I'm starting to dislike hacking!

I'm starting to feel the same, and I was just starting to think about doing some hacking over winter, but I come across more and more idiots it's putting me off. The lanes around me are single tracks, high hedges, blind bends, most are national speed limit despite not being suitable for that at all.
Yesterday when driving towards the yard I was over taken doing 35 down the one of the lanes by a driver doing at least 65 who absolutely floored it past. There are a lot of riders where I am and thank god none of them were on the road when that happened.
 
This would have been exactly my reply a couple of years ago, I've been hacking round my local lanes for 17 years and before that in Somerset I used to have to hack on the A39 coast road to get off the yard. What's changed? Lots more vehicles especially delivery vans working at speed, a huge increase in cyclists who ride in convoy (I met 150 in 3 groups of 50 on a narrow lane travelling at speed, I now check their website regularly so I can avoid these events)A large children's nursery which means not riding between 7.30-09.00 and 4.00 -6.00 etc etc. We are fine with barking dogs, hose pipes, waving flags, dustbins and dustbin lorries, people up ladders, hedgecutters, tractors that travel at a sensible speed, I could go on and 95% or more of the time I feel safe BUT I am starting to feel just a bit anxious before a hack and just rather relieved when we get home which for me is not what riding is about!
Sukistokes2 said:
While I respect people's decisions and understand some areas are bad I still happily hack. Yes you get a few but they are a few. Maybe I'm lucky where I am. I do not feel unsafe the majority of the time. I do not have a school, could not afford to put one in and would die of bordem in it , if I did and could get a school. I have found that some of the people I ride with seem to expect a lot from the genral public. Dogs not to bark, people not to mow their lawns and things to be completely horse friendly. I recently started riding with a friend who at first wanted everything prefect when she rode. Now with more confidence she is more relaxed, as is her horse , now she is getting used to stuff. I am getting a go pro but more to film my rides then to film cars. I do feel sad that people are now afraid to go out on their horses and that others seem to feel that's ok because it's the modern world. It's not ok.
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What's the answer? How do we make people slow down? A lot of drivers are breaking the law by not giving horses due care and attention.
While the bhs campaign is great I don't think it reaches the right people.
The dead slow ads should be on tv. Leaflets should be in garages, shops and pubs.
Riders need to do our bit by wearing high viz etc but we need more public awareness on how to pass horses safely.
I'm sure a lot of people just have no clue about how unpredictable horses can be.
A lot of cyclists don't help either, they are vulnerable too but don't seem to know how to pass horses safely.
There really needs to be a hard hitting and visible campaign to really make the general public aware.
It's all very well putting the dead slow ads in horse mags etc, but how many drivers will see them.
 
It's just not much fun any more, is it, however steady your horse is.

I would not follow the advice of the previous poster who suggests riding in the middle of the road on the approach to a blind bend. The oncoming traffic speeding round on the wrong side of the road would take you out.

These two incidents happened within 300m of home on a formerly quiet NSL lane. The red slurry trailer had overturned 6 weeks previously on the bend shown in the second pic. Whilst most of the agricultural contractor drivers round here are truly terrifying, many of the everyday drivers are as bad.





A safe speed on the blind bend by which the silage trailer overturned is <20mph. How many vehicles pass it at a safe speed? Very few. It's also on a signed national cycle route, so add peletons of cyclists whizzing around it to the mix. There are many similar bends on our leafy Cheshire lanes.
 
oldie48 said:
This would have been exactly my reply a couple of years ago, I've been hacking round my local lanes for 17 years and before that in Somerset I used to have to hack on the A39 coast road to get off the yard. What's changed? Lots more vehicles especially delivery vans working at speed, a huge increase in cyclists who ride in convoy (I met 150 in 3 groups of 50 on a narrow lane travelling at speed, I now check their website regularly so I can avoid these events)A large children's nursery which means not riding between 7.30-09.00 and 4.00 -6.00 etc etc. We are fine with barking dogs, hose pipes, waving flags, dustbins and dustbin lorries, people up ladders, hedgecutters, tractors that travel at a sensible speed, I could go on and 95% or more of the time I feel safe BUT I am starting to feel just a bit anxious before a hack and just rather relieved when we get home which for me is not what riding is about!
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That's very sad to read.

As I said maybe I'm just lucky, maybe even very lucky. It does help the local tractor guy lives three houses up and if he past me too fast I could walk up the road and knock on his door.

Most cyclists are really good, they mostly seem to be investing in bells, which really amused me.....Lycra and bells :D

I hope you stay safe.
 
Esmae said:
I have lost a lot of confidence hacking out due to traffic. Our lanes used to be wonderful but these days frankly it isn't worth the stress. A great shame.
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I'm with you. We even have great bridle ways next door but what with quad bikes, uncontrollable dogs and cyclists, we've about given up going out. Will stick to Trec (lots of off roading where others aren't allowed!) shows and riding round the field, it's just not worth it these days. The fun has most definitely gone!
 
I now definitely wouldn't venture onto the roads where we are on any day by Sunday, whereas I used to hack all days of the week. There are a few new housing estates in the area and a lot more traffic on the roads. That said, I can count on the fingers of one hand the times that a motorist or cyclist has been rude or inconsiderate. We must just be very lucky where we are as they are mostly really good around horses. I do feel like the Chinese Lucky Cat when I'm on the road though as my right arm is forever waving 'thanks' to drivers for passing wide and slow and I make sure they get a big smile too. One of my real bug bears as a motorist is passing riders on the roads who don't even acknowledge you. If that annoys me as a rider, I can only imagine what non-horsey drivers make of it!
Our local police often also pop stuff on Facebook, reminding people of their responsibilities on the roads with respect to vulnerable road users. This is a great way to influence younger generations of drivers.
 
I f people dont hack out, how can you make sure your horse is traffic proof, and ensure hes not nappy to hack? A must in any young horses education, IMHO
 
I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels like this, my daughter has to hack up what used to be a quiet narrow road to get to the bridle ways, this is now a cut through which people just race up. I've started to hate driving on this road let alone her hacking on it. Can't stand the way they drive up right behind you when trying to come round a blind bend and now after years of a drainage leak never fixed by the council all the road has now got massive pot holes as well. I always encouraged daughter to hack as it's nice for both of them but now I don't bother, I don't want them out really and that's such a shame. A house at the top of the road which is on a blind bend has now bought two huge cane corso dogs who go absolutely mental at the gate when the horses come past. I appreciate its their right to have guard dogs and generally the horses are good but it's just another worry on top of the fact you don't know who is going to be coming racing around that same bend with dogs leaping and barking making it difficult to listen for traffic, it's just never ending .
 
On the other side of the coin, I've just driven on a very quiet country lane. Cattle grid next to a gate. Two young ladies on horses approached gate so I waited to drive over cattle grid untill they were safely through the gate to avoid frightening the horses.
No thank you from the riders just a snooty down the nose look.
That does pee me off as if it annoys me as a horsey person think how it looks to a non horsey person.
Sometimes riders really don't help themselves.
 
I have to ride on the roads between my parents' farm and the bridle paths, but I suppose I'm lucky in that there are bridle paths near me so I don't have to go too far on rat run country lanes. I wouldn't go at peak traffic times, but on a weekend or during the day in the week it's generally ok. I don't think avoiding the school run/post 5pm traffic is a big deal, it's just the same as choosing not to drive a particular route at that time because I know it will be busy.
I agree with the poster who said that hacking is an important part of a horse's education, and I intend to get my yearling out hacking once he's broken in in a few years' time. I wouldn't feel half as safe taking my gelding out and about if I hadn't spent so much time hacking and dealing with all the things you meet on the roads and on the bridle paths. I've found a really big smile can work wonders for slowing down the majority of people who look like they might not bother, ideally trying to make eye contact as they approach as well.
I'm also a bit surprised at the mentions of boy racers - where I live I've never been passed by a boy racer who hasn't slowed to a crawl. I assumed they were worried about getting a hoof through their precious car! It's men in business suits and BMWs, and women in spotless Range Rovers that make me worry when I see them coming!
I will admit, though, to a certain amount of relief when I get off the road and onto the bridle path.
 
Just returned from a lovely two hour hack including a busy stretch of road. A bus driver, the driver of an enormous truck with flapping plastic stuff and two bike riders saw us, slowed down, give a wide berth and waved. We thanked them. Then some idiot in a Corsa sped past about 8 inches from the horses.
However, if we didn't go on the roads, we'd never ride. We don't have an arena and every half decent hack round here includes road work. We box them up on a Sunday and take them hunting but they do need riding during the week. I find that 99% of the motorists round here are considerate - perhaps we are lucky. But I do think that horses need to 'see' and experience things - it's a very windy day here and because ours are hacked out regularly they were not fazed by plastic bags blowing around, flags, things that rattle and squeak...
I will add, though, that I always hack out in an air jacket and lots of hi-viz stuff.
 
Notimetoride said:
I could be wrong (relying on a very fuzzy memory) but I'm sure, many years ago, near where I lived all the local riders staged a protest and had what i think they called a 'go slow' or something like that, where hundreds of riders all rode a few miles down a main road to cause disruption to drivers. It was all well advertised, had press coverage and I believe police were there too. The aim was to make a point to the drivers to respect horse riders. As far as i know it was a success. I'm surprised more areas don't hold these go slows to raise awareness of horses on the road.
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http://www.nottinghampost.com/more-...-in-campaign/story-29707334-detail/story.html
 
shannonandtay said:
I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels like this, my daughter has to hack up what used to be a quiet narrow road to get to the bridle ways, this is now a cut through which people just race up. I've started to hate driving on this road let alone her hacking on it. Can't stand the way they drive up right behind you when trying to come round a blind bend and now after years of a drainage leak never fixed by the council all the road has now got massive pot holes as well. I always encouraged daughter to hack as it's nice for both of them but now I don't bother, I don't want them out really and that's such a shame. A house at the top of the road which is on a blind bend has now bought two huge cane corso dogs who go absolutely mental at the gate when the horses come past. I appreciate its their right to have guard dogs and generally the horses are good but it's just another worry on top of the fact you don't know who is going to be coming racing around that same bend with dogs leaping and barking making it difficult to listen for traffic, it's just never ending .
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Cane Corsos are a banned breed and should be reported.
 
I only enjoy hacking if I can go early nowadays, the roads everywhere just seem to get busier every year. I try to go at 6.45am if I can, you get a few cars on the lanes at that time but most of them tend to be horsey people getting to their yards. Later in the day our roads become like the tour de france, they link up to a popular cycle way so as well as cars, lorries and all the rest, you get these huge groups of cyclists, who are mostly considerate the horses, but its just too busy to be pleasurable when you are trying to enjoy a leisurely hack with your horse.
 
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