The correct speed to drive past a horse

nicolenlolly

nicolenlolly

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Today we were driving up to the horses and had to go past 2 people out riding. Neither were wearing hats or hi-viz on a nsl road which the cars fly down. We were doing about 40, as soon as we saw them, hubby slowed to 33 (I looked!) but we were still I would say 300 yds away, once within 50yds he slowed to 20...neither said thank you which really bugs me too. Our field entrance was about another 200yds away so I got out to open the padlock and as I was shutting the gate the girl made a comment that effing 4x4 drivers should have more respect and slow down for horses?!?!

We passed slow and wide...what speed is right?

Loads of Christmas choccys left over and hubby and kids asleep...let the nearly midnight feast begin :)
 
I think it depends on the road....on a wide, double lane main road with plenty of space I would say 20mph would be an acceptable maximum speed.

On a country lane where perhaps two cars would have to slow to pass each other, I would say more like 5mph (or less).

Its about judging the situation really and acting accordingly.
 
I think I'd have answered that comment with something like 'and if more riders acknowledged a driver's effort to slow down maybe they'd slow down even more! '

Can't say whether speed was right or not as have no idea how much space there was between your car and horses. Personally I usually drop right down into second gear and crawl by at about 10mph, but my car is a rather loud Scooby so I go extra slow just in case.

Would you have been happy to be passed as your oh passed them is probably the best way to look at it?
 
I think 20-30mph is fine if theres a decent gap when over taking, and its obvious the rider isnt having problems.

I rode on a NSR and waved them past at whatever speed, but my mare was a saint. On my gelding who went on roads briefly (in the village, so 30mph) if he was ok it was better for cars to pass smoothly (if they went too slow he thought they would eat him) but if he was stressing they would of had to stop.

I always said thanks and didnt have a face like a smacked arse, which makes a big difference I find!!
 
Personally i reckon its down to the individual - my pony prefers a driver to zoom past and doesnt spook - but if a driver is a slow bod or stops he panicks - no win. Driver doing what they think is right but not in ponios option :-)

I'm a driver and i must say that its difficult for me to judge even though i ride - so how the hell is a non-rider going too?
 
This road isn't too narrow, although a country road of sorts, two lorries can pass each other and they had just ridden over the m25 so the horses can't be too jumpy! I am that person who always thinks of the response once it's too late, I was just shocked more than anything! I agree loopy lozza that sometimes too slow can make them play up too, plus I feel bad if I hold someone up for too long!!
Don't get me wrong I will always adjust speed accordingly and if there is a hold etc, I will go dead slow as will hubby but these two...well they give the rest of us a bad name! In fact I am shocked at the number of people that don't say thank you when I slow down...even my five year old will hold her hand up to every car!
 
I believe in the HWC, the recommendation is at a maximum of 15mph. However, I'm not sure I think that's especially practical if it's a wide road, and personally I don't care how fast a car goes past, provided it gives plenty of space and doesn't drive into my horse :cool:
 
When I leave my yard, I have to ride along a nsl road for about 200 yards before I can turn off into a country road that leads to a country park - its not a terribly busy road, its a very wide road next to a village and there is a grass verge and a pavement which I choose to ride along to put some distance between me and the cars. This last week I have had lorries, cars, buses and trucks pass me at 60/70 mph and 2 drivers have slowed, went wide and have been thanked. Only one of them slowed down to around 30 mph. I have given up being angry and just thank my lucky stars I have a horse who doesnt give two hoots how fast the traffic is going. One of our hacking routes runs alongside a train line with trains going from Glasgow to Edinburgh every 15 mins - tomorrow Im going to take him for his first hack along that line and I am hoping he has the same disregard for fast trains as he does cars cause I aint asking a train to slow down for him :D
 
Ned's extremely good in traffic, he doesn't really care if they zoom past at 60, or crawl past at 5. However, I like a bit of respect and I will give it in return. I pull into driveways or onto verges if possible and trot on when I can and always say thanks.

I don't like rude drivers (which you OH isn't) and I can't stand rude riders!
 
Depends really i always say thanks to those who move over, if they choose to fly past then thats there issue we have a fantastic horse luckily.

Saying that i did give one driver the finger for revving his car up my horses arse at a junction
 
If the road wasn't particularly narrow then I'd see 20mph as being fine!
I pass about 2 sets of horse riders a day and can count on one hand the amount of times I've been thanked or acknowledged. So rude :(
 
very much depends on how wide the road is - to me 20mph passed with plenty of space is fine, you have to consider the danger of being on the other side of the road for ages if you crawl past.

Rude riders have no excuse - I can't always take my hand off the reins to say thank you if my mare is getting bouncy but I always make sure that I smile and nod at the driver so they get some sort of thank you - it's not that hard :D
 
You cannot legislate for 'a correct speed' to overtake horses at, it depends on the road & traffic conditions. I would suggest that it also depends on how the horse is performing at the time of the overtake. Sometimes they're on their toes & prancing & other times they are just plodding along. Each occasion has to be measured on it's own merits.
 
I am always aware of my speed when passing a horse and rider and do play it according to the type of road and how the horse is reacting, slow right down and even turn the music off in the car!
I always remember to say thank you as a driver if a rider has trotted on to go into a layby or asked their horse to wait whilst I past, I live in such a tiny hamlet that the roads arent wide enough to pass a horse so either I wait until they have passed me or visa versa,
when Im out with my children on their pony it saddens me the amount of people who speed down tiny country lanes often screeching to a halt when they go round a corner and see us ambling down the road!
There is a busy NSL county lane that you have to drive through to get to our hamlet and often there are people riding along that road, I know it sounds silly, but if I spot a pile of fresh looking droppings I know to be extra aware as someone is out and about riding!
 
There is no correct speed.

On many of the roads I ride on the only safe speed is for either the car to stop and let the horses walk past or for the horses to stand out of the road while the car passes. This is because the gap is so narrow. These are lanes too narrow for two cars to pass.

However on a larger road where there is plenty of room to give a really wide berth then 20mph or even more might be ok. For example I occasionally see horses on a stretch of A road that is good and wide in both directions with wide verges too and if you time it so that there is a good gap coming the otherway you can get right over to the other side of the road and give them bags of room.
 
I usually go with 1/2 the speed I am going, unless horse looks difficult, as long as there is plenty of space. That said, if someone is riding on a dual carriageway, I go with space only, not so much slowing down. I have stopped rude riders and suggested they learn some manners before now, nothing worse than going past people talking on their mobiles having slowed down to 5mph to pass and they don't even acknowledge you.
 
as others have said it depends on the width of the road, if the road is wet etc etc.
a car can pass me doing 25mph on a dry day but then i would ask for it to go slower if there was alot of surface water as the spray and noise worries my horse.

another thing is if the car is towing anything or not.

i am thankful that people slow down but sometimes they go too slow, had a car pass us yesterday going only a touch faster than we were walking, to me that was just as dangerous as a car going faster past us.
 
It depends on how neurotic the rider is... I believe the speed you should pass at is proportionate to the amount of hi viz the rider is wearing :D

Although that said, care must be taken with the highest of hi-vizzers who undoubtedly will berate you regardless of the speed you pass at, and simply hate you for daring to drive on a road at the same time they had planned to ride on it ;)
 
DecemberBlossom said:
It depends on how neurotic the rider is... I believe the speed you should pass at is proportionate to the amount of hi viz the rider is wearing :D

Although that said, care must be taken with the highest of hi-vizzers who undoubtedly will berate you regardless of the speed you pass at, and simply hate you for daring to drive on a road at the same time they had planned to ride on it ;)
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What a ridiculous and immature manner of expressing yourself! If you believe that Hi-Viz equals neurotic, rather than responsible then actually I feel sorry for you, it must be difficult to manage on a daily basis with such low intelegence :(
 
DecemberBlossom said:
Good grief, I see you're starting the new year with a sense of humour FestiveG....
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And you with an attitude that is sadly still prevellanet within the riding community, there are people who agree with the attitude you posted, how is anyone to tell that you don't? After all it's what you said.....
 
Wow, you truly are an angry bunny. Sorry my post caused your blood pressure to rise so much, it was not my intention.

My point is, is that it's all in the eye of the beholder - I for instance am happy for cars to pass me at speed; other people would find 10mph too fast and some even believe a driver having the audacity to pass with an engine running at all is too much... You can never say. Some riders will get their knickers in a twist regardless. I hope you're not one of those FG.
 
DecemberBlossom said:
Wow, you truly are an angry bunny. Sorry my post caused your blood pressure to rise so much, it was not my intention.

My point is, is that it's all in the eye of the beholder - I for instance am happy for cars to pass me at speed; other people would find 10mph too fast and some even believe a driver having the audacity to pass with an engine running at all is too much... You can never say. Some riders will get their knickers in a twist regardless. I hope you're not one of those FG.
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Not angry, and have low blood pressure. I get irritated with numpties who view the wearing of Hi-Viz equating with an expectation of poor behavoir on the road and an expectation of the world stopping for them. I tend to find that the opposit is true, irresponsible riders with no Hi-Viz, taking little notice of the world around them and then having a hissy fit when drivers don't see them and slow down appropriately.
 
I failed my first driving test for driving too fast past horses.(oh the irony!) It was a very wide road and the horses were on the other side, at the bottom of a sloping verge so I could only see the tops of the riders hats. I was doing 15mph. I think it was an excuse as I was so nervous (of the test, not the driving) that I didn't give the air of a confident driver as I would have been perfectly happy if a driver went past me in that situation at that speed. I doubt the horses even saw me!

On my second test I got stuck behind a horse trailer doing about 20mph on a 60 stretch and was terrified of having to overtake but knew I had to if the b****y horses weren't going to scupper me again! I passed it and my test.

Sometimes passing too slowly can cause problems as you're on the wrong side of the road for longer. I don't mind drivers going quickly as long as they give us enough space. My horse is amazing in traffic though so I might feel differently if he wasn't - although I wouldn't buy one who wasn't as it's top of my must have list.
 
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