Main road drivers and crossing

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Madsandfrank

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Hi guys!
Hope you've all been enjoying the sun! I've just got back from hacking out. To get to off road hacking, I have to cross over a busy main road, that is supposedly a 40 but people drive much faster along it.

I was out with another livery. I always get off to cross this road, as they never slow down to pass you, and I'm always terrified that if something happened behind us to make my boy shoot forward we'd end up looking like mincemeat. if I'm on the ground, my theory is I can turn him around me, plus he is much more mannerly on the ground than he is while I'm on top. Anyway- the other livery always rides and crosses.

It was rush hour, and there was a steady stream of traffic that meant it was hard to get through. The other lady sees a small gap and starts to cross and we follow with myself on foot. It did mean that the traffic had to slow down for us to cross. A man in a Honda civic was coming so fast at the approach I was terrified, but he did slow down and I did thank him. he then wound his window down and shouted at me to which I unfortunately replied without thinking "oh eff off" (not my finest hour I will admit but it was out of my mouth before I could stop it 😬).

When I go out on my own, I will always wait until someone gives way to let me cross or there is a wide enough gap to get over safely. But I just wondered what other riders experiences are in regards to fast busy roads and crossing with your horses. Do you have people behave aggressively towards you?

I feel like he maybe had a point to a certain degree, but he didn't willingly slow down and there was no need for him to shout when I had said thank you 🤷
 
I have to cross a busy main road (the A6) and while I am waiting for a gap I turn him sideways on to the road I am waiting to cross (we usually have quite a long wait ) This means that if the pony gets impatient and steps forward it isn't into the traffic. When the gap appears I turn him and trot across.
 
We have to cross a 50mph road, practically off the yard, to get to the bridleway on the other side. Like you, I used to lead my previous mare across as I feared she would shoot forwards if spooked and she used to flinch as the cars zoomed past. My current mare stands patiently and has more common sense so I ride her across. Our crossing place is on the brow of a hill so we cant see very far in either direction but there are horse rider warning signs on either side further down the road and drivers are pretty considerate and slow down if they come over the brow and see us crossing. Some even stop and let us across if they see us waiting.

Regarding your Honda driver - he was aggressive to you so I wouldn't lose sleep over your response, I would most likely have said the same in the circumstances.
 
How do people cross those dual carriageway crossings where you are meant to cross one half at a time and theres a small bit in the central reservation with offset crash barriers to go through? I know theres 'beware horses' sign on the road either side but the drivers dont even see it they are going so fast. I have never dared to try one!
 
On our old yard we used to have to cross the East Lancs Road on some of our hacking routes. Just used to ride early in the morning when it wasn't busy traffic because I don't think we'd ever have got across it otherwise!
 
We cross the A68 which is heavily used by trucks and by a lot of motorbikes. Our section is at the bottom of a hill (and apparently frequented by complete idiots who think it's fine to overtake -I've seen so many near misses). Anyway I wait at least 6 feet back and am ready to turn abruptly if need to. First time I will lead a new horse across, and if I'm not 100% sure they'll stand with HGVs, motorbikes, caravans, etc flying past I won't have them because it's such a frequent crossing for us.
 
I across the A1 dual carriage now and again .
I only do this on trusted horses .
I would never get off the horse unless it was a save myself situation where I was leaving the horse to it’s fate .I can’t imagine anything more dangerous .
We cross in a few places I much prefer crossing the road to road not the bridleways crossing where you have to do gates .
I always wait until I can get straight across with no stopping in the middle .
They build an underpass for horsesabout two miles south but sadly they never sorted the fact where they built the underpass does not link to the nearby bridleways so it’s a bit of a white elephant .
I definatly only attempt the A1 on horses I know well horses who are rock solid hunters and have seen the world .
We had a mare many years ago who was the most amazing horse in traffic she taught my youngsters and in time they taught new horses and so on for more than thirty years.
l always think of her when one of ours behaves well in a nasty situation her influence is still in our little herd .
 
I wait for a gap and trot straight across on my pony, but if there is a box thing in the middle I might wait in that on my horse as she is very good and stands still. I do a lot of road work as our bridleways are few and spaced out. I've had so much abuse from drivers, i literally just trot away if I see any weird behaviour like winding down eindows stopping and getting out. I do not want to get involved in road rage esp off the back of my horse! People seem to have to stupid view that there's an unbundance of bridleways everwhere and horses don't need to be on the road. I think what they are seeing are footpaths! Those are everywhere usually with 'no horses' signs.
 
dreamcometrue said:
We have to cross a 50mph road, practically off the yard, to get to the bridleway on the other side. Like you, I used to lead my previous mare across as I feared she would shoot forwards if spooked and she used to flinch as the cars zoomed past. My current mare stands patiently and has more common sense so I ride her across. Our crossing place is on the brow of a hill so we cant see very far in either direction but there are horse rider warning signs on either side further down the road and drivers are pretty considerate and slow down if they come over the brow and see us crossing. Some even stop and let us across if they see us waiting.

Regarding your Honda driver - he was aggressive to you so I wouldn't lose sleep over your response, I would most likely have said the same in the circumstances.
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Had similar at my last yard. All the hacking required crossing a very busy main road used by lots of lorries etc with a small window of visibility, you could hear the traffic coming quite well though.

I would ride one of mine but always dismounted the other- I couldn't trust her to go as soon as asked and she has a habit of napping at inconvenient times, so leading was always the safer option. Most drivers were very considerate and we also had some that slowed down to let us cross in front of them.

Agree on the outburst, heat of the moment thing, you'll probably react differently if it happens again. But maybe have a word with the other rider and suggest you wait for a longer gap :)
 
I can kind of see why the car driver was annoyed. You knowingly crossed a road where there was not enough space to do so without causing him to brake. Thank goodness he was watching and did actually slow down rather than texting or following directions on his phone!

If there is not a gap to go you have to wait, that is the rule. I can see that if dismounted then it would take longer to get the horse going across the road. Maybe stand facing traffic until it is clear to cross so you are not worried about him scooting forwards across the road so you can remain mounted? Or ride this particular ride at a less busy time?
 
I would probably reply to abuse with rebuse back in the heat of the moment. So would a lot of people. Dont worry about it he was probably doing over the speed limit!
 
We had a hideous road crossing too. A narrow A road, 40mph, but the visibility crossing in one direction was awful and we had to lean over the horses’ necks to see. No-one ever spotted us, or even if they did, they’d never slow down.

Both of my horses were well behaved, although the smaller one was a fidget. Even so, I’d never do that crossing alone. One thing I’d also never do on the smaller one was dismount. He was 100% better with me on board.
 
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