The consequences of drivers not taking a patient and considerate approach when near horses is just too horrific to contemplate. Death and destruction of riders, horses, cars and drivers - all are at risk and need to take particular care.
I was a horse owner/rider for a number of years along with my wife. I've only experienced one absolute twat of a car driver in all that time. Young lad thought it funny to drive as close as possible to the rear of of us on horseback revving his engine. We must have wasted 20 seconds of his life while we trotted on to a gateway to allow him to pass. His number was passed to the police who assured me he would be traced and " spoken to ". Apart from that I've only been met with courtesy and consideration by all motorists and bikers alike when forced to share a roadway. To say there is no place for horses in a modern world is ridiculous imho. To each his own.
Like most others here I will happily give horse riders as much room and courtesy as I can but to swap thebiglad's comment around I have to say the worst horse/traffic incident I ever saw was caused by an impatient and inconsiderate horse rider. Very busy urban road, edge of a town, in rush hour with traffic passing both ways at 30-40 mph when horse and mounted rider walk out of a gateway and straight out in front of oncoming vehicles without stopping. The rider pompously held up her hand as if she was a traffic rozzer and the look on her face was pure "get out of my way". I know that the law allows her to do that and as drivers we are meant to stop but it was the terrible attitude that caused several cars to hoot, drive around her from both sides and in the end cause a log-jam. The rider was screaming obscenities and ordering everyone to get out of her way which did not help one bit. You always get one and in this case it was the horse rider at fault for not pausing to wait for a safe gap to cross or for the traffic to pause for her, as I'm sure they would have if she'd bothered to do so. Thankfully I have only seen that sort of arrogance once from a horse rider compared to every day from car drivers...
I do of course have opinions as everyone does and put simply I like animals and detest humans, I live and work in areas where there is a large population of domestic and agricultural animals and some remote areas no fencing to protect said animals from the stupidity of humans, I will always slow down for animals but the stupid human jogging or cycling on the highway are just selfish cunts who deserve to be the next in line for "natural selection"
Bikers nurses and emergency services aside (good people) animals are on the whole controlled by humans so I feel for the animals and do occasionally get annoyed at the ignorant bugger on the horse that does not acknowledge my efforts although as I drive a tanker around all day I get annoyed at other road users that don't acknowledge my courtesy, so I guess like others in a similar mind set I get annoyed often
Exactly so. And on a road where there is no pavement .... pedestrians have priority over all other road users.
How about tractors? ,they are only supposed to use the roads to get from one field to another they litter the roads with crap, cause traffic jams and they don't have to pay any road tax
You really dont want to live in Norfolk as in the sugar beet season they literally turn a tarmac lane into a dirt road, then there ar the ones that are the size of a semi that have half mile long tail backs because they wont pull into the frequent lay-buys, the worst are the ones that are twice the size of a semi and you meet them just as you come around a blind bend...its like finding a house in the road.
Absolutely agree - same round here. I also pull in clutch and coast past, but young girls on horses, totally agree. I feel sorry for the horses. There really should be some sort of proficiency test before they go out on a horse on the road.
I always slow down and give a wide berth for a nag, however I find the need to speed up past fat blokes in lycra
Always slow down and coast or crawl past or on a narrow country lane I’ll stop to let a horse pass if it’s going in the opposite direction. What bothers me is that you sometimes see young girls riding these massive horses and if the horse bolts then the rider has no chance of stopping or controlling the horse.
To be fair I don't rate anyone's chance of controlling a really frightened horse. Even those guys that put them in starting stalls at the races can't manage some on their own or not at all in some cases. And they do it every day.
Seems we all think consideration is the key. I have seen the outcome of car v cow and horse working in Fiji, and we all know car v bike. I like my exhaust to be less suppressed, but would not imagine revving it to startle any road user. A common comment I get when people see I ride a Triumph is that those HD arses always rev when passing, so I put them with the Lycra crowd. Love horses in the cowboy way and feel it was what led me to bikes
These are horse controllers. The spike on the pole axe is for humane slaughter. The axe is to hack off a hoof and prove it was a casualty and not sold for profit!
It is not rocket science. A bike is a machine, a horse is an animal. It is all down to people who ride bike to be aware of all animals on our roads. We don't need any more laws banning this and banning that. Ultimately all road users have a duty of care to each other to act in a safe manner and do their utmost to avoid endangering other road users, regardless of who has right of way.
I used to have an Aprilia Pegaso that popped and banged on the overrun. Going downhill I saw some horse riders ahead so I pulled in the clutch and coasted down at about 20 (Quiet country lane) The sudden appearance of a bike spooked a very large horse with an equally large rider who started shouting abuse about hooligans speeding while he struggled to control the beast. I tried to explain but was advised to just leave while he continued to hurl abuse from the undergrowth. No pleasing some people!
My daughter has a horse, Ned. When he was a foal, he was rescued from one of the worst cases of mass animal cruelty in the UK, and still has the scars. But after years of careful, patient care and attention from our daughter, he is now a lovely-natured animal and currently enjoying retirement in a large field. He was a complete head case when she took him on. A few years ago, we had to move Ned to a new stables, and this required us to walk him about 3 miles along a road. What we observed was that most drivers gave us a wide, slow berth, and all motorcyclists (I'm delighted to say) gave us due consideration. But (and I'm a cyclist who bristles at blanket criticism of cyclists), not one single cyclist passed us with any care. There were quite a few went past, and most of them skimmed past Ned's flanks with no consideration for his or their safety. So, a big thank you to bikers, and thumbs down to the cyclists, and a few car drivers. My daughter has a younger horse for riding now (retired racer), and she has to go on the roads to get to the nearest bridleways. We all have to share the roads with other users, two-wheeled or more and two-footed or more.
Oh boy, a never ending topic since 1901. There are 5 reasons loud pipes exist. 1) Ignorance to their affect on surroundings. 2) Indifference to their affect on surroundings 3) Track application 4) Custom sales 5) Last and most probable; PLEASE, PLEASE, look at ME
