Was i in the wrong or the driver

[domsmith]

Quiet sunday morning and i thought i would give Annie, my new horse, some road experience. she has been great so far so was not too concerned. i thought we would see some cars but being sunday no HGVs.
then we met the tractor. we tried to trot to make the turn but didnt quite make it. the tractor had every right to be there, but i feel despite waving he made not effort to slow. he also saw me come off but didnt slow to check i was alright.

What do you think. possibly a local haulier firm who i know, dont know if i should ring them.

[video=youtube;hfrS-zWDI70]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfrS-zWDI70[/video]

 

[Orangehorse]

He should have slowed down. Maybe he was on his mobile phone! He would say that you were riding on a main road, but I find that if I have to go along the local main road virtually all drivers slow down when they see my High ViZ.

 

[holeymoley]

Well he definitely didn't show any signs of slowing down.

ETA- on watching again , the person on the other horse needs to use the correct signals to slow down though as well

 

[_Annie_]

What an utter kn*b for not slowing down!!! Glad you're ok

 

[ROG]

bad of the noisy quick tractor - it should have eased off to reduce noise and speed

Also it seems it never checked back to see you were ok or if it did it ignored it

If you can get the licence plate from the video then I would report it to police as the newish offence of inconsiderate driving

 

[Spit That Out]

I think he should have slowed down more than he did however even going slow your horse could have still spooked. Sometimes no matter how slow they go passed some horses just don't like tractors, lorries, white vans, motorbikes etc.
Glad you weren't hurt and like you said you were giving your horse road experience.

 

[Bav]

He should have slowed down, horses stil have right of way on the roads and he should have respected your companions hand signals for slow down.

ETA- not sure about the pointing but I'm pretty sure she did use the correct signal for slow down? The forward up and down movement of the hand/arm? Although I do stand to be corrected.

 

[ihatework]

I think if you are going to ride down that type of road you have to expect to meet large traffic.

That said, he was asked to slow down and made absolutely no effort to. It was clear you were looking to turn off and it would have taken him just a few secs to put his foot on his brakes to give you time to get out of the way. Ignorant a d inconsiderate on his part.

If you can find out who he works for I certainly think it would be worth showing the video to his employers.

 

[_Annie_]

If you can find out who he works for I certainly think it would be worth showing the video to his employers.

^^^
This, definitely.

 

[domsmith]

I totally accept that going on any road you could meet anything and thats the risk you take on a horse.

so i am part to blame in taking an inexperienced horse on the road.

that kind of answers my question you take your chances, but he could have showed some consideration.

 

[AengusOg]

He should have slowed down, and a decent man would have stopped to assess your wellbeing in the event.

However, it would have been safer and more sensible if you had stuck together and you had tucked your horse's fore end in on the near side of the other horse's quarters.

The other rider did well to take up a bit of road space in an effort to slow the tractor, but her hand signals were inappropriate, meaningless, and ineffective.

In such circumstances, if you are caught in such a bad position again, it helps to turn the horse's head slightly toward the hazard, as that has the effect of putting his back end toward the side of the road, keeping him out of some of the danger of being hit. Your horse was able to turn toward the road side and this made you very vulnerable and put him over the wall.

We have a few stupid agri workers around here as well. One in particular would steam past with all sorts of dangerous contraptions on truck or tractor, and nearly caused a few disasters. Several of us local riders have had near misses with him. The worst of it is, his wife keeps horses and used to ride regularly, although, strangely, never on the road. We all take up much road now when he approaches and he is obliged to slow down.

The same guy chased, in his tractor, one of our horses, loose on the road and at the canter, one day and nearly ran my wife over as well in the same incident. He is a charmer, all right. I reported him to the police (it was either that or get myself into serious trouble) and he admitted he should have reduced his speed and taken more care. The police offered mediation services to us to help sort it out. I advised them that they just needed to tell him that such behaviour is unacceptable and must be challenged. They agreed.

We know who are the idiots and who can be trusted to do the right thing when they meet horses on the road. All the riders round here now take full responsibility for their own safety and refuse to yield road to oncoming hazards. If you give them space to do so, they will keep on coming without slowing.

You weren't in the wrong. There may have been things you could have done differently, but road safety is the responsibility of all road users.

 

[weebarney]

Yes very inconsiderate and pig headed driving but maybe you would have been better to keep hammering forward in trot so your horse didn't have so much chance to think about spooking. I know it goes against your natural instinct but I have seen it work well .

 

[Spring Feather]

The tractor driver should have slowed down a bit however there didn't appear to be any indication that anything would occur so perhaps he didn't realise the horse might spook. The best course of action, as I see it, would have been for your friend to remain with her horse's butt to the right of your horse's head so that your horse was still shielded by hers. I don't know if you were using the 'slow down' signal, but your friend was not, and as lead horse she should have. I realise there was only two of you but when we ride out in a string, the lead horse directs the traffic coming from in front and the hind horse directs the traffic from behind, so in this case your friend should have been directing and asking the driver to slow down.

 

[AmyMay]

I would like to have seen you ride two abreast, trotting after your friends horse did you no favours. Hand signals were bland.

Yes, Mr Tractor should have slowed down - but you almost set yourself up for a fail.

I'm glad that you're both ok.

 

[weebarney]

Personally I think hand signals or not, drivers of large noisy vehicles should slow down regardless . It's just common sense which unfortunately is not very common.

 

[YorksG]

The majorety of tractor drivers locally to us are also livestock farmers, so most behave well around horses. We have had a couple of stupid young men who behaved very badly when driving their Dads tractors, this stopped when they caused our local ward counsillor to have problems with her horse, the police went round and threatened to impound the tractor! They have behaved well since

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

I have deliberately NOT looked at what other people have said on here............

Firstly, my observation is that the lead horse (chestnut)'s rider was TBH very ambiguous in her hand signals in asking the driver to stop. This is appreciating that when one is sitting on ten ton of horse it is not always easy, but IMO the "slow" and/or "halt" signal was in no way clear enough to indicate to the driver (who was probably from Eastern Europe and therefore not used to seeing horses ridden on the road) that he/she should stop.

Secondly, it might have been better (sorry, being wise in hindsight) to have placed OP's horse firmly on the inside in this situation (rather than the lead horse going ahead so far???) and kept to that game-plan, and/or got off and led at an early stage. OK so easy to be wise in retrospect.

BUT.......... this does not absolve the driver of the tractor, who SHOULD have slowed down and/or driven more considerately in this instance. I am being charitable in that it might well be that he (wasn't using his mirrors???) and well might not have realised that OP had in fact fallen off.

By the way, hope you're OK OP, that was a nasty fall.

There MAY be some benefit, if you know who the tractor driver is, of telling them what's happened, and, as nicely as possible, asking if they meet you again could they please exercise a little care.

But; think OP TBH you are going to have to get your horse traffic-proofed somehow, and/or if you HAVE to ride on that stretch of road (and my sincere sympathies if there is no-where else for you to ride) then you may need to think about how you are going to manage the practicalities. It might be that you need to box your horse in with traffic-proof companions, i.e. one in front, one behind, and one beside.

OR......... if you ARE going to ring the local farmers/hauliers about the incident: then you could take the opportunity of asking them whether they'd be OK for you to bring your horse over to their place and let it see the Monsters and thus use it as a learning experience.

Well done: this was obviously a scarey incident for you; you had hi-viz on and were riding correctly - please don't think I'm being patronising here but it may be worth you and your riding-companion doing a BHS Riding & Road Safety Course? This would give you both confidence, and would certainly teach you and your companion how to give clear and identifiable hand-signals.

 

[smellsofhorse]

Polite as it would have been for him to slow down, he was on the other side of the road, a lot of drivers don't slow down in this case.

The other rider should have berm clearer in what they were asking.

I hope you and your horse are no too shook up

 

[Marydoll]

The guy was definitely going to fast for passing horses, i think the signals to slow down were pretty vague and had possibly stopped before he was close enough to see them. from what i can see tbh youd have been better staying closer together for the first horse to have a steadying effect on yours. I hope youre ok op as thats not a nice thing to happen on your hack :-(

 

[Goldenstar]

He should have slowed down
BUT neither rider gave a signal to " slow down please " .
Other road users are not mind readers
You where trotting to fast not in proper control and ought to have walked or stopped and blocked the young horse with the older one .
If my grooms rode my horses like that I would give them an absolute rocket .
I am sorry but very very bad judgement .

 

[3Beasties]

He should have slowed down but I agree with the others who said that you almost set yourself up for fail.

It all looked a bit panicked to me which will have transmitted through to your horse.

I think the situation could have been avoided by using clearer hand-signals and by riding two abreast. Your friend was quite a way ahead of you leaving your horse on his own so to speak. I also think that in this situation you would have been better off going back to a nice forward walk which would have given you more control and allowed your horse more time to assess the situation; if I am ever in doubt I will halt my horse to allow vehicles to pass.

I know hindsight is a wonderful thing and it is very easy for us to sit here and criticise so I really hope you're OK. I would get back out on the road as soon as you can!

 

[EmmaC78]

I do think he should have slowed down but as others have said I don't think the lead riders hand signals were at all clear and she was only signalling when the tractor was too far away to see. I also agree with Goldenstar. The trot was too chaotic and out of control and not a good lead in to a situation where you are tryng to keep calm. If it were me I would have walked with a quick, in control pace, and kept your horse tucked behind the lead horse.

It is definately worth mentioning it to the driver though as I don't think he was 100% blameless.

Hope you are OK.

 

[lhotse]

The driver should have slowed down, but I don't think the hand signals were in any way clear enough. For a start, wearing flo long sleeves makes a lot of difference, and the hand signals to slow down would have been a lot cleared made with the outside hand. To the driver, it may have looked like the rider was signalling left, but then faffing with a zip on her coat. The tractor was quite far away when the signals were given. He should have stopped further up the road to make sure the second rider was ok, he must have seen it happen.
So, always make signals as clear as you can by using your arm out away from your body, and make yourself visible right to your hand. I wear a thin bright yellow cycling top.

 

[Mince Pie]

Well he definitely didn't show any signs of slowing down.

ETA- on watching again , the person on the other horse needs to use the correct signals to slow down though as well

She is, actually. My YO is a riding and road safety examiner for the BHS - hand out in front going up and down is asking drivers to slow down, out to the side going up and down is telling drivers that you are slowing down Not sure what the pointing was about though.

ETA: she is using the wrong hand though (should have used the right for asking the driver to slow down) and I agree the tractor driver was too far away to have seen them.

 

[Gloi]

That was bad riding on both your parts. If your companion knew you were on a young horse she shouldn't have trotted on ahead and left you and you shouldn't have let yourself be left behind but brought your horses back to a walk and tucked yours in behind her horse. She should then have given a clearer signal to the driver, all her rather messy signals were given when the driver was a long way off. I think that drivers tend to think there is no problem if you are just trotting on rather than making a clear signal you want them to slow down. He would have been better to slow down but it was a widish main road and it could be expected that a horse being taken on a main road would know how to behave itself with traffic.

 

[3Beasties]

I think that drivers tend to think there is no problem if you are just trotting on rather than making a clear signal you want them to slow down.

That's a good point actually. I find that if I slow down or stop my horse the approaching driver tends to respond in the same way.

If I was driving and a horse was trotting towards me like displayed in the video I would assume that the horse was happy and confident in traffic. I would still slow down but can understand why others wouldn't.

 

[Tnavas]

To be honest your friend needs to learn the proper signals to ask the tractor to slow and that was to use her right arm not her left. Unless rules have changed the hand signal to ask other drivers to slow is to put your arm out to your side at shoulder level and move it up and down. To stop traffic hold hand out in front of you with palm facing the vehicle above shoulder height. I see that you say your YO is also a BHS examiner - I think her care of you was poor. She let herself get to far ahead of you, You should both of been in walk with the young horse tucked well inside the other with your YO between you and the traffic.

Technically the tractor driver wasn't asked anything of him.

However any sensible tractor driver would have slowed right down.

If you know where the tractor came from phone the company and ask to speak to whoever is responsible for the drivers and rather than berate him for his employees behaviour explain why it would help if their drivers automatically slowed right down to pass horse riders.

I find this has worked for me in the past with several trucking companies around my area.

 

[holeymoley]

She is, actually. My YO is a riding and road safety examiner for the BHS - hand out in front going up and down is asking drivers to slow down, out to the side going up and down is telling drivers that you are slowing down Not sure what the pointing was about though.

That's the first I've heard of that. I certainly didn't notice the first rider asking anything except signalling left when I watched the video to begin with. It was only on looking closer I noticed her move her hand in front of her. To me as a driver, I wouldn't find it particularly clear. As I said before though , no excuse for the tractor to not have slowed down.

 

[monkeybum13]

Firstly, are you ok?

Secondly your friend needs to make clearer hand signals, they were a tad confusing and if you're unsure how your horse would react stick as close as you can to the experienced horse.

I'm not saying that was completely your fault but steps could have been taken to prevent the accident.

 

[Mince Pie]

That's the first I've heard of that. I certainly didn't notice the first rider asking anything except signalling left when I watched the video to begin with. It was only on looking closer I noticed her move her hand in front of her. To me as a driver, I wouldn't find it particularly clear. As I said before though , no excuse for the tractor to not have slowed down.

To be honest, it was the first time I'd heard it as well. The only reason we discussed it yesterday is because I was going through hand signals for my sharers and she (YO) corrected me!