Am I the only rider that thanks drivers these days?

HollyWoozle

HollyWoozle

Well-Known Member
Joined
1 August 2002
Messages
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Location
Beds/South Cambs
www.farandride.com
Sorry to have a whinge but I drove by a rider today who didn't acknowledge me at all, despite the fact that I passed wide and slow and she was on a quiet horse with no distractions.

When I hack out I deck myself in high vis and do my utmost to thank every vehicle that passes, whether it be with a wave or a nod (or an audible "thank you" to cyclists and pedestrians). If people have taken the time to slow down for me then I feel that an acknowledgement at the least is polite and I thank everyone unless Belle is playing up or I am distracted by a hazard or similar.

My point is that I have driven by several riders on the roads recently and I don't think even one of them bothered to look up. I appreciate that if you are distracted by something, nervous or perhaps on a horse requiring a lot of concentration then it is not always possible. But, from what I could see, each and every one of these riders was in a perfectly suitable situation to give me a nod at the least. Yes, it is an effort, but I think riders who don't bother give the rest of us a bad name.

What do you think?
 
I try to thank people as much as I can, I wave when walking, and nod when trotting, obviously can't say thank you if horse is playing up, but try to, even if they've already passed me when I do. I also verbally thank or say hi to cyclists and pedestrians. I also thank cars that have waited for me to cross a road, or if I turn into a road and they wait until I've gone in rather than overtaking me, as they've been kind enough to wait or pass slowly and wide, so why not thank them?

I agree, there are a lot of people at the yard I'm at that don't thank cars, and then wonder why they go whizzing past them without slowing? Madness!
 
I've driven past a few riders who were exactly the same which is such a shame because then it gives drivers a reason to hate us even more. When I hacked out my gelding I made a concerted effort to thank drivers and give them a nice smile as they passed- it's the way I was always taught and it's simply courteous. The times I've driven past such ignorant riders I have looked them in the eye as I drove past trying to prompt them to make some gesture of thanks but to no avail.
 
If, for whatever reason, I can't wave etc...I shout 'thank you' loud enough for them to hear through their car windows!

I cannot abide bad manners. Not only did I not get a thank you off these two riders they also decided to add dirty scatty looks to the mix. How the devil in me wanted to blow my horn that day...
 
No, youre not the only one. I always do it, unless its a rude pig of a driver who has just shot past me. My lad is bombproof so I dont need to worry about too much on the roads, but its polite to say thank you. Also for those of us on here who hunt, I suspect your Field Master makes you do it! Ours does and wo betide those of you out hunting and on the roads if you dont raise a hand to thank drivers.
 
I always thank driver/cyclists etc. I was shocked when hacking with friends the other day, a lady had pateintly waited behind us on a corner, friend waved her on (I never do this as in an accident I believe you are then liable), lady shouted out "you can't wave people on a blind corner" instead of friend ignoring/saying ok/or saying she could see, both friends proceeded to shout **** ***!

I was gobsmacked and mortified. I would never ever shout that at a driver who was only being helpful!
 
I always thank people unless they make no effort at all to slow down in which case I ignore them. If I can't safely take my hands off the reins I nod and smile and if they have car windows open
I say thankyou. I also always say hello to people that are walking or cycling and let children come up and stroke horse aswell xx
 
I often ride out with the RS, Im the only person that wears high viz. And despite only being a 'client' I still thank all the drivers, if it's safe to do so. I often lead the ride / follow behind if it's needed because of me being visible and safer for me to go first, than some one without it. I always thank the drivers, and encourage all the others to do so :)
 
I always thank people too, a smile or wave goes a long way I think, I also get my kids, age 3 and 4 to say thank you to any drivers, cyclists and pedestrians, they always wave to kids looking at the ponies too!
I agree there seems to be lot of ignorant riders around though, and then they wonder why the cars dont slow down as much as they could :(
 
My reaction is entirely in proportion to their behaviour. The most courteous gets a huge smile, a raised hand and an audible thank you. The smile is the first thing to go as they slow down less, then the audible thank you, and the ones who speed past me get nothing as I resist the urge to hurl abuse at them :o :p
 
Plenty of ignorant ******* riders everywhere, no viz gear and no thanks, sign of the times, ignorant people everywhere, driver cyclists dog owners, list is endless, just a pity it gets all riders a bad name.
 
i always always thank drivers but agree loads dont and give the rest of us a bad name . im always tempted to stop and say something . having said that i know some people who ride and are awful drivers near horses ,never slow down or even acknowledge riders.
 
I always do and it too is proportionate to how much they've slowed / pulled over etc. The bus driver coming towards me yesterday got a huge smile and thank you when he pulled over and turned off his engine to let me go past even though George was quite unfazed :)

Today I passed 2 riders on the way to the yard and went round wide and slow but got no thank you :( Then when I hacked out I got G on to the verge and stopped 3 times on a narrow lane and didn't get 1 thank you :(

Ho hum.
 
I always thank drivers, unless they are idiots who come really close or shoot past you. But nice drivers get a wave and a smile. I often go past riders around here and very rarely do any of them wave even though we go past slowly and give them load of room
 
I always thank drivers with a smile and a nod at least, usually I raise my hand to wave as well - unless of course they have zoomed past too quickly for me to catch their eye! I like waving and saying hello to little kids when I see them admiring my horse too. I'd like to be able to invite them to come and pat him, but my yard owner advised me not to because he's got big dinner-plate feet and if he accidentally trod on a child and injured them, I could be held responsible. I like to be friendly though - I remember how I used to pester any horse rider I came across when I was a pony-mad child, so I feel I ought to "give something back"!
 
I always say thank you (unless they shoot past), and the manners of other riders also really grinds my gears!
 
Ive noticed this too, even on my mad beast I always thank people, if you dont bother to thank people they may not slow down for the next one, and that may result in an accident.

I do take pride in giving evils to idiots that rush past though! lol
 
I always try to say thankyou, normally I just wave or not my head but if I can't I normally yell 'thankyou' so they can hear :D today when I was riding a whole string of cyclists went past and I was really impressed because everyone of them slowed down and gave me a wide berth I think I must have said thankyou about 20times :p
 
I thank drivers, however I dont tell them when to overtake (although I do admittedly sometimes tell them to stop although you shouldnt) as a friend got sued when she told one driver to stop and the other to keep going and they had a head on collison when the driver failed to stop. Learnt from that one and it was another reason not to like the money orientated culture we live in :(
 
Sigh! I always feel guilty when I can't take my hands off the reins (spooky horse etc.) to say think you so massive smiles and audiable thank you's. Even when you feel like a nodding dog as a long line goes past.


The other day I was in husbands car which is stupidly loud engine (boy racer style :o) and was driving down a lane went into some shade and OMG there was a woman riding a dark bay no high-viz not even any light clothing. Scared me didn't see her till I was ontop of her luckily going 20 mph becasue it was a countrylane and don't know how wide OH car is yet also I know it is a horsey area so always go slower. Pulled over and stopped so she could get past. No acknowledgement atall. Was so tempted to put my foot down and shoot off with stupidly load engine. Had there been a generous gate way within the next half mile I would have turned round and given her an earful. What a *******ing idiot. It worries me because I am sooooo careful in cars and especially down lanes after mum and pony were hit. But even on a nice day no sunglasses (when you suddenly cant see in the dark), sun shade down, no distractions, no music on, no corners just couldn't see her. :mad:
Rant over
 
I do think there is a different breed of rider on the roads these days! It makes me mad when i see such incompetence...people who can't leg yield or control their horses ar*e...people who think to get past a spooky object you have to turn away from it about 10X trying to get a longer run up each time to get past!! people who ride 2/3 abreast chatting coming towards you with no intention of moving over even tho you have stopped to allow them time to do this...needless to say these people are also incapable of taking a hand off the reins to thank you or smile or speak! If it makes me mad what an earth can it do to non horsey drivers. I have been known to shout 'a Thank You would have been nice'!! and either get a complete dirty look or obscenities!!
Hey ho - not how I was brought up......
 
It really really really iritates me when riders dont say thankyou. I currently dont ride but when I did, I always made some sort of effort to say thankyou, whether it be a wave, smile or nod and I always try to make eye contact! Even a look with mouthing a thankyou is better than nothing. Now that im a driver, I always pass wide and slow, if the horse is acting up I will stop. Again I will try and make eye contact with the rider as if they havnt said thankyou by then, they usually do! :D But its the few who just carry on chatting or look down and ignore you that I and everyone else remembers and hence why riders get a bad name.
 
Its our families pet hate when riders dont say thank you!

We always acknowledge other road users, if we cant raise a hand a big nod and thank you is used.

When we moved to the area we are in now alot of local farmers actually commented to a friend of ours how nice it was to see this being done. OH does stand out a bit as he is coloured, so he feels it is very important to say thank you to everyone.

Our son (7) has hacked out on the lead rein since he was 2, he waves to every car, its so cute most car drivers and passengers wave back at him, giving him huge smiles, makes hacking out much more enjoyable
 
kharber21 said:
Ive noticed this too, even on my mad beast I always thank people, if you dont bother to thank people they may not slow down for the next one, and that may result in an accident.

I do take pride in giving evils to idiots that rush past though! lol
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I agree with this - showing gratitude for considerate driving isn't even simply just a matter of courtesy anymore, it's a fundamental safety issue; you never know whether or not irritating a driver is going to result in him or her being less careful next time they come across anyone on horseback, is it worth it?
 
I always thank drivers as i am also a driver and find it really ungrateful when you slow down to pass a horse and they just stare straight ahead as if you're some lower life form not worth a glance.

Once however my mum and i were riding down a fairly narrow road when a car came towards us and it pulled in but before we got to the car a tractor came up behind and so car reversed back as no room to pass and we trotted on to the junction where we moved out of the way. So tractor passed we waved thanks and then as we were about to move on the woman in the car got out and started having a go at us for not thanking her for getting out of the way!! she had to reverse for the tractor whether we had been there or not and went to other side of junction to us so not even on a level with us for her to notice us waving.

I do like to give evils to the speeding cars but then i worry because quite often someone will say to my parents "i saw your daughter out riding the other day" and i have no idea who they are so i try to be polite for that reason if nothing else ;)
 
I always acknowledge the drivers who slow down for me, thanking them with a smile and a wave.
On really narrow roads, if a driver stops, and waits for me, to pass them, they get an extra wave once I've past, to thank them again for their politness and also to signal that i'm out of their way.
For riders i meet that do not thank me, if i can, i wind my window down and shout "a thankyou would be nice". Hoping that i will shame them into acknowledging the next driver!
Must be turning into a grumpy old woman....
 
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