why are some horse riders sooo rude?!

mole

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just gets my goat sometimes - i always thank drivers for slowing down and always go into single file.

i have seen so many riders not even acknowledge that a car is there let alone think of single file and thanking drivers for slowing down its not surprising then when some cars hurtle by me at speed!

why cant people just be curtious and say thanks to car drivers then it might just mean that they become more curtious back but if the careful driver gets no reward for giving you a wide berth and slowing down then they wont bother again and i dont blame them either!!

the worst one ive seen so far is a girl on a busy main A road at 5.15pm rush hour txting on her phone while a double decker bus is trying to go by and she didnt even acknowledge the bus drivers efforts or say thank you to any drivers - just unbelieveable!!

sorry for mini rant but if we all said thanks to the drivers maybe just maybe they wont think we are all stuck up arrogant cows who care for noone as we are obviously better than everyone else
 
Ah but on the flip side you get the motorists who should really read the Highway Code! Numerous times I have had people beeping their horns and shouting out the window at me for riding 2 abreast on a 2 lane main road saying we should be in single file. And we always stick as close to the side as possible so we aren't taking up most of our side of the road.

I always thank drivers for slowing down and going round, apart from the aforementioned ones who do then get the finger :D When I am out on my own I stick to the pavements so traffic can keep going in both directions with no bother. I do of course hop off the pavement when a predestrian is on it and hop back on when safe to do so.

The trouble is the yard I work at gets all the abuse and blame because we have ALOT of horses and hardly any of the things we are accused of is actually us. The people along the rode with normal horses go out riding and leading and I have seen them technically 4 in line down the main road. Absolutely ridiculous. Again, on their phones and generally ignoring all forms of traffic around them. They also go through farmers growing crop fields with their horses not thinking about the damage they are doing. They are a wee bitty thick to saythe least!
 
i think that eveyone who takes a driving test should be made to ride a horse along a road in traffic just to understand what it is like to be riding a live thinking animal that is inclined to do anything it fancies whenever it fancies sometimes! maybe they will have a little more insight then :)
 
i think that eveyone who takes a driving test should be made to ride a horse along a road in traffic just to understand what it is like to be riding a live thinking animal that is inclined to do anything it fancies whenever it fancies sometimes! maybe they will have a little more insight then :)

Quite agree :D
 
when my horse was young and went on the roads use to take a sock with snooker balls in it if to close used whack the car many cars had dents in the roof my horse used to be so used to the noise never flinched
 
I was shocked today to be told off by a driver in our village for not thanking him. I had only nodded & was distracted at the time as horse was gawping at a lawnmower. In actual fact we had pulled into a driveway to let him past!

I would be the first to agree that it's just plain rude to not thank those who slow down etc. I got told that he always slowed down for "you people" (!) & was never thanked.

Ho hum, I shall be waving madly next time we meet him. (I was reluctant to take my hands off the reins having recently come a cropper due to shying.)

A bit ironic he should complain as he and his teenager son regularly speed through the village!
 
Oh, very clever, if you really did this then imagine how the driver felt next time they met a horse on the road.
I don't believe you did this regularly without someone stopping and sorting you out though to be honest.
 
I shouted at a horse rider the other day, well two actually, bumbling along with loose reins, so engrossed in their conversation they couldn't be bothered to thank the line of drivers that just slowed from 40mph to 10mph so I just shouted "thanks then!" out the window at them ... They looked shocked to say the least. I must say hitting a car with something is a phenomonally stupid and ignorant thing to do, what if the driver got distracted by the sudden noise and hit your horse or hit someone else? Why can't you just be thankfulyou were unscathed? If someone hit my car with something I'd pull over, call the police and give the rider a piece of my mind. If riders want car drivers to think about them perhaps they should start thinking about drivers... Horse riders are in the minority so perhaps some of them should stop thinking they have a god given right to be on the roads and start using some common sense and manners!!
 
when my horse was young and went on the roads use to take a sock with snooker balls in it if to close used whack the car many cars had dents in the roof my horse used to be so used to the noise never flinched

yes, okay dear, we all believe you...

seriously though, if anyone did that to my car id get out and whack them. get real!
 
Well done to the person who hit cars with a sock filled with snooker balls.....NOT! You have given those people a reason to hate horse riders. If they were driving so dangerously close, you should have phoned the (non-emergency line) police and reported the driver, giving the reg number etc. Enough complaints and the idiot driver may get a knock at the door! Why not take the moral high ground?

If you'd hit my car, as others have said, I would have pulled over, stopped you and called the police to the scene to have you charged with criminal damage (or another more appropriate charge). You would have been lucky if you'd done it to me as I am a rational person and would be able to think like that but there are some unstable people in the world who would see this as reason to hurt you or your horse. In a fight between a car and horse I know what my money would be on! Your poor horse would not deserve that! It's bad enough having someone with too few brain cells for an owner.....
 
My policy has always been to try and look drivers straight in the eye, smile and give a little thank you wave. The "normal" drivers appreciate it and the moron racers always look embarrased!(sp)
 
I always, always thank drivers but you aren't always in a position to take your hand off the reins to wave. Sometimes I prefer to nod, smile and shout thank you if I'm on my friend's horse as he tends to jog if you put your reins in one hand.
 
Im not lying here we had boy racers try and panic our horses by driving really close was reported to the poilce they did nothing found out where they lived told the poilce they did nothing after a few horses were hit by cars quite a few of us did this we did not do it with carefull drivers i am a car driver so i see both side of the story i would never do it now but i was young and stupid i agree then and sock wasnt swung just bounced on the roof i had my stirrup iron hit by these stupid driver. And as car driver i never rode in rush hour traffic morning or night i agree with everyone i was very stupid at the time but its also not nice seeing a horse lying in the road either
 
I always say thank you and always got in single file unless i'm on a baby with have an older horse that stays next to it, however we enclose the gap and squash the baby in. I agree tho, i hate it when i'm on a hack and i'm the one who always says thanks and the person i'm with doesn't. If i can't take my hand of my reins i always nod and smile :)
 
when my horse was young and went on the roads use to take a sock with snooker balls in it if to close used whack the car many cars had dents in the roof my horse used to be so used to the noise never flinched

I don't believe this tosh, I'm quite mild mannered but if you touched my car you'd be ripped of your horse before you knew what had happened, because clearly your not right enough in the head to be on a horse!

People like you- ie stupid stories etc give the rest of us genuine and polite horsey people as bad a name as the rude ones in the lanes :mad:
 
If I was on a young horse and a car came near enough me to touch it I would be concentrating on keeping the youngster calm and away from the car to prevent an accident, not trying to hit the car with a snooker ball!!
 
I`m lucky in that the lanes i ride my younster are quiet and the locals all tend to give horses a)room to pass and b) slow down or stop. My youngster is good with traffic coming from behind but not so good with traffic coming towards him. I can acknowledge my thanks to those from behind with a wave but sometimes it is very difficult to say thanks to those in front especicially when horse has leaped sideways up onto banks ect. Horse wil come right in time with more experience. I guess what i am saying is just because we havent made an obvious gesture of thanks doesnt necessisarily mean we are being rude.
As for the rider who uses snooker balls - she needs a serious slap methinks...
 
My policy has always been to try and look drivers straight in the eye, smile and give a little thank you wave. The "normal" drivers appreciate it and the moron racers always look embarrased!(sp)

I always say thank you and always got in single file. If i can't take my hand of my reins i always nod and smile :)

this is exactly what i do as well if horse is messing about i always try to get eye contact and nod and mouth a thank you at the driver
 
Im not lying here we had boy racers try and panic our horses by driving really close was reported to the poilce they did nothing found out where they lived told the poilce they did nothing after a few horses were hit by cars quite a few of us did this we did not do it with carefull drivers i am a car driver so i see both side of the story i would never do it now but i was young and stupid i agree then and sock wasnt swung just bounced on the roof i had my stirrup iron hit by these stupid driver. And as car driver i never rode in rush hour traffic morning or night i agree with everyone i was very stupid at the time but its also not nice seeing a horse lying in the road either

Do you smell something... i do... rhymes with shmull schmit....
 
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