Are we being driven off the roads?

[JFTDWS]

L&M, I don't know why you keep quoting me to tell me why my experiences don't work for you. I chose to select a yard with good hacking, you choose to have yours at home. My decisions are nothing to do with you, and yours are nothing to do with me. I haven't said that all roads are safe - I've said that round my yard, it's pretty ok, and I don't feel like I'm being bullied off the road. If that's different around you, that's fine - but it doesn't change the fact there are yards and areas out there where it's different.

 

[Tiddlypom]

I think my point is that the road hacking here out in the sticks, where we’ve lived since 1986, was good and safe when we first arrived.

The roads themselves haven’t changed much, but in the intervening years the numbers, numptiness and plain stupidity of the drivers has ballooned dramatically.

 

[L&M]

Sorry if that is how it comes across JFTD-WS........I am pleased for you that your hacking is more suitable than ours. But no one can deny that the roads are getting busier, and therefore more dangerous to horse riders, pedestrians and cyclist alike.

With our countryside disappearing, in years to come safe hacking will only exist in the more remote rural locations, and many riders will have given up on the notion of hacking and opt for the safety of a school.

A sad but undeniable reflection on the times we live in.

 

[JFTDWS]

Actually, I don't agree that because roads are busier (which is, factually, true) they are necessarily more dangerous. Some urban roads are safer than rural roads - especially where they're wider, straighter and have lower speed limits.

Hacking will change, certainly. But I don't think that the riders of the future will necessarily be restricted to arenas, especially not if the riders of today are willing to help push for better accommodation for horses off road (e.g. the inclusion of bridleways, multi-use paths and byways in developments), and on road (as the BHS and Aviva are doing).

 

[L&M]

Well I look forward to your vision of the future, but sadly don't see these 'multi-use paths' and 'byways' appearing in my area anytime soon.

I obviously yearn back to the good old days where a hack was a relaxing ride in the countryside - tbh a hack on urban roads just does not cut it for me, although can see it provides a means to an end.

With the greatest of respect, I think we will have to agree to disagree on this one!

 

[JFTDWS]

Again, a good few developments here have included bridlepaths / multi-use paths - mostly because the cyclists are good at lobbying for them... But I don't claim to speak for all areas.

(Not near me - my horses are rural, but I do get around a bit, for one reason and another. Before people accuse me of contradicting myself!)

 

[honetpot]

When I was 20 I used to hack everywhere, on the edges of my home town, Doncaster. I have even cantered alongside the straight mile of the racecourse, turned right at the traffic lights, it two lanes of traffic. In Sheffield I rode the bus route, at least three times a week with double deckers passing by, and then out on to the moorside.
What has changed is the volume of the traffic, the roads are wider, so its more difficult to get out of the way quickly and people who I would class as normal get behind the wheel of a car and think they have the right to do anything. As part of my job I was driven by a few co workers and they used their phone, speeding was the norm, and getting angry at anyone who just happaned to slow them up, just a bit, was acceptable.
I used to love hacking, and discovering new places, but its just not worth ending up as statistic. You only come this way once.

 

[Suechoccy]

I hack my horse, cycle my bike, run on my own and walk my dog on the local lanes and roads. We (walkers, cyclists, horse riders and carriage drivers) need to take back ownership of the roads. Motorists need to see us frequently, and therefore expect to see us. We shouldn't come as a surprise and annoyance to them. We should be a normal part of their lives. The onus should be on motorists to see and avoid us, at the moment it seems weighed too much that the onus is on us to make ourselves visible and choose safe times to use roads both of which theoretically should be incorrect as the roads are for all users (except motorways) and we should all only move within the space and speed which we can see is clear. There is a law in some parts of the continent - if a motorist hits a cyclist, the motorist is automatically presumed at fault unless proven otherwise. We could do with that law here. If motorists find themselves inconvenienced by having to slow down and pass wide and slow a non-motorised user of any kind, well that should not be seen as the NMU person's fault at all. The motorist chose to drive that day and if you choose to drive, then you must accept that you will need to drive around obstacles including NMUs. Non motorised users shouldn't feel that we can't/mustn't use the roads, that we are the danger, that we are the hazard. The perception needs to change - it is not the NMU who is the danger/hazard - it is the motorist who is the danger and the hazard, every single time we step into our motor vehicles we have to admit fully to ourselves that we are now driving a life-threatening vehicle and we need to pay our full attention, instead of treating driving as a semiautomatic activity where we can also think about the rest of our lives, listen to the radio, chat with a friend hands-free on the phone, etc.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Suechoccy, you are quite right as to how it *should* work. Absolutely the motorist (or any other road user) should be fully aware of everything that is going on around them at all times. The current reality, sadly, is different. This has led many of us to reduce or stop our riding out on public roads because we feel that the dangers are too real.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

The law supports riders on the roads, as does the hghway code.
But are we moving away from hacking and roadwork towards riding in schools and arenas?
Years ago everyone hacked. For fun. To get horses fit. For daily excersise. For the horses experience and to 'see things'.
I saw a recent poll that showed a very large percentage of people never hacked out , and I think this must be very detrimental to a horses all round education.
I dont know how to solve this, I hack out but I dont enjoy it like I used to. Before, I expected cars to slow down for me, now Im tense all the time, expecting them to whizz past.
I have hi-vis gear and dont hug the kerb, I trot on if I can, but I wish more people could be persuaded to brave the traffic because I feel the less horses drivers see on the roads the more they will think we should keep off them.
A difficult situation, and one thats going to get worse with drivers getting even more ignorant about horses on the roads.

I brave the roads, and always will. I refused to be pushed off the roads, by inconsiderate drivers. This is my hobby and part of this is enjoying riding in the countryside to which I need to go on roads to get there. I witnessed a horse spooking yesterday into the side of a car. Luckily horse and car ok, even though I had on dash cam if needs.

What would be next cyclists? children on road, disabled vehicles etc. Nope I am staying put

 

[Landcruiser]

I also brave the roads, my horse is rock solid even with large farm machinery, rattly trailers, sirens, bin lorries. He'll have a startle at stealth cyclists, and he'll goggle at prams or other random things so if I spot something on our nearside likely to spook him I'll stop unti the road is clear before passing it. I carry a crop with a hi viz flag on it, which I can extend, flap, use to alert drivers to my presence or even signal slow down. They see it, because it's moving. When I remember I wear my gopro. I have my fair share of idiots pass too fast (we live on a minor road but it's long and straight so obviously must be driven at 60mph+ by some drivers. Mostly though, cars slow down as we have a lot of horses on the roads around here. Like others, I will NOT be driven off the roads by idiots - I'd go out of my mind if I couldn't get out and about on my horse.

 

[Tarragon]

I agree that we face a dilemma and a bit of a chicken and egg situation. Road traffic volumes have increased and road users seem to be less tolerant and more ignorant and this is putting people off riding on the roads. This, in turn, results in fewer horses being ridden on the roads which has the effect that fewer motorists know what to do when they do encounter a horse and more motorists consider the roads to be there for their exclusive use.
I do about 75% of my riding out on the roads, and, in my part of rural Derbyshire, they tend to be either single track roads or B roads. I try to be a considerate rider; I wear hi-viz, I keep an eye and ear out for traffic and take action to find a safe place to get out of their way and thank everyone who passe and, if I cannot get off the road immediately, I will hold up the traffic while I trot on to the nearest safe place. I do find myself now choosing my routes very carefully based on the time of day and the time of year though to avoid the worst of the traffic. Local farmers tend to be very considerate but the contract farm workers, such as haylage and silage workers, tend to have a very short fuse, but you can't blame them when they are under such time pressures! I wish that all tractors were the size of the lovely old fergies
I have been to a few camps at Somerford, and I can see that it is feasible to have places where it is more than possible to have a very fulfilling horsey lifestyle without ever riding on the roads, but these are probably beyond the means of a lot of horse owners.
I am not sure where I am going with this post, except to say more rights should be given to all non-motorised road users and bigger penalties for drivers who abuse their position, or, investment into a off-road network of bridle ways.