Hacking idiots! (Rant)

[Toby_Zaphod]

I was driving home from the yard tonight, turned a corner & there they were......... 3 idiots on horses, riding 3 abreast along the lane which is just about wide enough for 2 cars to pass. They were right across the road. I slow down anyway for horses but I had to stop as there was no where to go. One turned around & saw me & they decided to meander into single file. I drove past slowly, looked in my mirror & saw them revert to 3 abreast again. This happened just as another car was coming the other way & he had to stop for these idiots again.

I cannot understand the mentality of them, they obviously had no understanding of highway code & seemed to fail to see any danger in what they were doing.

 

[Rose Folly]

I was driving home from the yard tonight, turned a corner & there they were......... 3 idiots on horses, riding 3 abreast along the lane which is just about wide enough for 2 cars to pass. They were right across the road. I slow down anyway for horses but I had to stop as there was no where to go. One turned around & saw me & they decided to meander into single file. I drove past slowly, looked in my mirror & saw them revert to 3 abreast again. This happened just as another car was coming the other way & he had to stop for these idiots again.

I cannot understand the mentality of them, they obviously had no understanding of highway code & seemed to fail to see any danger in what they were doing.

I must admit we often ride TWO abreast on the narrow lanes round here, as we present more of an obstacle. We've had too many cases of vans, in particular, just skimming by us, and I was hospitalised and my horse badly injured by a motorist doing exactly that. We don't do it near corners, but people value their cars, if not our lives, so have to slow down in case the precious paintwork gets scratched!

 

[tallyho!]

Good tactic! I like it!

There's never more than two of us hacking, very rarely three. But I must admit for our own safety we do ride two abreast on narrow roads due to too many accidents in WSM where I used to live. We will move to single file to let cars pass. In fact, we were advised to do this by a police lady when using the narrow lanes there.

Drivers HAVE to slow down or stop and that is the whole idea.

When alone, I have pretended to be riding a mad horse and swung his bum out to avoid being killed by white van drivers and fast rat-runners.

I'm sorry but the road is for everyone and horse/rider vs car there is only one winner.

I also agree with cyclists doing the same thing. At the end of the day, drivers do seem to drive like idiots in country lanes. Not saying you are TobyZ, but you never know who's coming around the corner.

 

[mynutmeg]

Most of the roads around me are not wide enough for two cars to pass - there are random pulling over points and one road in particular is narrow. When out in a group we deliberately take up the whole road as it stops cars trying to squeeze past (has happened) but if a car comes we trot to the next passing point or will turn around if we just passed a stopping point and always make a point of saying thank you. The biggest problem we ever had was an old guy in an ancient tractor - he simply wouldn't slow down and missed my friend's horse by about an inch

 

[maresmaid]

Sometimes as riders we have to take action that cant be explained to a driver in a split second - for example if i KNOW that my horse is feeling tense and worried about something ahead and its one of the very rare times he feels like he might sundenly leap sideways i will hold the centre of the road so cars cant pass until i feel its safe for them to do so (perhaps for all of 10 or 20m distance at the most) once past the scary thing i will move over and let them thru with a wave of thanks. I know they wont understand why i held them up, but i dont care - i am polite and we all go home safely, but sometimes when i see an impatient look from a driver i really wish i could stop them and explain that i am not just been inconsiderate but there is a good reason for what i have done.

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

I know horses, I've been around them for 40 years & I assure you that these 3 idiots had no road sense at all & I'm afraid are destined to become hood ornaments unless they start to use some basic common sense!.

 

[chestnut cob]

I know horses, I've been around them for 40 years & I assure you that these 3 idiots had no road sense at all & I'm afraid are destined to become hood ornaments unless they start to use some basic common sense!.

The amount of people I've seen out hacking, over the years, who have either no sense or simply don't care about their behaviour, is shocking. I actually think, overall, that horse riders are by far the worst road users in terms of expecting everyone to give way to them, thinking they own the road, and simply refusing to even consider getting out of the way.

 

[Elsbells]

Perhaps a bit off topic?

My friends sister was riding point on a narrow lane, in single file when an old lady overtook to pass the last horse and pulled in on the first, my friends sister! They were bashed into the bank and the horse lay bleeding, its ribs sticking out of his body in the lane for 40 minutes until a vet could get to them and pts.

My friends sister has had horses all her life but was so traumatised that she sold up everything, left her husband and is still backpacking across the states a year later.

Btw, she didn't do hi-viz.

 

[RunToEarth]

Sometimes as riders we have to take action that cant be explained to a driver in a split second - for example if i KNOW that my horse is feeling tense and worried about something ahead and its one of the very rare times he feels like he might sundenly leap sideways i will hold the centre of the road so cars cant pass until i feel its safe for them to do so (perhaps for all of 10 or 20m distance at the most) once past the scary thing i will move over and let them thru with a wave of thanks. I know they wont understand why i held them up, but i dont care - i am polite and we all go home safely, but sometimes when i see an impatient look from a driver i really wish i could stop them and explain that i am not just been inconsiderate but there is a good reason for what i have done.

Do you not ever think that if your horse rarely has a tendancy to leap sideways in a manner that you cannot control it is incredibly unsafe to be anywhere near a public highway anyway - swap scenario and if a car driver had dodgy steering, and as a result veered into you, you would assume their car was unfit to be on the road, no?

Roads are full of idiots and a lot of drivers who do not understand horses/ feel that they are a PITA on the road. I tend to think that as we are such a minority of road users it is sensible not to ride three a breast, not to hold traffic up in the middle of the road, not to swear at everyone who dares drive faster than 15mph past you etc etc.

 

[nsequestrian]

There's alot of people who hack out by us and the hacking is beautiful; we never hack out more than two abreast but I have witnessed a few people near by hacking out 3 abreast and they will cause a serious accident one day!

 

[tessybear]

Do you not ever think that if your horse rarely has a tendancy to leap sideways in a manner that you cannot control it is incredibly unsafe to be anywhere near a public highway anyway - swap scenario and if a car driver had dodgy steering, and as a result veered into you, you would assume their car was unfit to be on the road, no?

Roads are full of idiots and a lot of drivers who do not understand horses/ feel that they are a PITA on the road. I tend to think that as we are such a minority of road users it is sensible not to ride three a breast, not to hold traffic up in the middle of the road, not to swear at everyone who dares drive faster than 15mph past you etc etc.

This i hate the whole "everyone stop for me" attitude some riders have !

 

[FairyLights]

I oftenride further out than necessary to slow down the idiots who race along our country lanes, but only where there is good visability to be seen. Its either that or have them pass too close and too fast on our narrow country roads.

 

[Merrymoles]

Do you not ever think that if your horse rarely has a tendancy to leap sideways in a manner that you cannot control it is incredibly unsafe to be anywhere near a public highway anyway - swap scenario and if a car driver had dodgy steering, and as a result veered into you, you would assume their car was unfit to be on the road, no?

I'm not sure there has ever been a horse born that would never, ever leap sideways in a certain set of circumstances which is why the Highway Code advises that drivers should pass wide and slow. I know there are horses which have been "spook proofed" by their owners and are very well schooled but it is impossible to prepare for everything. How many of us can say we have never "jumped" at a loud noise or by someone or something appearing unheard? The feral cat that lives in our hay barn makes me jump about once a week, even though I know it's around.
If a car driver had dodgy steering and veered into you, I agree they are unfit to be on the road but horses are sentient beings with their own minds. My OH, who is a biker, often says he knows that motorbikes are dangerous but at least they don't run away from sabre-toothed carrier bags.
I have chosen not to ride today because it is very windy, soil is blowing across the roads from the fields and the plastic protecting the carrots is flapping across the lane. I know any of those things could be likely to cause my horse to spook. His last major spook however was at a dog at a gate. We have passed the dog and gate dozens of times and it always hurls itself at the gate barking. Usually he ignores it, this week he didn't. Why? No idea, but he did jump sideways, fortunately away from the traffic. Does that mean we should never hack out again?

 

[Kikke]

I must admit we often ride TWO abreast on the narrow lanes round here, as we present more of an obstacle. We've had too many cases of vans, in particular, just skimming by us, and I was hospitalised and my horse badly injured by a motorist doing exactly that. We don't do it near corners, but people value their cars, if not our lives, so have to slow down in case the precious paintwork gets scratched!

I agree, sometimes me and my hubby try to block as much as possible becaue it seems the only way cars and vans slow down. Safe?? Don't know but safer then idiots driving by at 100 miles a nour because they think they can.

 

[khalswitz]

The number of nutters we've had pass us narrowly at 40mph+ on narrow twisty roads is unreal. The number of hill cyclists, too (and actually more scary) who fly downhill from behind, the horses only see at the last moment, and the cyclists (whom we politely ask to slow down to let them see the bike) who tell us not to be on the road if they need to slow down for us...

I agree that if your horse is particularly unpredictable, they shouldn't be on the road - but all horses are unpredictable to a degree, so other road users should be aware of that and act accordingly. My boy hacks past snow plows, rubbish lorries and even the knacker-lorry without much issue, but if a pheasant were to fly out a bush at a wrong moment, he might well spook into the road... and someone rushing past him at 40mph makes that a dangerous scenario.

There is also the fact that horses aren't born good in traffic. My friend has a rising 5 yo whom my other friend and I, both with horses very good in traffic, take out hacking to get him used to traffic and other scary things. He is very good for a youngster, and my friend always rides in a hi-viz 'Young Horse In Training' tabard, however he does find things like air brakes on lorries a bit scary, so to stop people rushing past him we do ride two abreast with an experienced horse on the inside. Most people are lovely and slow down for him, but the odd one won't, and we have had more than a few drivers and cyclists (on quiet country roads like) tell us that the horses shouldn't be on the road if they can't cope with fast traffic or whizzing cyclists (which the main problem with is that they don't hear them coming...).

So, yeah, driver's attitudes do annoy me. I personally slow down and pass wide with cyclists and horse riders, so don't see why it's that hard to do...

 

[JFTDWS]

Do you not ever think that if your horse rarely has a tendancy to leap sideways in a manner that you cannot control it is incredibly unsafe to be anywhere near a public highway anyway - swap scenario and if a car driver had dodgy steering, and as a result veered into you, you would assume their car was unfit to be on the road, no?

Roads are full of idiots and a lot of drivers who do not understand horses/ feel that they are a PITA on the road. I tend to think that as we are such a minority of road users it is sensible not to ride three a breast, not to hold traffic up in the middle of the road, not to swear at everyone who dares drive faster than 15mph past you etc etc.

Seconded.

 

[bluewhippet]

Do you not ever think that if your horse rarely has a tendancy to leap sideways in a manner that you cannot control it is incredibly unsafe to be anywhere near a public highway anyway - swap scenario and if a car driver had dodgy steering, and as a result veered into you, you would assume their car was unfit to be on the road, no?

Roads are full of idiots and a lot of drivers who do not understand horses/ feel that they are a PITA on the road. I tend to think that as we are such a minority of road users it is sensible not to ride three a breast, not to hold traffic up in the middle of the road, not to swear at everyone who dares drive faster than 15mph past you etc etc.

I couldn't agree more. I am new to hacking out and making decisions on my own as a rider, so have spent far more of my life as a driver and I do try to be as polite and safe as I can be and do everything in my power not to hold up traffic.

My husband is a delivery driver and is always careful around horses (and any other road users come to that) and he jokes with me about the incredibly rude riders he has come across each day: don't thank him, ride 3 abreast etc.

 

[YorksG]

Agree with the OP, these are the sort of idiots who get the rest of us a bad name and cause drivers to pass the rest of us with no consideration. Defensive riding is one thing, bad manners and riding three abreast is quite another. My foster daughter was furious recently, while coming to visit us, at dusk, she drove round a corner to find three non hi-vized horses and riders strung out across the road, not at all under control. She has ridden most of her life and was brought up to believe that the safety of the horse and other road users was paramount.