Videoed this mornings ride

[Brandysnap]

Hi friends,

May i strongly applaud Pedantic's point, in riding an obviously dangerous route, which has been designated, by Derbyshire County Council, as suitable for horses, and signposted as such?

Most friends realised, others have missed the point, so i hope i, from a different County, but with similar problems understand?

Us in Cheshire have something called the 'Delamere Loop'. Now i've worked locally, with horses, for 20+ years now, + wondered what these strange new blue signs were, which suddenly appeared, + pointed along roads. Turns out it's a great new thing! Wow! I think it was Cheshire County (who don't exist any more) who paid staff a load of money to look up existing bridlepaths + roads, to make a round link ride, which is far too big to do in a day, + much is on roads.

My point is, that this Cheshire County initiative sends horses onto roads i wouldn't dream of riding on, just as Derbyshire County Council has.

When are they going to learn? We don't want to be on ******* roads, any more than drivers want ******* horses on roads! Who's going to be killed first?

Councils are just taking mick, saying 'oh, we've provided xxxx miles of designated horse stuff', have they hell as like!

Thank you for video, Pedantic, i really hope we stick together on this. Your horse is great, x from me! But, how many novices/kids/young horses would have major problem on that route, as they also would, on the winding country roads, with high hedges + bad visibility which form much of this 'Cheshire Link'?

Our Councils don't have a clue, + i wish BHS would be a little more pro-active (any comments from them gratefully received, please, especially regarding any communications they've had with Councils? I think BHS Co-ordinator for our areas may be best first point of call for questions.)

All bests, BS x

 

[Puppy]

[ QUOTE ]
May i strongly applaud Pedantic's point, in riding an obviously dangerous route, which has been designated, by Derbyshire County Council, as suitable for horses, and signposted as such?

[/ QUOTE ]

The fact it is designated in no way means that you are obliged to use it!!

In fact, the fact that you do, will only make the CC think it's ok...

If you think it is a stupid and dangerous route to ride on a horse - then don't do it!! Simples!

I am lucky in that I have plenty of good hacking for my horses; that's largely why I keep them that much further out of town. However, there are routes near to me, that are designated, and supposedly modified for horse riders, but I choose not to use them, as I don't wish to put my horses at risk in what I consider unsafe riding conditions. I'm not going to kill my horse or myself to prove that point!!

There are signs indicating for horses to take routes crossing/riding alongside the A14 (one of the highest mortality roads in the country), but despite how good my horse is with traffic, no way in hell would I use them!!

Oh, and incidentally, I think the signs shown in the video are the type of signs used for the benefit of the rider, not the drivers. The drivers should have the horse riding symbol in a red circle (I would try and show one, but the button on my comp for copying images is, most annoyingly, broken)

 

[Pedantic]

Err Poppy, Red circle !, you mean "Triangle" try to keep up, two of the road signs on that route are Triangles with a horse on "specifically" for motorists, obvioulsy ignored by a lot of them in my video.

Thanks Brandysnap, you and others have understood the "point" of the whole exercise.

Those living in a "priveledged" area, well make the most of it, as we "used" to be a nice area with plenty of farm land and lanes with easier rideing, but we have had some MASSIVE estates built around and on top of us, with some big roads going through, A50 new A6 (shown in video) plus lots of extra houses sqweezed onto plots creating more and more traffic, we now have even more building with a large commercial park along our river route, also we have been robbed of some routes being turned into cycle 66 routes, without warning or notice, so enjoy your nice area while you can, it's all "comeing to an area near you soon"

 

[Halfpint2]

Puppy, I am fortunate to keep my horse in a rural location, I can plod round the lanes perfectly safe , well actually NO I can't.

The drivers seem to forget that they are in a rural quiet area and think the roads are there purely for speed, and seem to forget or maybe don't think at all that there maybe other users who use the roads.

I have reported several incidences to the police , given them all the details of the car involved and they are clearly not interested.

I have had only last weekend a young male driver who skidded to a halt only a few yards in front of me as he struggled to keep the car in control, the occupants clearly thought it was funny as my young horse was clearly frightened and took flight.
I manged to gain control and he came to wards me and mockingly said well deal with this and wheel skidded off at speed giving me the "v" sign out of his window.

I was a bundle of nerves as was my horse and this is just one of a number of instances.

Pedantic, I know exactly where you were filming and take my hat off to you and your horse .

The world has gone mad !

 

[Brandysnap]

[ QUOTE ]
Puppy, I am fortunate to keep my horse in a rural location, I can plod round the lanes perfectly safe , well actually NO I can't.

The drivers seem to forget that they are in a rural quiet area and think the roads are there purely for speed, and seem to forget or maybe don't think at all that there maybe other users who use the roads.

I have reported several incidences to the police , given them all the details of the car involved and they are clearly not interested.

I have had only last weekend a young male driver who skidded to a halt only a few yards in front of me as he struggled to keep the car in control, the occupants clearly thought it was funny as my young horse was clearly frightened and took flight.
I manged to gain control and he came to wards me and mockingly said well deal with this and wheel skidded off at speed giving me the "v" sign out of his window.

I was a bundle of nerves as was my horse and this is just one of a number of instances.

Pedantic, I know exactly where you were filming and take my hat off to you and your horse .

The world has gone mad !

[/ QUOTE ]

Just like to second all that was said in the above post. I hope that all us horse-owners start to make a stronger stand now - ie, a legal requirement for safe OFF_ROAD riding.

It appears to me that BHS do piddle all, any more than local Bridleways Committees + Riding Club Committees + Pony Club Committees do piddle all either.

We need to do it ourselves, friends, quite how we do this i don't know, but i hope a brighter person than me will come up with an idea! I'm starting mine by writing to the head of the new Chester + Cheshire West Council, which is where i live.

Thanks for the motivation! Every best wish, BS x

 

[ISHmad]

I'm shocked by this clip. No way on this earth would I ever hack out again if that was what the horses and ourselves were expected to face.

And all that to make some bureaucratic numbskulls be able to bleat that they have achieved their targets in providing miles and miles of access for horses? What planet are they on?

I vote they get shoved on horseback and made to ride along it. Although second thoughts no, a horse could get hurt in that process. I'd hazard a guess they wouldn't even ride a bike along the way that "designated route" takes you.

Madness. This flaming country is going to rack and ruin all in the name of political correctness.

 

[Pedantic]

Blimey this post still going, well unfortunatley as far as getting the horse fraternity to stick together to fight our corner, it's a waste if time, all the bleating I have made on our yard about BMW robbing us of a Bridleway in Oxfordshire a while back and I donated £50.00 of my own money to the BHS fund to fight it, what does someone on our yard drive up in last night, their new BMW Mini, what am I supposed to say Oh I like your new car, if 4.5 million of us had stuck together and told BMW where to stick there cars in veiw if their attitude to horse riders, maybe, just maybe we could have made a small difference, so as far as getting the horse fraternity to stick together we are pissing in the wind, society will bit by bit take our riding and our horses away, hopefully at 55 I have some time left, but in the last 5 years of owning my own Pony allready I have lost large areas of riding to roads and housing sites, and you know, nobody on our yard seems bothered, this is why I have become an partly urban rider to make my rides a circular route instead of a straight "there and back, it's also why I use cycle and bus lanes, well 40 years of working tax rates road fund etc I have bloody well contributed to them.

 

[flowerlady]

[ QUOTE ]
Blimey this post still going, well unfortunatley as far as getting the horse fraternity to stick together to fight our corner, it's a waste if time, all the bleating I have made on our yard about BMW robbing us of a Bridleway in Oxfordshire a while back and I donated £50.00 of my own money to the BHS fund to fight it, what does someone on our yard drive up in last night, their new BMW Mini, what am I supposed to say Oh I like your new car, if 4.5 million of us had stuck together and told BMW where to stick there cars in veiw if their attitude to horse riders, maybe, just maybe we could have made a small difference, so as far as getting the horse fraternity to stick together we are pissing in the wind, society will bit by bit take our riding and our horses away, hopefully at 55 I have some time left, but in the last 5 years of owning my own Pony allready I have lost large areas of riding to roads and housing sites, and you know, nobody on our yard seems bothered, this is why I have become an partly urban rider to make my rides a circular route instead of a straight "there and back, it's also why I use cycle and bus lanes, well 40 years of working tax rates road fund etc I have bloody well contributed to them.

[/ QUOTE ]

Pedantic I'm with you. I think our two local councils (Bridleways and Footpaths officers) have my name top of their file HAHA. Keep on at them I do. So far I have had 4 Bridle gates installed a farmer told to reinstate a bridle path he ploughed up. A fence built round a large gap with a big drop into a dyke. I also have had them from different councils meet me (me on the horse 17.1hh) and walk the route to show they need to cut the trees and hedges or I would hold them personally responsible if me or even a child on a Shetland got garroted by overhanging trees. They have met me and on each occasion had the work carried out within two weeks and then rang me to inform me of such. I did offer that if they would like to pay me to ride the Bridleways and point out any problems I would be more than happy (they didn't take up the offer)

I wonder why

Oh and I live in Notts

 

[Pedantic]

Well done Flowerlady

, good to hear someone else is actually bothered, but do pray tell how many others are and were helping you with your quest ? and how many are happy to toodle around in the menage or a little loop around a couple of fields for 20 minutes wearing blinkers normally worn by horses

 

[Patches]

Is the whole route like this or does it just a small section of the route that passes this road layout? I've only watched to 2 minutes as my computer keeps stalling to buffer (it's on pause and hopefully buffering whilst I type to you). Has the road layout been built through a very old pre-existing bridleway?

I hack on some really nice quiet lanes, but there are a couple of junctions I have to cross (not as busy as in your video). As my horse is bombproof too, I will happily cross them. I know my horse would happily hack along there with you or on her own....she is very good...but I wouldn't dream of riding it myself. I value mine and her life too much to play chicken with high speed traffic around those junctions.

In all honesty, I wouldn't have been surprised to see you stopped by traffic police for riding in an unsafe area or causing a potential hazard. You really wouldn't expect to see horses being ridden out around those roads/junctions. Not that I'm criticising you as you're within your rights to ride a signed route, but I'd think the police would be baffled as to why this area is a designated riding route....because I am!

Personally I think the only option here would be for the Council to remove the blue signs in order to absolve themselves of any claim should a rider/horse/motorist be injured in a horse/vehicle incident. This part of the route definitely needs closing. It's not safe for either riders or motorists in my opinion and someone will get hurt if the route continues to be ridden.


As for the horse lorry.....they might not have waved at you...but I bet they noticed you. They probably thought you were some unhinged lunatic to be riding there!

 

[flowerlady]

[ QUOTE ]
Well done Flowerlady

, good to hear someone else is actually bothered, but do pray tell how many others are and were helping you with your quest ? and how many are happy to toodle around in the menage or a little loop around a couple of fields for 20 minutes wearing blinkers normally worn by horses

[/ QUOTE ]

None. Like you (wel I would but I've got to blah blah) so I just got on with it. Lots of moaning on the phone and saying dangerous. Although one bridlepath did almost get shut down because they couldn't cut the hedges back due to birds nesting and each side (fields owned by different farmers) not willing to let you use edge of field to get down. You want to also contact the bridleways person for your area with the BHS it may help but I doubt it.

 

[ester]

We only have one local bridleway and they are very good at clearing it, if they forget the branches we give them a ring and they will be back to do them. The main issue with it is its a bank between 2 ditches and is riddled with animal burrows so you have to stick to the very middle and we only walk.

I went a bit further to a different one though and it was nowhere near as good, I suspect that not many people use it and hence noone mentions it to the council. It was pretty blocked in several places (good pone) and when I got out of the woods I couldn't find the track going across the field to my way out as field was full of crops, I rode round the headland instead and have since confirmed where the path should be (you can see the mark on an old google earth pic)

 

[Pedantic]

[ QUOTE ]
Is the whole route like this or does it just a small section of the route that passes this road layout? I've only watched to 2 minutes as my computer keeps stalling to buffer (it's on pause and hopefully buffering whilst I type to you). Has the road layout been built through a very old pre-existing bridleway?

I hack on some really nice quiet lanes, but there are a couple of junctions I have to cross (not as busy as in your video). As my horse is bombproof too, I will happily cross them. I know my horse would happily hack along there with you or on her own....she is very good...but I wouldn't dream of riding it myself. I value mine and her life too much to play chicken with high speed traffic around those junctions.

In all honesty, I wouldn't have been surprised to see you stopped by traffic police for riding in an unsafe area or causing a potential hazard. You really wouldn't expect to see horses being ridden out around those roads/junctions. Not that I'm criticising you as you're within your rights to ride a signed route, but I'd think the police would be baffled as to why this area is a designated riding route....because I am!

Personally I think the only option here would be for the Council to remove the blue signs in order to absolve themselves of any claim should a rider/horse/motorist be injured in a horse/vehicle incident. This part of the route definitely needs closing. It's not safe for either riders or motorists in my opinion and someone will get hurt if the route continues to be ridden.


As for the horse lorry.....they might not have waved at you...but I bet they noticed you. They probably thought you were some unhinged lunatic to be riding there!

[/ QUOTE ]

The ride took about 1.5 hours ish, it's my regular sat morn ride, I took about 40 mins of video, obvioulsy only the bad road part is shown on youtube, the rest of the ride isn't too bad, there is plenty more road work but on side roads, dont worry about anyone "else" getting hurt, nobody else rides it as far as I am aware, I only take other confident riders with sensible horses if I'm not on my own.

When I bought his lordship age 10 he was sold to me as 110% in traffic, which was a must as whichever yard I was at traffic was always going to be an issue and worsening, obvioulsy in the 5 years I have had him he has done lots of road work and exploring areas nobody else would, hence riding through Derby City Center and took him to City Plumbing in the middle of an industrial estate on a works day

, got some funny looks from lorries, I had hot chocolate he had a biscuit

, SO IT'S CLEAR TO EVERYONE I KNOW WHAT PUSHES HIS BUTTONS AND SOME ROADS I "WONT" RIDE ON, IF THERE ARE SKATEBOARDS ROLLER SKATES COWS OR SHEEP IN A FIELD NEXT TO A ROAD I DONT DO IT OR AM EXTREMELY MORE CAREFUL THAN USUAL. Just so people know.

 

[Brandysnap]

Hi again, dear Pedantic,

I totally second all you say. Derbyshire CC doesn't have a clue about horses, obviously, + there was me, thinking it was just Cheshire CC (or whatever name the new idiot in charge has given them now. Things on our new bins suggest it's Cheshire West + Chester).

Maybe we should have a mass 'horses walking on roads like wot we have a right to'? (Horses were there before cars, etc?) Ride the old routes? Maybe 3 abreast along all A roads would make radio 2? Then Lynne Bowles or Sally Traffic may mention us? But we need to organise it....

Some friends have previously mentioned work by BHS. I'd love to have just one example, if i may, please?

I've been a member for about 25 yrs, so they've had a lot of my money @ about £50/yr. can't remember a single thing that they've done for us in Cheshire.

(Let's ignore Delamere Loop which merely uses existing bridlepaths + roads, which CC laid claim to, now getting acclaim in local press, which is a load of crap! Roads i wouldn't ride along, but 'designated route', hence encouraging folk who don't know the area to ride along these roads, let's put it that way!)),

We need to address this serious problem, ie that central government doesn't recognise us 3million of us riders as worthy of notice. Us animal lovers have been let down again by lack of action by RSPCA.

It's time to start nagging to Gordon, surely?

Just to say, I really think we have to start fighting our corner, for safe off-road riding, as cyclists have successfully done.

I'm sick of seeing nice forest ways destroyed by hired bikes from the Forestry Commission, whose riders don't have a clue about horses.
Every best wish, BS X
I very much applaud what you've started, friend, and may we all work together for safe off road routes for riding our hosses!