Advice on riding on public roads

evolving_doors

First off Im not a horse rider (except in my youth on uncle's farm).

I was just wondering what is the norm for travelling on public roads. I know its rare enough with busy traffic but say 2 riders are going 2 abreast and a car comes up behind, is it always good practice to move in to single file or do some riders wait until they think it would be safer for the car to overtake at a later stage (effectively prevent a car from overtaking in case the car misjudged the distance and had to pull in suddenly on the horses...assume that riders and drivers had equal view of the road ahead).

Any thoughts?

fits

It depends on situation. Sometimes horse on outside could be nannying a younger or spooky horse on inside also. Its like cycling I suppose. Going two abreast forces cars to slow and overtake properly rather than try to slip by at full speed when there's not enough room for that.

Have to say I don't enjoy riding on roads wide enough for two horses to go abreast simply because a lot of cars don't slow down at all. horses can react and move at super high speed but a lot of motorists don't realise I suppose.

ford2600

fits wrote: »

It depends on situation. Sometimes horse on outside could be nannying a younger or spooky horse on inside also. Its like cycling I suppose. Going two abreast forces cars to slow and overtake properly rather than try to slip by at full speed when there's not enough room for that.

Have to say I don't enjoy riding on roads wide enough for two horses to go abreast simply because a lot of cars don't slow down at all. horses can react and move at super high speed but a lot of motorists don't realise I suppose.

Not the answer op was looking for. ..

evolving_doors

ford2600 wrote: »

Not the answer op was looking for. ..

So what do you do then ford2600?

ford2600

Armelodie wrote: »

So what do you do then ford2600?

I know nothing of horses, but know about beef/dairy animals and farming in general.

A rider on horseback is a very vulnerable road user. Accordingly when I meet them on the road, I let them have as much room and time as necessary for their safety.

last Thursday I met 2 riders riding two abreast and a horse and trap while out for a hard training ride on bike. On both occasions I stopped and alerted riders and requested their permission to proceed.

Often get held up by tractors also. No big deal. All part of road sharing

Ave Sodalis

Most riders (I would hope) would wait until they find a safe place to pull in for the car to pass. If two horses are in single file and well in to the side, it's usually safe to pass wide and slow as long as the rider doesn't tell you to stay back. If riders are two abreast, its usually (as fits said) because a younger horse is being helped by an older. In which care, it's best to stay back and wait. I know that sounds like a pain but it's for the safety of all road users. We also get a lot of "well if it's dangerous, why put them on the road" and the answer is because horses get used to things...but they have to be let become used to things.
Of course, you always get the odd ejit who walks down the middle of the road past many places to pull in, but they annoy even us horse riders too. As long as other road users don't get annoyed at every horse they see then.

youcando2

ford2600 wrote: »

I know nothing of horses, but know about beef/dairy animals and farming in general.

A rider on horseback is a very vulnerable road user. Accordingly when I meet them on the road, I let them have as much room and time as necessary for their safety.

last Thursday I met 2 riders riding two abreast and a horse and trap while out for a hard training ride on bike. On both occasions I stopped and alerted riders and requested their permission to proceed.

Often get held up by tractors also. No big deal. All part of road sharing

I wish all drivers were like you Ford2600!!

I hate to paint all drivers with the one brush but a lot of them have absolutely no regard for horses on the road.

The road outside my house, you have to slow right down to pass a car and its only about 1km long straight that links 2 main roads but people use it to get around slow traffic so they speed up it as visibility is perfect!

If i have to ride on the road i normally ride in the middle of the road, for 2 reasons: it slows them down! and the 2nd is sometimes the hedge can be over grown so if i walk along the hedge and the sun is at a certain height you wont see a horse and rider! even in a reflective jacket!! So i ride in the middle, plenty of visibility and when i hear them slowing down i pull in for them to pass me. sometimes you will have the odd gob accelerate once you've pulled in but i normally stick a hand out to slow them down again, some will, some wont!!

Horses are soooo unpredictable, people, so slow down!! where is everybody flying around that them can't slow right down for a horse to pass. it wont kill you to be a little late for that meeting/home/etc. better that then my horse on your bonnet and me thru the windscreen!!

Rips

Yes as fits says, when we ride two abreast its mostly to prevent traffic overtaking where its unsafe to do so. We pull in as soon as possible, or get into single file where its safe.

As a oncoming driver, if you pull in and stop, most riders will speed up to get past you, so you can continue. Coming from behind, you just have to wait.

We met a lot of cars today. A nice man with a cattle trailer pulled in and turned off his engine. We doubled back several times today to safe pull in spots. Some cars approached slowly from behind and ahead, but one or two of them waited until we pulled in, only to speed past :mad:

If you pull into a ditch, I find drivers don't understand that the horse could jump out as quick as that.

'Please pass wide and slow' is that usual safety advice.

There is a yard in town here that exercise their horses on the main road. I'm sure its great for the horses, but I hate it, the whole town passes them, day in day out, its a wide road, so the overtake even with oncoming traffic and only leave the horse about 2ft of a margin. Its not enough at speeds of 30-50km and it leaves all the drivers in town thinking 'that's ok' because they are doing it everyday.

Whenever I pass, I always wait a safe distance behind, until the opposite side of the road is clear and I can overtake safely. I got beeped the other week for doing so :mad:

My friend was hit by a van this year, she was on a country road not even wide enough for two cars to pass. She pulled into a driveway and then an old woman in a micra pulled in behind the horse to let the oncoming van pass. He didn't slow down. He horse panicked, as he was now hemmed into a small driveway with a car and another approaching at speed. He's weighs about 750kg, if he backed into the micra he could have killed the woman. He tried to go forward instead, stuck his shoulder out and got clipped. Took the wing mirror of the car. The driver didn't stop but he was traced by the serial number on the wing and he lost his licence.

Another friend broke her ankle the year before.

There was six of riding single file. A man drove past in a caddy van with a rattling ladder on the top. He didn't slow down and passed too close. The horses were scared but none of the moved. He turned right at the next junction, but obviously went the wrong way, because he stopped and started reversing back onto the straight road as we were passing, 3 of us had already passed and he nearly hit my friends horse with the back of the ladder. At which point her horse tried to spin and bolt. I used my horse to block him in, but it meant that when the van righted itself and sped past us again my foot nearly scraped the roof of the car, he was that close.

Horse read fear in other horses, and as he rattled past the horse infront, her horse spooked, spun and fell on the road, crushing her leg and breaking her ankle.

Rips

My other bugbear is people who pull in, turn off their engines, only to turn it on again as you are level with the car :rolleyes: Nice gesture, but just wait like 3 more seconds, or don't bother at all!

byhookorbycrook

I educated some boy racers who used to use the road by our yard as a rat run on a Sunday. They wouldn't slow down and in fact many revved the souped up engines. If they wouldn't slow down, my good ol' half clyde could be made to "dance" with a twitch of the reins,nothing like the threat of a heavy 16.3 scratching the paint work to encourage them to have some consideration.

Not suggesting anyone else does that, by the way!

fits

On the whole round here the boy racers aren't the worst. And it doesn't just happen to horses. Was nearly clipped twice this evening when out on the bicycle. People passing at full speed and barely giving me a foot of space. Am really miffed.