 

One of the worrying things i have seen up here is young girls riding on the road and texting....sure the horse is 50% in control but it does beg the question
should they get fined like car drivers.

 

It is an interesting and very complex issue and a number of valid points have been raised on both sides.

I've just had a brief discussion about the issue with my wife - a retired police officer with a very extensive knowledge of traffic laws - and she raises two important points :-

1) if it wasn't for horses, there would be no roads. Our roads were developed for use initially by horses and horse drawn carriages - the motorised vehicle is, after all, only a couple of hundred years old - horses predate them by more than a thousand!

2) in the eyes of the law in this country the priorities for "road" users are 1st. pedestrians; 2nd. horses, THEN motor vehicles. Technically, if you were to approach a T junction and a pedestrian is walking along the pavement and aiming to stay on the road you are about to join (i.e. cross your path) the PEDESTRIAN has lawful priority! As a motorist you are legally expected to allow them priority to cross your path. Of course, in reality, most pedestrians would wait on the pavement for you to go before crossing, but, be aware, they don't have to do so!

I live in a very rural area and there are a LOT of horses and horse riders around, some of whom are very young children. They simply cannot get to bridlepaths or open land without using roads. They deserve our patience and our respect as well as the protection of the law. They are doing no real harm and might delay a journey by seconds or even a few minutes but it takes little more than respect and patience to allow them the same freedoms and safety that we enjoy.

My 2p.