Road Hacking but using Grass Verges?

Antw23uk

Antw23uk

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Hi All

Question for all those who hack out on busy roads ...

Do you stick to the road (busy A road) even if there is a very large grass verge you could safely ride down instead?

The road in question is really daunting. Its busy and the drivers are notoriously good at skimming past at speed :mad:

I have hacked on this road before but not on my new mare yet but I drive this road to get to and from the stables and on one side there is a really large, flat grass verge and on the other side there is an equally large grass verge which has a rather muddy and rather unused foot path on it.

My thinking being I could do a BIG part of this aweful road on either the grass verge or the path (depending which way round the block i go!) before heading off to a quieter road where i do feel comfortable riding down on the road.

Your thoughts, suggestions and experiences would be much appreciated. The horse is question is an ex racer and is supposed to be good on the roads but not 100% with trucks/ tractors!

Thanks in advance
 
I generally stick to the road as It isn't legal to ride on footpaths and also if anywhere near houses people will get stroppy about hoof prints (often the same people who are happy to park their car on the verge completely trashing it...).

Legally you are better off on the verge than the footpath, unless there is a bylaw/signs forbidding it. A compromise might be to use the verge when the ground is firm enough to be unlikely to cause damage to it.

Eta I would only use the verge if the grass is short enough to be able to be pretty sure that there was no hidden rubbish in it (I would walk the route first) just cos they tend to hide all sorts of nasties only uncovered when the council mower comes along if they ever do these days
 
How wide is the verge? if it were me this would make a difference, as i find if you put yourself on a verge that is right next to the road, the traffic will not always slow down or give you room, but if it is a wide verge and you feel safer i think i would be inclined to ride on the grass if you can give yourself enough room between them and you

Hope that makes sense?
 
We are on a national speed limit road and to get from the field to a quiet road we hack on the verge to start with at the front of the property, step onto the road for a few hundred yards, then if traffic is heavy/large we can step up on the verge until the first quiet side road.

There are bollards in the middle of the road at certain points so no room for vehicles to pass safely when we next to them, moving onto the verge keeps us out of the traffic, there is one in the no verge section and drivers stop or go around the bollard on the other side of the road.

On the way back we usually go verge, road, verge again. Although with a bare paddock and green verge its easier to keep to the tarmac at the moment!
 
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I would prefer to ride on the road, because if a car comes up too fast or too close you have somewhere to go. if you are just on the verge you will find that less cars will slow down.
 
Yes that makes sense, thank you both. The verges are big, will try and guess tonight but im rubbish with that kind of thing. I would say its easily another lane if not two wide? :)

god idea about walking it first, I can do that and will also be better to plan the best places to cross and go back to the actual road ect

How I long to be fearless like I was in my teens!!! :o I used to go down main roads in a sideways jog on my chesnut mare and not even bother to think about the 'what if's' :rolleyes:
 
If they are big wide verges I would ride on them and always did so with my old share horse, regularly had police going past and no one ever said anything.

When I walk my horse out in hand round the block there is a path separated from the road by about 2 metres, it is a very very busy and not wide enough road heading towards the motorway and I am taking her on this path until she is used to it enough to actually go on the road (this part is about 1/4 of the route where the rest is quiet including a nice byway), please note people do NOT slow down EVER when I am doing this because I am suitably far away but I still feel it is safer for now and if I ever get stopped I will explain to people why and that they can take me to court over it if they want to!

In some ways it works quite well having the cars go by at a normal fast speed but having space for a spook/slight spin, as gradually she is only spooking at really big clattering vehicles and hopefully won't react when we are going up the other roads with fast traffic if they choose not to slow down.
 
I always ride on wide verges unless:

1. it's got lots of drains cut across it which horse can stumble over.
2. it's not flat but is bumpy where landowners have cleared drains and dumped the detritus and sludge on top of the verge.
3. it's got drain covers hidden in (always ride round these)
4. It's got hazardous litter on it.
5. it's very obviously pristinely someone's pride-and-joy bowling-green type mown lawn. (Yes these verges usually belong to the local highway authority so I can ride on it, but for consideration/public relations sake/upsetting householders, I avoid these types of verges unless I need to take evasive action from another road user).
6. it is very wet and boggy, and I'm either going to sink or leave massive hoof holes in it.
 
On an A road (I tried to avoid these) I dismounted and led my horse. I found walking beside my horse, the traffic slowed and overtook us properly.
If I rode my horse, the traffic stuck to higher speeds and overtook recklessly.

With regards the verges/footpaths I would use those provided they are safe. They sound wide enough to have horse on.

The only concern I would have, is you say horse is not 100% with lorries. Do you have many on that road? On the A road I use, there are always lorries going past so I wouldn't contemplate a horse that isn't 100% in all traffic.
 
Thanks all

Took a really good look at both sides on the way to yard tonight and i am feeling so confident about hacking out now and using these spaces to make it a happier and safer ride :D

Getting off is not an option, to me its less control than staying on and i wouldnt put myself or my horse in that situation but thanks for the advice :)

Yep lorries will be an issue but we will face them and i will be confident (or at least act it) sit deep and look after her. She is the type that takes confidence from her rider and at first i thought that was daunting but actually its a good thing and works to my advantage ... so far anyway :o
 
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