Those that ride on the road - a Q?

roads are much worse now and i am only 23!
drivers are much more aggressive and impatient.

my 4yro and 1 were hit last christmas, we both ended up on the floor and when my mare got up she galloped off towards the main road and i thought she was a goner.
thankfully she came back to me but she is now terrified of cars, particularly on single track roads where they pass you very close.

hence i took so long to find a new yard as i will only have the horses at somewhere with lots of off road riding.
i appreciate not everyone can do this though.
 
Roads round me have got considerably busier in the past few years. However, they are not dangerous. Drivers generally are really considerate, and I try to reciprocate. It helps to have an absolutely bomb proof horse - which means that even if a car is a little fast or close he is not bothered. But generally roads round me are ok.
 
AGREED riding on roads can be so scary.
I am now bringing on my youngster (he is 4) and was broken autumn 2009 .Trying to get out on the lanes is a nightmare .He is very good was longlined on the lanes but you really don't want to meet car after car lorry after lorry one after the other all giving you no space .I now do road rides at week ends as early as possible in summer at 6:00am when the lanes are much quieter and we are in the countryside So many people short cut through the lanes adding to the problem.
We fortunately have a sand arena ( and boy was that difficult to get!!) so I can ride in that 4 times a week and hack out twice but it really frustrates me traffic dictating how and when we can ride!.
Like OP we never ride thoughtlessly and always thank people but now we have retired we are seriously considering moving out into the wilds in search of decent off road riding.
The problem is increased by many of our bridleways not being maintained (due to lack of council funds) and becoming very difficult to use particularly in winter months.
Sat navs also seems to send people on most peculiar routes on very very narrow lanes !!!!
We seem to be an under class as far as being considered
 
PeterNatt said:
My advice is to always wear a long sleeved Hi-Viz jacket when hacking out as other road users can see your hand signals more clearly. When I want other road users to stop I point at them for 3 seconds and then put the palm of my hand up towards them. That normally does the trick. I would also suggest that you take the BHS Road Safety Course as this will provide you with some useful tools to control traffic when riding on the roads.
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Peter I have my R&RS & if I'm not wearing a long sleeved Hi viz I have hi viz glove covers. However I don't think even if I had a flashiong sign showing hand signals it would make a blind bit of difference as the drivers don't know what they mean!
 
We have no choice but to use a busy minor road (rat run between 2 routes into Scotland) to access bridleways. We are based in the parish in Northumberland with the most bridleways but some road work is unavoidable.

I do not know whether many of you saw it in H&H but BETA have developed a set of standards for high viz - great, except there is one standard for leisure riders and one for professionals. I am puzzled by this - surely we all need to be seen equally well!! Does anyone know why this might be, the only thing I could think of was durability of the stuff itself on the basis that pros might use it more often??

I once had to report a fire engine for keeping on his blues and twos whilst driving past our stables with no other traffic on the road and me on the road side with a horse - turned out to be the advanced driving instructor demonstrating to new recruits how to drive safely at speed! He should take his test again and learn the meaning of a horse warning sign!!! I got a written apology.
 
dianeholmes said:
I once had to report a fire engine for keeping on his blues and twos whilst driving past our stables with no other traffic on the road and me on the road side with a horse - turned out to be the advanced driving instructor demonstrating to new recruits how to drive safely at speed! He should take his test again and learn the meaning of a horse warning sign!!! I got a written apology.
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An ambulance with lights and sirens caused my mums horse to spin and run causing her to fall off. They ended up taking her to hospital (minor injuries) instead of attending where they were supposed to be going. Horse was ok luckily, just took himself home
 
My horse is great in traffic, but I hate it. We have to do a lot of roadwork - like others on this thread, our bridleways are very limited.

What I find around here though is that the worst drivers are middleaged and older - the locals and country folk who should know better. The mums doing the school run more interested in what the kids are doing in the back to take notice of the road, and people in their executive company cars. Surprisingly around here its more likely to be the young drivers and boy racers that actually are the ones to slow down and pass wide - I wonder if this is down to the fact that passing horses/ pedestrians/ cyclists is something that is taught as it appears in the theory driving test ?
 
Oh Nic, poor you and DA (again). :( I've only been a horse owner and riding out on roads for the last 3/4 years and so haven't seen a huge change in that time. I am very lucky in that the drivers I've met in my area have usually been pretty courteous. I am happy to use a "slow down" gesture if I think it's needed and mostly it's heeded.

I wear a hi-viz jacket (with hi-viz sleeves) although in the summer this changes to a vest if/when it's ever t-shirt weather. Might invest in glove covers for when wearing vest. Horse has a hi-viz exercise sheet and boots with reflective/fluoro stripes all round. We are also lucky that the parts of the road with sharp bends have a field with set aside grass strip to use, this removes a lot of worry as it's horrid going round a bend, hearing something and knowing they don't know you're there. :(

It really needs a massive campaign to make drivers aware of what could be around the corner and how they should be reacting when they see a vulnerable road user ahead. This was addressed in a way just recently with some radio adverts about driving on country roads, but very generic just "you might come round a corner and crash into a deer" type thing.

I always give drivers who slow down a big grin and thank you when they pass me nicely and when they are driving away I turn around and give another big thank you wave as I'm checking behind me for other traffic anyway.
 
I blame sat nav! Our back roads used to be much quieter. People weren't quite sure where they led to so stuck to the major routes.

The worse thing is the lorries on b roads that are far too narrow for them.
 
FigJam said:
Oh Nic, poor you and DA (again). :( I've only been a horse owner and riding out on roads for the last 3/4 years and so haven't seen a huge change in that time. I am very lucky in that the drivers I've met in my area have usually been pretty courteous. I am happy to use a "slow down" gesture if I think it's needed and mostly it's heeded.

I wear a hi-viz jacket (with hi-viz sleeves) although in the summer this changes to a vest if/when it's ever t-shirt weather. Might invest in glove covers for when wearing vest. Horse has a hi-viz exercise sheet and boots with reflective/fluoro stripes all round. We are also lucky that the parts of the road with sharp bends have a field with set aside grass strip to use, this removes a lot of worry as it's horrid going round a bend, hearing something and knowing they don't know you're there. :(

It really needs a massive campaign to make drivers aware of what could be around the corner and how they should be reacting when they see a vulnerable road user ahead. This was addressed in a way just recently with some radio adverts about driving on country roads, but very generic just "you might come round a corner and crash into a deer" type thing.

I always give drivers who slow down a big grin and thank you when they pass me nicely and when they are driving away I turn around and give another big thank you wave as I'm checking behind me for other traffic anyway.
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Agreed FJ. Were BHS not launching an advert?
 
Dogstar said:
I never hack out without my 'road whip' which is a red lunge whip with the lash cut off. If I hear a speeding car behind, I stick it right out in the road so the car has to give me a very wide berth or risk getting hit! I would not feel safe without it now.
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I do the same with the addition of hi-viz tape wrapped round the end.

Roads are definitely busier than some years ago and although most drivers are considerate there is no guarantee that these are the drivers that I will meet. I avoid hacking out at school drop off and pick up times too!!
 
The roads around me arent too bad. Drivers of commercial vehicles are usually more wised up and carefull than a lot of private car drivers. The worst roads are the ones which pass 2 expensive golf courses. Seem to have very rich, ignorant, I own the road types of members.

High viz definately makes a difference and I always carry a whip to tap on cars which come too close.

Another thing is I think you may find it says in the highway code, or used to, that horses have priority over motors, the same as sail has priority over steam on the sea. Does anyone know if it still says that?

I also think a lot of car drivers think we have to be in single file the same as bikes, when in fact the police advise 2 abreast is safer, unless on a blind bend, as they themselves do with police horses.
 
I know that if I go walking/jogging with my OH whilst hacking our boy out (what can I say - we're a one-horse family!) then traffic is considerably more careful because I get in the way and _make_ people slow down if needs be (like as a grown adult I am somehow more of a threat/unpredictable to their car/journey than 650kg of warmblood ....). Always make sure that me and OH give a wave/thumbs up to people who do pull over/slow down - really narks me when we are in the car and there are people who don't - letting the side down people!

OH has suffered some pretty bad exeriences of abuse/harrasment as well in the past - needing police action once [not that it achieved very much] - get none of that when I am out with her (which is why we tend to 'hack' out together most of the time now). A side benifit is that if there is something terrifying out on the roads stalking horses (you know, like a recycling bin or small puddle) then he has somebody to passage down the road behind! :)

I think that 99% of people are great and it is the odd div who spoils it (but I know it only takes that 1 to potentially create a very scary or dangerous situation).

The absolubte bestest hack we have had in a long time was the other day when a 4x4 full of people pulled over for us (ages ahead in the road so took a while for us to pass) and wound the window down as we approached - which got me thinking "here we go" but actually it was a car full of hunt followers heading home who just wanted to say how nice his movement was (the horse, not mine!). Very nice when horsey types can dole out some random acts of niceness - restores ones faith! ;)

mosspe
 
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Have you heard of TROT toll rides? It is a charity which helps riders to set up off road riding routes. It is a membership organisation, so the members pay a subscription and the money goes to the landowners who let you ride on their farm. As itis done through TROT they have all the experience, the track record and the legal documents.

Of course it is not a right of way, and never can be, but it can provide riding OFF the roads and lots of people think it is better to pay and have somewhere to ride. The original idea of TROT was for local, everyday hacking, not just somewhere to go for a special ride.

Of course, the BHS doesn't like the idea .............................
 
Definitely. Some drivers are so inconsiderate and just speed past you. The don't and think for a second that if the horse happened to spook at the moment they were passing you, the horse, the rider and even the driver would either be seriously hurt or even killed.

I always thank drivers which slow down, but unfortunately there is still a large number out there that don't even try to slow down.
 
I agree that roads are busier and some (not all!) drivers appear to either not know or care about driving safely past horses but IMHO the standard of driving, in general has deteriorated......

All you can do is manage traffic to keep yourself and your horse as safe as possible

Go out in enough hi viz and lights to rival a Christmas tree
Don't hug the kerb, take enough of the road to stay visible and slow down traffic - it also gives you a small escape route in an emergency.
Report drivers that drive dangerously, it might feel pointless but if they are ever the cause of an accident and there are already complaints about them you can have huge satisfaction that they are not going to get a fixed penalty notice :) They will go to court.
Sadly, I think we have to accept that the public highways are no longer suitable for solo hacking unless your horse is experienced and traffic trained. Not fair but just the way it is in this overcrowded island.
Assume that all drivers are out to kill you and always, always ride defensively- it's how motorcyclists are trained to ride their bikes.
Never under estimate the power of eye contact,when you're looking directly at a driver it is very hard for them to ignore you.

In saying all that, I and my rock solid pony ended up in a garden last week because Mr Magoo reversed out of his drive and didn't see us!!! I did suggest a visit to Specsavers.......but you can only do so much to deal with such stupidity....

I'm not 100% sure it's in the highway code but I was always taught that everybody gives way to the pedestrian and priority after them were horse riders, then cyclists, then driven horses, next motor bikes and lastly motor vehicles but maybe that lesson is based on manners and vunerability rather than law?
 
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