Balloons and model aeroplanes !!

meesha

meesha

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Thought we would go for a nice quiet ride this lunchtime as I got up late (they are out in field so no rush down yippee) due to having horrible cold. Tacked up - put hi-viz on me and dog and set off - thought Dex would be really sluggy as thats how i am feeling, but no ! From the off he was up for it ! not a problem but unexpected in the lovely sunshine.

We got half way along the road to our off road destination and were just passing a yard when the 2 horses by the gate started going a bit loopy - thnking it odd i looked behind me to see a car coming up behind us with 6 balloons tied out of the boot on roughly 4 ft strings !!!!!! I had to ask the car to stop so could turn to face it as Dex had caught it out of the corner of his eye - to say he was not impressed was an understatement (thank god for cheltenham gags, quickly picked up gag rein to save us shooting off). Now on our toes we continue - get off road and I think, brilliant ! I can relax ! .......... 30 seconds later we come across 2 men in their 40s (not kids) carrying a model aeroplane ! the wing span was about 4ft, again Dex had eyes on stalks - I politely asked if they were thinking of flying it on the peak and they said yes - think I said "oh Cr*p ok" it was then a mad dash to get to the top of the peak before they set the stupid thing off. on way back I passed another middle aged muppet carrying a second model aeroplane up the peak !!!! there are loads of horses on top of the peak at the moment, just hope non of them are in foal !!!

Anyway - we made it back safely so as I am still in one piece thought I would share !!



jammie dodgers and cups of tea for all
 
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I used to ride over the top of the white horse in westbury, we always had model planes, and people who had some sort of skate board whilst windsurfing! Mineare pretty good with all that.
On another point, do you take your dog on the road off a lead?
 
yes, he has been coming out with me for nearly 10 years - he is a border collie and wont leave the back of the horse. Cars slow down for us much more when he is with me, I do pick my routes but more so pick my timing so avoid rush hour etc.
 
Wow, the roads round you must be pretty quiet! There is a woman near me who does this, but it makes me so mad, as I have seen her dog nearly getting run over, we aretalking A360 in the nat speed limit area.
 
well frank was a tit yesterday because he saw....





.. a horse.. being ridden .. *sigh

on one of our narrow lanes we do have good fun with parents drying swimming costumes out of car windows :D. The best ever was a twin engined proper sea racing type speed boat.. where it really shouldn't be (think nature reserve water..) although that still wasn't as scary as the pigs :rolleyes:, or the sheep, or his shadow...
 
Same, Ester - mine has a bird phobia - even little wagtails are terrifying apparently - but tractors, any traffic (from fire engines to caterham kit cars at full throttle), stuff like the OP encountered is all fine in his brain :rolleyes: I reckon he'd actually enjoy playing with a model aeroplane, if only his hooves could work the controls :p

I used to hack out with my (previous) BC too though :) Current one is 7 months old and not quite trusted yet!
 
Frank has spent too much time watching Alfred Hitchcock in his formative years, they are bad enough in the open but .. well.. if they are in a bush :eek:

Essentially you can work on the following equations.

Can this kill you? = no= act terrified
Can this kill you?= yes= meh whatever.
 
meesha said:
.......... 30 seconds later we come across 2 men in their 40s (not kids) carrying a model aeroplane ! the wing span was about 4ft, again Dex had eyes on stalks - I politely asked if they were thinking of flying it on the peak and they said yes - think I said "oh Cr*p ok" it was then a mad dash to get to the top of the peak before they set the stupid thing off. on way back I passed another middle aged muppet carrying a second model aeroplane up the peak !!!! there are loads of horses on top of the peak at the moment, just hope non of them are in foal !!!
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ahhh so the only hobby not considered muppetry is horseriding and everyone else must move out of our way and not cramp our riding? nothing like a bit of tolerance eh??:rolleyes:
 
I have to say I thought the same thing.

'middle age muppet' just because they have a different hobby to you? I completely understand why it upset your horse and ruined the ride.... but it does just confirm why non horsey people think of horseriders as arrogant.....:-(((
 
think their hobby is great - but..... they were going onto national trust land to launch it from the top of the peak where there are alot of wild horses and quite often cowes with young calves! riding, people walking, cycling etc generally doesnt upset anyone else but these were huge 4ft planes !!! the land is very rolling and you wouldnt see it coming ! I understand that people need somewhere to do their hobby but not sure this was the right spot !!! (prepares to be shot down again !!)

Dex is hardly ever spooky so was a bit suprised - athough he has thought some species of dogs to be killers - very embarassing when we go out with a dog ! the best was 2 large standard poodles - white and all clipped out looking lovely but apparently terrifying !!
 
;) as someone with 2 family members who fly such planes i'm always surprised at how little notice animals take of them TBH, i let my son practice with his in my horses field and although his is only about 1 ft wide rather than 4 ft it's still never caused a problem, the planes are more 'scary' when they're on the ground rather than in the air:)
 
fair comment, it was the man carrying it which spooked Dex. On the up side I made him really go for it up the hill to make it over and out of the way before they set if off. We get chinook helicopters low flying over the field and they dont bat an eyelid.

Still dont fancy meeting a 4ft version flying just above my head though on a steep hill !
 
meesha said:
fair comment, it was the man carrying it which spooked Dex. On the up side I made him really go for it up the hill to make it over and out of the way before they set if off. We get chinook helicopters low flying over the field and they dont bat an eyelid.

Still dont fancy meeting a 4ft version flying just above my head though on a steep hill !
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Just have to say, it is very refreshing that when we have mumbled about the wording re the model airplane peeps, you havent like many OPs accused everyone of bullying or thrown toys out of pram in mega exaggerated way - good on you! Think you sound like a capable and common sense rider to encounter such things, maybe thats why they keep seeking you out :-)))
 
I'm with Ibblebibble, I have my very own "muppet" who flies both model aeroplanes and helicopters, I have also been quite involved with organising stuff for various model clubs.

OK, yes some of them can be a little nerdy but generally speaking they are a nice bunch of people who for the most part would go out of their way not to cause a nuisance to anyone, horse riders included.

It seems a shame that whilst you feel that you should be able to enjoy your chosen hobby in lovely countryside, others shouldn't.
 
We regularly hack around an area used by the local model aero club and neither "Huge Horse" or Magic are bothered by them and in fact will stand and watch the aerobatics right above their heads.:D We even have a full sized Bi-plane that lands in the next field.:cool:
 
Near me they tie balloons to the model air plane and shoot the balloons! Horses not keen! The person that organises it is good about warning us it will be on.
 
Cocorules said:
Near me they tie balloons to the model air plane and shoot the balloons! Horses not keen! The person that organises it is good about warning us it will be on.
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Off topic, but that sounds fun :p I would be takng the pony round to shoot the balloons from his back, tent pegging style :D
 
Sounds like a fun hack :D

I won't press the point about the 'middle aged muppet' as that's already been covered - I did think the same as others have posted :rolleyes::cool::p

Well done on staying in one piece though :D

We get lots of private helicopters coming over. Can make lessons interesting simply trying to hear the instructor lol. Our neds aren't fazed by them thankfully. No idea what they'd think to model planes though :D. Either try and eat them or run away from them I suppose :cool::rolleyes::eek::D
 
dont think my wording was the best tbh - my fault for hacking with stinking cold but looking at the weather couldnt resist it ! I am sure the men were lovely but the planes were flippin huge ! took 2 of them to carry it up to the top (bet they were shattered it was flippin steep !)

on the up side Dex felt great as he pranced along ! why cant they produce that power when you want it !!
 
I'm terrified of balloons, obviously I'm tolerant up to a point, if work mates want to put them up that's fine, they just can't blow them up with me there.
 
Well done for dealing with those terrifying planes & balloons!
I also agree with the deadly/not deadly, safe/not safe equation :rolleyes:

Although Merlin was a very good boy today, walking nicely past an insane colt who was galloping at us the other side of a fence and didn't look twice at some birthday balloons :p

And yes, it is so annoying that those beautiful big strides that happen on hacks never appear in the school! Or that might just be me :o
 
Neither of mine bother. Some local enthusiasts club had a meeting/ rally whatever its called not far from one of our local shows last year, so everyone hacked past them on way in. Horses that I saw were more interested in getting to the excitement of the showground.
 
Hate to think what Harvey's reaction would be to any of that!

We also had interesting hack today- first had to go past a parked digger, then a large builders skip bag. Then the ground was most scary :rolleyes:

He was petrified by one of those mobility scooters with a waterproof hood on!

Also got annoyed as people were standing with their buggy between the horse track and the "people" track, not much room on either side, he was scared of the buggy and so stopped, however they continued to allow their child to cycle up behind him on the bike with stabilizers (which was scaring him.) Fortunately for them he doesnt kick.
 
dex in the past has been scared by pram with hood up ! those hooded monsters are terrifying haha !

may take some balloons down field to see if I can convince him they are ok - we pass a popular wedding venue alot so although that is the first lot of balloons we have ever seem attached to a car, I ought to try to get him used to them - not sure about the cans etc tied on back of vehicles - he is fine with the harrow being dragged across the yard but I am sure the cans would be killer ones !!
 
Sorry, but if a horse has issues with prams & little kids on bikes, then I think its more the case the rider needs to de sensitize them, than families should stay out of the way. I agree its careless to allow small kids to go behind horses, but many people don't realise. From their pov your horse stopped in the way of their child. Not sure why you'd be annoyed that a family & buggy were out enjoying themselves too?
 
Nowerdays, its virtually impossible to go out for a ride without coming across something which is unusual or potentially frightening for a horse.

I think that the only answer is to make sure that your horse is emotionally fit to deal with these sights and sounds which, in our area at least, are an everyday occurance.

If your horse cannot cope with the myriad of scary things, whats the alternative? To give up riding out. This is the choice of several of my friends and neighbours, very sad really.



"If he's afraid of blackbirds, get him used to eagles."
 
ester said:
well frank was a tit yesterday because he saw....





.. a horse.. being ridden .. *sigh
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Brilliant.

Wish it was only model planes we had to deal with. Kites, paragliders, Parachutists.....

All good fun, and makes for the odd exiting ride.

I think it's great we can all share the same spaces, and have such fun.
 
Yesterday I was riding Malaga through the village (Narrow road high walls big lorries etc)and someone came out and threw a large fence panel in a skip on the other side of the road!Malaga "looked" but coped and the man did look sheepish but then as we passed there was a loud scrunching sound which made Malaga shoot forewards! I did a one rein stop and turned him to look....having failed to scare Malaga the man had decided to break up the panel in the skip :D...oooh FUN!
Talking of Families we were going through the little village that has a narrow quiet circular road round it and a family came towards us complete with push chair and kids riding scooters up and down.Malaga could manage that but the children had PINK pumps......Malaga doesn't "Do" pink! He looked very carefully at their feet as he went passed sideways :D :D:D
 
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