taking 4 yo over long bridge over busy motorway in windy weather

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thinlizzy

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Took my boy over the bridge over the manic motorway today i just lead him wind was really bad lots of heavy traffic his first bridge as long and busy and windy lots of artics, etc he didnt break out of walk tried to go in circles twice i kept him straight and talked to him think he did well suppose it was worst case scenario with weather do you think i should lead him over a few more times or just get on and ride him over he does listen to you must have been quit e scary for him was really windy .Whats your thoughts/experiances thanks
 
Aww sounds like a brave boy!

I remember riding to my friends parents warehouse they owned, and in order to get to it you had to cross a railway track. Well my pony freaked and decided to bolt off down the blooming track!! :eek:

Luckily I managed to get him under control but my gosg I was scraed. Not sure what relevence this has to your post but hey ho :D
 
If it was me, then I would maybe lead him a couple more times so you know it's simply the wind that had him spooked and then once hes confident start riding.
The other thing would be to get someone to go with you (if you can) and then you can ride and they can give the horse confidence from the ground.

I would normally say ride (or do what your most comfortable with) but this would be a huge task for most horses. :)

Good luck in however you proceed and sounds like he was being very brave this time out, especially with the wind.
 
Thanks i think he was really good considering .A teen came over the other way on a bike and for some reason dropped it and ran off as well when he seen us i think he was good ,want him to be perfect though cos im not the perfect rider it was busy and something he never seen before im looking at the if i ride him over solo hell have confidence in me rather than getting another horse to go first because were bound to come in contact with stuff we hack out mostly solo 99% of time
 
We have one to cross for a certain ride and to be honest, i've never ridden across it. If I were on board my legs would be level with the sides...perhaps me being scared of heights doesn't help, but I'd feel very vulnerable riding across. When my lad first went across he picked his feet up for each car, dont think he realised how far down they were! He is fine now but even so....dont fancy riding across. I guess it would be different if we had to cross it regularly perhaps.
 
I would strongly advise going across the bridge the first few times accompanied by a steady horse which uis used to crossing this bridge.

How high are the barriers/railings? If they are not up to the standard height for bridges used by horses ask your local highways department to raise their height. Your local BHS access officer will be able to help you achieve this.
 
I live right by the motorway, so have to cross them all the time, luckily my girl is pretty much bombproof and has never had a problem, it's just me! In the 7 years i've been riding over them I still don't like it, you feel so high up and vulnerable! It's always a relief to get to the other side.

I'll be interested in how you get on, will have to teach my youngster about them soon, looking forward to that! Hopefully my old girl will be a good chaperone.
 
I used to ride over big dual carriageway bridge. We did have alot of canal bridges in the area, so my mare was used to smaller ones and she was also fab in traffic. I got off and led her over it to begin with. After a while I rode over and she was fine but on windy days she would spook at the traffic going under and then spook as the same traffic appeared again (not in a dangerous way). In the end I would judge how she was feeling and lead her over if she was in any way on her toes. I am lucky though as she stands very nicely for me to get on again.
 
I took my new horse over one of these too today! Huge bridge over the M60! He is 8 but has lead a very very sheltered life til I started riding him. Neither him or the horse I was out with had been over before but we rode over (with Jango in the lead, I was very proud!!) and although they were a bit jumpy when the big trucks went underneath them they were generally really good! I'd just bite the bullet and ride over if he's already been over once, but then I always feel 10x safer on top than leading.
 
To be fair its wide enough to drive over dont think id be as brave to go over narrow one over motorway tbh im in my 40s i would probably dismount lead and get back on but id need a big mounting block im not very fit im afraid i moved to new yard lots of hacking one way over the motorway bridge other under the motorway bit dark and wet i decided to crack the motorway above ground first once thats established ill tackle the under the motorway one at the moment i think ill lead over a bit more but then depends how i feel might be feeling like superted one day and just ride over hes a good boy quite trusting in me
Jango , hes better being ridden then leading i really want it over and done with its giving me a challenge to conquer
 
he sounds like a star! But I would walk him over it in hand a couple of times to get him used to it

We took the horse my friend rides over the motorway bridge a couple of weeks ago and he was really funny watching the cars going underneath. His head was going with the traffic as he was watching!! He plodded over like a star as well.
 
update well was getting stressed about it next time i just rode over it im so proud he was great a bit tense but walked he was top man and then we did a bridge like a tunnel with murky water quite long it was too :) i really appreciate him :)
 
My god you are all so brave! i would never be able to ride over a motorway bridge ever i dont think.....not anything to do with what the horse might do but because im absolutely petrified of heights! i would probably be sick with fear if i did!
Hats off to the rest of you though! im just lucky the nearest motorway is about 30 miles away!
 
I wonder what the motorway bridge looks like to a horse...

We keep pony on a farm where many of the best hacks used to be over a single lane motorway bridge, he was fine with it, but when we first got our ex racer she was quite looky and prancy so my daughter used to just lead her across. At the ex racers new yard she has been over a couple of larger proper motorway bridges and has been ok, I think my daughter said there was one with like a funny grid on the road that she found fascinating.
 
thinlizzy said:
update well was getting stressed about it next time i just rode over it im so proud he was great a bit tense but walked he was top man and then we did a bridge like a tunnel with murky water quite long it was too :) i really appreciate him :)
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What a good boy he is. I used to have to ride my 4 year old over motorway bridges as whatever route we took, there was always a bridge to cross. I used to ride her behind my bombproof boy, or have him sandwiched between railings and her. To be fair, she was pretty good and quickly took it in her stride. If she was tense, I'd pop her into a steady trot before the bridge and carry on trotting over to keep her busy.
 
My lad spooks & spins at invisible things - but we've done the circuit involving passing over the motorway several times without a problem! It's 2 lanes wide with a decent pavement bit either side, but I still ride practically along the white line if I do go over it, don't want to be ANYWHERE near the side! I also find it helps because drivers see you and then thing 'ah, horse + motorway bridge, I'd better slow down to squeeze past' and they do slow down and edge past 99% of the time.
I also talk (loudly!) and keep my leg on firm, and keep his head low as best as possible. I find he'll dither a bit half way accross, or just a bit further, but he's never stopped/turned around :) I never went across it with anyone else or anything, just rode confidently!
 
My horses have to walk over a motorway bridge to get to their field and we have loads on all our hacking routes. I find the best thing is to ride them with a horse on each side the first couple of times. They tend to find it a bit scarier in the dark with all the lights whizzing past and ambulances with sirens get their attention. After the first few times they're fine and actually like to stand and watch the traffic going underneath.

We're lucky in that our bridge is the one used as the model example of how they should be for horses. The bottom 2ft of the barrier is solid metal and then the grill goes up to about 8ft high, and the bridge itself is about 15m wide.
 
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