Thanking drivers....

[ QUOTE ]
The police contacted her the next day, they had went to his door and sat him down saying it was a caution this time but next time they would prosecute for dangerous driving.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thats good to know that they actually take action on this. I cant wait to catch the scumbag!
grin.gif
xx
 
[ QUOTE ]

And as for bikes.... don't even get me started. I escorted a young horse out quite a few years ago, we had all the correct tabards on etc and were using the verge for the youngster where ever possible. The amount of abuse we received, going so far as people actually throwing things out of the windows (on quiet country lanes) was ridiculous. And yet, bikes ride two and sometimes even three abreast for NO REASON at all. If I'm stuck behind them for any length of time and they make no attempt of moving over I drive as close as I physically can without causing harm and cut across.
I know that's naughty but they infuriate me.

[/ QUOTE ]

CYCLE RACES!!!!
mad.gif
They ride across the entire road and just do NOT allow you past!!
mad.gif
mad.gif
Im with you on this one!!
grin.gif
xx
 
this really gets my goat. I dont say thank you if they dont bother taking their foot off the acclerator though!!
my pony is an idiot on the way home so i always nod and smile.
my 7 yr old niece always says thank you too, it was 1 of the important things to teach her about riding on the roads IMO.
 
[ QUOTE ]
If its an arse driver then they get the bird.....possibly an expletive......but what shits em up the most is if you get your mobile out and pretend to take a photo......
wink.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

Or riding in the middle of the road!!
tongue.gif
I have done this on straight roads (and i know this is bad, but it did work!!
wink.gif
)

We were with a youngster and had to go on a main road, most people were good and slowed, i was against the traffic and a car was heading towards us at a fair pace... i nudged my girl over towards the middle of the road and they soon slowed down for us!!
grin.gif
xx
 
I'm afraid i'm one of those that just trys to nod their head, yesterday i went out on a hack on my own and could only really take my hand of the reins once or twice to acknowledge the slow drivers otherwise my girl would of probably spooked.
 
I think its really important to say thank you. There are times when I can't let go of the reins, not that often though, but I wave at other times.
 
Oh this gets my goat too. Its purely and simply an issue of safety - if you thank drivers now, even if they only slow down slightly, you are protecting your own and others' best interests in the future, whereas if you don't thank them you risk getting their backs up and them roaring past too close/too fast/being impatient the one time your horse is dancing in the middle of the road being an idiot .
crazy.gif


I see people riding in my area who don't thank drivers, particularly when they have waited behind patiently until its safe to pass and think "thanks, the next horse and rider that driver comes across could be me, and you've just annoyed him/her."
mad.gif


I know passing safely should be the norm not something out of the ordinary, but at the end of the day we DO slow them down, and if thanking them prevents them from being an idiot in future, who cares whether or not you should have to?! Its polite.

As for not taking your hand off the reins, I'm not quite sure where the BHS were coming from, as they also teach you to hold your arm out to indicate, ask drivers to slow or stop etc, and all of those take longer than a simple acknowledgement. A nod of the head is often not seen by drivers, which is why many of us also raise our hands to thank them BEFORE they have driven past.

I'd like to see more emphasis on safely passing horses and cyclists in the driving test itself, as for me it was only covered when I did my pass plus. I think a lot of drivers need it spelling out to them the dangers to themselves of passing too close or too fast to a horse and rider: namely that half a ton of horse is going to severely hurt them!
shocked.gif
 
I always acknowledge a driver's courtesy, be it a nod, smile and a mouthed thank you if I don't want to take my hand off the reins. I do it out of good manners and becuase I don't want drivers thinking us horse riders are snooty...

If I see anyone out and about whilst hacking I'll always greet them, if nothing else it alerts my girlie that there's someone there, especially good if she's staring the opposite way at some perceived threat, like one of those killer pheasants or squirrels LOL!!
laugh.gif
 
This really winds me up, there is no excuse not to thank someone that slows down for you. Unless someone has made absolutely no attempt to slow down I always thank car drivers. I hope that they will remember for the next time and slow down again.

There are a couple of riders near my yard, and they insist on riding two abreast down along the road. I have met them twise now, and both times I have met them on quite a narrow lane (just enough to squeeze two cars past if you dont mind a twig or two scratching the car!) I have really slowed down for them, and on both occaisons they did not thank me. The second time I really leant forward and sort of stared at the outside rider, to which I got a half smile. Next time I see them I am going to stop and tell them how bl**dy rude they are!
 
I always nod and smile extravagantly, if I can't take my hand off the reins.

What gets my goat, though, is the people who drop off/pick up their kids at the school that's just down the lane from our yard. I mean, they drive past our fields twice each day, and so surely they must have realised by now that a) there's no way you can get your horse out of two of the fields without it standing on the edge of the road for a minute while you fiddle with the gate, and b) that there are 3 livery stables along that lane, and the only way to get to the hacking is to ride along the lane?

And then there are the commuters. We have only one road to cross, but it's heavily populated by people driving far too fast, despite warning signs, around a blind curve. Fortunately, the pony is even more cautious of cars than I am (he always pauses and looks both ways!).
 
QR I always say thank you with my hand if it's safe to do so, and nod/smile as well.

Our yard is right beside the national speed limit sign coming out of the village, and often cars are either anticipationg the speed up, or not slowed down sufficiently from the hill, so we do have to be careful.

My 15yo horse, and hacking companion's horses are both old enough to know better, and generally are bombproof in even heavy and fast traffic, but a couple of weeks off due to the weather, and they both went out in their toes on Saturday (pair of old idiots)

Funnily enough, due to the cantering on the spot and 'slight' swinging of mine's backside, all the traffic slowed down beautifully gave us plenty of space, and waited until they thought it was safe (now actually they'd have been fine to go past as normal, the boy was just fresh, but they didn't know that they were seeing his worst). What strikes me as more strange, is that every driver aknowledged my thanks and was polite and smiled at us.

Contrast that with a few weeks ago, I take out same horse in his normal plod mode, with rock solid welsh pony and 6yo kid on board. YO and I do take a more dominant position on the road to protect the child and pony, yet many cars flew past us. Some ignored requests to slow down, and some don't make eye contact so don't even see the thank you.

It's exactly 1/5th mile to the turn off onto a quiet road, then bridleway, but we have no way to avoid it.

The answer is, be aware always, say thank you whenever you can, wear plenty of hi viz, and if you can get your horse to prance about a little, you're sorted
frown.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]


The answer is, be aware always, say thank you whenever you can, wear plenty of hi viz, and if you can get your horse to prance about a little, you're sorted
frown.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

So passage and piaffe find a practical application in the 21st century??!
tongue.gif
How long before the BHS road safety test makes them mandatory, d'you think?
grin.gif
 
I have always been taught that it is plain good manners to thank people when out on the roads. I thank every driver who slows down and drives carefully. Depending on the situation and the horse i either thank with a nod, a mouthed thank you or a wave. 90% of the drivers round here are good and usually smile or wave back. 10% are idiots who either don't care or aren't educated enough to know what to expect. I too would like for a bit more education to be introduced to drivers about horses/bicycles on the roads.
You're right in that we shouldn't have to thank anyone but as someone has already said, you do find that what goes around comes around. Some people already have a misconception that all horse owners are snotty arrogant arses, i'm certainly not going to help back that up.
smile.gif

Thanks to a yard near us a lot of locals have 50/50 views on this subject. The girls at this yard ride out all over the road, never thank anyone even when horses are playing up. I regularly hear stories and see them for myself about these lot being in the middle of the road with horses rearing, riding three abreast, riding two abreast with six of them spread out metres back from where they should be making it virtually impossible to pass safely. I think the problem is the older woman running it is ignorant and has now taught all the novices her way of thinking. They basically all sit and ignore you and look through you. I've heard many people complain about them and have had to fight my corner with regards to horse riders because of them. I will one day edcuate them myself
mad.gif
 
We have a very busy stretch of road with a speed limit of 50 that we have to go down to get to our bridlepath. Most drivers are very good and at least one of us will always show our appreciation if the horses are playing up, but normally its by taking one of our hands off the reins - dare I say it!!
wink.gif
You do start recognising alot of the same drivers.

There is a S bend on this stretch and it gets the heart pounding everytime we have to go through that stretch because of the speed of the traffic and they only see you at the last moment. We wear Hi-Viz jackets and the horses have Hi-Viz nosebands. Just before Christmas, we heard a car coming at speed toward us, but because of the S bend, couldnt see it. We stopped before the bend, and at the same time a car drew up behind us. We asked him to stop. He did momentarily, then decided to go. All I can say, is thank goodness we didnt proceed because with this car overtaking us, he ended up on the right hand side of the road, and didnt go back to his side of the road in time and the oncoming car ended up slamming on breaks and ploughing straight into the hedge. Amazingly, the horses stayed really quiet, oblivious to the near miss.

I did want to enquire if anyone has ever asked their local council to put up a sign to warn drivers of horses because there are alot of other riders who use this stretch. I believe that 10yrs ago 3 horses were killed on this bend when a car ploughed into the back of them whilst speeding.

Like the wiggle of the feet acknowledgement idea, must try that.
wink.gif
Maybe I will need to put one of those wavy hand attachments onto the boot to get the drivers attention coz they might think I have cramp and trying to get life back in my feet
grin.gif
 
I agree, my youngster was bombproof in traffic until we had an accident last year, was no ones fault but its taken me a year of bloody hard work to get his confidence back... everyone on the estate round us has been so patient with him but i would be slated by farmers gamekeepers etc. if i didnt bother to thank them for stopping. Its amazing how you take it for granted that people will slow down and horse will be ok until you have one that is nervous!! People that dont bother make me angry!!
 
QR If I can wave, I can, if I can't, I do the Northern Ireland 'whattaboutya?' nod which is used in many other walks of life here.

Same with the dogs, if someone has passed me wide and I have two leads in my hand, they get nodded at.
 
ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS

Ideally a wave of the hand, otherwise eye contact and a smile and thank you.

Most of these local roads have local users and we are reaping the dividends of 3 years politeness to car/lorry/tractor drivers. Still get the numpties though, but luckily for us, (through hard effort on our part) the majority tend to be courteous towards us, even the Bikers.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top