Another horse injured on the roads

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AutumnDays

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Another sad article about a horse losing their life because of inconsiderate and dangerous drivers. Why is this happening so much? When did people become so self absorbed the don't care about vulnerable road users? There are loads of bridleways near me, but to get to them is a hack down fast A road, and very busy B roads (tourist season is a nightmare on them, and there are always bumps because people think they are the most important one). New lad is meant to be my "project" to get out happy hacking again, but all these stories and seeing how people drive is putting me right off. Boxing up isn't an option. I've walked all of them out in hand a few times, all of us hi viz'd up to the eyeballs, and we have had so many near misses because people won't slow down and pass wide, I've stopped doing that too. To be fair to the horses, they've been solid, but it's not them that are the problem. One driver passed so close they hit my elbow with the wing mirror! All reported etc, but nothings come of it. Anyone else feeling the same? I was so keen to get back out there, but I'd rather not ride and have them safe
 
I don’t hack on the roads as much as I used to. I’m lucky that I can get into the village and onto bridleways out through our fields. There are some roads I only ever attempt on a Sunday because they are quieter but I wouldn’t have thought twice about doing any of it any day of th week in my teens and 20s. It’s not worth the risk though and I agree - it’s scary how much the other road users don’t care and how vulnerable it makes you feel.
 
I used L plates when leading out my youngsters - I would wear one on my back & front, then hold one up high & as far out into the road as possible.
It was such a good visual in making people slow down because every driver knows what it means!!
The racetrack roads is one of the other reasons that makes me question riding - its only getting worse & worse!
 
Eurgh tourist season 😭 our lanes are usually pretty good the locals are well trained. Tourists just drive at you hoping you'll levitate over an 8ft hedge 🤷
 
I think the short road we ride to get to the forest tracks is getting busier and busier. We haven't even hit tourist season yet and it seems so much busier than normal. It's a country lane but is national speed limit and is just off a major A road so I think road users don't notice their speed as they have just come off a fast moving road anyway.
 
Whenever I'm hacking somewhere where I think I might encounter inconsiderate drivers I ride with high viz, a long whip, either a dressage or a hunting whip and hold it out into the road towards the traffic, I also ride closer to the middle of the road so cars have to overtake properly and cannot squeeze past, if a car sounds like it is approaching at speed I will turn and look at the driver and turn the horse if necessary. I've also sat in the middle of the road and put my hand up to stop cars completely before. Being more in the middle of the road gives you more margin if the worst was to happen and a car didn't stop. Though I've always found this to be effective and luckily so far haven't encountered a driver who can't find their brakes when being stared down by an angry woman on a horse in the middle of the road cracking a whip. (of course, nice drivers are thanked as they pass)

Unfortunately when dealing with idiots you have to be extremely assertive. I guess I'm pretty unapologetic about being an inconvenience to drivers, even being the slowest biggest inconvenience has always been well under 5 minutes of someone's time (slowly passing a trailer full of pigs on a single track road on a youngster out on his own) horse riders should be able to use the road without fearing for their lives - so back off.

A lady I used to ride for used to carry mint imperials and if a car was coming at speed she'd throw them at the car, they sound like rocks but break on impact so don't damage the car. She was elderly on a little pony and as the car would come screeching to a stop and the driver angrily wound down their window she'd smile sweetly and say ''Ahhh, you found your breaks then love, well done'' .. not very PC but she rode into her 80's and never had an accident on the road.
 
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@emilylou I think I'll need to take a leaf out of your book and take up more space. I usually carry a schooling whip solely for the purpose of hitting cars that pass too close. I've just ordered the remaining tack needed, and a LOAD of hi Viz for us both (not that I ever go without it, I've just got more!), so no one can say they couldn't see us... Hopefully the fact that he's a 16.2hh hulking black thing will add to the assertive factor, sadly I have noticed the bigger the horse the more they take note... The 15.3hh tbx boy gets a smidge more space than the 14hh appy girl.
 
AutumnDays said:
@emilylou I think I'll need to take a leaf out of your book and take up more space. I usually carry a schooling whip solely for the purpose of hitting cars that pass too close. I've just ordered the remaining tack needed, and a LOAD of hi Viz for us both (not that I ever go without it, I've just got more!), so no one can say they couldn't see us... Hopefully the fact that he's a 16.2hh hulking black thing will add to the assertive factor, sadly I have noticed the bigger the horse the more they take note... The 15.3hh tbx boy gets a smidge more space than the 14hh appy girl.
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The difference in respect when I went out with my friend on her big bay 16.3 dude compared to when it was another friend and our two 14.1 ponies is STRIKING. And completely misjudged as the big guy is the most bombproof horse I have ever met, and the ponies are thankfully good but not perfect. 14.1 of pony through your windshield will still kill you lads.

Since I moved yards I have only had to use my scary voice to yell at someone once in 6 months, at the old place it was every couple of weeks. That did mean the last time I wasn't wearing my hat cam though, have gotten complacent. I had two bloody kids with me tho (one on a 11.2 so OBVIOUSLY kids!!) so the stakes are higher 😭
 
I no longer ride but when I did I had a 'hacking' schooling whip and another one for competitions.

I modified the 'hacking' whip by adding reflective, high-viz type, tape to the end and also tied high viz type tape 'streamers' to the last 12 inches of the whip. Holding that out horizontally to the side when cars approached seemed to work whilst moving it up and down to make the streamers move.

I'd also practice my shoulder-in (quarters to the kerb) when hearing a car coming to make it appear to the driver that my horse was 'lively' (when he wasn't at all)
 
smolmaus said:
The difference in respect when I went out with my friend on her big bay 16.3 dude compared to when it was another friend and our two 14.1 ponies is STRIKING. And completely misjudged as the big guy is the most bombproof horse I have ever met, and the ponies are thankfully good but not perfect. 14.1 of pony through your windshield will still kill you lads.

Since I moved yards I have only had to use my scary voice to yell at someone once in 6 months, at the old place it was every couple of weeks. That did mean the last time I wasn't wearing my hat cam though, have gotten complacent. I had two bloody kids with me tho (one on a 11.2 so OBVIOUSLY kids!!) so the stakes are higher 😭
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It is shocking isn't it? Apply is the youngest but thankfully is as bombproof as they come, this big guy is late teens and is an unknown, I've only had him 8 weeks. We have been out and seen things in hand, and he was good, but things are different ridden aren't they? A hat came sounds like a good idea, I'll have to look into these
 
AutumnDays said:
It is shocking isn't it? Apply is the youngest but thankfully is as bombproof as they come, this big guy is late teens and is an unknown, I've only had him 8 weeks. We have been out and seen things in hand, and he was good, but things are different ridden aren't they? A hat came sounds like a good idea, I'll have to look into these
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They are all unknowns to an oncoming driver though! I don't know why drivers aren't assuming they are all spooky until proven otherwise.

I do love my hat cam. It's a cheap Akaso one but I do think it works as a deterrent (if drivers are going slow enough to even see you're wearing one 🙄). I had an old hi-vis with a camera symbol on it too, replaced it with one that has 10MPH on the back but that can be completely ignored apparently.
 
You’d assume the smaller the horse the more likely it is a younger person riding but they still don’t seem to care.

I’ve found when walking my horse out switching sides with her so I’m on the outside makes people slow down more.
The majority of drivers around me are good, buses, Lorry’s and motorbikes especially. Campervans are pretty bad and there’s usually one or 2 going pretty fast. Apparently being filmed does make people consider their driving more.

Our B roads are pretty good to hack on. All road users have to be considerate of each other or you cant pass. Fortunately as unless I go to the beach and back all my hacking has road work on it.
 
A friend of mine has a novel way of dealing with too close drivers.
She wears a Hi Vis with words HORSE CCTV SMILE FOR CAMERA
And she has a schooling whip with hi vis ribbons on end, horse don’t care about ribbons, and she carries a pocket full of rice. And if a driver does be naughty , they get rice thrown at them. That don’t half make a noise too. I’ve tried it on my car.


She had a run in with a bloke in an open top sport car once, he drove too fast past her, she had no chance to throw rice. Then saw him turn round and come back past. He got a mouth full of rice, and everywhere in the car. By time he stopped to rant at her, she had turned off down drive to yard, he ran after her and was faced with 3 rather barking and snarling dogs on the yard. Who chased him back up to road. Then came back with that look on their faces as if they wanted to have a bit of the blokes trouser leg.
She is ex Army sergeant, dont take no prisoners , we all love her . She must been about 60
 
I got hit on the upper arm by the wing mirror of a minibus last night, while I was walking home.

The driver stopped fifty yards on, yelled a few obscenities at me and got the same level of vocabulary thrown right back at him, the fliping flipwit. I think that he was worried that the mirror was damaged and that he'd get into bother back at the depot... It made a lot of noise, but there was not even a bruise on me.
 
smolmaus said:
They are all unknowns to an oncoming driver though! I don't know why drivers aren't assuming they are all spooky until proven otherwise.

I do love my hat cam. It's a cheap Akaso one but I do think it works as a deterrent (if drivers are going slow enough to even see you're wearing one 🙄). I had an old hi-vis with a camera symbol on it too, replaced it with one that has 10MPH on the back but that can be completely ignored apparently.
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Drivers are definitely getting worse, I've had so many near misses recently where I used to happily hack on fairly busy roads no problem.

I've also found that a hat cam with a hi vis strap is a great deterrent. It's helped massively.
 
Did anyone actually read the article?

I saw this on TikTok from the owner. It was a farmer/ contractor driving a tractor. Shed got off to get the horse out of the way and before she could properly get him out of the way the tractor carried on at a rate of knots and hit the back legs of the horse which were still sticking out. An absolutely horrific excuse for a human being.

So not a tourist or an ordinary driver but someone who should absolutely know better. I hope they get what they deserve.
 
emilylou said:
Whenever I'm hacking somewhere where I think I might encounter inconsiderate drivers I ride with high viz, a long whip, either a dressage or a hunting whip and hold it out into the road towards the traffic, I also ride closer to the middle of the road so cars have to overtake properly and cannot squeeze past, if a car sounds like it is approaching at speed I will turn and look at the driver and turn the horse if necessary. I've also sat in the middle of the road and put my hand up to stop cars completely before. Being more in the middle of the road gives you more margin if the worst was to happen and a car didn't stop. Though I've always found this to be effective and luckily so far haven't encountered a driver who can't find their brakes when being stared down by an angry woman on a horse in the middle of the road cracking a whip. (of course, nice drivers are thanked as they pass)

Unfortunately when dealing with idiots you have to be extremely assertive. I guess I'm pretty unapologetic about being an inconvenience to drivers, even being the slowest biggest inconvenience has always been well under 5 minutes of someone's time (slowly passing a trailer full of pigs on a single track road on a youngster out on his own) horse riders should be able to use the road without fearing for their lives - so back off.

A lady I used to ride for used to carry mint imperials and if a car was coming at speed she'd throw them at the car, they sound like rocks but break on impact so don't damage the car. She was elderly on a little pony and as the car would come screeching to a stop and the driver angrily wound down their window she'd smile sweetly and say ''Ahhh, you found your breaks then love, well done'' .. not very PC but she rode into her 80's and never had an accident on the road.
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You might not have but I have. I had a motorcyclist make a rude gesture at me for asking him to slow down, for context I was coming around a blind corner in a narrow village lane no way he should have been going more than 10mph even without me!
I've ended up sat on someones bonnet before as they slowly tried to shove the 17.3 horse I was riding out of the way.
I've stood my pony in the middle of a lane with my hand out and still had a car drive at me to the point I had to shout STOP ... Still kept going until pony and I had to climb into a bush. 🤷 Being assertive helps but idiots going to idiot and not everyone seems to understand basic hand signals.
 
AutumnDays said:
Another sad article about a horse losing their life because of inconsiderate and dangerous drivers. Why is this happening so much? When did people become so self absorbed the don't care about vulnerable road users? There are loads of bridleways near me, but to get to them is a hack down fast A road, and very busy B roads (tourist season is a nightmare on them, and there are always bumps because people think they are the most important one). New lad is meant to be my "project" to get out happy hacking again, but all these stories and seeing how people drive is putting me right off. Boxing up isn't an option. I've walked all of them out in hand a few times, all of us hi viz'd up to the eyeballs, and we have had so many near misses because people won't slow down and pass wide, I've stopped doing that too. To be fair to the horses, they've been solid, but it's not them that are the problem. One driver passed so close they hit my elbow with the wing mirror! All reported etc, but nothings come of it. Anyone else feeling the same? I was so keen to get back out there, but I'd rather not ride and have them safe
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To hack out now you need a camera ( front and back recording) , loads of hi vis and a visiwhip and even that wont stop some of the self entitled drivers from getting too close or going past too fast .
 
I've been privileged to have had 2 wonderful shire horses over the years. I don't know whether it's a shire thing, but neither of them would take any crap from drivers. If someone was approaching slow and wide, they'd both stay nice and tight to the verge, but if someone was approaching at a bit of a lick they would both veer into the middle of the lane no matter how much leg yield we practiced! Luckily, I've only ever had near misses, but after my friend lost her life in an incident with a motorbike and her horse 18 months ago, I'm doubtful that I will ever ride on the roads again. It's very frustrating as we are lucky enough to have several bridleways very close to our yard but most of them involve a 10 minute ride on a rat run. It's all very well trying to preserve bridleways, but we need to be able to get to them without fearing for our lives!
 
Sussexbythesea said:
Did anyone actually read the article?

I saw this on TikTok from the owner. It was a farmer/ contractor driving a tractor. Shed got off to get the horse out of the way and before she could properly get him out of the way the tractor carried on at a rate of knots and hit the back legs of the horse which were still sticking out. An absolutely horrific excuse for a human being.

So not a tourist or an ordinary driver but someone who should absolutely know better. I hope they get what they deserve.
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Yes I did read the article, and thought the same as you. Very agricultural around here too, and the speed some of the contractors go in their kit... It's horrifying.
Going to try and find a route with the dog on our walks that has minimal roadwork, while I wait for tack to arrive. Am fully prepared to sell all the newly acquired stuff on if it doesn't work out. Sounds like I need a hat cam on my shopping list
 
Peglo said:
You’d assume the smaller the horse the more likely it is a younger person riding but they still don’t seem to care.
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One of mine is 13h & from the back you can't tell I'm old and wrinkly. Still doesn't make them slow down. I had some choice words for a lady who had a young girl in the passenger seat. She made the mistake of stopping, winding down her window and shouting that she was doing less than the speed limit. I calmly pointed out that my small pony weighed 400kg and if we had gone through her windscreen would have killed the child - & it would have been her fault.
 
It's frightening, isn't it? I have to say it's making me doubt my choice to get back in the saddle, seeing it's so widespread! I saw a young woman riding her very keen horse through the village as I went to feed mine, she just had a hi Viz vest on. Nothing on the horse. And the speed some people drove past... Baring in mind it's a residential street! She didn't seem bothered, but I wonder if as you get older you realise your mortality more?
 
AutumnDays said:
It's frightening, isn't it? I have to say it's making me doubt my choice to get back in the saddle, seeing it's so widespread! I saw a young woman riding her very keen horse through the village as I went to feed mine, she just had a hi Viz vest on. Nothing on the horse. And the speed some people drove past... Baring in mind it's a residential street! She didn't seem bothered, but I wonder if as you get older you realise your mortality more?
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Where I used to ride when i was younger, I now just wouldn't. I used to ride on an A road out of Sheffield, on the bus route, and most of my hacking was on A roads, including turning right at the traffic lights. This is the days before hi-viz. I now think WTF was I doing but I did it every time I rode out.
 
How sad. I still do a fair bit of road work but it's around a large housing estate. There is plenty of room and whilst we still get drivers doing quite a bit over the 10mph limit for passing horses there is a lot of room. Where I used to be I hacked on 60mph fen roads. It was very scary.
 
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