Leading ponies on a pavement?!

SuperCoblet

SuperCoblet

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Are you allowed to lead a pony/horse on a pavement? I have to as the road between the stables and a rented field we use has a very busy main road with large lorries. I also vault on and ride bareback home as I'm lazy :o people don't tend to mind as I with pull in a driveway or onto the road while they walk past, but are you allowed as my friends who also do this on a different road have recently had a complaint?!
 
Short answer, no.

Pavements are for pedestrians only.TBH, if your horse is good enough to ride in traffic that heavy on the pavement he should be good enough to be on the road! Plus there is the question of poo picking - while I know that horse poo doesn't cause disease I personally wouldn't be happy about it on buggy wheels/small children/work shoes etc.

I will use a pavement as an escape route in a dangerous situation but prefer to actually ride or walk a horse on the road as drivers are more likely to slow down to pass you - especially if you walk/ride away from the kerb. Also, I want to have to have somewhere to dive to if I have to.
 
From the Highway Code

Rule 52 RIDING Before you take a horse on the road, you should
• Ensure all tack fits well and is in good condition
• Make sure you can control the horse
Always ride with other, less nervous horses if you think that your horse will be nervous of traffic.
Never ride a horse without both a saddle and bridle.


Rule 54 You MUST NOT take a horse onto a footpath or pavement .
 
Well I'm sorry but I do, but only when I leave my yard as it's a busy road and has 2 blind bends. The drivers mostly come past at 60MPH very close. My horse is excellent in traffic nevertheless I will not risk the life of both of us. Although I do get off when I've gone around the bends & I move out of the way for pedestrians if I come across them which is very rarely.
 
I once led a small donkey on the pavement at the head of a procession going to an Easter Sunday service in Bearsden church. Luckily, I wasn't arrested or struck down!
 
Thank you Black_Horse_White its nice to have some support in difficult circumstances. We would never normally ride or lead on a pavement. However, we have to get our 3 ponies from our house up to our field 1/4 mile away. There is a very short stretch (about 50 yards) of narrow one - way system through which cars and large lorries whizz, despite a 30mph limit - Haha! A sharp bend prevents traffic seeing us before they are upon us, therefore we are forced, for safety reasons, to travel on the pavement for about 10 yards. If our horses poo we return immediately with a scoop so this is never an issue. Surely one has to use one's common sense over this rule, as a few steps on a pavement by a horse is better than a dead horse, car crash, injured child etc etc. If car drivers obeyed the law and drove carefully around horses things might be easier and safer for us all!!!!
 
I must admit when i take my 6 year old out on the roads either off another horse or in hand i put her on the pavement, shes always on a lead on the roads anyway, i do it for her safety as cars are quite often so dangerous i just dont trust them, if i come across people walking i take her off straight away but they are usually lovely and stop for a pat and a stroke and have never had any problems.
 
My friend rode along the same road as me but was not on the pavement, when 2 pedestrians said to her, why don't you ride on the pavement? it would be safer. And I'm sure the drivers appreciate not being held up either so everyone's happy :-)
 
Even the police (local community officer) has seen us and spoken to us with the ponies on the path and said nothing, they just said can you clean up your horses mess, nothing about being on the pavements. Besides, gypsy will have a fit if we suddenly change his route, he'll think were not taking him home :P there are some very sharp turns on the junction where people fly around which is way to dangerous to go on the road, especially it being a one way system its too narrow for both horse and vehicle. We would be putting both ourselves and horses in danger.
Is it different from leading to riding? I purely tie the leadrope to his headcollar each side and jump on and off we go. I trust gypsy to do this and is not fazed by the heaviest of traffic although if I take him onto the road there are often stupid cars that try and squeeze past you and surely the pavement is safer?
 
I'm not saying that my horses have never been on a pavement ;) just that you're not meant to be there!

Even in heavy traffic I still prefer to have an escape route to my left so will always stay on the road if only for that reason.

Sorry, not having a go here but if the traffic is that heavy it is insane to ride in just a headcollar.
 
cbmcts said:
Sorry, not having a go here but if the traffic is that heavy it is insane to ride in just a headcollar.
Click to expand...

The traffic isn't overly bad, just the odd lorry/bus or people coming flying around the sharp bends, I trust gypsy as the pavement is continuous until we turn iff the road, he is completely bombproof in traffic, not fazed by anything. It would be mad to go on the road going the opposite way to the one way system with cars flying up the bank and around a blind corner at 30+mph
 
DanniHignett said:
The traffic isn't overly bad, just the odd lorry/bus or people coming flying around the sharp bends, I trust gypsy as the pavement is continuous until we turn iff the road, he is completely bombproof in traffic, not fazed by anything. It would be mad to go on the road going the opposite way to the one way system with cars flying up the bank and around a blind corner at 30+mph
Click to expand...


So are you actually going on the pavement against the flow of traffic? The one way system does apply to horses so I think you're pretty lucky that you haven't been stopped if the police have seen you doing it. It's not as though you could get off the pavement to get out of the way of pedestrians who are meant to be on there if it meant you going the wrong way in traffic.
 
Jemima- it's either that or another mile around the one way system as our junction is right at the very end, also we would have to treck through a bust village and around- just out if the question tbh as it's only 50 yards down the one way!
 
I was riding on the road I mentioned earlier one side has no pavement so I have no choice but to ride on the road. I had a car go past me that close his mirror nearly clipped my stirrup. God only knows what would have happened had he caught it. I can't avoid the road unless I ride in the school all the time. So I will ride on the pavement until it is safe for me not to.
 
Since your question was about what you are allowed to do, I think the answer has been clear, no you are not allowed to ride on the pavement, no you are not allowed to ride the wrong way down a one way street and no you are not allowed to ride without a bridle/saddle. You can of course do all these things if you chose to, but if you are involved in an accident your insurance will be invalid and you may be found guilty of contributing to the accident through your actions.
 
Black_Horse_White - we have also unfortunately experienced an incident like you too. When we were leading our horses on the road for a short distance on our route to taking the ponies up to the field, a car actually clipped the back of our horse. We have three gypsy cobs and it is in there nature to be bombproof and placid, and the horse that was clipped is one of our horses who is the most bombproof in traffic. However, he shot off down the road dragging my sister on the floor and this of course, set our other horses off too, sending them running towards the main road. Luckily the horses werent harmed, but yes, until it is safe to do so, we will still use the pavement on dangerous parts of the road.
 
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