Hacking on roads

[dragonflys]

We have been doing a lot of work getting my 4 yr old used to traffic - big and small, because where I live involves roads if i want to go out, and i would imagine so would most peoples hacks.
He is getting there with the help of solid hacking horse friends (apart from scaring himself with cars going through puddles : /) but...
I have ridden since 1976 on and off and i am now beginning to think that hacking out involving roads is not fun anymore.
A lot of drivers are so rude or inconsiderate and sometimes soo angry (which is a little scary), that i am beginning to wonder if i really want to do road hacking anymore.
Many of course are not, and stop or slow down and I always say a big thank you to them, but as usual the few spoil it.
Has anyone else come to the same conclusion?

 

[jumpthemoon]

I used to feel like this when I kept my horse on a yard in the suburbs. The amount of times I was beeped at or had abuse hurled at me, I've lost count.
Now I've moved to a yard the other side of town, when I moved house, and the roads are so different. I was actually hacking out in rush hour the other morning thinking what a good mood all the drivers must be in! We are much more out in the country now though.

It does get demoralising when you get abuse hurled at you and take your life in your hands each time you go out

 

[Pearlsasinger]

We have no school, so we have to hack if we want to ride in winter. And if we want any variety in our hacking, we have to ride on the roads (in fact the nearest bridleway is closed for maintenance atm).

We got our 1st horse in 1974. We had to ride on the roads then as well. The horse was bombproof having been driven for a living round Blackpool. We used to ride through the village along the road which had the biggest lorries around at the time, taking tractors from the works. During the day, there were very few cars. Many families didn't have a car and if they did, only had one, which the main breadwinner took to work. We used to canter on the grass verges as well.
Nowadays, although we are not in the same village, I wouldn't want to ride along the same road on the most bombproof horse. Not so much because of the manners of the drivers (although some are dreadful) but because of the volume of traffic, at all times of the day. Lorries are bigger, so are tractors. Many families have 2 or more cars, so even during school holidays, there are plenty of cars on the roads. You don't have time to recover from one car scraping under your stirrup, before the next one appears.
The verges are not safe to use even as an escape route, as they are over-grown and litter-ridden.

But our current horses are good in traffic (although not as totally bombproof as the 1st one), the drivers round here are used to horses, the bus drivers are particularly careful and there are still a few accessible bridleways. So, no, we haven't thought of stopping hacking.

 

[indie999]

I do agree as I hack and still bring along major A trunk road. Vehicles have got bigger.

But although I dont recommend doing it every day etc I would definitely do it with a younger horse at quiet times with help ie someone walking with you etc

Try to make lots of noise ie when on a yard beep horn. turn engines on and off so it becomes normal etc..plastic tarps etc etc all sorts of noises. I do think desensitising horses is so important....meeting tractors etc etc

have a tabbard with Young horse on it as well etc..even negotiating drain covers etc white lines etc on road

I think back and all the horses where I rode as a child had to be hacked along main roads it was just accepted as normal. Probably what helped all the youngsters they backed was it was just normal to go in convoy along roads. With hindsight that was why they were all so good in the traffic(the older ones helped the youngsters and it was all acceptable). i dont remember any of them shying or having a nervous breakdown when lorries went past. We would lead off other horses and bring them about 5 miles to the yard at full trot most of the way! I was about 12 years old!! But good luck...if its a worry keep going with experienced horse and its no problem to have someone on the ground for as long as it takes. Even when I got my old horse for quite a while someone walked with me until I was happy that he was truely 110% as he had to be.

 

[bumblelion]

Yes, I find people see horses as a nuisance and just speed past, too close. Had too many hair raising experiences now with mine on the roads that I don't bother any more! Luckily have a ménage and fields here at home so don't need to venture out. Plus, we're hoping to move in the next year, top priority is to be somewhere away from busy roads so we can hack again!! I do miss hacking but not willing to risk mine or my horses lives for it. I do understand that some people have to, no surface etc. just lucky to have the option I suppose.

 

[Batgirl]

It has crossed my mind, one of the reasons I don't stop is because I go out with a friend really early. We have had all sorts, beeping, speeding up, people going 'oh s**t' swerve nearly crash in to you. Andrew Page vans always courteous (not sure if national or local but Car Parts people (always take them a box of chocs at Xmas).

Also I like to keep his life full of variety!

I think it is a matter of education in a lot of cases, I did a teaching course recently (non horsey related) but we could teach a 15min slot on anything so I chose riding and road safety, I showed a clip of a dressage horse going fine straight and then suddenly BANG, 2 metres to the right. The whole class audibly gasped and were suddenly @OMG I didn't realise they could move that quick, they're so big, I thought u'd get warning ...' etc. I think often they don't realise how dangerous it is, don't realise how vulnerable riders can feel, or simply hate that there are riders on the road (the last we can't do anything about)

 

[PeterNatt]

I have been riding on the roads since 1957 and of course there are far more cars on the roads now. I also believe that people have far less common sense these days. It has been bread out of them. I spent about 20 years hacking in London including Central London the big advantage being that there was a 30 m.p.h. speed limit and most the roads have good visibility. Riding on country lanes is not as safe as riding in London as most the roads are the national speed limit of 60 m.p.h. and there are no pavements and lots of tight bends and bad visibility. Many drivers are driving too fast for the road conditions unaware that there could be a pedestrian, cyclist of horse rider around the next bend.
I always wear a long sleeved Hi-Viz jacket so that other road users can see my hand signals clearly.

 

[AngieandBen]

Agree with Peter; Our lanes are all single track with some pretty bad blind bends, Hi Viz an absolute must. We have a lot of travllers with horses around so most people wouldn't dare to go passed us quickly!

Always make sure you thank those that do slow down. Also get your horse used to jumping up onto verges!

 

[zaminda]

I have to ride on a major A road unless I want to put my horse on a lorry. Thankfully my mares are both pretty good in traffic. I have found bus/coach drivers slow down, lorry drivers is a 50/50 chance and horse transporters don't slow down at all! Boy racers seem more likely to slow down than 60+ women with dogs in the back, but thats just what I have found. I always where reflective gear, but I have found that lots of the riders near me don't bother, including the 2 pro event yards nearby!

 

[Pedantic]

Society only has itself to blame for all the horses being on the roads as we just "had" to have that new estate/commercial park/tesco/sainsburys/morrisons ect ect ect and all the "had to have" roads/bypass/motorways and all the ******** drivers that go with it, I don't like riding on the roads either, and avoid certain sections like the plague, but horse's on roads are a fact of life and there will only be more and more with things like the BMW debacle a few years ago, all you can do is get your horse to be as road savvy as possible, and wear plenty of viz gear to give drivers as much time to see you as possible.

 

[Alphamare]

Most of us can't get anywhere without going on at least some roads.

I am either living in some sort of bubble or am very lucky but the drivers that I have encountered have been nothing but polite.

 

[indie999]

Most of us can't get anywhere without going on at least some roads.

I am either living in some sort of bubble or am very lucky but the drivers that I have encountered have been nothing but polite.

On the whole I agree with this but I always stick my hand up and thank EVERY driver. Most on our A road are happy to see a horse and kids are glued to the window to take a look. Its like anything its what they get use to. If I took mine to a show I reckon he would go nuts! But once his hoof hits tarmac he is very comfortable but he had been driven. Once he touches grass he is different again...hey ho off we go!

I pass horse riders and slow down and not a thank you at all...just a haughty superior look! Unfortunately horse riders can have a stuck up attitude....a riding school instructor once told me to thank everyone even if they dont slow down! It does work...keep going....it will make an all round horse which is hard to find.(it was the one thing "good in traffic" that when I was looking to buy last year was top of my list I still never found one)! I think the owner thought if it looked at a road it was traffic proof??

 

[zaminda]

I find that a lot of riders don't say thank you, or wear reflective kit. They are generally the ones who shout loudest when someone speeds past them. I always thank those that slow down, and it does help.

 

[toppy72]

I agree that the roads are busier than ever and this can spoil a relaxing hack, BUT by not hacking you are limiting your horses education, stimulation etc. Also if less horseriders use the roads then I would be concerned that the intolerance/genuine ignorance of drivers will be heightened.

 

[Bertolie]

I find that a lot of riders don't say thank you, or wear reflective kit. They are generally the ones who shout loudest when someone speeds past them. I always thank those that slow down, and it does help.

Totally agree with this. I used to hack out with someone who never wore Hi Viz, never thanked drivers and was constantly on their mobile phone whilst riding but would shout and scream abuse at the few who drove past us a bit quickly.

We have to hack on the roads to get to off road hacking but they are generally quiet(ish) country lanes and the car/lorry/bus/tractor drivers around our way are used to horses on the roads and the majority will slow down or stop. We always thank the drivers - even the ones that dont slow down! I would never give up riding on the roads, I'm a happy hacker and if I didn't my boy would never leave his paddock!

 

[Clava]

I agree that the roads are busier than ever and this can spoil a relaxing hack, BUT by not hacking you are limiting your horses education, stimulation etc. Also if less horseriders use the roads then I would be concerned that the intolerance/genuine ignorance of drivers will be heightened.

i agree that it is often ignorance and drivers nolonger seem to know how to behave (just taking the foot off the accelerator would be a good start). Modern cars act as a bubble to drivers and adverts show cars driving fast to load music and screeching to a stop when a deer or ball bounces in the road, drivers seem very cut off from other road users.

I always thank all drivers, even those that don't slow, i hope that being civil and courteous will rub off on them.

 

[Goldenstar]

The vast majority of drivers I meet ( I hack out most days at least once ) are great a few are silly a tiny minority are hostile .
As I driver I meet many rider and occasionally meet a rude one but the thing that worrys me most is the riders you meet hacking out riding with far too long stirrups poor weak positions reins ineffective and you just know if the horse spooked they would not be agood position to react correctly.
The roads to day are busier than when I was a kid so it's our duty to train our horses well to accept traffic from a young age and a lot of time needs to be spent on this and riders need to train themselves to be on the ball and react correctly and not enough time is spent on this either I was very fortunate I had a pony from a young age a lot of freedom and learn asi went along its not so easy to day I think we need to think more about how to train riders about this.
Hi viz clothing helps you to be seen and helps to slow most drivers down but wearing hi viz will not helpif you are not riding and reacting correctly .
ITs also important to focus on that many accidents will happen when the driver is doing nothing wrong and very easy to focus on idiot drivers and not focus enough on what we need to train ourselves and our horses to do.

 

[BigRed]

I live in the countryside and to be honest, what is really bad these days are the cyclists. One their own, or in pairs is fine, but we get groups of racing clubs, and road races in our village. They are very rude, highly aggressive people. It is very unpleasant if you bump into them. The police do very little about it, but the village as a whole - even the non horse riders have complained so many times that they have reduced the size of the racing groups, not that it makes much difference. The worst thing is the marshalls, who wave huge red flags at you.

 

[Clava]

I live in the countryside and to be honest, what is really bad these days are the cyclists. One their own, or in pairs is fine, but we get groups of racing clubs, and road races in our village. They are very rude, highly aggressive people. It is very unpleasant if you bump into them. The police do very little about it, but the village as a whole - even the non horse riders have complained so many times that they have reduced the size of the racing groups, not that it makes much difference. The worst thing is the marshalls, who wave huge red flags at you.

Agree we have had a huge group of cyclist come past us on a narrow path as walkers were also coming up towards us to pass us - they should have stopped and waited but kept coming (they were enjoying the downhill rush) and they endangered the walkers and us - one was left behind and later asked us directions, I made it very clear what he should tell his mates when he found them!

 

[forestfantasy]

The vast majority of drivers I meet ( I hack out most days at least once ) are great a few are silly a tiny minority are hostile .
As I driver I meet many rider and occasionally meet a rude one but the thing that worrys me most is the riders you meet hacking out riding with far too long stirrups poor weak positions reins ineffective and you just know if the horse spooked they would not be agood position to react correctly.
The roads to day are busier than when I was a kid so it's our duty to train our horses well to accept traffic from a young age and a lot of time needs to be spent on this and riders need to train themselves to be on the ball and react correctly and not enough time is spent on this either I was very fortunate I had a pony from a young age a lot of freedom and learn asi went along its not so easy to day I think we need to think more about how to train riders about this.
Hi viz clothing helps you to be seen and helps to slow most drivers down but wearing hi viz will not helpif you are not riding and reacting correctly .
ITs also important to focus on that many accidents will happen when the driver is doing nothing wrong and very easy to focus on idiot drivers and not focus enough on what we need to train ourselves and our horses to do.

Couldn't have put it better myself!

 

[Flame_]

I totally agree with the OP. The roads aren't at all safe for horses anymore.

 

[Firewell]

Most of our hacking is on country lanes. We have some fields that we can cross and canter on but if we want to do a circuit it will involve roads.
I daren't go out in rush hour now as it's awful, I normally hack early in the morning at weekends or sometimes I will take him out around midday.
The last time I rode in rush hour with my mum we literally nearly died. There were massive lorries flying round blind bends on our tiny narrow lanes, we met about half a dozen on an hour ride!
My mums horse is still quite nervy in traffic, thank god my young TB is rock solid otherwise I'm certain we would have been flattened!! I had to squish him into a hedge quickly while my mum tried to get her horse tucked in behind mine as the lorrys couldn't stop in time! Then literally they were a hairs breadth away from us going past, it was SO scary. Thank god my horse sensed how important it was to stand still!

That wasn't fun at all but tbf when I go out early at weekends any local person I see driving around are always very very good at slowing down.

 

[noblesteed]

We have no choice but to hack on an A-road which is long and straight and at the bottom of a hill - perfect spot for drivers to hit 80-90 mph before they get into the village. We also have a lot of tourist traffic - caravans, campers, walkers, cyclists, motorbikes - and lorries and tractors! When I first moved to the yard my horse was very spooky and I felt very daunted by the traffic and avoided THAT road on my own, however as me and horse have become braver we do ride along it, alone, during busy times. Most drivers are courteous and give you plenty of space but there are always a few that don't, despite us being hi-vizzed up and waving thanks. However over a couple of years my horse has seen pretty much everything there is to see on that road, and has learned to take it all with a pinch of salt, and as a result I have a pretty much bombproof hack now. So in terms of the horse's education it is worth it. HOWEVER if I didn't have to use that road to get to some bridleways I doubt I would bother riding it!

It does amaze me though, living a very tourist-heavy country area, the amount of riders NOT wearing hi-viz. Even the ladies at the local competition yard, hacking out their VERY expensive BD mounts don't bother. OK you would expect local people to know what to expect with horses but when you have Joe tourist from the city flying around the lanes like he's in top-gear, or Harold and Maud rubbernecking at every view and not looking where they are going, it amazes me we don't have more accidents.

 

[ladyt25]

I have to say, I have ridden on the roads all my life - god, we used to go out for hours as kids and a lot of the hacking was on roads. I feel it is my right to ride on the roads BUT I think you need to use common sense. For example there is one road near us (in fact one of two right by our field) that is a country road but is (at least for now anyway) still a 60mph limit. It has a long straight but but at either end there are steep windy hills and therefore I will only ride along the road in a certain direction - ie I won't come down the steep hill as you give yourself little chance to get out of the way of a car coming flying down at 60mph who doesn't have the sense to think there could be something round the corner!

I also thank all drivers (well, all who slow down, pass wide etc) but I have of numerous occasions pat riders who don't bother to thank me for slowing down and don't bother to move over/go single file on a road to make it safe to pass. I try an help drivers where i can. I once got stuck behind a rider on a single track road, she was ambling along in the middle of the road and her dog was wandering behind her. She did not acknowledge me at all and I was following her for a couple of minutes with no way of letting her know I was behind her! Hmm, now, I wish i had beeped! She EVENTUALLY looked round (mainly because her dog seemed to be indicating to her the car was there) and it was then I realised she was on her phone hence hadn't heard me!!! What and ignorant woman!!! She wandered to the verge then and let me past but there was no apology, just a look as if I'd ruined her ride/conversation!

I wish to this day i'd said something, i think I was just so shocked by her ignorance I just drove on!

Oh, and for the record, I have no issue with cyclists at all, never had any problems and I aso think the worst drivers are the women on their 4x4s (when they don't need a 4x4) doing the school run. They don't slow down, they don't pass with eneough room and scarily, half the time don't even seem to notice you're there!

 

[AMW]

If riding a new route, drive it first to see it from a driver's perspective, be mindful of the low winter sun, blind spots, scary things, just don't relax too much. Use hand signals (not rude ones ) if a car is coming up too fast, if you need them to wait if your horse is pratting around. Most drivers don't understand horses but if they see the rider on board as a real person they are more likely to pay heed.

 

[MissMincePie&Brandy]

We have been doing a lot of work getting my 4 yr old used to traffic - big and small, because where I live involves roads if i want to go out, and i would imagine so would most peoples hacks.
He is getting there with the help of solid hacking horse friends (apart from scaring himself with cars going through puddles : /) but...
I have ridden since 1976 on and off and i am now beginning to think that hacking out involving roads is not fun anymore.
A lot of drivers are so rude or inconsiderate and sometimes soo angry (which is a little scary), that i am beginning to wonder if i really want to do road hacking anymore.
Many of course are not, and stop or slow down and I always say a big thank you to them, but as usual the few spoil it.
Has anyone else come to the same conclusion?

Yes, I agree with you. I also think the arrival of Sat Navs hasn't helped. The shortcuts to the Motorways are unfortunately around the narrow, twisty lanes near where our stables are, and Sat Navs take people this way as opposed to using the A roads that those people would have used without the assitance of their Sat Nav. These lanes are now too busy and too dangerous to ride along, often with HGVs using them when they shouldn't be. Just 10 years ago these roads were much quieter and far safer than they are now. There's been several horse fatalities in our village over recent years, and I've stopped hacking out as much as I used to. My favourite time of day to ride out is early on a Sunday morning!

 

[monkeybum13]

Always make sure you thank those that do slow down. Also get your horse used to jumping up onto verges!

This is actually really important, I wouldn't hack out on a horse that didn't respond to my leg IMMEDIATELY. If I can hear/know something coming very fast I want to know that my horse will move straight off my leg.

 

[MissMincePie&Brandy]

I had to squish him into a hedge quickly while my mum tried to get her horse tucked in behind mine as the lorrys couldn't stop in time! Then literally they were a hairs breadth away from us going past, it was SO scary. Thank god my horse sensed how important it was to stand still!
.

I think they do know, because a few years ago, I was on my TB and we were in a similar situation and I had to stand tight up against the hedge and completely stock still. Normally my TB would have figited about, but it's as if he knew it was a life or death situation! The idiot car driver brushed past us at about 70mph and honked his horn as he did so. My horse walked home like a bomproof saint - I was a wreck by the time I got back to the yard, after the incident had gone round my head a few times! I reported it to the police, but unfortunately I didn't get the registration.

 

[Fun Foals]

On most rides there is the odd idiot that overtakes to fast/close or on a corner and iit does worry me,luckly my horse it pretty bombproof in traffic so its not to bad.
Though on the plus side there are also many considerate people that try to help. The other week my bf was walking a stallion up to the lunge ring at work (a short walk up the road) and a countrywide fule lorry was comeing down the road, cue stallion panicking & not wanting to pass it. Truck driver stoped, turned engine off and told my bf to bring him back up and show him theres nothing to be scared of, saying i know we have a bad rep but we are not all bad.
It just shows there are some nice people around . They then passes eachother on the way back to the yard after lunging and he accepted it reallly well then.

Times like that makes me think its not all bad out on the roads, some people are idiots but with abit of give and take with everyone its not that bad.

 

[dragonflys]

Thanks for all replies.
Yes we always have hiviz and always say thank you to everyone even those who look as if they are sucking lemons

And I totally agree, really an all round horse needs to be good with traffic and that is what i am working towards, but its not a lot of fun : /