A way to ask people clearly and politely to stop behaving like predators?

[Auslander]

Hiding people we can cope with. I want to know how to deal with other hiding creatures.
Alf's most spectacular meltdown ever happened on a local road, which is (thankfully) very long and straight with excellent visibility, so all oncoming motorists were able to keep out of his way.
He spooked, leapt, jogged, cantered sideways, leapt some more, and generally acted like a complete tool for about a mile, with me sat up there, wondering what on earth his problem was. Until we got to a gateway, and a chicken popped out of the overgrown ditch, crossed over the gateway entrance, then jumped back into the ditch. I asked it to cease and desist, but it wouldn't, so Alf and I cantered sideways all the way home.
It was very useful though, as he is now terrified of chickens, which means I can have a good canter up one of our best bridlepaths, and know I will always be able to stop at the top. Apparently you have to grind to a halt, then creep past the bridlepath chickens, so that they don't spot you...

 

[Highmileagecob]

Ah chickens! Yep, we have a couple of roadside allotments that had the old cob mincing sideways up the white line, whilst alarmed motorists slammed on their brakes and formed an orderly queue until he sidled past. People standing in the shrubbery were usually asked politely to step out into the lane - I used to explain that he had a good imagination and thought they were waiting to pounce on him. They usually laughed and it broke the tension

 

[rextherobber]

Just met a woman who said she didn't mind if her dog got kicked, and didn't get it when I said it wouldn't be walking away from a 700kg bit of metal moving at 30mph - does she imagine it's going to be a playful push?! ( not that I can imagine that particular horse ever kicking, but dog may not be that lucky next time)

 

[cauda equina]

Her poor dog

I wonder if she also doesn't mind if it gets run over

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

The best piece of advice I've been given is to stop trying to control what's going on around my horse and to focus on having my horse under control. It has really changed the way I ride and I'm so grateful to have been told this. It's taken lot of practice and learning to understand what "control" means but I feel so much more confident about dealing with the unexpected and Mr D can be very spooky. I appreciate this comment might be annoying but perhaps it's worth thinking about?

I think it's hard to hold on to when stuff is going on and maybe we're feeling a bit nervous but I actually agree with you this is a good mindset to aim for.

I used to ride out with someone who got annoyed at various things and people for existing but they do have a right to be on the paths/in the spaces we are so we have to do our best to let our horse know it's okay/what they need to do. I say this as someone who is a bit of a nervous rider but I try not to let it come out as being cross with the horse or people around us.

I also used to hack with a very experienced and totally unphased rider. It was so good for me! She helped me learn/focus what I needed to be doing and never made a fuss about people passing us/anything going on around us. Once, efore I had time to get the words 'there are dirtbikes behind us...' out of my mouth, she had us moving along 'getting on with it' and guess what, the horses got on with it! Much like how young horses get taken out with older, experienced and calm horses to learn I think there's huge value in 'hacking lessons' with riders like this for riders like me!

I would politely say hello to people passing, hiding in bushes or otherwise, and I do things like encourage cyclists to say hello before/as they pass us. Even if the horse I am riding is not bothered, they will hopefully remember when they pass another horse who might not like being snuck up on.

 

[thommackintosh]

I'd never thought to educate a person on foot before until reading this thread. We were hacking back home yesterday when a woman with her dog started to hide in the bushes. I explained that staying in clean sight of Harry was best and that he was a panic-merchant. She couldn't have been happier to find out what to do as she was standing in the bushes to give us plenty of space to pass.

 

[FinnishLapphund]

I would say that we don’t have any right to ask people to move .
If they do that’s nice but we must proceed with expectations that we can manage the situation without others having to amend their actions.
Horses have to be trained to accept things if we are going to hack them in public .
I know that this attitude is not norm because I frequently buy horses who react to hidden people ,barking hedges ( lots of those round here ) children in buggies people using garden machinery that can’t see and hear you are there etc , the world is full stuff badly trained horses can react to but they don’t need to like that they can be trained with persistence determination and leadership .

I don't disagree with your point, but I do think riders have the right to ask. We're capable of communicating with each other, so why shouldn't we use that skill. The other person can always say No, like I once did a Winter many years ago out on a dog walk. We met some horses, and one rider asked me to move me, and my dogs further away from the side of the road. I looked down the steep, slippery side of the slope/weird one-sided ditch right beside me, and thought How am I supposed to get back up that, and simply replied "I can't go further away." After some talking between themselves, they rode past me, and my dogs.