it only takes one idiot

LittleRooketRider

LittleRooketRider

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to ruin a horses confidence on the road

We bred Kitty on our farm and she has always had various farm machinery, tractors, tankers and lorries around her pretty much from day one so when we broke her in aged four she was an absolute saint and would never bat an eyelid at anything on the road. we live a couple of miles from a large abattoir so there are large lories coming and going all the time...she used to be fine with this especially as most of them would stop....that was until about two years ago when one packed full of sheep came hurtling past on a evry narrow road without acknowledging our existence:mad:, understandably kitty (and myself) were rather shaken but luckily unhurt...i patted her and carried on thinking all would be fine...

for the next few months hacking was a nightmare i could hardly get her past a van/car with small trailer/tractor anything without a drama/breakdown if at all. she has improved in confidence again over the last year vastly but she is still always a bit on edge and i'm sorry about the seemingly pointless raant but it just really got me today whilst hacking that the actions of one idiot is still affecting her now as despite being on quite a wide road and in a layby she still panicked and thankfully the driver was kind enough to stop allowing me to trot 200 metres back down the road and in t a field where we were safe from harm and Kitty felt safe...i could not express my gratitude to him enough

I just wish that driver 2 years ago had had the same sense of safety as this one had.:(
rant over choccy pudding for all who got this far:)
 
What a stupid driver, if people just took a second to think about how their actions might affect others more often we might live in a nicer place. Hopefully Kitty will get better over time but I understand your frustration that this never should have been a problem!
 
I have the same issue! But mine is clipping related. Horse was a saint to clip, stood happily while it was done, but unfortunately this year the circumstances meant it went wrong and she is now terrified. I will be having the vet out to sedate her soon so I can get it done :(
 
Poor Kitty. I'm sorry she was so upset.
I can't honestly say that I've had a youngster traumatised by one single event on the roads. We've meet quite a few twits who delight in deliberately trying to spook horses on the roads even to the extent of throwing things at us, but we've been able to make it a positive part of training.
 
Im going through similiar at moment. No fault of lorry driver he was excellent ,we were passing pigs and unfortunately it must have been feeding time I thought they were being slaughtered the noise was horrendous. My horse is only 5 and was doing so well in traffic but the pig and lorry situation has unnerved him and hes linking it all to lorries.I was just at the point of venturing out for small hack on or own but will take a step back until his nerve has improved. I had same problem as you with tractor drive who nearly put us in hedge ,I pretend nothing has changed so he doesnt feed of any tension and hes getting there.
 
Sorry to hear this, but I wonder if you are getting tense about traffic which is going down the reins to Kitty. Have you tried her with a different rider who doesn't know about the sheep lorry incident to see how she reacts?
 
Hi,

My Charlie Horse was FAB in traffic until a novice Artic Driver steered his cab around us, not taking into account the large trailer behind. Poor Charlie was scrabbling UNDER the trailer, and although unhurt was lucky to be alive( as was my friend riding him!).
He was quite nervous afterwards, and we treated him like a new novice baby. He always went out in company, and on the inside of a pair. Over a couple of years he did improve, and although he was never impervious in traffic again he was very well behaved. He was quickly alright with tractors, but for large HGVs he always lifted his head and scrunched his face up.
I found the most difficult thing was not getting angry about it. That made him read my tension, and believing he SHOULD be OK in traffic achieved nothing.
bizarrely I have also known 2 horses have serious road accidents with cars and be totally "normal" in the future.....
 
Hugs, l had a similar experience several years ago whilst returning from an hack with friends. We were on a busy road approaching a bridge on our way towards the bridleway that led back to the farm when we had a white van speeding our way & clipped her as we were just going under the bridge. She literally jumped onto the pavement & startled from the noise echoing. Thankfully noone was walking on the pavement but she was so skittish all the way home l was glad l was with my friends as l think she would have been a nightmare on her own. It took us months to her confidence back she got better from the farm using their machinery but it was vans that she was the most scared of but one of the liveries had a van & we had to start from scratch leading her past first before riding past. Years later shes not 100% with vans & doubt she ever will be but she is much better. Its just sickening knowing that someones inconsideration or impatience can cause a problem or damage that may never be reversed.
 
"I have a 5year old that is excellent in traffic, 2 weeks ago I took him out on his own, a van came around a blind bend to fast and slammed on his breaks slidding towards us, my horse whipped around on him.
I now have to walk him in traffic to give him confidence with approaching traffic, luckily hes getting back to normal.
 
Not the horse, but one idiot nearly scared me out of going on the road!!

Me and friend were hacking out, both in hi-viz with her in front. There was a bit of a verge, but it's slightly sunken from the road. We were on the road, but right next to the verge.
I heard the roar of the engine before I saw the car, so I turned around to see. A woman in a giant 4X4 came speeding around the corner, didn't bother to slow, or get out of the way. I did the only thing I could apparently think of and yanked poor Ned in the gob, which made him jump onto the verge. Even though we were now on the verge, the stupid woman was inches from my stirrup. Had Ned not reacted to me pulling, we would have been hit at speed :(
It really shook me up and I wouldn't hack that way for ages. She never even slowed down.
Ned, thankfully wasn't bothered!

Good luck in getting your horse traffic proof again :)
 
Did you report it to 101 or BHS? Stats are seriously needed if we are to do anything about it. Hope you're both ok
 
OP sorry to hear this :(

I once had a car full of 3 lads throw a lit firework at mine and my friend's horse while we were on a quiet country lane. Horses bolted, mine reared first and I got dragged by my broken ankle stuck in my stirrup about 3 miles down the road. Ended up with a slipped disk, broken foot and all the skin taken off the bottom of my back. Horses ended up terrified and burnt from the firework on their stomachs and legs. Lads in car were seen by a nearby dog walker but never confessed to which one of them it was so the driver got fined £160 in court. Police were brilliant but it was the legal system that let us down.

It still haunts me now :(
 
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Cheshire Chestnut said:
OP sorry to hear this :(

I once had a car full of 3 lads throw a lit firework at mine and my friend's horse while we were on a quiet country lane. Horses bolted, mine reared first and I got dragged by my broken ankle stuck in my stirrup about 3 miles down the road. Ended up with a slipped disk, broken foot and all the skin taken off the bottom of my back. Horses ended up terrified and burnt from the firework on their stomachs and legs. Lads in car were seen by a nearby dog walker but never confessed to which one of them it was so the driver got fined £160 in court. Police were brilliant but it was the legal system that let us down.

It still haunts me now :(
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That is horrific!! :(
 
I remember how angry and frustrated I was when I led my then 18 month old down the road very early to her new yard. Met an idiot van driver who proceeded to honk and rev behind us with headlights on even though we were just coming up to a lay by. Luckily fillio was and is unaffected, they dont forget though do they. Will always be idiots unfortunately.
 
I remember nearly being wiped out by a polo lorry going to a match at the local pitch in Barkham. Yes narrow road with ditches either side, but straight to had clear visibility of me on a grey in high-viz. I have no idea where they expected me to go, & realising I wasn't leaving the road they stopped about 1m from us with screeching brakes. Only time my traffic proof arab has panicked, as she saw this big vehicle hurtling towards us & couldn't see any where to get out the way. First & only time she has spun on the road. She's always been a bit jittery about lorries since when they pass close.

Somehow it seems worse that it was an 'equestrian' vehicle. You'd have thought equestrians of all people would show consideration to horses on the road.
 
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Awful to hear of peoples' experiences, but you know it's not really realistic to expect the modern road user to know ANYTHING about horses and how to accommodate them on the roads. 99% of people have never even seen a horse; they don't know how their actions will impact on the riders on the roads.
 
We had a pony on loan that had been hit by, wait for it, a horsebox on the way to a nearby competition venue. They couldn't slow down and stop for a couple of minutes to let the nervous pony get out of the way.
If left her frightened of anything large and long and meant that she could never be described as "quiet in traffic." I think some horsebox/trailer drivers can be as inconsiderate as any non-horsey drivers. As was the case on Christmas Eve when I was hacking round the lanes on a cut through to the nearby meet. One nice lady slowed right down for me, the others didn't bother. As it happens my horse is perfectly OK with meeting horseboxes and trailers, but what if he hadn't been?
 
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