Weird Cyclist

puli

puli

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So today I was on my normal hack today with my boy and I met loads of cyclists and to be honest they were all good and made sure I was aware before they passed me. That was before we met the last cyclist who acted very weirdly I saw them coming and they were coming quite fast so I stopped my boy and took him up onto the grass verge and turned him to face them. Then the cyclists started telling me to keep going and then they stopped and they would not go past me in till I started going forward again they kept saying keep going keep going and they did not sound very happy . In the end I ended up going and then as soon as I turned around and started going down the road they came up behind me. Has anyone else had cyclist do that before I just thought that was really weird and I not sure why they would not go past me.
 
Nowt as queer as folk. The other day a cyclist coughed before overtaking, I thought it was of the trouser variety from the horse, horse thought the same from me! We were both taken by surprise. Cyclist was not amused.
 
I think some cyclist just don't know how to act I met one the other day that spooked my boy, and to be fair the cyclist stopped and asked me how he should pass horses in the future so he won't spook them again. I also met a really nice jogger today we had a car come towards us with a canoe on top it was a very narrow lane. He was not sure but the jogger stopped the car and asked if I was ok as he could see that my horse was a little spooked.
 
My horse took a second look at a weird cyclist yesterday. She was about 5 years old, and the tiny bike had a bright pink basket on front, covered in glitter and tassles. Clearly horse was expecting something a bit bigger, lycra clad, and not quite as pink.
 
What a total weirdo!! I'd have damn right refused to move!! my horse hates bikes coming up behind him because they are so silent and then suddenly whip past!!

He was probably checking out your bum or something weirdo like that!
 
Scared silly of horses and of a possible kick while overtaking? Sorry, imagination has gone into overdrive. I am afraid I think getting on a bike addles quite a few perfectly nice people' s brains going by the behaviours I come across here on a regular basis.
 
Nothing so weird as cyclists! We get some really good ones, and others that seem to share one brain cell with their bike.

Had one guy yesterday who came whipping around a blind corner and made all the horses jump. He then had a go at us for being the other side of a blind corner, meaning he was just 'on us'. My OH (on foot) pointed out that had he not been going quite so quickly around the blind bend, he would have had time to see us. Cycled away shaking his head, and OH was furious (he's not horsey, but has a very strong sense of 'if you're in the countryside, you change your behaviour for what might be in the country').

Problem is, horse is kept 10 mins out of a city centre, so we get a lot of city boys who don't know one end of a horse from the other, and have no issue with whizzing past, despite upsetting horses and riders.
 
planete said:
Scared silly of horses and of a possible kick while overtaking? Sorry, imagination has gone into overdrive. I am afraid I think getting on a bike addles quite a few perfectly nice people' s brains going by the behaviours I come across here on a regular basis.
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That was my thought too - maybe thought he'd get kicked going past?

Mine is generally OK with cyclists as we get so many around here. She's even got used to kids on bikes whizzing up the pavement behind her. But the time two little girls left their pink and purple cycles standing upright on the pavement - clearly some ravenous horse-eating monster!
 
I think part of the problem these days is that bikes don't seem to have any kind of audible warning of approach device - i.e. a bell or similar. I've not owned or ridden a bike for years, but the last one I did have had a little bell to warn people when your coming up behind. Why can't they just have such a thing to let people know they're behind ...

Some cyclists round us do call out "bike behind" or similar when they approach a horse, which is fine, but lots don't and they approach very quietly, so even the most sensible horse (e.g. ...mine!) can get a surprise and react accordingly.

As for being ordered to move off before the guy would go past ... that's just nuts TBH .... surely safer for all concerned for the horse to remain stationary on the verge while the bike goes past!! I would have stayed put and got him to pass by ...
 
Maybe by you passing them they are ensuring that they are not spooking your horse in any way. Better than them not knowing how to pass but trying (badly) anyway.

Some people are paranoid that the horse is going to jump sideways and land on them - one driver told me this who always passed too fast. His reasoning was the quicker he got past me the less change of being landed on...
 
The think is they made me walk on then they came up right behind my horse so if he was going to kick you would think they would of worked out that by coming up behind him they are more likely to get kicked. When I turned him he was looking at them so they were not even anywhere near his back legs
 
Well I met a cyclist tonight coming towards us with flashing lights..

He put his hand over the light so as not to spook our horses. They aren't all bad!
 
My brother and his wife are both avid cyclists and utterly unhorsey, so last Christmas they each got a gift of a bell from my horse and a lecture on how to cycle past horses from me.
 
Greylegs said:
I think part of the problem these days is that bikes don't seem to have any kind of audible warning of approach device - i.e. a bell or similar. I've not owned or ridden a bike for years, but the last one I did have had a little bell to warn people when your coming up behind. Why can't they just have such a thing to let people know they're behind ...

Some cyclists round us do call out "bike behind" or similar when they approach a horse, which is fine, but lots don't and they approach very quietly, so even the most sensible horse (e.g. ...mine!) can get a surprise and react accordingly.

As for being ordered to move off before the guy would go past ... that's just nuts TBH .... surely safer for all concerned for the horse to remain stationary on the verge while the bike goes past!! I would have stayed put and got him to pass by ...
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All my bikes came equipped with bells and they were the first things which came off, closely followed by the reflectors.

I had an idiot mountain biker come up close behind me on my spooky warmblood yesterday and ring his bell. He very nearly had his kicked off his shoulders for his trouble. As a regular cyclist and horse rider I have seen it from both sides and the best method is to call out to attract the horse's attention (s*d the rider) and when you and he have made eye contact come steadily and wide past. Do not freewheel as the clicking upsets some horses.
 
I can't think of any sane reason why they would have asked you to do that, maybe they thought that if they went past the front of the horse, you might lose control and the horse would run into them...so they prefer the horse moving away from them, if that makes sense. Even though its definitely weird and suggests control freak to me.
 
I met a lot of cyclists and most of them are really good. I do wish more of them would shout out instead of ringing the bell but I am glad they are making some noise instead of just shooting past.
 
puli said:
The think is they made me walk on then they came up right behind my horse so if he was going to kick you would think they would of worked out that by coming up behind him they are more likely to get kicked. When I turned him he was looking at them so they were not even anywhere near his back legs
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I'm afraid that I would have said "No chance!"

I was completely turned off cyclists when about 40 passed us, whooping and hollering, when we were hacking a new horse home. Fortunately she lived up to her reputation of being absolutely bombproof.
But there are some good ones round here - some of them are our neighbours and one of them is horsey too.
 
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