Infuriating.....first rant

niko

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I had'nt been able to get my mare out for the last week as aound us our roads were still slippy and i have no school. I got out of work early and asked my fiance to pull her in from the field to save me five minutes doing it. She stood like a gem not even calling for the others she has been with 24/7 for the last week and abit.....i was very pleased.
I put the chambon on as i knew her head carriage would be high as she has missed her hacks and need her more together (trainer advised to use it) so i have a nice hack and coming to end i stop to take chambon off 5min from home so she can relax (or put her head high to look over hedges!). She is perfect for a 5yr old, i find a ditch and 'launch' myself back on, she's sooo gd she stands until i ask her to move on.
I live on country roads were everyone knows each other are courteous and would know the horses either stop for a chat or slow right down.
It was 5:15pm i had flourescents on and it wasn't dark i was coming along the straight bit just before me house there is a bend (slight) to the right. My dogs always come with me and some eeeeeeeeedddddddddgit flys round the corner and both dogs launch into the hedge and he still doesn't slow. I flag him down to go slower and he keeps coming!!! I then put my mare across the road to block it and he just about stops thank gdness she is'nt bothered about cars but that is not the point, it could have been one of the youngsters i was on.
He then mouths i should be in the hedge! So i gesture that he winds down the window so he refuses and i swear alot at him and he drives on. In my anger i didnt take his reg but i will report him tonight. What if that was a child, a walker or anbody else im still infuriated
 
People can be idiots on the road, but in fairness I wouldn't expect to see a horse and dogs on the roads at that time of night, as it's dusky and rush hour ... I know people in cars can be peanuts though, we have enough round our way even in broad day light! ETS - people are generally peanuts because they think people on horses are.
 
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I wouldn't expect to see a horse and dogs on the roads at that time of night, as it's dusky and rush hour ...

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Exactly - where on earth is the sense???
 
Dont worry I have to hack down a main road and in broad day light I was trotting to try to get to the bridle path and for some reason all the on comming traffic had stopped and this car wizzed past me so fast and clipped my iron with his wing mirror. I was in a state of shock luckly my horse is very well behaved everyone got out and asked if i was okay but some peple just have no respect for horse on the road. If she has spooked into the car we would both be dead!!

Just be carefull putting your horse across the road as some people will not stop. He sounds like a total w@nker though so glad you horsey and dogs are okay!!
 
Thanks fight your corner that did make me feel alot better. As for all the other comments i did not make a post to be bashed and obviously i do not put myself or animals at risk. I think i'm in more control of my dogs than many others on leads as they do work ticket obedience and have been trained to an exceptional standard and have been used to it. As for dusk and rush hour we do not get rush hr on that road as it is not a 'link' road to get anywhere and at 5.15pm in N.Ireland last night it was exceptionally bright which is why i made use of it. But again thankyou for your comments.
 
????????????????????????????????????? loose dogs, young horse, dusky, rush hour and then you call the driver an idiot after you have put your young mare in the middle of the road to stop him??????????????????????????

Yes there are idiot car drivers on the road, but there are also many idiot horse riders on the road too!!!!
 
I know it has been so light at the moment roll on summer!! i left work at 5 30 as it was still light.

I really want to get a dog and train to a clicker thing is it easy???
 
'loose' is when your not in control so technically that was not the case and again was not dusky or rush hour so please read then comment.
I only use a clicker for 'dancing' for more technical moves where when they 'offer' you a behaviour or movement you can reward that instant, it is good. But i think the best is to get your pup at 7 or 8 weeks and 'mould' it to your needs
 
OK....it was still light, she was wearing fluorescents and she was riding appropriately, on the correct side of the road.....who exactly is in the wrong here? Horses are legally entitled to use the roads whenever......just as cyclists ( frequently without lights) and joggers (without lights).....

I think the more people avoid going on roads , the less car users are prepared for seeing us.

Bet he would have slowed down for a tractor/lorry.....tosser.
 
Dusk is that period of time after bright sunshine where the sun is low in the sky, therefore is at an awkward angle in the drivers eyes causing difficulty with vision. This in winter occurs after the time of 2pm in the UK.

In fairness if I was the driver, I would have been pretty p*ssed off too, especially with the attitude apparently displayed towards the driver - a non horse person won't always understand a young horse (or any in that matter) is easily spooked, and putting your young horse at risk was a ridiculous thing to do. What if he hadn't have stopped, thinking you were just making a point and would move at last minute, and something happened to your horse. even if this hadn't hurt her, it could have scared her causing her to become bad in traffic, therefore putting you, her and other drivers at risk in the future.

Sorry but I think behaviour like that gives us who are sensible and polite on the road a bad name.
 
I am sorry now i posted thinking i was going to receive support from fellow horse people, being a sensible horse rider and road user always being polite and courteous to those that acknowledge a horse and rider on the road and always wearing hi viz attire even in broad daylight.
I think you will find i was 50m from my house and he had that distance to see me and slow but as he was ignorant he did not read the road ahead and there was definately not any 'glare' or sun in his eyes nor nearing dawn or dusk to excuse his behaviour. I did not suddenly stand my mare square in the road to cause him to step on his brakes but read the situation and the horse i was riding i knew had the confidence and ability to deal with the situation without ill effects.
The car driver had enough time to slow and it has now been made aware to me he was visting a neighbour and has done this to another rider causing her hospitilsation for spooking her horse. I think in this situation and knowing the facts i am glad i made him halt if he was going any faster and the road was not staright i would not have displayed this behaviour.
Also if it was 'dusk' (again was exceptionally bright) would the neighbouring riding school be riding on the road further up.
Please support each other and do not judge if you were not in the situation or knew the facts
 
Dogs are animals, and therefore NEVER 100% predictable. I hate to see loose dogs with riders unless it's off road on private land (without livestock).

I have to lead my four year old daughter out on her small pony and ALWAYS move onto the verge if I can. Drivers not slowing down or cutting close to us is extrememly dangerous, and it's idiots like you who give non horsey people a bad opinion of us.

You didnt post to get a 'bashing' no, you posted wanting us all to call the driver black and blue and give you sympathy when you were as much to blame.

Kindly remove your head from your rear end and see that... that you are just as irrisponsible, if not more, than this driver.

Oh and FWIW I have no menage OR turnout atm (due to the walk to the field being up a hill which is like sheet ice) and wouldnt DREAM of taking a horse out at 5pm. We're on country lanes too, but still get more traffic then...
 
Though I agree about that it doesn't sound sensible to block the road with your horse, I don't understand all the talk about not riding on the road after dark wearing Hi-viz.

The people complaining about you being on the road at 5.15pm = 17.15 should come and visit me, f. ex. for the last 2 to 3 weeks, at different times between 17.00 to 23.30 there's been horses passing my house. It happens at least 3 or 4 times per evening, it's a small road which (this far) is only used by those car-drivers who has to. And f. ex. the road is the only option for those with stables in one area to get to the manége in another area.

Not to mention the number of children, walker, dog-owners (including myself) etc. that walks on the edges of the road that passes my house. ETS And as Poppymoo mentions, it's scary to see the number of cyclist, joggers and children etc. without lights or Hi-viz. I'm one of the few wearing Hi-viz.



But the way I understand it, it seems as if there's more riders in Sweden that rides their horses on roads and in forests regardless of snow/ice during the winter than in UK.
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Also over here it doesn't have to be dusk at so and so time, it depends on the sky. If it's snow in the air it can sometimes be bright until very late in the evening.


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I take my kid out after school on her rock solid pony, she's bedecked in hiviz and I walk with her, also in hi viz. 30mph road, but it's just before the NSL signs so the 30 is usually ignored.

No way would I have my well behaved dogs with us, and we are back before it's getting dusky - this week, we've been back by 4.45.

Driver does sound like an idiot, but equally, I feel it was a risky situation for OP to put themselves in.
 
Ok, I could poss have been out on the road at that time (I think we were back just after 5 at the weekend. But this would be wearing noseband, legbands, ex sheet, tabard, hat and LIGHTS (the horseware flashing red vests and a cycle light behind)


The dogs and horse combination are a completely diff matter
I have hit a loose dog before and therefore think any dog on a road should be on a lead. (I hit one that was in the middle of a large B road on a corner). What if something happened and you fell from your horse, who would control the dogs then? I think that you just show a bit of lack of foresight, ie what is the worst that could happen. Yes the driver could have acted better but you were IMO not completely in the right.
 
I would not take my dog on the road if i were putting her at risk. As i advised she is more obedient than your average pooch and in times of trouble will lie queitly in the hedge until it is safe for her to rejoin either walking in front of my horse on the side of the road or behind my horses hocks. She is trained in distance control and 10min out of sight downs and being a collie before you have said it she has it done!
I would not being bringing her if she was not in control and as the car was speeding she took the initiative to jump in the hedge and lie until she was 'released'
Please dont judge if you see the word 'dog'
 
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OK....it was still light, she was wearing fluorescents and she was riding appropriately, on the correct side of the road.....who exactly is in the wrong here? Horses are legally entitled to use the roads whenever......just as cyclists ( frequently without lights) and joggers (without lights).....

I think the more people avoid going on roads , the less car users are prepared for seeing us.

Bet he would have slowed down for a tractor/lorry.....tosser.

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What she said. Horse riders have as much right to safely use the roads at any time of day/night as car drivers.
 
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Horse riders have as much right to safely use the roads at any time of day/night as car drivers.

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I couldn't agree more. But it's amazing how much you can increase the odds of remaining safe by using a little common sense too......
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Im with you Fleur 1 I had to go to court last month a car hit my friends horse when we were riding together. I had asked him to wait while we rode past some stationary cars but he just kept coming he hit my friends horse and even tried to drive off with the horse on the bonnet.
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hes attitude like many think that horses shouldnt be on the road. He even pleaded not guilty in court. He got fined and points he should have been banned. I am very polite and thank all drivers but you still get aload of idiots on the road.
 
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Horse riders have as much right to safely use the roads at any time of day/night as car drivers.

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I couldn't agree more. But it's amazing how much you can increase the odds of remaining safe by using a little common sense too......
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By doing what...wearing Hi-Viz? ......Oh...thats right...she was.

or should we not be out on the roads at all, apart from 2hours mid-july , weather conditions permitting?
 
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but if you fell off and were knocked out?

Granted you would have a lose horse aswell tho, and that is prob worse.

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.......but that could happen anywhere, not just on the roads...are you saying that we shouldn't ride on roads for fear off falling off and getting knocked out?
 
QR - Although I understand how annoyed you were, I don't suppose you swearing at the driver has done anything to endear horse riders to that particular driver.
I personally wouldn't have blocked a cars path with my horse especially with the freezing temperatures and the additional risk of him not being able to stop.
I agree that any driver should drive to the conditions and be able to stop in the distance they see to be clear ahead but it is not an ideal world that we live in.
The roads are a risky place as they are without having a horse and two dogs to keep under control. They may be well trained etc, etc but they do have brains of their own aswell.

Not bashing - just common sense, sorry
 
Well if I thought my horse was in danger from a car I think I would have ranted at the driver as well. Give her a break she was probaly in the wrong at the time but we all do things we regret in the heat of the moment DONT WE.
 
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Well if I thought my horse was in danger from a car I think I would have ranted at the driver as well. Give her a break she was probaly in the wrong at the time but we all do things we regret in the heat of the moment DONT WE.

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not when I'm on horseback, my horse's safety is first priority I'm afraid.
 
Okay Ester, I agree temporarily stunned or hedge is also possible options.




The thing for me, is that I strongly believe that the drivers that doesn't respect that they have to share the road with horses also doesn't respect that they have to share it with children and adults walking, cycling and jogging etc. Or the simple fact that wildlife might have to cross the roads.
Every year an average of 15 persons are killed in collisions between cars and elks in Sweden, usually because the driver haven't had proper respect for the fact that they're not alone on the road.


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