Do you hack on roads...

[stormox]

I am interested to see how many riders hack out along the road. It seems fewer and fewer people do these days , the roads are so busy - but I also think the less we use roads, the less drivers expect to see us and the less careful they are so it's rather a vicious circle.

 

[Barton Bounty]

I do, only with my helmet cam though

 

[ycbm]

I've gone back to a livery with an amazing farm ride and made a decision that if I can't stay there for any reason I will give up horses rather than hack on a road again, it's so scary it's spoiling the enjoyment.

 

[Flowerofthefen]

I do regularly but I try and go early doors so onboard around 5.45. I still see the odd pillock ee at that time. This morning I had 8 cars pass me at various times and although they weren't doing 10mph they did pass safely.

 

[ycbm]

I am interested to see how many riders hack out along the road. It seems fewer and fewer people do these days , the roads are so busy - but I also think the less we use roads, the less drivers expect to see us and the less careful they are so it's rather a vicious circle.

You make a good point.

 

[Gloi]

None of these answers fit. There are no A roads in riding distance so I ride on local and B roads. Not to get to bridleways though as there are few of those and if I happen to ride on one it is a very small proportion of the ride.

 

[Cortez]

Nothing could induce me to ride on the road nowadays. Far, far too dangerous and modern drivers have no idea how to approach or drive past horses, and since they're not used to seeing them out they're not expecting them on the roads.

 

[smolmaus]

Don't have a choice, no bridleways here, but yeah, I don't go without a helmet cam and my hi vis that has "camera in use" on it.

A yard friend went out today (on a local b road) and had to dismount and walk her mare back because not a single car slowed down for her and her normally very solid hacking horse couldn't cope with every single car being driven by a moron. As she was dismounting and almost in tears someone stopped their car and asked her for directions to the golf club. I chose not to risk it today. As I was walking my mare the very short distance down the road to the field a land rover passed us without hitting the breaks once and without moving an inch further towards the verge. My mare is completely unbothered by cars no matter the speed they're doing but one day she's going to spook at a bird or a cow or who knows what at the wrong time and someone won't be passing correctly and that will be that!

 

[stormox]

None of these answers fit. There are no A roads in riding distance so I ride on local and B roads. Not to get to bridleways though as there are few of those and if I happen to ride on one it is a very small proportion of the ride.

Sorry I was trying to keep it simple. But I suppose local and B roads would be the best one

 

[Time for Tea]

I ride along our quiet lane for about 400 yards then cross a slightly busier road to get to common land. I think I would box everywhere if I had to ride on any busier roads. There is just so much traffic and people will not wait. I see it with bikes as well. There are a lot of pinchpoints near us, and if I’m driving and pause to let a bike come through, if there is a car behind the bike, driver will invariably assume I’ve stopped for them and they just drive on and try to squeeze through the pinchpoints with the bike or force the bike off the road

 

[nagblagger]

Similar - local roads, limited bridleways.

 

[DabDab]

I ride around the local lanes. I can get to the forest but have to cross a fast A road to get there so only do it very early in the morning

ETA: I don't really have any problems on the roads I ride on. I mainly stand out of the way of cars passing anyhow and most are very good. The only things that can be problematic are the tractors flying around at this time of year, some well driven, some driven by teenage lads that seem to be under the impression they are out rallying, and the odd local kid that gets a scooter or a 125 and just doesn't really understand how to be responsible around horses. But my horses are small and sensible, and if I can see or hear idiocy barrelling along towards me I just hop off and hide in a gateways it to pass.

 

[tda]

I am lucky enough to live on a bridleways, so can do a couple of miles off road on a loop, any further it's onto quiet local roads then into a small but busy hamlet, the roads are barely wide enough for two small cars to pass in some places and they just don't want to wait for two minutes. It used to be a very horsey village, nearly everyone had horses but not any more. A local lady had a very near miss not so long ago
I'm getting a hatcam and a new hiviz

 

[Surbie]

I need to ride down a 30mph road that is used as a rat run to get to bridleways, and have to cross two 40mph roads, as well as going under and over the A3 and under train tracks so I am grateful my horse is generally very good in traffic. Most drivers are great, but about a third are awful, including the Amazon delivery vans and bus drivers who will not stop for you when you have right of way, but will continue to try and squeeze past.

It is a horsey suburban town, with roughly 200-250 horses kept in and around it, of which at least half are hacked out regularly at all times of day, so drivers surely can't use the excuse that they never see horses.

 

[Jambarissa]

I ride along a commuter road for a mile to get to the village lanes. The road becomes a 30 limit just before our yard but no one bothers slowing until they get to the houses.

We are head to toe in high viz with a camera and an A4 camera sign. It does help. Most slow a little and pull out a bit, the real locals are generally very good as are large trucks, it's the commuters that are the problem.

I can't decide whether it's safer to ride at rush hour when they simply can not overtake and have to wait for us to pull into drives every 100 yards (which we happily do).

My mare is wide and refuses to walk at the pretty steep camber at the edge so we do command the lane somewhat.

If I ever move house I'll find stables with off road hacking then buy any old house in the area!

 

[BSL2]

I live in a town of approx 10,000. Our field is on a quiet private lane. We are supposedly a 30 mph limit I am absolutely fed up to the back teeth of the numpties who do not know the highway code or are just complete idiots who do not understand risk assessment/potential hazard. What chance do I stand when I see car drivers pass kids on scooters on foot paths, without a thought of slowing down. I don't want to be that "angry" person , but I can't believe how stupid the general public can be. Rant over,

 

[xxcharlottexx]

Not riding a great deal at the moment but no school so it's hacking only for me. Mostly quiet lanes but do need to ride the main B Road through the village to get to any bridle ways or even make it a short circular loop. Most are considerate but there is usually at least one idiot each ride. Luckily my horse is great in traffic but as said above it's the bird, bag or something else unexpected likely to make him spook into the path of a vehicle that's likely to get me It doesn't help that as a driver, even I find a lot of the riders in the village quite rude and if they annoy me they must annoy un horsey drivers making them even less likely to be considerate for me! There's also several huge new developments being built just outside the village, guessing well over 1000 homes so can only imagine the amount of traffic getting worse

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

We have a quiet single lane road then a B road to get to the gallops. The locals are great and love seeing the horses. The new locals get annoyed to start with then realise we were here first and we aren't changing our work to suit them so they have to adapt and deal with it.

On the B Road we meet the same trucks and tractors more often than not and they are great. They know if we are close enough to a pull in point we can all fit in we will trot on to do it. The motorbikes are 98% fantastic with us and I do feel bad for them having to slow down for us as the B road is an amazing one for zooming along on a bike and we spoil that fun. The cars are more of a problem. And the worst of the bunch are the cyclists. The local group are great, slow down if coming head on or shout and chatter loudly amongst themselves if coming from behind. It's the rogue outsiders that fly past in either direction without uttering a word, usually far too close wearing no hiviz and mostly dark clothing.

We have the advantage of being out in mass numbers - usually double figures.

I never ride my own out on the roads. As soon as you are out of the drive you are met by 2 blind bends that people take at least 50mph.

 

[Melandmary]

Yes I do but I don’t enjoy it. Unfortunately moved my horse from a countryside livery with miles of off road hacking to keeping her at home- the major downside is that we are close to town centre and my hacking is mostly roads. I tend to hack very early morning at weekends and in a small “ window ” during the week. My horse had never done road work before moving here and sometimes I have to force myself to go out. I have found a riding buddy recently but I still have to hack to her on the road and back. After several arguments with drivers of buses and cement mixers and even a driving instructor I am going to buy myself a hat cam next payday. I always wear my air vest. Once our mortgage term is up I want to move somewhere with off road riding as my main pastime has always been happy hacking- now a slightly fearful hacker and reluctant schooler ( that’s both of us)

 

[MuddyMonster]

I do.

I don't have to as we have good off road hacking but I choose to ride on roads.as it has advantages for me, personally. It keeps horse and I used to traffic and we have a great bridleway network to link up to further afield and I enjoy the longer rides.

I use a mix of quiet private lanes, B roads and A roads.

 

[expanding_horizon]

I’m very lucky. Permissive access round edges of fields, leading to an access only road leading to lots of off road hacking accessible by a bridge over a fairly busy road. Yard not super close to home but worth the journey.

 

[Miss_Millie]

Yes, but I only hack out in company. I personally don't feel happy going out on my own, doesn't have to be with another rider but at least a friend or OH on foot. It's good to have another pair of eyes to spot potential hazards. My mare is bombproof in traffic but I'm the one who isn't brave enough to go out on my own.

I feel much safer on wide, open roads without tall hedges or bends. It's the narrow country lanes with lots of twists and turns which terrify me, and I avoid these at all costs due to near misses in the past.

 

[PurBee]

I wouldnt here if i did. There’s barely any traffic, its so rural, but the ones that are, 20% of them drive too fast and on the opposite side of the road cutting off the bends, which are plenty.
A lad in a car didnt miss us in our landrover hauling a 16ft trailer, everything lit-up -scraped the entire length of his car along ours and sped-off - there’s no way he’d have seen/slowed for a hi-viz horse, he was going way too fast on the opposite side of the road he should have been on, on a bend!
I used to romantisise these very wild mostly un-used road tracks would be perfect hacking until i experienced the drivers on them. It’s really saddening tbh, everyones in such a rush on the roads and the respect for ALL road users gets diminished.

 

[Miss_Millie]

I wouldnt here if i did. There’s barely any traffic, its so rural, but the ones that are, 20% of them drive too fast and on the opposite side of the road cutting off the bends, which are plenty.
A lad in a car didnt miss us in our landrover hauling a 16ft trailer, everything lit-up -scraped the entire length of his car along ours and sped-off - there’s no way he’d have seen/slowed for a hi-viz horse, he was going way too fast on the opposite side of the road he should have been on, on a bend!
I used to romantisise these very wild mostly un-used road tracks would be perfect hacking until i experienced the drivers on them. It’s really saddening tbh, everyones in such a rush on the roads and the respect for ALL road users gets diminished.

Same here, in my experience these are the most dangerous roads to be on, whether as a rider or driver I feel safest on double lane roads which are mostly straight with no hedges/good visibility, but ideally wouldn't have to ride on the roads at all.

 

[Kino]

I have to cross a 40mph B road directly out of the yard but apart from that I avoid them as much as poss. I've never loved hacking on the road, less from the car point of view, more from my human-wary pony being a bit sensitive about everyday occurrences such as people slamming their doors as they leave their houses.

But the roads are so much busier round here the last 2 years. I've also had someone hit my stirrup twice back when I did ride on the roads. People overtaking on blind bends etc. Although off-road feels only marginally safer as we have mountain bikers coming down narrow bridleways at speed (once colliding into us) and a lot of completely oblivious dog owners.

Point is slightly moot as my lovely pony is out of work more often than in work - I will do an inhand walk on a small residential road loop. Weirdly I think people have been more respectful of me when I'm on the ground. Although A Lady in Range Rover did pass at approx 50 in the 30 the other day - and she's got horses!

 

[Dave's Mam]

I don't need to. My yard has lovely tracks on site with lots of hills & optional jumps. I have no inclination to even go along the private road nearby to the woods, as it's literally a car wide & idiots can't wait for the passing places.

 

[Roxylola]

My boys are super on the roads, because they have to be. We hack on the a6 going in to Manchester, next to the east lancs dual carriageway, literally alongside the motorway as well as over and under it, next to train lines....
But, I don't want to, its not the horses, it's the complete lack of care from so many drivers, pedestrians, dog walkers, cyclists, kids on skateboards. I think in my lifetime there will come a point where I only want to ride on private land like farm rides. Even boxing to bridle paths you've still got all the other non motorised "traffic" to deal with. Its rarely a pleasure now.

 

[lme]

we hack mostly on roads

 

[Bellalily]

Answers don’t fit my riding habits. We ride round narrow country lanes, I won’t go on any other roads and I only go for an hour of which 1/3 of it is bridleway. I’m actually getting a hat cam for my birthday with tabards so I may feel braver then. Given the devastating news of Jayne Hunt, I am extra wary and alert.

 

[millikins]

I drive rather than ride, vehicle isn't sprung for off roading so have no choice. This pony is new, only had her 2 months and it was pre lockdown when I had last one PTS. The standard of driving in that time has certainly gone down, the main problem isn't so much failing to slow down as squeezing past when there isn't room. I'm saving for an off road carriage as we are well supplied with BOATs around here.