Irresponsible Riders

O

OFG

Well-Known Member
Joined
6 July 2011
Messages
541
Location
South West
Visit site
Took advantage of the fantastic weather yesterday and and friend and I took neddies to a local pleasure ride. We met up with a mutal friend and her daughter just as we were leaving on the ride so the four of us went together.

We were astounded at the amount of irresponsible riders we came across during the ride, which made an otherwise lovely day spoilt to some degree.

Basically - what goes through a riders mind to trot past other riders on a narrow, single track lane without first calling out to check if it is OK to pass? :mad:

This happened numerous times and at one point we trotted on as a car was coming up the lane behind us. There was a group of 5 riders behind us by some distance who trotted up too (car was behind them). Knew riders had caught us up as my pony had his ears back but when he started hunching his back and getting grouchy I knew they were very close. On checking over my shoulder one rider was a foot off my ponys bum :mad:

WHY WHY WHY do some people think it is OK to trot up behind a strange horse / pony?
 
With respect, on a fun ride, I would expect to be able to trot past an unfamiliar horse. It's a fun ride and if overtaking meant you had to slow to a walk each time it would spoil the fun.

If I had a horse that was funny about people riding past it, I probably wouldn't take it to something like a fun ride till I'd worked on its issues.
 
Its more the riders who use mobiles on horse back, often completely in a world of their own with no thought to traffic etcthy get to me
 
It's crap and just bad manners to trot past without alerting the rider in front that you are going to do that. Also, who knows whether the horse in front might kick out or whatever? I'm sure most people will have dealt with most issues before going on a fun ride but basic good manners should not be forgotten - young and inexperienced horses have to start somewhere too, so that should be another consideration from other riders.
 
It is only common courtesy to ask if it is o.k. to pass another rider - whatever the circumstances - the last thing one wants is an accident. One kick from a horse could seriously damage another horse of rider.
The only way horses and riders can get experienes of attending events is by doing them and in many cases one never knows how a horse will react to new situations.
 
That happened to group of us on our first farm ride, 2 of us had new horses so didn't really know how they would react if overtaken. Three riders actually cantered past us at the beginning of the ride, my plod along cob turned into a loony until they had gone. We had no warning from them they just came past, the others would ask if it was ok to pass. They all settled down and let lots come past after.
 
Waffles said:
It's crap and just bad manners to trot past without alerting the rider in front that you are going to do that. Also, who knows whether the horse in front might kick out or whatever? I'm sure most people will have dealt with most issues before going on a fun ride but basic good manners should not be forgotten - young and inexperienced horses have to start somewhere too, so that should be another consideration from other riders.
Click to expand...
Agreed!

Took my young welsh mare out to a well known, endurance organised fun ride fairly local to me. Mare was fine in company and with horses passing her. By the end of the ride she would shoot off if any horse came near her due to the amount of people who had come past, at speed, with no warning what so ever - despite my "young horse" tabbard. :mad:
 
AprilBlossom said:
With respect, on a fun ride, I would expect to be able to trot past an unfamiliar horse. It's a fun ride and if overtaking meant you had to slow to a walk each time it would spoil the fun.

If I had a horse that was funny about people riding past it, I probably wouldn't take it to something like a fun ride till I'd worked on its issues.
Click to expand...

I would say that it is only polite to ask when passing someone, be it a pleasure ride , fun ride , hacking out or an Endurance ride.

Do you think it is fun for other riders if some inconsiderate person upsets someone else's horse.

A friend of mine always puts a red ribbon on one of her horses but when people say " oh your horse kicks" her answer is always " no but it stops stupid / inconsiderate people getting too close"

Sometimes it is not possible to deal with issues at home. I have an Arab that is blind in one eye (He is an Advanced Endurance Horse) and due to this he is sensitive when others are passing him. At home he is fine as his surroundings are familiar to him.

All riders it does not matter who they ar should have manners.

M yard is down a country lane with a small industrial astate at the bottom so car and lorries up and down all day. If I am riding down the lane ( some 400 yards) and a car etc is up behind me I often ride down the middle, this is only a short lane so people can wait.

Appleblossom: if you can not have enough manners to slow down when passing another rider then why should you spoil their FUN too.
 
Gosh Aprilblossom I hope I am never on a fun ride at the same time as you! Totally agree with the others would have expected the common courtesy of being asked if it was ok to trot past!
 
Tilda, it's not like I'm saying I'd charge past at a gallop on my fire-breathing dragon for goodness sale!

I expect people to pass me at a trot on a fun ride, and expect to be able to do the same. Like I said, if I didn't expect this, and wasn't prepared, I wouldn't go.

It's not fair to ruin other riders fun (they've paid entry too) just because you're on a new horse or you're frightened you don't have control of your mount!
 
From the sound of your posts though, AprilBlossom, you don't appear to give any warning which is what I think people are objecting to (including myself if I'm honest).
 
At a fun ride, I would expect to over take and be overtaken in trot (as I would at TREC or endurance). Why on earth would you take a pony out to do one if you weren't confident you could control it. If you're testing the water, better take the pony to one of these baby type fun rides where they restrict the overtaking/pace you can go at etc.
 
Aprilblossom I do totally get your point and I would actually hope very few people if any would object I certainly never have! I think just a courtesy shout of 'coming through' or the like to allow people to prepare is not too much to ask for
 
Ah, but thats the irony isn't it, for many people - fun rides are anything but fun ;)

I wouldn't overtake a single person at trot, but a group I would, yes. And warning, is the sound of trotting hooves not warning enough?! I've been overtaken by someone galloping as I was walking before, but just because I was being boring, who am I to ruin their day out - we have all paid the money to be there :)

I have been on horses before who have jogged, cantered, plunged and bucked the entire way round a 15km 'fun ride' :rolleyes: If I had a similar horse again, I wouldn't bother! Its not other people's fault that I was riding an eejit. :)
 
I agree with AB, though I'd feel genuinely bad if my horse trotting past another, caused grief, I certainly wouldn't expect to have to ask to pass everyone.

I'd be hoarse by the end of the ride!

A fun ride is where one would assume it very likely people would pass you therefore taking a horse who didn't like being passed (as opposed to a young horse who just needs to learn about it) seems a little dangerous to me.
 
Yes, I agree it's courteous to do so, but I don't think if you're trotting past someone you HAVE to, especially if they're in control and look a competent rider. If someone looked to be in difficulty then I'd slow up and ask if I could pass, but a regular joe on a fun ride, no.
I feel I appear a competent rider enough to warrant people not needing to notify me of passing in trot. I also think I have enough spatial awareness that I'd notice other riders approaching anyway. It's not like they're charging past at warp speed...in trot.
 
But that's just the thing Boolavogue - how do you know the horse isn't a youngster if you don't announce yourself and just trot past? I'm not against it at all as long as the approaching rider has called out to let me know they are there, so if there are any problems - such as a young, inexperienced horse, I can make them aware.

Even the most reliable horses can have a "funny five minutes", just a thought :)

ETA: IMO anything faster than a trot is out of order.
 
Waffles said:
You can't always hear unshod horses trotting up behind....
Click to expand...

Hmm, well I can, they still make noise - I certainly think a booming pullein-thompson style 'coming through!' would spook mine more than a trotting horse :)

Re youngsters, its my responsilbilty to plan ahead and nanny them along with older horses etc, not everyone elses. Sure, if the pony starts going wappy then please stop - but otherwise I don't see a problem :)
 
AprilBlossom said:
With respect, on a fun ride, I would expect to be able to trot past an unfamiliar horse. It's a fun ride and if overtaking meant you had to slow to a walk each time it would spoil the fun.

If I had a horse that was funny about people riding past it, I probably wouldn't take it to something like a fun ride till I'd worked on its issues.
Click to expand...

It's just this kind of attitude towards others that makes me mad.

Why would expecting other riders to call out 'OK to pass?' or something similar spoil their fun? It's common courtesy and IMO just plain sense.

At the end of the day if your actions of passing strange horses in a confined space (e.g very narrow single track lane) at a trot with no advance warning then causes other horses to react and kick out then I suppose that would be the fault of the other rider as they couldn't control their horse? Horses are animals which can be unpredictable - regardless of how well trained or mannered normally.

And do you think it acceptable to trot a foot off the back of a strange horse too?

As others have said, you never know if the horse / pony you are passing is young or the rider young or inexperienced. Everyone has to start somewhere and why shouldn't they participate too?

Will it kill you to just walk for a short section until the horses in front can move out of the way safety and let you pass?

In an open space, yes, I would expect others to come past me at trot / canter but I was referring to a small very narrow section of lane.
 
I fail to see why some posters are being personal to Aprilbossom, she has simply expressed an opinion, that she has been aked for. She has not asked for others' opinion of her thoughts but has rsponded to the OP.

I believe on a fun ride or a hunt for example, one can expect this behaviour, although out hacking it would be extrmely rude.
 
Aren't you meant to/advised to put a green ribbon on a young horse for just that purpose?

If you're looking at the large fun rides round here, you genuinely would be calling out every 3/4 minutes in order to pass someone. I wouldn't expect people to do that at a show/RC/hunt event, so I wouldn't expect someone to do it on a fun ride? Just like if you have an aggressive dog, you don't take it to a place that's likely to be rammed full of people/other dogs. You could argue that maybe you SHOULD be able to however, I just don't see the sense in doing so really.

If I had a horse who couldn't be passed safely, he'd be at the back of the field. I genuinely feel for people who have these types of horses however, you do have some responsibility for your own safety as well and on balance of probabilities, I'd say a fun ride isn't the cleverest place to take one of these such types.

I'm not saying it's right or wrong, just saying what I'd expect.
 
To be fair, Achinghips, on the first fun ride I took my big beast to, you wouldn't have wanted to be near me - I had almost zero brakes and steering as he got rather excited, and I actually had to take him home early (prompting some attempts at rearing on a stewards head) :D

Despite me having difficulties, people still passed me at a variety of paces - no, they did not ask permission.
Did I start crying about it to anyone who'd listen. Not a chance. I learnt my lesson and got better control of my horse before going out again, to have a much more enjoyable ride!
 
Just to add, I in most cases would absolutely walk to pass people at any time hacking/fun ride etc. However, I wouldn't take my bat home because someone trotted past me, life's too short. :)
 
Over taking on a fun ride is only to be expected, however I do think that riders should let others know if they wish to overtake, it's called having manners!
 
Have to say I'm a 'coming through/ ok to pass?' person not for any other reason than 'just in case'. Don't loose anything by doing it (the element of surprise perhaps if that's important to you :D) don't gain anything by not doing it. And if you are in a controlled trot and not got a sore throat it shouldn't slow you down at all unless they say 'walk please' which is 'worst case scenario', where you walk past for 20metres while they stop, which will save you more time and be less disruptive then fetching them out of a nearby ditch should you take them by surprise.

There seems to be a new trend in Newbury of cyclists just pushing past umbrellas/shopping bags anything that sticks out from you on the pavement ... why oh why do they just not ring their bells. Slightly aside but perhaps they can't afford the calorie wastage it takes to move their thumb :mad: (whether they should be on that pavement or not is a different matter- there is a cycle path on the opposite one which is why my 2yo, shopping and umbrella walk on this one!)

Ps not every rider has the strength of hearing to hear hooves on grass, just a problem a friend has. (there isn't a ribbon for your horses tail that says I'm as deaf as a post. :o)
 
I've got a couple of hot heads so tend to really motor when doing fun rides & I always shout
"OK to come past?" when I over take.
But if somebody who's going even faster than me does over take, I would appreciate them giving me a shout before they overtake but if they don't, it's not the end of the world, as I see it as my responsibility to be able to control my own horse.
It's my choice to go to a ride on a fizzy horse therefore it's up to me to be able to ride it & deal with people who's manners aren't their strong point.
 
tabithakat64 said:
Over taking on a fun ride is only to be expected, however I do think that riders should let others know if they wish to overtake, it's called having manners!
Click to expand...

This, and never passing faster than trot and walking if (i) the rider ahead asks you to or (ii) if it is narrow or (iii) if in your judgement the rider/horse doesnt look massively comfortable/competent.

But I do think while you can hope for the warning to be made, you do have to be prepared for horses passing at trot without warnings, and not get angsty or cross about it. Pleasure rides are about your pleasure at taking your young/nervous/silly (whatever) horse but they are also about for once having a decent ride at a decent pace on a safe route which riders dont get to do 99% of the time.

In other words, if all the person wants to do is in effect a long slow hack it is perhaps unfair to use an organised pleasure ride to do that, maybe they should just be going for a long slow hack.

Also while a person may get cross at others passing cos their horse cant cope with it, others may get cross at being stuck behind someone cos their horse cant cope with that either ie dont expect others horses to be under perfect control brakes wise when yours isnt under perfect control in the sense that it cant be controlled with other horses passing it. Bit of balance on both sides, its fine for people to pass and it would be nice if they slowed down appropriately and called a warning (I dont think its reasonable to say they cant pass on a pleasure ride..)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top