Cyclists!

Stencilface said:
This, oh this.

So many issues for the people of HHO are caused by them not getting their horse used to things and not being able to cope with a horse that isn't perfect 100% of the time. No horse is perfect 100% of the time, they are flight animals. Yes my horse will occasionally jump at things, but thats my issue for 95% of the time and not because some other person out on a public road/path has done something to deliberately upset him. If he jumps forward at the sound of a bike that neither of us heard, so what? I can cope with it, he can cope with it, yes its a shame that all cyclists don't know a warning is a good idea, but thats life. I don't control all other road/path users.
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And i agree with this to a certain extent, 2/3 bikes. Lorries, wheelie bins, buses motorbikes, my favourite was a helicopter taking off, yes i once had a neighbour with a mini heli and it was get used to it or dont hack, the list is endless, and i agree condition the horse, but theres little that can prepare your horse for a gaggle of lycra cyclists, especially if the dont or Wont co operate by slowing down past you
 
I have no problem with cyclists. Just as I assume that the ones that DO cycle up my horse's ar*e with no warning, have no problem with being booted into orbit. So, everyone's happy. :D:D
 
pansymouse said:
All I require from cyclists is that they ride single file as the law requires (I was told that was the case by a Police officer) and that they make some sort of noise to let me know they're there before they pass my horse. When I get a chance I explain that something swishing past silently will scare the majority of horses and that just shouting out to say they're coming up helps no end. The vast majority of cyclists don't know this and are very happy to comply once they are made aware of it.
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Exactly, my horse isn't scared of bicycles, he is scared by silent unexpected objects racing past at great speed.

Wonderful for all of you whose horses are happy with that. My horse is good on the roads but he's not perfect, and I am a thoughtful road user. I don't think anyone on this thread is criticising all cyclists, just having a rant about the ones who don't think.
 
Stencilface - I agree 100%

We deal with the usual bikes, tractors, cars, etc but helicopters, hot air balloons, motocross, miniature model aircraft and all kinds of other stuff. The key is not to spook at it yourself. Funnily enough all the spooky horses I know are ridden by people who wet themselves at the sound of a tractor 6 fields away. You should really be able to cope if your horse jumps, jogs or looks. If it does more than that then you need to put some work it.
 
Just wanted to add a comment on this,

last friday i was out on a hack with 2 friends (we were all wearing high viz), walking down a one-way road, with cars parked along the side, not even a small car would have fit trying to over take us.

Along comes a bus... obviously not happy at having to wait for us (by this time we had decided to trot to get past the parked cars) - he got so close to my friend at the back (we were riding single file), that if she had fallen off, he would have run her over as there wouldnt have been time to stop! needless to say we were all angry and worried... a rather lovely cyclist came along (the pavement...oops) and saw what was going on, he put himself between us and the bus cycling up the middle, and shouted 'carry on ladies, I'll hold him up - he's being a real d*ck head isnt he!?' - and stopped the bus from being able to get so close to us, and allowed us to get away...

so all i'll say is that cyclist was abs-bloomin-lutely brilliant... and the bus company has had a strongly worded email from me!
 
Hedwards said:
Just wanted to add a comment on this,

last friday i was out on a hack with 2 friends (we were all wearing high viz), walking down a one-way road, with cars parked along the side, not even a small car would have fit trying to over take us.

Along comes a bus... obviously not happy at having to wait for us (by this time we had decided to trot to get past the parked cars) - he got so close to my friend at the back (we were riding single file), that if she had fallen off, he would have run her over as there wouldnt have been time to stop! needless to say we were all angry and worried... a rather lovely cyclist came along (the pavement...oops) and saw what was going on, he put himself between us and the bus cycling up the middle, and shouted 'carry on ladies, I'll hold him up - he's being a real d*ck head isnt he!?' - and stopped the bus from being able to get so close to us, and allowed us to get away...

so all i'll say is that cyclist was abs-bloomin-lutely brilliant... and the bus company has had a strongly worded email from me!
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What a great post
 
Fewer and fewer people these days understand horses and this is the reason why so many cyclists are unaware of what action they should take when approaching horses. This is also exasperated by the fact that cyclist no longer take the cycling proficiency course and test. (Most schools used to organise it as an out of school hours activity).

It has been law for the last 3 years that all new bikes are fitted with a bell.

Cyclists must give way to walkers and horse riders on a bridleway.

As a result of a serious accident about 10 years ago the organisers of a race ride must ensure that it is escorted by a vehicle at the front and a vehicle at the rear. Where there is a horse rider on the road then the race must be immediately stopped so the horse rider can get safely out of the way.
 
Kat said:
Polldark no need for bells unless the cyclist happens to be mute! Far better a cheery hello or excuse me.

Many serious cyclists don't want to have to have bells they are trying to shave ounces off the weight of their kit, they want to be as aerodynamic as possible so don't want to be obliged yo carry a bell. Plus cyclists are concerned about public perception just like us and many feel that ringing a bell sends the wrong message to the public so they use their voice.



This is my point to answer you.

A proper cycle bell is usually only 2ins across & 1in deep, fits snugly on the handlebar & has quite a cheery tinkle. If a cyclist can't cope with that much extra weight I must feel really sorry for them. I thought it was an obvious solution to letting people know you are near.
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OWLIE185 said:
It has been law for the last 3 years that all new bikes are fitted with a bell.
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Yes, they must legally be *sold* with a bell, but the bell then can be taken off as soon as the bike has been purchased.

POLLDARK said:
A proper cycle bell is usually only 2ins across & 1in deep, fits snugly on the handlebar & has quite a cheery tinkle. If a cyclist can't cope with that much extra weight I must feel really sorry for them. I thought it was an obvious solution to letting people know you are near.
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Yes, it's not much weight or bulk, but for a pro cyclist, where every hundredth of a second counts, so does every gram on the bike.

I searched out a bell previously, as I used a two sided cycle & pedestrian path (that was separated by a strip of grass yet people would still walk on the bike side), and after the first few times I stopped using it - the sudden noise caused much more alarm than a shout, and also seemed to give the impression of 'get out of my way' whereas a shout of 'bike behind' and a smile made people much more willing to move and let you past.
 
I prefer them to speak (as a rider and hiker) it is less likely to make person or horse jump, conveys more information, is more friendly and less demanding/aggressive. It also doesn't require the cyclist to change their grip.

I would far rather a cyclist called out "coming through on your left" or "excuse me" or "ok to pass" than just rang a bell. Ringing a bell is like sounding a car horn, not particularly friendly and cyclists worry that it sends the same wrong message.
 
PS the serious cyclists to whom every ounce matters don't buy bikes off the peg complete with bell they buy bits and build it to their own spec. And if you are spending big money getting everything light and streamlined you won't add a bell. For time trial or race riders this stuff matters.
 
Its so frustrating as if we as riders chose to ....ride 2,3.4 etc. abreast as they frequently do around here, sprawl across the road as large groups tend to do, over take each other when we feel like it, charge past them, swerve across the road, or not give way to traffic there would be an uproar and rider would be dubbed as reckless etc.... yet as cyclists they seem to just get away with it with excuses such as 'i'd just got into a good rhythm/it wa downhill/i'm doing timed training etc/I didn't wwant to break my momentum/I'm allowed on the road etc'.

Even more frustrating when riders are criticised for being vocal for their won safety :mad:
 
I would far rather a cyclist called out "coming through on your left" or "excuse me" or "ok to pass" than just rang a bell. Ringing a bell is like sounding a car horn, not particularly friendly and cyclists worry that it sends the same wrong message.[/QUOTE]

Never had a cyclists be so polite....h execpet one women as I was riding down a narrow road deigned to say "theres several moe coming so get out of the way":eek:
 
OWLIE185 said:
As a result of a serious accident about 10 years ago the organisers of a race ride must ensure that it is escorted by a vehicle at the front and a vehicle at the rear. Where there is a horse rider on the road then the race must be immediately stopped so the horse rider can get safely out of the way.
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What Owlie says applied to Road Races (bunch races organised under British Cycling or League of Veteran Racing Cyclists where the riders all start together, complete a course (often several laps of a course) and first one across finish line wins.

It does not apply to Sportives. These are not races but rides, but many entrants will ride as fast as they can, or in groups, and although it's not a race, finishing times are published, thus encouraging some entrants to treat it like an unofficial roadrace.

It does not apply to triathlons (where we'll be dripping wet from having emerged from swimming pool or local lake ;-)) and on our own like timetriallists but our lycra onesies have no sleeves. Riders not allowed to draft each other in most events in Britain so seen singly or overtaking only, not in bunches.

It does not apply to timetrials (cyclists set off at one-minute intervals and wear lycra onesies with sleeves). Some timetrials may be on tandems, or in pairs, or 3ups or 4ups too.

Then there's Clubruns, the Sunday social ride, this is where you get your large group of people, often all wearing the same club colours. Popular large clubs will split their rides into 2-3 smaller groups of up to 10 riders each, they will tend to ride 2-abreast and whoever's at teh front should be looking out for hazards so they can warn the hazard and the group.
 
Just wanted to say as a happy hacker and road cyclist - that we are not all the same! Unfortunately not everyone understands the issue of horses being spooky or worried by things they have not heard coming. Just as some car drivers do not understand the 'better' way to drive past horses.
Not everyone can be knowledgable in such things and you get good with bad in all walks of life...
As a horsey person I always provide warning before getting too close to riders and slow when passing them...even then I have given some a bit of a start or fright. There is no other way of approaching it because no matter how far away I start to warn people, some will just have not heard until it is then a bit of a shock to them.
 
If anyone experiences a safety incident with their horse and a cyclist - or any other type of safety incident - we strongly urge them to report it on our dedicated website, horseaccidents.org.uk. It only takes a minute and provides vital data that we need to help make conditions safer for equestrians. Without this hard evidence, it's impossible for us to lobby for change.

The site also provides a wealth of safety advice and prevention information from both points of view.

If you have an incident that doesn't fit one of the categories, please alternatively drop us a line with the details at safety@bhs.org.uk.
 
We get loads of cyclist around our hacking routes, never have a problem with them :)
In fact, one time I was hacking on my own, horse was having one of her ''aaaaaaaargh, its my own foot, run, quick!'' days :rolleyes: And we went around the bend, there was about 30 cyclists having a break on the very big and wide grass verge, all dressed in very colourful and bright clothes. Horse had a proper meltdown, proceeded to sit in the hedge on the other side of the road, rearing everytime I tried to make her go forwards. One of the cyclists asked if they could be of any help at all. I had a bit of eureka moment as I had a bag of treats in my pocket, so I said that yes they could actually help, and if I throw the treats to them, would they mind coming up very quietly with their hand stretched out with sweeties in them, one by one. They were happy to do that, and by the time we got to the 6th or 7th person, pony came out of the hedge and marched over to them to get the sweets herself, because they were obviously doing it way too slowly for her standards :rolleyes: I can honestly say that I have never met people that were so nice and kind and gave up their time to help a complete stranger on a big lunatic horse. I couldn't thank them enough :)

Although, sometimes they pick the wrong place to have their break in, last time there was a group of 15cyclists, all male, they stopped in the drive of our yard, and most of them decided to wee in the hedge that faces our yard and is very see through. Me and 2 other girls were bringing our horses in, I spotted them first and had a good giggle, while the other two (both 12 years old) screamed and covered up their eyes. The men were horrified and started apologising and trying to wee faster, some of them tried to move to the denser part of the hedge but tbh it didn't really help, it was very funny :D :D
 
I will point out that, he isn't my pony and I ride him because the girl that owns him won't ride him because she's nervous and over the time he's clearly picked up on her being nervous around bikes etc. I am riding him to teach him ready for him being sold and he is getting a lot better as nearly every cyclist I meet on the trail are polite! They ring there bells and I always smile, say hi and thank them for it! I appreciate all drivers and cyclists that slow down for us etc! I also understand why people dislike riders on the road etc because some are road and think they own place but I would never ever think that, we all have the same rights!
 
pottamus said:
Unfortunately not everyone understands the issue of horses being spooky or worried by things they have not heard coming. Just as some car drivers do not understand the 'better' way to drive past horses.
Not everyone can be knowledgable in such things and you get good with bad in all walks of life...
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That's not really an excuse if you're on a public road, is it? The Highway Code makes it quite clear how you should pass horses and why. Cyclists like all road users are subject to the HC and should be following it.

I do agree that while horses are allowed on the road the rider has a responsibility to make themselves and their horses as safe as possible in traffic and take all the relevant precautions to do so. Despite that, they are still entitled to expect consideration from other road users and I would imagine that if another person behaved in such a way to cause injury that ignorance of that section of the Highway Code would be a viable defence?

Most cyclists are fine IME, some maybe a little careless but in general no great problem but I did have a major incident with the time triallers years ago. Four of us had hacked out on a Sunday morning and were heading home about 10am. The road we were on was fairly narrow, ditched both sides but wide enough and not too many bends but one we only rode on weekends as it was a rush hour rat run into town. All the horses were good in traffic, no youngsters and more than able to cope with the random things like marquees, hedge cutting, balloons and all the other odd things you see on a weekend morning.:) All of a sudden we had what seemed like a hundred (really only 15 - 20) bikes bearing down at speed from behind. When we asked them to slow down we were told to get out of the f...ing way by one and the rest decided it was a good idea to pass BOTH sides of us. We were trying to get out of the way - it wasn't as if we were meandering in the middle of the road anyway! - but none of us fancied putting ourselves in the ditch as it appeared they wanted us to. It was carnage - luckily the great majority of the damage was to the cyclists and their very expensive bikes. My horse knocked over a few and then tapdanced on one bike, he really didn't know what to do with himself when he was surrounded by bikes on all sides. Another horse completely lost the plot and was whirling like a dervish all over the road and ended up in the ditch, his rider took a nasty fall. I think 3 bikes got through unscathed. I believe that both the others held it together a bit better but they did, quite reasonably kick out.

That was bad enough but then the abuse started! I know they had got a fright, as did we but you would not believe the language (and I'm no shrinking violet) and threats we were getting - along the lines of we were fing paying for the bikes, LOTS of c word, they'd break our bones, see how we fing like it to the extent and volume that a householder called the police. They arrived with a steward from the ride who even with the police there, still tried to say it was our fault and that the club? would sue us. Remember, at this point we still had a horse in a deep ditch and a rider who while it turned out didn't have broken bones still had a trip to A&E in an ambulance because they were worried about a head/neck injury. While being shouted at I'd had to get my horses hoof untangled from a crumpled bike and no, none of them helped.

The police were great, organised an ambulance and would have organised a vet and transport home if we needed it. The also collected all the names and addresses of the cyclists and said that if we had vets bills to contact them and they would pass the cyclists details on so we could sue them ;)

I KNOW that the great majority of cyclists aren't like this lot but the hangover from this incident is that for quite a while we had 4 horses that were nervy with bikes - and who can really blame them? The horse that was in the ditch was lame for weeks and needed a lot of physio for his back before he came back into work, not quite enough to be worth the hassle of claiming from the cyclist but 10 years later is still lethal around bikes - if he can't run away from them he will kick out at them. Amazingly all the cyclists escaped with only cuts and some hoof print bruising but I heard that all but 3 bikes were damaged and 5 or 6 totally wrecked.
 
My wife is a rider and keen club cyclist. In the club they have a group riding etiquette that they teach to all new members. Since she joined this includes calling out to horses as they come up behind, and I have to say I find most cyslists are cuorteous and pleasant.

However, there has been a massive increase in cycling ( more club has quadrupelled in last 2 years) so there are a lot of new cyclists out there.

I think a pleasant ' Would you mind calling out so you don't frighten my horse?' is more effective and will be better received than sarcasm, abuse or using your whip !

What we don't want is horse riders percieved as rude, stuck up, rich b*****ds on horses.
 
JohnParfit - I would never ever be rude to another member of the public as I know this is definitely not the way to sort anything at all! I was concentrating on calming the pony down instead of saying something but the other than this one person the other cyclists in this club were very nice, said hi to me, slowed down, rode single file and had a joke with me asking if they could borrow him to get up the incline! This is the first ever cyclist I've met that has been rude, and I was just surprised- however I don't think they were from round Derbyshire and knew the paths they were on!
 
Hannah12.

Exactly ! I think the way to go is to be as pleasant as possible, set an example, and to try to educate those who do it because they don't understand horses. Unfortunately there will always be a few horrible people, but don't let them change you.

On the subject of stange things met out on hacks, my wife recently met a UFO at dusk in the woods while on our youngster. Luckily, he's bold as brass and just looked at it in amazement. As did my wife!

Of course it was an RC model UFO about 6 feet across not a real one. My wife called out and the modeller appeared and was most appologetic.
 
JohnParfit - I'm not sure why someone earlier on this post called me arrogant when I'm far from it:/ intact I don't think any rider can be arrogant seeing as we always smell of ****:/ oh wow, he must be a good lad!
 
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