wellsat
Well-Known Member
Was enjoying a nice evening hack with a friend tonight when we spotted a couple cantering fast towards us, they slowed to a very fast trot as they reached a few metres away but clearly had no plans of walking.
I called out "Could you walk past us please?" in a normal non aggressive manner but they stared at me and kept on coming so I called again "Could you walk please?" a little firmer this time.
The woman on the second horse yelled back "Have some respect, he's deaf" to which I replied, "The respectful thing is to walk past strange horses if you meet them on a hack." Again I didn't yell, I wasn't aggressive or anything.
At this point she completely lost it, kicked her horse into a gallop and as they sped off she yelled back "Look at you, you can't ride. If you're scared of your horse you shouldn't ride it out in the open. Miserable Cow!"
G to his complete credit walked calmly onwards through the whole situation, stayed in a nice light contact and didn't even look sideways.
I have very a very specific reason why I asked them to walk today but I don't feel the need to go into it. Fair enough if you're on a hunt ride or going cross country schooling but this was a public bridleway in the local village. I could have had a young or nervous horse, I might have been a nervous rider. I always slow down to a walk when I meet people I don't know, I'm actually a confident rider on a gem of a horse but I still don't think there was any need for the rudeness.
I called out "Could you walk past us please?" in a normal non aggressive manner but they stared at me and kept on coming so I called again "Could you walk please?" a little firmer this time.
The woman on the second horse yelled back "Have some respect, he's deaf" to which I replied, "The respectful thing is to walk past strange horses if you meet them on a hack." Again I didn't yell, I wasn't aggressive or anything.
At this point she completely lost it, kicked her horse into a gallop and as they sped off she yelled back "Look at you, you can't ride. If you're scared of your horse you shouldn't ride it out in the open. Miserable Cow!"
G to his complete credit walked calmly onwards through the whole situation, stayed in a nice light contact and didn't even look sideways.
I have very a very specific reason why I asked them to walk today but I don't feel the need to go into it. Fair enough if you're on a hunt ride or going cross country schooling but this was a public bridleway in the local village. I could have had a young or nervous horse, I might have been a nervous rider. I always slow down to a walk when I meet people I don't know, I'm actually a confident rider on a gem of a horse but I still don't think there was any need for the rudeness.