When having driving lessons are you taught..

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HollyhedgePippa

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how to drive when horses are around? I have seen in a book on theory that horse riders should wear a hat, fluorescents and have a horse which you can control - nothing to do with the drivers!!:mad:

Do they physically practise on the roads?
 
HollyhedgePippa said:
how to drive when horses are around? I have seen in a book on theory that horse riders should wear a hat, fluorescents and have a horse which you can control - nothing to do with the drivers!!:mad:

Do they physically practise on the roads?
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In the greater majority of cases the answer is NO

Most learning to drive are generally kept within the test route areas by the ADIs teaching them and those areas do not usually have horses in them

For the longer 1 hour drives when doing an upgrade such as B+E/LGV/PCV then those can often come across horses

Its a bit like motorways if the proposed law changes come into force - if they aint within easy reach within the time allowed then they are not going to get practised on

This could be addressed post test but no Govt will ever make post test training compulsory because it will lose them votes
 
I'm being taught at the moment but that's because my instructor makes me drive up to the yard for practice seeing as that is where I'll be driving most of the time!! But my non horsey friends only stick to "town" routes and aren't taught how to approach horse and riders properly :/
 
i was never taught how to pass horses, although that may have been because my instructor knew full well i already knew, as i used to share her daughters pony!
 
I certainly try and cover it with all my learners, sometimes only the theory behind how we overtake - horses, cyclists and other cars, but sometimes it's hard to actually find horses to overtake so it's usually only the theory. The test centre closest to me is where we've overtaken horses recently as it's quite rural.
 
No I wasn't taught to in my lessons and neither have any friends. Although, being horsey I do slow right down. I think the biggest problem is people don't understand that horse's are unpredictable or how fast they can move sideways for no apparent reason. They just want to get past asap and get on their way.
 
I was, and he explained how to pass all vulnerable road users. However, I did learn to drive in the country, and my instructor was very thorough!
 
My instructor(s) (nothing to do with my driving, I swear!) never mentioned horses or how to drive/behave around them.
I did make a point of asking what to do to see what advice they'd give, (obviously i knew, being horsey) and the most I got was "slow down" which I suppose was better than nothing but they never said about the likliness of a horse spooking at something the other side of the hedge or how you shouldn't sound a horn as thanks because it will startle them. I was really surprised actually as I'm in quite a rural area and horses are common round here! Nothing came up in my theory test either.
I think it's so important for driving instructors to cover horses, even if it's only the theory of it, as so many people just don't understand that horses can fly across the road without any prior warning simply because they see a leaf they don't like the look of, or more importantly how important it is to slow down as certain vehicles can make a horse nervous (vans in our case!).
 
Nope, i had to tell him! He knew to slow down, but had no idea horses could spook! My friend had to do the same and we had different teachers from different companies!
 
My instructor knows me and lives opposite and knew I had horses so didn't bother as already knew what to do but yes it's in the theory test for example -
"you see a horse when approaching a roundabout, how should you pass" etc

It is in there but IMO not enough is on there
 
Wasn't on mine years ago. Considering one of the popular lesson routes for learners passed a riding school & livery yard quite shocking that I had to tell the instructor how to pass horses.
 
Mine did, but she was horsey so not sure if that was the only reason. My theory book mentions it and there was a horse on my actual theory test hazard video.
 
dornrose said:
I certainly try and cover it with all my learners, sometimes only the theory behind how we overtake - horses, cyclists and other cars, but sometimes it's hard to actually find horses to overtake so it's usually only the theory. The test centre closest to me is where we've overtaken horses recently as it's quite rural.
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This may seem to be dangerous I don't know ... couldn't they go onto an estate or quiet road and pretend there was a horse and drive how they should drive if there was really a horse there?
 
This is starting to annoy me now, I can't believe that they don't teach it you.
When I start my driving lessons I'm going to question my instructor if they don't mention it.
 
I was never taught how to pass horses or hand signals. Thankfully as I've been horsey since I was 9 I knew what to do! :D
I do think that more should be done in driving lessons on how to deal with more vulnerable road users, and that passing a horse is not like passing a cyclist.
 
I worked full time as an adi for 5 years, have held my teaching licence for 10 (now only teach friends kids). I always educated new drivers about horse etiquette, never taught test routes as my philosophy was if you can drive it doesn't matter where they take you. It took slightly longer to get them to test standard, but they ended as more capable drivers.

There is always the pressure (as the market like all is consumer driven) to get a pass in as few lessons as possible to save money. For those of you with kids approaching 17, take a second to think whether your priority in choosing an instructor is who's the cheapest or who will give your precious child the skills to keep themselves safer in a leathal weapon whilst gaining experience post test.
 
pip6 said:
For those of you with kids approaching 17, take a second to think whether your priority in choosing an instructor is who's the cheapest or who will give your precious child the skills to keep themselves safer in a leathal weapon whilst gaining experience post test.
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I'm 17 next year and I have a feeling I'm going to be extremely picky when chosing an instructor!
 
When I was learning about 3 years ago I encountered horse and rider but did the usual of what was expected. The instructor did say slow down as they came into sight as you would expect.

I think unless you encounter them on a lesson then no nothing is mentioned about them, unless it's changed since then which I doubt as drivers are getting worse when they pass horses.
 
Just to say - that's not stereotyping all drivers/learners/instructors, I know there are very good ones out there :)
 
Wasn't taught about it in my lessons or either was it mentioned but I do remember when I met 2 horses abreast in one of my lessons. I think it was me telling the instructor what to do!
 
RE the poster who said they were not taught the hand signals. These are listed in the Highway Code, which we are all meant to know. It is an offence not to have a working knowledge of it (LOL, I didn't know this until my speed awareness course and I haven't read the HW code for 10 years or so!). Anyway, my instructor did instruct me into how to pass a horse even though he knew I rode. I always explain to non horsey people that a horse can move in any plane of direction not just forwards and backwards, but also sideways at pretty much the same speed!
I have to admit to being really nervous about passing horses, mainly because I tend to know the horse and whether or not it is likely to have a fit.
 
HollyhedgePippa said:
This may seem to be dangerous I don't know ... couldn't they go onto an estate or quiet road and pretend there was a horse and drive how they should drive if there was really a horse there?
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Which bit do you think is dangerous?

Would like to say that there are many things instructors won't necessarily cover in your lessons, for example level crossings. So for those subjects it would be theory only.
 
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