Lack of "COMMON SENSE"

mrgoop

mrgoop

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Are some horse people totally clueless when it comes to horses
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Ok, so iv'e been guilty of not riding my boy enough over the last month or so. Last night i tacked him up and set off on an adventure.
It was one of those rides i'm sure you've all had..... didn't have a route planned, just went where we fancied. He was really good and i remembered what it was all about.
I kept making little add ons to our hack, as we were both relaxed and enjoying ourselves, could have stayed out all night
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Saw loads of other riders out and about, stopped and had a chat with a local girl, Max doesn't like standing still but he managed a few minutes before starting to fidget
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next we came across 2 horses approaching us, said hello in passing.
15 mins or so later, Max spotted them on the road we were about to join,(the joys of having a huge horse that can see over hedges
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) so stepped up the pace, think he wanted some company... this was fine, it was like riding a jelly, he was walking really fast and taking silly little steps, i laughed at him and wobbled along with him
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When we got to the junction and joined the road the other riders were on, they were about 200 yards in front. Max continued to power walk, making the distance rapidly shorter. No problem there either
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Then one of the riders turned her head, and they trotted off up the road
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At this point Max lost the plot, lost the ability to walk, and make a complete arse of himself. An oncoming car stopped while he had his paddy, which consisted of running sideways, mini rearing, leaping and snorting
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I was mortified, my pleasant hack had turned to sh1te
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it then took me the next half an hour to get him back down to earth. Most of the way home he jogged and snorted, and was a sweaty mess by the time we got back to the yard
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It just amazes me that people can be so daft.... I always ask someone if i'm ok to trot on if i pass them, and if i do i always look behind to make sure their horse isn't reacting!!

Are people oblivious to risks whan riding? I sawe a post on here the other day, of a horse now for sale after a horrible accident caused by dangerous 3rd party riding
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very sad, and avoidable.

Does anyone else feel like me or am i being silly
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I totally agree that some people are clueless!

I went on a fun ride at the weekend and made a point of asking if we could pass/trot on ahead of any horses we came across, thankfully everyone else seemed to do the same.
 
I totally agree with you - we had something similar here a few weeks ago - my neice and I were walking down the lane when the village idiot and his son went on to the field the other side of the hedge (they were trespassing too!) and proceeded to gallop past us in the other direction.....
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Sadly some people lack not only common sense but common courtesy too!
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Yes I agree with the issue here!

I was hacking around the fields the other day on Horlicks, on my own, and there is a nice long stretch along the field, that is slightly up hill and perfect for the final canter before heading home. I was just coming to the corner of the field, and was about to canter and I saw in the distance a couple of girls leading a younger girl on a pony (the yard does pony rides). Now I could have continued with my plan to have a canter, but then I thought how bad would I feel if that little pony reaceted badly and the little one fell off!! So I didn't and we just walked up the long stretch instead!

I always check for other riders around me before I go off into a faster pace than walk.... its common curtisy (sp) is it not?!
 
If someone was walking 200 yards behind me I don't think I would think twice about trotting on tbh
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Perhaps they were worried about how their horses would react to another coming up quickly behind them and so wanted to put a bit of distance between you? Or have I misunderstood the situation?
 
From your description, I would say you have a horse like mine! He can't cope with any other horses on the horizon or in front of him, and rather embarassingly he once lost the plot because a bicycle overtook him and he pranced, piaffed and passaged all the way home in sheer temper at not being in front. Strange lad!
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Maybe they thought they were doing you a favour getting out of your way? I have to yell out to people in front "Can I join you please?" otherwise my ride is ruined.
 
QR
To be honest, if I'm approaching a bridleway or road and Henry is jogging to catch up, I stop him and let them get some distance, letting him nibble on a bush/grass if I think it'll settle him. He's fine with horses trotting off away from him, but if your boy is so reactive to other horses out on hacks, maybe try that. If the other rider looked behind and your horse wasn't reacting at the time, I wouldn't be so harsh on the other riders.
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Should you not have shouted to ask the other riders if you could join them?

My lad is perfect in 2's but in 3's he is a total plonk so I would not have wanted you to join if a friend and I were out on a quiet hack
 
QR - I know exactly what you're saying, it doesn't take much to set my lad off when the mood takes him, for instance, a few weeks back there was a pleasure ride on the estate where we keep the horses. We'd forgotten all about this ride & set off on a hack.
We saw some of the riders, walked along with them & had a chat, they were very nice and there were no incidents despite our group growing from 3 to 5 or 6, all horses very well behaved.
We carried on on our hack and went up a grassy hill, we were at the top & along a bit when a group of riders came tearing up the hill, there were about 3 or 4 of them & didn't look like they had much in the way of control.
My horse saw that as his cue to act the fool & started snorting & prancing & generally felt like a bottle of pop, I honestly thought he was going to p off with me!
The riders didn't even stop cantering when they saw us, they were very close when they finally pulled up to a trot.
In fairness to them they did apologise and ask if he was ok (it was obvious he wasn't!).
Now my argument was that they were following us, they were aware we were there & it's common sense not to canter up behind another horse in a group - they had no idea how our horses would react and seemed only concerned with their ride regardless of the other riders that pay livery to be on that estate!
 
I do agree that it was a rude thing for them to do, but maybe they were worried you were going to come powering past and set their horses off?
 
I think its just one of those things - they weren't behind you and trotted past therefore needing to ask whether it was safe to. They were quite a long way ahead of you and probably thought it was fine. I hate to say it but I would have trotted on I think.
 
I would have trotted off if I'd seen someone following.
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On fun rides, yes its courteous to ask if its OK to pass, but really, what are you supposed to do if the answer's "no"? You'd just have a great amount of angry riders stuck behind you. I'd never pass someone quickly, but if you can't cope with being over-taken at all, you shouldn't go! Out hacking, you shouldn't have followed if your horse gets upset following other horses that have every right to speed up.
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Not sure if the 'fun rides' part of your post relates to my reply but it wasn't the fact that they wanted to pass that set my horse off it was the fact that they came hooning up behind him & he couldn't see them coming! Plus the fact that they didn't pull up when they saw him acting up but rather waited another few strides/until they were closer so they could have more of a canter! I'm all for fast work but would never intentionally go cantering up behind another rider as you just don't know how the horse would react!
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right am going to be honest, I would never canter right up behind people that I could see and wouldn't ever pass anyone without asking first but trotting off in front, probably. There are only certain bits of our roads which are suitable for trotting due to lack of visibility etc and with my boys weight he needs all the trotting he can get. Also, particularly in winter when daylight is short I need to get as much exercise into him as I can. If you were 200yds behind I would have called to you to say I was going to do it but prob wouldn't have asked if I could.
 
I didn't turn another way because at this point i was now on the road for home, the only other way was to circle round and do the ride again. With hindsight maybe i should have
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We were about 50 yards behind when they trotted off

We had seen them earlier plodding on a long rein and not looking at all fizzy. If they had been of that temprament i would have expected the riders to gather them up a bit
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I'd have pulled him up and calmed him down as soon as he started speeding his walking up. That was the first indication of trouble.

Other people, their horses and what they do cant be legislated for, and you can't expect them to do what you want. You can only control what you and your own horse do.
 
I agree with you to a certain extent.

I don't think other riders should be accountable for other horses that can act up when parting company, after all there out riding and pleasing themselves just as you were, they should be able to just trot off as they wish if their not with you.

However if I knew by doing this that it was upsetting another horse then of course I would stop and continue to walk, because like you state, I'd use my common sense, last thing I'd want is to see anyone in difficulty, but I'd expect that person behind (what ever distance they are) to shout out and let me know, as I would not be prepared to look over my shoulder every two minutes when on a road to see if the horse behind is jogging about, so unless they knew they were causing problems then I don't think the blame should be on them (if that was the case).

Now if they were to ignore me calling them and saw that I was in difficulty and still proceeded to trot off (if I was on the horse messing around) then yes I'd be totally furious! and would be marching round to the yard after I'd got back.

Every horse rider understands the danger of horse riding, on the roads especially and therefore I think every rider has a right to ask and to obay.

Thankfully you were ok.
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My lad will hack along happily buckle end if its just him and one other, last night we waited for another livery we spotted coming up behind once there were 3 of them he was a twat.. We had a rear and spin on his hind legs followed by snorting and prancing I had to go in front on my own about 20yards in front then he was fine (sorry just another view point)
 
If I saw someone coming up behind me, I would probably trot on, as I wouldn't want their company - especially if they were unable to control their horse and blamed other riders for it.
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If someone was walking 200 yards behind me I don't think I would think twice about trotting on tbh
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Perhaps they were worried about how their horses would react to another coming up quickly behind them and so wanted to put a bit of distance between you? Or have I misunderstood the situation?

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TBH whilst I sympatise with the original post my oninion is as above. I recently went to a show on my mare, another woman from my yard was there on her horse, I did not stand mine by hers, andstarted to work mine in in the warm up are since she was a bit distracted by the other horse and I wanted her to focus. This woman got pi$$ed off because her horse pratted around a bit when my mare turned up and sent a message to me telling me to ride further away from her horse since I was upsetting him!! Sorry but my opinion is that if your horse behaves like a tit and throws a paddy that is your problem, within reason I will not alter what is perfectly acceptable behaviour on my part because someone is unable to calm there own horse (not saying this is the case for the poster). But trotting off from that far ahead is not unacceptable behaviour, they were probably trying to keep distance for their own horses. Now, if they waited till the horse had caught up and deliberatley bombed off without warning or wound their horse up and that affected you that would be different. But yes I do think that in this circumstance you are overreacting a tad (sorry)
 
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I totally agree with you - we had something similar here a few weeks ago - my neice and I were walking down the lane when the village idiot and his son went on to the field the other side of the hedge (they were trespassing too!) and proceeded to gallop past us in the other direction.....
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Sadly some people lack not only common sense but common courtesy too!
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This reminds me of something that happened to me years ago. I decided to have a gallop along the hedge. The hedge was tall and I could not see what was on the lane the other side. Then I heard someone screaming at me from the lane and saw a horse's head through a gap in the hedge, just standing and looking. Should I never canter through my field just in case someone is on the other side of the hedge? What if that woman's screaming had spooked my pony? When out hacking you never know what you're going to come across.
 
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If I saw someone coming up behind me, I would probably trot on, as I wouldn't want their company - especially if they were unable to control their horse and blamed other riders for it.
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Ditto! I've had another rider out hacking who couldn't control their horse, barging up behind my mares that my mother and I were riding. I was seriously unimpressed.
 
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I totally agree with you - we had something similar here a few weeks ago - my neice and I were walking down the lane when the village idiot and his son went on to the field the other side of the hedge (they were trespassing too!) and proceeded to gallop past us in the other direction.....
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Sadly some people lack not only common sense but common courtesy too!
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This reminds me of something that happened to me years ago. I decided to have a gallop along the hedge. The hedge was tall and I could not see what was on the lane the other side. Then I heard someone screaming at me from the lane and saw a horse's head through a gap in the hedge, just standing and looking. Should I never canter through my field just in case someone is on the other side of the hedge? What if that woman's screaming had spooked my pony? When out hacking you never know what you're going to come across.

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I couldn't agree with you more - but as I said they went on to private fields (they came up the lane towards us and had seen us and ignored me after flicking a V sign at me when I asked them not to go on the fields - as I said they were trespassing and have no permission to ride on the fields and are well known locally for doing it) If it was their own fields they can do what they like and I would expect to control my horse appropriately - some prat galloping along a hedge line that they know they shouldn't be on does p*ss me off as it gives all riders locally a bad name with the farmers whose fields they trash apart from anything else.
 
This is not a lack of common sense on their part, IMHO.

Your horse reacted badly to perfectly acceptable behaviour...don't blame them.
 
Don't be too hard on them.

They looked round, saw you walking some way behind, so started trotting. The noise of their horse's hooves probably meant they couldn't hear your horse!!

Perhaps if you had shouted out when your horse started playing up, they might have turned round to see what was happening, and stopped trotting!!!

Just a thought
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Too true but there surely there's such a thing as riding etiquette?!

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Obviously not, judging by the stories on here.
 
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