Tragic accident - too close to home

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Gorgeous George

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I have just had a huge reality check and am seriously considering no longer hacking on the roads. You may have heard that extremely tragically a rider and 2 horses were killed in Brentwood yesterday whilst hacking out? I live in Brentwood and I have just heard from my good friend that it was a friend from her old yard, and the injured man was the yard owner's partner :(:( Although I didn't know them directly it brings it all too close to home, and needless to say my friend is devestated.

I know the road where it happened and I used to ride along there when I used to have George stabled in Brentwood and it is a fairly quiet and innocuous road although it does have a few blind bends.

So the question is how many of you manage to hack without going on the roads? For me there would be 2 rides I could do, and it would also mean hacking on my own most of the time (not a problem, but company is nice sometimes) as everyone else is happy (ish) to ride on the road. Is it feasible, can you make it work and keep it interesting for horse and rider?

Of course my thoughts and condolences go to the family and friends of all those involved, it is so tragic and such a waste :(
 
Gosh, that really is terrible, poor souls. I read a very shocking piece in a eq paper round here that brought it home too - really made me asses if it is a risk I am prepared to take.
I am extremely fortunate to be able to avoid the road as I hack out in Ciren park. If you can avoid the road then I would. I guess everyone needs to make the decision that fits with their own feeling towards the risk. For me it isn't worth it (but then I am a worryer!).

P.S. sorry for being so lazy in replying to your lovely pm, am getting there!!
 
It does hit home more when it happens to someone near where you live or a horse is killed in a near by village, it's bad enough someone getting injured or a horse being killed let alone loosing two horses and a rider in one accident, very sad indeed.

It really suprises me how many people drive too fast or over the white line in the village where I keep mine, I wouldn't mind but it's in a 20mph speed limit and it passes a village school on a blind bend.

Unfortunately we don't have anywhere to hack off the roads without going onto them first, in fact we don't have any off road hacking apart from one track that takes you from one village to another, we don't have any bridleways neither.
 
Its really terrifying when things are so close to home. My thoughts are with the family and friends of both parties.

Obviously I don't know the circumstances of what happened. But it does make such a huge arguement to be deck out like a christmas tree when out hacking with as much Hi Viz and colour as possible. Sadly accidents do happen.

I do still hack out on the road. If I didn't I couldn't ride apart from in the arena. Which for both the horses and I would be very dull. Equally to go to the field I do have to go up a road (albeit quiet lanes).

This is a heartbreaking tale for all involved.
 
I saw this on local news this morning, how absolutely tragic. Accidents involving horses seem to be happening more and more often and like you I am starting to seriously consider whether hacking out is worth it. I have no option as to get to local bridleways I have to do half a mile either end on a B road. Although fairly quiet out of office hours it is bendy, can be slippy and suffers horrendously from low sun at the times when the traffic is quiet enough to go out. Like you, GG, I ride and look after my horse for pleasure and enjoyment, if I choose not to hack out I am left with schooling in the field, groundwork and the general looking after. I couldnt bear to part with Che but am seriously thinking that we may be better not to leave the yard, a very sad state of affairs but as your friend has so sadly discovered, all too common I think. Condolences to all at the yard, friends and family.
 
On Sunday I was having a lovely hack thinking how lucky I am to live in the new forest. After reading this story on an earlyer post I first felt sick then had a real appreceation of where i live. I NEVER have to ride along a road. I just cross 2 or maybe 3 but all the rest is off road. I'm so very lucky to live where I do.

My thoughts are also with the friends and family of those involved in this tragedy. :(:(:(
 
So sorry to hear about your friends loss.
You wont catch me riding on the roads.No way.I will go up the lane and in the fields/forestry or up the mountain.
 
Very sad- and scary :(

We only have 100m or so offroad hacking we can do without going onto the roads- on my local routes over the past 2 years 3 horses have been killed, one almost on our doorstep, and we had one go down, unrelated to cars, but still 7 months on isn't right, although that may be another issue his knees still took over 3 months to sort out. Of the ones killed 2 probably wouldn't have been helped by hi-viz, not sure how much the riders were wearing but they always hack in alteast a tabbard. I only hack on the road when we're really really bored of school work now- I have hacking issues on anything that doesn't mean I'm having to use all my brain power to stay on and really don't enjoy it much.
Do you have an arena you can use? If so I should think you'd easily get away with not going on the roads- even going on the roads I only really have 3 rides, and very rarely go with anyone! (plus the arena and in the summer fields to ride in)
 
Have just relocated and there is miles and miles of offroad hacking across scrub land, beaches and a large forest...one problem, my semi private lane leads to another farm , to get to the off road hacking i need to go through the farm yard literally cross a space of about 30 feet, farmer will not allow even though it is a bridleway on the OS map :mad:

can get to scrub land another way but that involves an A road and then a B road, the horses are great with traffic but not really up for risking it.....
 
I gave up riding on the roads about a year ago. Tack up, throw horse in the lorry now and go to local woods or place where you pay £10 to ride around. Not ideal but infinitely prefereable to the alternative.
 
Such a very tragic accident and my thoughts and prayers go out to those immediately affected by this.

We all know how frightening it can be to ride on the roads these days. We do what we can to make ourselves visible, to give extra warning time to drivers, but at the end of the day, we are reliant on drivers being observant of not only what is also on the road, but on the road conditions themselves.

I have friends who have been involved in accidents - I was hit by a transit van years ago and the roads have not got any quieter since that time. In reality, there is not going to be a campaign that will have sufficient impact to make drivers think more about horses on the road. Perhaps the answer is to throw more weight behind organisations such as TROT - or get more involved in bridleways groups.

No, we shouldn't have to stay off the road, but the level of tolerance from people seems to diminish year on year. In the rural area where I am based, one "gentleman" in a large country pile regularly berates riders who move off the single track road and onto the grass verge outside his house. We also have the farmer next door who absolutely refuses to slow down past horses, no matter what he is driving or towing. You simply cannot make some people reasonable.

I am worried about riding my youngster on the roads. We do not have a ride anywhere that does not need some degree of roadwork. Those that have access straight into good bridleways networks - I am very envious. Til we have another option, all we can do is go out looking like Christmas trees and hope that other road users give us a little consideration.
 
Very sad news about the horses and rider.
I have to go on road to get to any of my bridle way but they are all back roads, and most of the time very quiet, i do time it though so i miss the school run and the work force who use it as a cut through.
i really dont have a lot of choice as i breakin my own youngsters and could not really sell them without ever having been on a road, as most buyers do not have the luxury of only off road riding.
 
I am extremely fortunate to ride in an area that has over a hundred miles of dedicated horse trails. No runners, no bikes, no walkers. Occasionally you have to cross a road, but the crossings are on straight sections and the roads are narrow. Many sections of the trails have beautifully maintained XC jumps.

Growing up in England, most of our hacking was off road, but there was one route that required road riding. Drivers always slowed before passing us. Sounds like the situation has changed drastically for the worse.
 
Such a devastating accident, and sadly it seems to be happening more and more.

I am incredibly lucky and dont have to do any road work at all - it is something I never take for granted, and if I did have to hack on roads I would seriously consider my other options. :(
 
Very sad news - it did send a shiver up my spine when I read it.

Where I ride now the amount of traffic has increased significantly over the last 10 years and the manners of drivers have decreased by the same proportion. We have a couple of rides that you only have to use unmade roads but they still have the cyclists, quad bikes and off roaders who IME are worse than Grandad George on the main road who, even if he doesn't give a toss about your safety is worried about a dent in his 20 year old Micra - so off road isn't always safer:(

JMHO but I think that riders need to stay on the roads - we are just as entitled to use them and without the numbers using them we cannot fight the councils to put measures in place to help keep us safe.....things like horses being allowed to use cycle lanes and if nobody/very few people hack out it will be perceived as not needing bridleways! Either existing ones maintained or new ones provided.

In saying that, I always, always do my utmost to make as difficult as possible for an accident to happen - decked out in high viz (me and horse) like a christmas tree, pick my times, never ride on busy roads without an 'escape route' of a pavement or safe verge - in an emergency, a private driveway will do, sorry to those peeps - and I keep my wits about me, listening and watching for traffic. I no longer ride novice/iffy in traffic horses on the road without at least two steady companions. I also have no hesitation in managing traffic so that vehicles do not get the chance to speed past or other stupidity. My consolation (for want of a better word) is that most drivers aren't malicious just ignorant so are in need of education and are pretty easily backed off.

The other thing that we all need to do is to report the w******s who are driving dangerously, yes it might feel like we are getting a brush off from the police but the complaint will stay on file and if there are enough reports about the same car the registered keeper will be contacted. We can only hope it's a company car or a kid driving their parents car ;) Vindictive? Moi never :o

IME police forces are quite happy to have the PCSOs patrolling public bridleways - it ticks all the anti social behaviour boxes on the paperwork - and it does tend to calm down problems with cyclists, kids lobbing stuff and so on, for a while anyway.....

After all that, I do understand why people are put right off riding on the road - I can't imagine driving on even quiet roads anymore now that my rock solid, been there done that driving pony has retired, it was getting scarier and scarier even with him....
 
None of us have hacked out now for a year. We have miles of off road hacking but have to cross one busy A road. It is fine going out of the yard as we have loads of space to back out of the way, but on the way back we have to come straight out of the woods onto the road. It is fine if you have a patient horse but last year my mare refused to wait and backed out onto the road. It was so frightening. I have only been out twice since on a nice quiet cob.
 
Ayla: think you should tackle the issue of the "bridleway" which the farmer won't let you use. He has no right to do this if it is a bridleway. Speak to your local authorities Rights of Way department and use your BHS Access Officer if they are willing to support you.
Other than this I am very envious of your living near miles and miles of off-road! Did not think that this existed in the UK. WE have been trying to relocate but can't find anywhere suitable (main criteria on the doorstep off-road outriding). There always seems to be some sort of issue - obnoxious neighbour, wind farm in the offing nearby etc. or house too expensive!
I box everywhere and it is becoming unaffordable. Having said that I still have to use roads to get from one bit of bridleway to another and I don't think we should stop using roads either. Enough people have stopped riding out. Horses need to get out and about, not be schooled all the time.

Please read my post Riding for Health. I am really trying to keep bridleways and get new ones.
 
My heart goes out to everyone involved :(

I'm getting concerned with the amount of accidents that happen where the diver says they didn't see the horse! If the sun is low and you can't see or your going round a blind bend, don't just put your foot down and hope for the best :rolleyes: :rolleyes:He must of been going some whack to kill that poor horse and rider outright.
Hope they actually punish him. My friend got knocked over on her horse and the driver just got a telling off. Think how much trouble you would get in if you knocked a child down cause you didn't see them.

Benson, bless you, must be horrid to be reminded of something that happened to you. Do you mind me asking if they punished the driver in your accident?
 
Sorry I am hogging this post a bit but need to have a rant! I used to be the BHS Access Officer and got no support from local riders WHATSOEVER. Just totally apathetic so I gave up.
I then joined a group who did a social ride which my boy and I enjoyed very much even though there was a lot of roadwork (some pretty scary) and I would not have done this ride on my own with him.
But when I attempted to organise another of these rides with the same group but in an area where there was hardly any roadwork and lots of lovely bridleways I got no interest at all. I was told we don't have those type of riders in our group. What sort of rider is that then? I can't understand anyone having a horse and not riding it outside of an arena.
I appreciate that it is very difficult to get out and about on horseback nowadays (I do it don't I so I know how hard it is) BUT I actually think there is a type of rider who has no intention of getting out and about at all. They use the horse/yard thing as social interaction riding doesn't come into it much. Poor neds! Mights as well be horses on a carousel -- round and round and round and round. You get the idea! It is an expensive way of socialising. Facebook a lot cheaper so they tell me.
 
This is just a tragic accident and although the road in question is windy in places the accident apparentley happened on a straight stretch of the road and the van was also going at some speed :( Surely if the driver was blinded by the sun he should of slowed down??!! At the end of the day though it won't change what has happened, a lady and 2 horses have been killed :(
 
Those poor poor people, how auful for them, unfortunately I have to ride on the roads but when I do I have my own style (not what I was taught in the Pony Club or BHS) when going around a right hand bend, I always go on the left side of the road and vise versa, I feel that I am giving the car drivers a fair chance of seeing me and when I ride on the straight bit, I ride in the middle so that they have to see me and slow down, as soon as I see them slowing down I practice my leg yield and quickly go into the side tight by the hedge. I never appreciated the direct riding onto the moor I had at my last place, straight up a private path and onto the moor - God I do miss it :(
 
God that's awful. My heart goes out to them.

We don't have any bridleways so I have no option but to hack on the road. Or to hack around my boyfriends fields. I have found some old right of ways that I now use aswellas the road but I got a lot of opposition from the farmer at first. He kept putting up fencing. I kept taking it down after I spoke to the Local County Council. Eventually he stopped. It does not go through his yard far from it!!!

I felt very heartened yesterday when I was hacking out on the road and I got a thumbs up from a driver :)
 
It is an horrible accident and I do believe the driver was totally at fault if he was blinded by the sun. He was (from reading the reports) a local driver so he should KNOW which roads are affected by the sun (I know round my way) and if he was blinded he should have slowed down.

We ride on the roads every time we hack out and we also have some great bridleways. there are some idiot drivers about but the majority are just like you and I and are courteous and slow down. I do think some riders do not help themselves, drivers or other horse riders as they ride dark horses and wear dark clothing and often ride two abreast on roads that aren't suitable. We should be able to ride on the roads, we have more right than cars to be there BUT you have to be aware of what the road is like you are on, what the hazards are and know what roads are affected by such things as low sun etc.

Drivers should be educated more from the start as many do not seem to know what to do when faced with a horse but riders also need to learn a bit too.
 
That's awful! My thoughts are with their family and friends.

I have to ride on the roads to get to any bridle ways from my yard. Most of them are quiet country lanes, but we do get quite a few lorries and bigger vehicles going down them and too many drivers drive too fast on them. Most of them do slow down, but it is scary when you can hear them coming at speed from further away and you know they haven't seen you yet.

I do agree though that it is just as dangerous meeting off road vehicles down green lanes and by ways. We have quite a few green lanes near us and the off road motorbikes go down them very fast and they are very noisy. Although, most of them are very polite and stop and switch off their engines when they meet horses.
 
This is an awlful tragic situation.
I am moving my horse to Brentwood at the end of the month and I am now really worried as although its only 5 min of roadwork I noticed people driving erratically when I went to view.
It is ridiculous that people fly along winding country lanes like they do.
I agree that drivers should be made more aware of the dangers.
 
Ayla84 said:
Have just relocated and there is miles and miles of offroad hacking across scrub land, beaches and a large forest...one problem, my semi private lane leads to another farm , to get to the off road hacking i need to go through the farm yard literally cross a space of about 30 feet, farmer will not allow even though it is a bridleway on the OS map :mad:

can get to scrub land another way but that involves an A road and then a B road, the horses are great with traffic but not really up for risking it.....
Click to expand...

Speak to your Council about this, if the map says it is he can't stop you.
 
Awful story, but I refuse to be pushed off the roads. I ride down a fairly busy, but should be safe enough road, just because I worry that if no-one does, drivers will never expect to see a horse, and their driving will get worse.

Accidents are just that (despite my work saying that all are preventable, which they are, with hindsight!) people die in car accidents EVERY SINGLE DAY and I still drive. You've just got to take the odds, be as safe as you can, be aware and hope that today isn't your day imho :)

I know people who have lost horses on the road, and every case was awful, but drivers need to change, not me. That rider and horses could have been a cyclist, or mother pushing a pram :(

I always wonder what would happen if there was a tractor there and not a horse, think that image needs to be pushed tbh. Car + tractor = tractor wins :)
 
Benson, bless you, must be horrid to be reminded of something that happened to you. Do you mind me asking if they punished the driver in your accident?[/QUOTE]

Not yet, goes to Crown Court in a couple of weeks time. x
 
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