Anyone else losing the joy?

Caol Ila said:
I remember popping out of Mugdock, on Fin, to see one of those para bikes with the huge flag pottering down the road. "No way," I said, and we legged it back into the park until the guy had gone past and was out of sight.
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I was following this one up our road watching the hunt grooms trying to control their horses (two girls ride & lead). Fortunately there was a driveway so the horses could stop & watch with eyes on stalks.

Cyclist wasn't stopping for anyone...
 
SEL said:
I was following this one up our road watching the hunt grooms trying to control their horses (two girls ride & lead). Fortunately there was a driveway so the horses could stop & watch with eyes on stalks.

Cyclist wasn't stopping for anyone...
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I had a recumbent cyclist complain he couldn't stop for me without falling over, which made me wonder how he ever finished a ride and whether he had his OH come out of the house with a sandwich three times a day, and perhaps had some kind of catheter fitted ....
 
I am... I recently did a thread about it. Amongst other things I had a very near miss out hacking a few weeks ago and it really made me reconsider the whole riding on the roads thing to be honest. Rocky is so precious to me and if anyone hit him because they were driving like a t*at I think I'd end up behind bars.
 
IrishMilo said:
I am... I recently did a thread about it. Amongst other things I had a very near miss out hacking a few weeks ago and it really made me reconsider the whole riding on the roads thing to be honest. Rocky is so precious to me and if anyone hit him because they were driving like a t*at I think I'd end up behind bars.
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I did see your thread and I commented it on it then that was was uncertain about riding again because of the issues on the roads and with people in general. All these near misses/entitlement have happened in the last 3 weeks I've been back in the saddle/out and about, to get to off road we need to go down main road or down narrow bendy lanes that people treat like a main road. I'd hate for one of them to be hurt because of my want to go out.
I'm fortunate that I own my own land, and we have our own hay, so I can move fencing/create tracks and feed hay all year, so maybe that will be the way forward for safety and sanity's sake.
Those of you who've mentioned the para bikes, are they the low slung things that they climb into? We had a bloke round here in one, he didn't stop for anyone or anything. How he never got killed or cause a pile up on a roundabout I'll never know. He also had a collection of bright flappy flags and it was painted to look like a radioactive banana. Luckily I never met him on the horses, it was bad enough coming across him in traffic!
 
Just to share its not all doom and gloom. Amber's kept on the outskirts of a village and its mostly single track, or 1 1/2 track roads and I'm so incredibly lucky that everyone we come across is really lovely. Really no problems with other road users.
We're also lucky that the local gentleman farmer lets us and the village walk, ride, cycle round the headlands that he maintains on all 4 sides of his fields. Incredibly it's been this way for years and no one abuses it.
It's the best hacking I've come across in 30 years of owning horses in East Anglia. It's a shame that so far its either been too wet or too dry to make the most of the off-road options.

We do have solar farms etc going in, which is closing most of the local bridle paths but we're hoping that once they're built the paths might have expanded too.
 
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I can hack my mare down the main road without issue, the only times we’ve had problems on the road is when unusual vehicles have “kindly” stopped (cement mixer lorry & car with rattling trailer), if they full stop they become a totally different think to a slow/loud vehicle.

Other than that I’ve always found road users polite and courteous.
 
It’s the stop start engines that get us. The cars stop to let us past on narrow lanes and the engines automatically turn off. Then as soon as we’re past the car starts up again and scares the bejesus out of poor Spudkin.
 
I’m generally extremely lucky where we are now! I think it helps that for most of the lanes you can’t actually fit a horse and a car next to each other so there’s no choice but to slow down.

Almost all the cyclists I’ve encountered have been lovely, and quite a few will call out to ask if they’re ok to pass from behind or if we want them to stop when they’re coming towards us.

I’m also lucky that Pepsi is as rock solid as it goes with traffic/people/dogs/cyclists. The one time he was a bit peturbed was when a man was scrambling through the bushes from above us screaming at his dog trying to get it to come back. The dog running down the hill then standing in front of us barking was fine, he was less sure about the man-monster in the bushes 😂
 
A bit envious of everyone in these places with considerate people! To be fair, the locals aren't so bad, it's the influx of tourists is when it all goes pear shaped. The horses don't seem too bothered about going out, it's more the opportunity to snaffle some different hedgerow that appeals to them I think! It was more that I wanted so desperately to ride again after being told I couldn't/shouldn't! I think I have a bit of a rose tinted memory of what it was like hacking back when I did it all the time, and to be fair, the world has changed a lot since then, so the reality hasn't lived up to my memory. I'll make peace with it and find our joy in other ways. Everyone is happy and healthy, so that's the main thing
 
Tbh I go through stages of this. I’d like to get out to more competitions but it seems a lot of effort and expense sometimes and I can’t get out regularly enough to really make a good go of it. Also, the mare I have to ride is lovely and Obe taught her from the beginning as she was a very late starter (she’s 17 this year but only
really been on work for 3 years). I think she’d do a nice dressage test and we have had a little go at showing which she did well at but without wanting to sound like a spoilt brat my heart lies on the hunt field and in jumping. We have done pole work and a few little fences and she is still very green and enjoys it I wouldn’t say she is a habitual and at her age I won’t be pushing her too far past just popping a few fences to enjoy, also she is not mine and her owner doesn’t want her to do too much jumping. Then there is the a friesian who moves beautifully but to put it bluntly simply just does not have a trainable brain and definitely has a stubborn streak in him so he’s a challenge but not always enjoyable to ride.

My boy is struggling with the hard ground - having a discussion with farrier tomorrow so we can get our thinking caps on for other options for him and I’m also grieving for the fun we had when he was younger and swing from thinking he should retire to us having a good ride and he’s more like he used to be and then I think no he’s not ready so I take it day by day.

With the hot weather we have had too, it sometimes feels like a chore rather than a hobby although I wouldn’t be without the horses…

Rant over!!
 
TheMule said:
The only time I really enjoy hacking properly is very early on a Sunday morning before anyone else has bothered getting out of bed
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Exactly this, I live near the town centre and even with high viz, a camera and air vest I just don’t feel safe. House is up for sale to move closer to some off road riding but I have spent the last year think of retiring from “ happy” hacking
 
Normally our hacking is good if a bit boring, quiet lanes and stony tracks so not much chance of a canter but we don't see many people or cars. At the moment though, we've got a group of kids on off road motorbikes and electric bikes charging round the lanes. It's all very illegal, no number plates, no helmets, sometimes 3 on a bike, black scarves wrapped round their faces so you can't identify them. We've called the police several times but there were two boys killed while on an electric bike being followed (not actively pursued) by police near here and the police officers were suspended and investigated for causing death by dangerous driving (no legal or professional action taken) so you can understand them not wanting to do anything about it. You can hear them coming but can't do anything about it. It's miserable. I'm not worried about Wig reacting as he's a total saint but I am worried about them hitting us, especially as we can only walk at this stage in his rehab. I would trot to get onto a straight bit where we'd be more easily visible at least if I heard them coming and I had to but I don't want to be in that position. Early morning is our only option if we want to make sure we don't encounter them. It really annoys me that such a tiny minority can ruin everyone's enjoyment of shared spaces.
 
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