Dare I try speedy road for hack?

HollyWoozle

HollyWoozle

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I am planning to hack Belle out tomorrow and there aren't many choices for us at the moment (as we are not going too far yet). We always go the same way up the village, which is also the direction of the school where we have started lessons, so I'd like to try taking her the other direction for a change.

The problem is that this would be basically all road work and to get to the quiet parts, we would have to ride along a 60mph road which is long and near straight (so people sometimes fly down it). It'd probably take us 10 mins of walking on this road, to get to the nicer bits, and then the same back and I can't decide if it's a good idea to try it or not? I have probs hacked her out maybe 12 times or so and she has only ever really spooked once and she wasn't particularly sharp and just went sideways a tiny bit. Usually if she is afraid then she heads for the pavement and has never been sharp and isn't spooky as sometimes just a touch nervous. She doesn't flinch with any sort of traffic/cyclists/roadworks etc. I am just worried in case we encounter cars which decide not to slow down at all?

We would be clearly visible in our high vis and the road is mostly straight with not many houses, cars should see us easily from both directions. There aren't many hedges or spooky areas along the road and as a Sunday, it shouldn't be too busy. My mum will be joining either on foot or a bicycle and also wearing a high vis tabard. There is also a track about a third of the way along that we could turn onto to cut back on ourselves if it all went wrong.

Do you think it's worth trying? Or best to avoid until I've hacked her more?

Thank you. :)
 
I think that all sounds safe enough - safe as it can be anyway.

Definately take your mum with you on her bike and wear your hiviz.

Good luck and enjoy your hack.

Let us know how you get on.
 
I generally find the straight, fast roads are less scary than the slower, narrow, twisty roads.

Drivers should have good visibility of you. I find that using a hi-viz quarter sheet backs the motorists of as they seem to think I may be police!

Enjoy your hack.

If you are really worried, could you lead Belle along the road the get on her once you have negotiated the fast road?
 
Give it a go, but take your mum with you :) It will help with your confidence, and Sunday mornings are the best times to brave the traffic, :)
 
Thank youuuu. I feel a bit better about it now so, depending on the weather, we may well give it a go (and if not then we'll definitely try it soon).

The speed always makes it seems more dangerous but there's probably far less for her to be worried of there than in our very busy village.

Thanks for the encouragement. :)
 
personally I wouldnt try it. A car going 60mph can do an awful lot of damage if it looses control, as I have found out to my cost. Sorry, I just dont see its worth it.
 
Do it, definitely. People get scared of fast roads but in reality they are often a lot safer than the windy lanes we always rode down, which have become dangerous with the advent of the satnav!

If you are visible, and also I would trot the road bit at a forward, spanking pace, so no time to look at anything and skedaddle out in the road, I think you will be grand. Particularly with your mum upsides, what a luxury, can I borrow her?! Best of luck, let us know how you get on, you and horse will have a great time :) xxx
 
Well if any of the cars do 60 mph past you, get your mum to write down their number plates and report them! ( if you can do it quick enough!)

Really they should do no more than 20/25 mph passed a horse and rider.

I would still do it though, Ben is actually less scared of fast traffic than going into the village and being spooked by people putting out bins, car doors banging etc etc :D

Let us know how you get on Holly!
 
I would definitely not try it until you and your horse are very, very used to each other. It is easy to say that motorists will be able to see you - but equally they will not be expecting to see a horse on such a fast road.
 
benson21 said:
personally I wouldnt try it. A car going 60mph can do an awful lot of damage if it looses control, as I have found out to my cost. Sorry, I just dont see its worth it.
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I would heed this sound advice, as I beleive it is borne of a horrific experience. Ultimately, what is your horse worth to you?
 
Most country roads are 60mph though!! Where I live they are mostly single track as well, does that mean I should never hack out?


My bug bear is people driving up your backside and not giving you a wide enough berth;

Motorists should expect horses on the roads if they are driving in the countryside

If you are wearing hi-viz there is no excuse for them not to see you
 
Holly Woozle - I have been riiding on the roads for 40 years now (including in Central London) but motorised vehicles are now more powerfull, heavier and go at faster speeds. They are driven by people that have go little or no understanding of horses. In addition to this people drive far more aggresively these days.
When we used to ride out on a Sunday morning hardly a single car passed us and we where in North London. Now it is a continuous line of traffic along the same road. How things have changed!
My advice is not to go on a busy fast road until you really know your horse and you have at the very least taken the British Horse Society Road Safety Course and Exam. This will teach you how to ride on the roads and give the correct clear signals to other road users to slow down.
Sadslt there are so many more vehicles on the roads and may of them are impatient and have no common sense at all.
If you would like to know who to contact locally to do your BHS road safety test then simply send me an E-mail to peter.natt@btinternet.com.
 
Ah! All this conflicting advice! Thank you though. :)

I think I will discuss it with my mum and then perhaps choose to start in that direction and then turn onto the track which is about a quarter (somewhere between that and a third) of the way along. This way Belle will get a chance to see the road but we will encounter only a few cars who will already be slowing down as they are about to come into the village.

This way Belle gets to see something new for a change. The track loops around the back of our field so we would come out on the other side, as if we had gone our usual direction in the first place. Then we could continue on our normal way for a little bit.

It's a shame so much roadwork is necessary here!!

Thank you all for your sound advice.
 
Tinkerbee said:
Sounds like bliss compared to our roads!
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Hehe, I definitely wouldn't want to try the 60mph windy roads but that's because I'm not that used to them really.

A lot of people say they wouldn't ride through the main part of our village as it's so busy but as we have no choice, we do and it is fine. I am very pleased with Belle that she handles it so well as there is a lot of traffic and things to look at (school, church, playing field, pubs, new housing estate with big flags and often roadworks).

The problem is that once you get used to a fair amount of slower traffic, not that they slow down much, the prospect of just a little amount of fast traffic is daunting!
 
Ultimately its up to you. But no matter of the amount of hi-vis you are wearing(I was covered in it), if your horse is spooky or not (my horse was not, he was just heading straight to home) accidents happen. I will never ever hack out on a road again after my experience, are there no toll rides/fields you could go round instead?
 
We have to cross a busy road like the one you're talking about to get to some amazing hacking, it is long and straight and has good visibility so we time it right and then trot on across... that said both horses are fantastic in traffic, if I had a horse that wasn't too sure I don't think I'd be prepared to cross that road with them until they were happier in traffic.
 
We regularly have to ride on a 200m section of 60mph straight road because we haven't yet persuaded the local landowners to let us join up two bridlepaths. I was scared at first because of how fast the cars go but it's not single track so they can give us a good, wide berth and they can see us from a long distance away. In the four years I've ridden along it we've never had so much as a spook or a problem. Much better than cars trying to squeeze past you in a village or coming upon you suddenly on a narrow country lane.

Yes, in an ideal world I would never ride on the roads but I do think the advantages to my horse in terms of fitness and a change of scenery outweigh the risks.
 
I never ride on the roads; to me the benefits definately don't outweigh the risks. (death to horse or me or both)

I box to local places to ride off-road for a long hack, otherwise I school or do the relatively small circuit ride around the farm fields.

I consider the cost of the lorry to be an essential part of horse ownership, and if I couldn't afford to have a lorry I either wouldn't ride or wouldn't own a horse.

I know I'm in the minority though!
 
dwi said:
We regularly have to ride on a 200m section of 60mph straight road because we haven't yet persuaded the local landowners to let us join up two bridlepaths. I was scared at first because of how fast the cars go but it's not single track so they can give us a good, wide berth and they can see us from a long distance away. In the four years I've ridden along it we've never had so much as a spook or a problem. Much better than cars trying to squeeze past you in a village or coming upon you suddenly on a narrow country lane.

Yes, in an ideal world I would never ride on the roads but I do think the advantages to my horse in terms of fitness and a change of scenery outweigh the risks.
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I'm in a similar position - I have to ride up the side of a busy A road to get anywhere. We're lucky that we are allowed to use the footpath next to the road and it is a long straight stretch where we can be seen from a long way away and cars have plenty of room to give us a wide berth. Its not ideal but better than a twisty narrow road where it is harder for traffic to avoid you.
 
We live to tell the tale! :)

We decided just to go a few hundred metres up the road before turning onto the bridleway which loops behind our own field. They have actually extended the 30mph zone so we didn't have to go very far into the 60mph zone.

Belle was excellent with the traffic, didn't hot up at all in the open fields but then was presented with a real challenge (it was a bit mean actually but a good test) as our other horse and pony noticed us from their field a few 100 metres away. They called to her and then she really wanted to run to them, starting jogging and was exciteable. She did eventually hop into a slow, bouncy canter but I turned her in a circle and made her walk again and she did! Hooray! We didn't get close to them but stayed on our path, going back out of sight and then coming out further up the village. We walked sensibly back home along the street even with young boys playing football on one side and quite a bit of traffic coming round us.

I am really pleased with this outcome as my previous horse was unstoppable if she went. Belle is a strong 16.2 (7yrs old) and was on the snaffle ring of a dutch gag. She came with a flash but not using that. I am really pleased as I didn't panic, just turned her around and we made it home nicely. Not being able to stop her has been my worst fear!
 
HollyWoozle said:
We live to tell the tale! :)

We decided just to go a few hundred metres up the road before turning onto the bridleway which loops behind our own field. They have actually extended the 30mph zone so we didn't have to go very far into the 60mph zone.

Belle was excellent with the traffic, didn't hot up at all in the open fields but then was presented with a real challenge (it was a bit mean actually but a good test) as our other horse and pony noticed us from their field a few 100 metres away. They called to her and then she really wanted to run to them, starting jogging and was exciteable. She did eventually hop into a slow, bouncy canter but I turned her in a circle and made her walk again and she did! Hooray! We didn't get close to them but stayed on our path, going back out of sight and then coming out further up the village. We walked sensibly back home along the street even with young boys playing football on one side and quite a bit of traffic coming round us.

I am really pleased with this outcome as my previous horse was unstoppable if she went. Belle is a strong 16.2 (7yrs old) and was on the snaffle ring of a dutch gag. She came with a flash but not using that. I am really pleased as I didn't panic, just turned her around and we made it home nicely. Not being able to stop her has been my worst fear!
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So glad your first foray onto the road went well. Perhaps after you have done this short stretch a few times, you will be able to do the whole stretch to the next bridlepath.

Well done
 
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