Horsey Road Rage

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HaffiesRock

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Do some people bring this on themselves? I think they must do!

I am liveried in the middle of a beautiful village. I ride out most days (before the clocks changed) through the village and beyond, where all the good hacking is. Both ends of the village the road becomes 60mph for a short time. It is a relatively straight road so cars can see you. Now I have never had any trouble on the roads at all. A couple of times someone has come up fast but a quick "slow down" arm signal did the trick. The bus drivers are very considerate as is everyone I have met. I ALWAYS say thank you to everyone. If on a rare occasion someone does tick me off, they get an overly grateful wave and thank you :O)

Anyway, the yard down the road from me always seems to have problems! Every time they hack they get into an argument with a driver. Last week one woman hit a car with her whip when the driver got too close, today a car came past them too fast and the rider threw her whip at the car. Driver obviously stopped and they had a screaming match in the middle of the road! I just cant see how I have no issues at all when others gets into fights every time they ride! It gives us all in the village a bad name.

Is it down to opinion of what drivers should do? I accept if I am riding down a 60mph road (on a verge ill add), cars are going to pass me fast. My pony is traffic safe and I wear hi viz, but I accept the conditions I am riding in. If you want cars to go at 10mph past you, keep off the roads!

I rode out with a girl once who shouted at a driver (in my opinion for no good reason) I was mortified and don't ride with her anymore.

My pony is quite the celebrity in our village as hes a Haffy and completely different to the hunter types that usually pass through. Maybe it is my kind manners and respect for the cars that make my hacks so pleasurable?

Any thoughts? xx
 
I think it's down to your attitude as a rider. I always do everything I can to cause drivers the least delay or grief and tbh I rarely have a problem. Someone else I know refuses to ever stop in a layby or trot to get out of the way and regularly has problems with drivers, so I don't ride with her any more. Like you I always acknowledge people and make sure I thank everyone, my horse and I wear hi viz and he's pretty much bombproof (we won't mention the top box on the motorbike recently that had him shaking in his barefeet) so it isn't too much of a problem what goes past us.

Trouble is unfortunately that the rude riders are usually the ones drivers remember so it doesn't help the rest of us much!
 
I think it depends on the person and what the individual thinks is acceptable. They sound like they thrive on the challenge of 'drama rides' where they can moan and be rude to people in cars!

Yes sometimes giving a driver a bit of abuse is called for but by the sounds of things these lot think the world is against them so regardless of who/ how and how fast a car is going past them they will never be happy!
 
I think some riders do look for a fight, even though they often drive themselves. I hacked out with a lady once who said her horse did not like to go over a driveway that had a certain texture as 'he did not like the feel of it on his hooves' (?!). She used to verbally abuse any drivers that did not stop automatically stop and wait as she APPROACHED this driveway, just before she pulled him out into the middle of the road. And she employed a lot of four letter words as well! She seemed to think that drivers should anticipate that her horse would not walk over the driveway and stop, which I thought was unreasonable. She doesn't have a high opinion of the way people drive and yes, she used to attract a lot of arguments so I stopped hacking out with her!

On the other hand, my baby highland had a freak out at some road works the other day and planted in the middle of the road, causing a little traffic jam in a normally quiet village. He wouldn't move until I got off and led him out of the way. I had a big red head on me and was expecting some peed off drivers, but as I mouthed 'sorry' nearly everyone rolled their window down to say, "Don't worry about it", or "Bless him, poor little fella, anyone would be scared." I honestly think most people are basically decent and you get back what you give out. I lost my confidence and have only just started hacking out on my own again after eight years. I was terrified of dealing with traffic and awful drivers but people have been lovely. Having said that, I always ride in the mornings when it is quiet.
 
I always say thank you to everyone and try to be polite and move out of the way where possible. We have a yard near us though that is down a one track lane and they NEVER EVER trot on to a passing place - this really winds me up!

Yesterday I came across a couple of riders and they refused to turn around and go back to a passing space just behind them, instead pushed past the car on very jumpy TB types - not a good idea as I'm sure the horse would come off worse than my knackered old Landy!!
 
I think the cars should slow down, those are the rules. And if they came skimming past me at speed I'd yell at them or smack the car.

But if I wanted cars to slow down common sense would not have me on the verge. I'd be in the road, over to the right a little, but not leaving enough room for a cyclist to come up my left side, and with a schooling whip pointing out into the traffic.

My horse is traffic safe, has no fear of it whatsoever and will quite happily spook out in front of a vehicle. Not good if that vehicle is doing 60mph.

So I'd take up enough space in the road that the vehicle must slow down and wait to overtake, if there are oncoming cars. Or at least if the road is clear and they overtake at 60mph, due to the space created by my whip and the free space I leave myself to step sideways into on the left, the vehicle would be doing their overtaking sufficiently far away from my horse. Therefore no need to yell at anyone or smack the car.
 
I always grit my teeth and thank everyone, even if they didn't deserve it - I hope it shames them into being less of an ass next time - and if it doesn't, it's better for my stress levels to smile than it is to seethe! But I do ride with somebody who can be really gobby and argumentative - while she reckons the only way to defend yourself is to take the offensive, it makes me uncomfortable and you can just see the arguments escalating. I'm not saying my way is right (though it is for me!), but I just don't see how being gobby helps. Even if you're in the right, surely the driver's going to go away thinking bad things about riders, no?
 
I think so. Even just on here there's plenty of posts from people who expect the world to stop when they ride, let alone in rl. Where I am, the majority of locals, plus regular drivers (taxis, buses, shop delivery vehicles etc) are always good. However I know other riders who seem to meet a lot of rude drivers. Imo I think its because they expect anyone & everything to stop for their hack, from vehicles to people mowing the lawn. And never take the time to look at improving their own, or horses training. Plus they never move over, thank anyone who makes an extra effort etc.
 
IMO riders who hit cars with whips and shout at drivers are just enhancing the fact that a lot of people don't think that horses should be on the road and that horse riders do think themselves better than everyone else! Therefore giving all the polite riders a bad name and basically making any kind of road campaign and raising awareness to horses on roads a waste of time.
 
Aww its because haffies rule! I do think people might be nicer to ponies in case the rider is a child! And cuteness obviously :-)

As a rider and a car driver I very rarely encounter road rage, I think I must be sickeningly forgiving and cheerful and if I do something stupid in my car I tend to smile sheepishly and flail my hands in thanks towards any surrounding drivers, I do the same if a horse is acting silly and most drivers are reasonably good humoured as I make the best effort to get out of the way, or hop off and appear to be sorting horse out, as long as it looks like you are trying to do something to avoid a scene!

Sometimes someone does something really arrogant in their car like cuts other drivers up or revs their engine and goes past a horse shouting out the window - I find these occasions rare but they sure make my blood boil. I am never quick enough to do anything but glare at them or do an exaggerated 'what the hell was that?' shrug!
 
I love doing the over the top smile, wave and shout of thank you, maybe even a thumbs up for the inconsiderate drivers. Though to be fair most drivers are very considerate. We always turn to smile and thank people who wait behind us on the narrow bits, we pull over onto verges etc where appropriate, use hand signals to show drivers when it is or isnt safe to overtake etc. I think it helps that my friend and I ride ponies and look like children. We wear hi-viz and ride sensibly and try to be as traffic friendly as possible. Our ponies are amazing in traffic - nothing fazes them. If I had a pony who was nervous/spooky then i would probably be more tense and worked up and inconsiderate drivers may well irritate me and I can see why people get upset but because I dont need drivers to be courteous, it doesnt really bother me when they aren't as long as we are safe.
 
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