Do you think I caught them unawares

I agree that both sides showed a lack of manners. I am a horse rider and dog walker, if I was the rider in this situation I would have slowed to a walk and shouted a polite warning ahead. Perhaps one walker on their own would have heard the horse trotting up behind, but the 2 may have been chatting so not quite so aware. When walking my dogs I always call them and put them on lead if I see a horse approaching, most horse riders thank me, the odd one lets the side down by sweeping past with their nose in the air:rolleyes:.
The worst I met was when walking with a friend on a quiet lane, both dogs on lead. We saw a horse approaching with a dog alongside off lead, the rider made no attempt to call the dog back and it had a real go at our dogs, rider just trotted on past. A swift boot up the backside eventually persuaded the dog to follow its owner but his attitude was disgusting.:mad:
 
i know someone mentioned it as an insult but what if the walkers were hard of hearing or deaf??!!
Sorry Pedantic, i normally sit here and smile and nod at your comments but this video has only portrayed you in a bad light rather than the dog walkers. we expect cyclists to announce their presence to us as horse riders so would it have been too much to give a little verbal warning to the walkers in front of you? would you have done the same to a family with small children wandering loose on the path?

Actions like yours only fuel the stereotype that horse riders are arrogant sods who think they own the road/path/countryside:(
 
Mithras said:
I actually think its rather arrogant to assume that the law doesn't apply to you, and to take large, potentially out of control dogs out in public, and assume that everyone else will take steps to avoid upsetting them, so you are not troubled in YOUR chosen activity.
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My dogs are neither large nor out of control . . . once again, it's called manners.

I don't even let my dogs bark in the garden in case it disturbs the neighbours - ditto my kids when they where small - but I sure do expect other people to keep their yappy dogs and screaming kids under control and quiet. It's no different.

So if you are (for instance) leaving a venue like a local show and there are lots of pedestrians walking on a small country road with their children do you not drive more slowly and carefully than you otherwise would if there was no'one about? Ditto if you pass a father and (small) child on their bikes on a country A road - I'll bet you slow down and pass wide and slow. The law is irrelevant - you do it because you want to be sure there's no accident. Little kid could wobble and fall off - a small child could step into the road, etc. All I'm saying is that we all - runners, cyclists, riders and walkers share some of the same thoroughfares - and when we do we should ALL be considerate of each other - and to fall back on what's "legal" feels to me mean spirited and rude/arrogant. It's about caring about each other's welfare.

I think it's fair to say that we're both pretty opinionated and rather than perpetuate what seems to me to be a game of tit for tat, I'm going to choose to agree to disagree.

P
 
I just want to know if Pedantic has a helmet cam, or if he does all this one handed :p

Too scared to look at the bridge video... I remember the "bridleway" roads crossing one, it was terrifying!
 
Let's imagine this video was a horse meandering down a road ahead, and the video being taken by a driver who continued to drive at speed at the horse and rider, then posted a video lamost laughing at the situation.

I'm sure they should have heard the horse, put their dogs on leads, and moved out of the way - I know I would if i was walking my dog, for my own and my dog's safety for a start.

BUT we are all out there riding our horses in public and I do feel if we want drivers, pedestrians and dog walkers to be on our side and treat us with courtesy, we have to do the same for them. And if that sometimes means stopping, calling hello and asking if the dogs are OK for you to pass, then you do it, even if you wanted to keep trotting.

Would it have honestly been that difficult to be polite? Never mind the example it sets to those dog walkers - that it's OK for your dog to run around the legs of a trotting horse, so next time, just don't bother putting them on leads.
 
PolarSkye said:
I'm normally a mild-mannered person, but I don't care for your rather arrogant tone.

I'm not stupid (although I'm no lawyer) - I am aware that I would be liable - it's called a rhetorical question. However, I am not talking about the law, I am talking about manners - remember those?

What you're describing is a society in which right maketh might . . . manners and consideration of others be damned. I prefer to operate on the principle of consideration of others . . . I like other people to treat me with due care and consideration, and I certainly treat everyone else the same way.

It may not be grounded in law, but last I checked manners and consideration aren't necessarily governed by the judicial system.

P
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well said
 
Sharpen your elbows, know your rights, devil take the hindmost cos I'm alright, Jack. Just makes the world a slightly sadder place to live:(
 
PolarSkye said:
So if you are (for instance) leaving a venue like a local show and there are lots of pedestrians walking on a small country road with their children do you not drive more slowly and carefully than you otherwise would if there was no'one about? Ditto if you pass a father and (small) child on their bikes on a country A road - I'll bet you slow down and pass wide and slow. The law is irrelevant - you do it because you want to be sure there's no accident. Little kid could wobble and fall off - a small child could step into the road, etc. All I'm saying is that we all - runners, cyclists, riders and walkers share some of the same thoroughfares - and when we do we should ALL be considerate of each other - and to fall back on what's "legal" feels to me mean spirited and rude/arrogant. It's about caring about each other's welfare.

I think it's fair to say that we're both pretty opinionated and rather than perpetuate what seems to me to be a game of tit for tat, I'm going to choose to agree to disagree.
P
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Getting back to the OP, the dogs in question were 4 in number, and all were loose. The owners were unaware of other users of the track (if they were deaf, the Animals Act still applies to them without exception but I'd be surprised because then they would know to take precautions, such as looking about them). To me, 4 dops is potentially a pack, and the owners can't get 4 dogs back on leads quickly enough if they do find something to chase or jump up on, whether thats a horse rider, cyclist, runner, walker or baby in a pushchair.

It also happened on a track, a flattish, wide track, where they really should expect to encounter other people, perhaps moving faster than them. Why not simply have the dogs (or at least two of the dogs) on a lead?

I only rarely get troubled by dogs rarely - people around me are sensible and considerate and put them on the lead but I used to live near quite a rough village in Fife and for some reason the dog owners there were really ill mannered and wouldn't call their dogs off, even if they were actually snapping at your legs. The only other incident was when I was nearly bitten by a dog belonging to a woman who was obviously mentally impaired. But the most common thing that happens to me when I'm running is that loose dogs follow me, and their owners become frantic, afraid that they are going to get lost or not return. Although in the running club some of the guys say they have been knocked down by dogs in the local park and then given abuse by the owners, and my relatives certainly tell me it is a real problem when they out walking with their children and one of them is now terrified of dogs as a result of being knocked over by one and constantly jumped up on by others out of control.

Never get bothered when I'm out on my horse - he loves dogs as his previous owners had several Dobermans and would like to say hello to them, but sadly for him, dogs are scared of him and invariably quietly back away. Its a great disappointment for him, but at a muscular 17.1 and very calm and fearless, he doesn't understand why not all dogs want to say hello back!
 
KristmasKatt said:
Have you seen the steps one :eek:
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Not fazed by the steps, have done similar myself. I would rather hack up and down those 10 times over than do the bridge once! :o Have done much much smaller motorway bridges, and luckily I was far more fazed than my equine companion :o
 
Pedantic said:
I was behind at a walk for a while and they just weren't paying any attention to anything from behind, bearing in mind there are a lot of bikes along this stretch, so I trotted on hoping they would hear me, obviously not :rolleyes:
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They certainly didn't seem to be paying any attention to what was going on around them, with a pack of off the lead dogs! Didn't like the way they started barking and running at your horse. Hope they're better behaved if a kid comes whizzing along on a bike
 
You'd think that people walking in the middle of the road might pay attention to what may be behind them especially with all those dogs running loose. They are lucky your horse is very brave - I watched The Bridge! Don't bring out 'The Bridge 2' - my nerves won't stand it! lol
PeskyPeanut
 
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