took my young horse out on main road tonight for first time 2nite ,he is more use to been hacked round farm and quiet roads ,the girl that rides hime wants to out long hack it involes hacking alone main road,put pink bandges on i had high vis on and aimee walked beside us ,we were both doing slow down signs but non of drivers slowed down  apollo was doing so well until we hacked back to farm road this bus came flying down road doing 80mph on 60mph road we both done slow done but the buse drove up apollo bum he gave wee spoke but carmed down

can not belive how many people that do not now or wont slow down for horse

I can't understand this either - people are just so stupid! We are lucky where our horse is as most people are very good and do slow down but I know places where this doesn't happen and often wonder if these people realise just how easily spooked a horse can be and if they really want half a ton of horse through their windscreen?

its been long time since iv riddin in main road am happy plodding about feilds etc ,non of drivers slowed down for me 2nite apollo 18.3hds clyd gelding hes very laid back horse ,still can not belive bus driver driving up our bums am going to fone stage coacg tomm and complain as it could of been kid on pony etc x

I know....its BANG out of Order....!

I dont have horses...only My pack of Beloved...and Bee Witching...Border Collies...but I live in small semi-rural community...on a tiny country lane...where there are Many Horse Folk...Stables and Riding Schools....

It irritates THE HELL out of Me...the speed at which total idiots...speed down our Lane...with absolutely NO Respect for the villagers...the kids out on Riding lessons...the kids...cats...and dogs that all LIVE HERE.....

I am thinking of approaching the council to get speed humps...

What with that and The Contaminated Land... Commercial Business over My Fence...and the Environmental Damage he is Causing....unchecked by The Environment Agency.... every minute of every day....I am about at My Wits End.... :(

What will it take....to get the Ignorant to realise the depth of harm they cause...to the innocent....???

You have My sympathy....It Beggars Be_ Lie_ F...quite Frankly.... :(

I always get cross at my Dad for not being a bit more horse considerate, he just say well he pays road tax they don't so should be in the fields and not on the roads.

Also many people probably have no comprehension how a horse may react to traffic, most have never had anything to do with horses.

I don't know what Ted bandages mean, or the signals you mention (though I don't drive)

i have idea heard that one of my fellow heavy horse people have attached a stone on to end of driving whip if people do not slow down they try and smash their windows

all along main road is farms and stables but people do not give crap ,am still recovering from c section also have spinal propbs if i had come off i would of been b,,,,,,,,,,,,,, and back in hosp thank god apollo never reared or bucked when bus come up are bum

> often wonder if these people realise just how easily spooked a horse can be

No they really don't in our urbanised society.

I agree Barbara - I don't think that people are as animal aware especially in urban areas. Where we live in Scotland you have to watch for sheep, deer etc on the roads and we do come across horses etc fairly often so you do tend to expect the unexpected but if you have only ever driven in town then it would come as a bit of a surprise I suppose. Time to bring back the good old public Information films I think. (The litter one affected me so much that I never drop litter 40 years later and I can still recite the 'when you handle tools up there let your watchword be take care' one :-) ).

Having said that I don't think that trying to break their windows is a good idea - it simply takes you down to their level.

> I am thinking of approaching the council to get speed humps...

FoS, you generally need to be in an urban area for these as you also need street lighting and visible (and regularly enforced) speed restrictions to be in place.

If you live in a rural area talk to your Parish Council first and see whether they have Parish Plans in place that might assist them to take action about your complaints.  One effective measure available to residents is to join up with a neighbouring village to start a Community Speedwatch initiative.

These types of community action need volunteers so if it matters to you 'put your hand up' and get something done.  Speeding is an issue of education as well as prosecution so write something for your Parish Magazine, village website, or local paper too.  Cut out the random capital letters and ellipses though if you want to be taken seriously :)

As someone who works in transport I find it difficult to believe that a bus would be moving at 80 mph on ANY road, as most have speed limiters on them and, any driver caught going over the speed limit would not only lose his job but put his employer at risk.

Did you have a speed gun in order to estimate the speed? ;)

As it was a bus it will have had a number and the livery of the company so did you complain?  It is a simple matter to check the tachograph for violations, and if it was not fitted with one, there are other ways of identifying misdemeanours! ;)

Drivers and companies like this need feedback from people like you.

Glad to hear you were wearing High Viz, so many riders do NOT and then have the nerve to complain about other road users.

Many, many years ago (20+ years) before i could drive i was on a double decker bus with my two dogs on the top deck going to Wansted flats when i saw a dead horse and a mini in the road that had, had a collision. It was so very upsetting. An image that will always stay with me. I am not a horse lover but i have the utmost respect for like minded road users whether or not they pay taxes and what ever mode of transport they choose. I'm a sobbing wreck if i squash a bird. A deer that ran out in front of me a few years ago in scotland while i was driving was a bad enough experience!
People will never learn until it happens to them!

Maybe a few of these mad drivers should see the damage a spooked horse can do to a car as in the case of Katie Prices 4x4, it was a miracle no one was killed in the incident.

I was thinking 'Public information film' with that sort of footage in it, a bit like the think bike ones.

Hi Dogs A Babe...

Thanks for the info...yes I feel a letter for the Parish Council Magazine a brewing.... :)

Excuse My ignorance...but what is the definition of "ellipse"...???

Regrettably.....I am unable to get online at the moment....other WISE...i would Google it...(Or may bee WIKI peed ia..... IT.... :)

I think adding a stone to the end of a whip with the intent to smash a window would leave you liable to prosecution and of course could lead to a serious RTA with faralities.

There can be no OTHER reason to add a stone to a whip and to even suggest that this might be a potential "solution" to inconsiderate drivers smacks of "kettle" "pot" and "black" and is an attitude with which I have no sympathy whatsoever!

How comfortable would you feel standing in the dock at an inquest into the death of a child about saying "well the driver deserved it" or similar!

Quite frankly I am absolutely APPALLED at such an outlook!

Ellipsis ...

Ellipses (plural)  ...     ...    ...

It's OK on here as most of us can read past it (and the random capital letters), but you'll need your serious head on if you want to make a point to your Parish Council, or if you need the Parish Magazine Editor on your side.

I sympathise having been ousted from my horse once when a lorry's air brakes hissed!

I do have to make a couple of points though (as a bus driver) I doubt he was doing 80mph, we certainly can't get 80 out of our new buses and most stagecoach ones in Ayrshire are clapped out. Also most buses have limiters fitted so I suspect he was at the most doing 45 or 50, still far too fast to pass a horse.

The second point I wanted to make which may give you some comfort, all professional drivers must now have, or be working towards, their CPC (certificate of professional competency). Part of the course highlights how spooky and unpredictable horses are so if he didn't know that before he'll learn it soon.

I once went to a horse riders road safety briefing given by the mounted police. They said that if riding with a friend you should ride 2 abreast so vehicles can't squeeze past you, I suspect they get away with that because they have police written on their vests. Actually only yesterday I saw someone riding along with a yellow vest with the blue and silver squares that the police have, with large blue letters on the back saying POLITE then in smaller letters request for you to slow down. I quite liked it from the distance people would think them mounted police and may behave better :-)

> Having said that I don't think that trying to break their windows is a good idea - it simply takes you down to their level.

It's worse than that. The 'inconsiderate' driver may actually be inconsiderate or may most likely just be unaware of how a horse reacts. The rider with a stone at the end of their whip has put it there deliberately to cause damage. I would think the police would take a very dim view of that :-(

Although I agree many drivers are inconsiderate to horses and riders and don't pass them wide and slow, many horse riders (particularly in the south-east, we've noticed) are rude to drivers who do, by not acknowledging and thanking them by a nodded head or a raised hand. Sometimes they even carry on the conversation they're having with their companion, or on their mobile!

Your exaggeration of the bus's speed is understandable - a bus driving legally at 50 mph seems to be travelling a lot faster than at actually is, and takes time to slow down - but would mean your official complaint wouldn't be taken seriously.

>Although I agree many drivers are inconsiderate to horses and riders and don't pass them wide and slow, many horse riders (particularly in the south-east, we've noticed) are rude to drivers who do, by not acknowledging and thanking them by a nodded head or a raised hand. Sometimes they even carry on the conversation they're having with their companion, or on their mobile!<br />

This is how it is on the Gower.  My husband has ridden all his life and is very polite passing horses and very rarely is he acknowledged for his efforts.  He always says he wishes he hadn't bothered.  I can't understand how you can be riding a beautiful animal through an area of outstanding natural beauty and just have your head down texting, I see it all the time :sigh: 

I imagine when some drivers aren't given a polite nod they don't bother again and the people that take their riding a bit more seriously like the OP are left to suffer for it.

Living in Durham it's a particular concern as only a few years ago we had a father and son killed walking with their horse and caravan on the A66 going to Appleby.  Now there are huge lit signs flashing around this time of year, but still the traffic is mad.  I was driving around Bishop Auckland ring road and everyone going slowly to get round various horse drawn vehicles and one guy thought it a good idea to undertake at vast speed the people trying to get past them!  Shocking!  Mind mostly when they've got harness racing type gigs they aren't worried about traffic - it frightens me!

poor you,how awful!luckily,round here most people are sensible and slowly give horses a wide berth,but you will always get the odd idiot,im afraid!My ex was one such.

I allways slow down and move right over when passing horses, yesterday i was comming down the back way to my house which is a single track road with sharp bends. I came around a bend and there was a girl on a horse standing in the middle of the road, i asume she hurd me comming so was waiting, so i compleatly pulled over and stopped to let her past. A friends sisters horse kicked someones car once becuase he had gotten right up the horse's bum and started flashing his lights! Another friend has had a horse hurt by a tractor that had a spike on it that cut the horses leg as it went past.

However i have seen a young girl on a horse that was clearly terrifyed of cars trying to ride it down a road, she allmost got chucked off 3 times that i saw as the horse went crazy at each parked car, it was rearing up, jumping about like a bull and backing up all over the road and spinning around at one point. she was also alown so would have had no one to help if she had falled and could have easerly caused an accident. Ive seen loads of people trying to get there hourses use to cars but they all walk them down a road or just stand them by a road.

The public info film idea is a good one.  I did see one a few years ago, I recall it showing a horse rearing with the hooves coming down onto a windscreen (from the POV of the driver).  Quite effective I thought, but I think one like the think bike ones showing the potential damage would be even better.

Edit: found it.  It actually is a Think! film, not *quite* what I thought I remembered but it is the one I was thinking of.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNzmvVan35I

PennyGC
Have you seen how fast these people go with the ponies in harness...madness!!
We live not far from 2 riding stables, we see them on the road a lot and when people pass and slow down they do acknowledge the driver with a polite nod or hand wave.
Give me a horse over a car anyday, I love riding:)

My route to an office for many years was over Epsom Downs so I was well used to skittish racehorses in the road and everyone gave them a wide berth. There are lots of horseriders around here, some sensible, some not, and common sense is needed by drivers and horseriders.  Recently I saw a woman holding a very young baby in one arm with a horse on a halter trying to cross a busy dual carriageway.

> with my two dogs on the top deck going to Wansted flats when i saw a dead horse

I used to live opposite Wanstead Flats :) The main problem when I lived there was the cows in the road, garden, High Street, school playing field ...... :)

i under took my carriage driving exam few years back we were taken out on road ,i use hand signalls and alwyas thank drivers ,but yest hack was worse ever,i have phoned stage coach and told them about their driver ,wher my clydesdale is is off main dalry,kilwiing to irvine road the ayrshire drivers are so rude they do not give a damm about horses

I think that you will find that many drivers are also horseriders and both are required to abide the RTA and the Highway Code.

As a non horse person so to speak, I often wonder why riders take their horses onto main roads knowing full well there is a chance they maybe spooked?

Can someone explain this to me please? TA x

How else can you get from A to B nowadays?

Same reason you take your car on the road lol.. to get somewhere!  When we had horses my daughter would hack from our yard down to the riding school for a lesson or to use the school, also we were only 5mins from the beach so hacked there too.  It is also very much part of a horses education, bit like taking your dog out on a lead in public places to socialise them.  I was hit by a car when out walking with my daughter about four years ago.  I was walking along side the horse wearing a hi viz coat (not vest) horse had hi viz rug on and daughter had vest with PASS SLOWLY thank you on it and a car didn't see us!  The drivers that drive up horse's bottoms are probably the same drivers that run cyclists and pedestrains over - in other words, inconsiderate drivers!  We found boy racers were actually the best, they didn't seem to want their cars damaged, pensioners were the worst!  But shouldn't really generalise.. takes all sorts I suppose!

As a non horse person so to speak, I often wonder why riders take their horses onto main roads knowing full well there is a chance they maybe spooked?

Can someone explain this to me please? TA x

To get from A to B,  like everyone else.

There are just too many Mr Toads on the roads and the only deterrent to their ruthless and dangerous driving is either a speed camera or a police presence. Anything that hits them in their pockets or on their licences is fine by me. I live in a rural area and the roads around here are about as dangerous as they get. We campaigned for a speed reduction from 60 to 40 mph and got it but it hasn't made a wit of difference to the majority of drivers who believe that speed restrictions do not apply to them . The most dangerous roads are the B country roads, often used by pedestrians ,cyclists and horse riders. They are often very narrow  and have blind bends and steep inclines. Why , for G...s sake do these roads have a 60 mph restriction ? There are plenty of idiots who interpret this as the mandatory speed and woe betide anyone travelling at a more judicious speed who are taking account of riders etc just around the bend !

The sad fact is that action is only taken after 3 fatalities. How cynical is that ? When did road safety policy become accident response rather than accident prevention ?

The road safety charity Brake will advise you on your concerns and  help you to set up a local  campaign group .

I would have thought the BHS would be more helpful, they have been running campaigns on road safety for years and collate stats.

If you are not a member why not join? ;)

https://www.bhs.org.uk/About_Us/Campaigns/Safety.aspx

ok thanks for the A-B thing, I'd never thought of it like that before, I always assumed it was a leisure/stroll type thing!  Btw, I always slow down very slowly for horses even if I don't  get *it*.  You know the horse thing, I like dogs. I don't see the point of owning a horse, but they are magnificent animals and have the greatest respect for those who do horses.x

>thanks for the A-B thing, I'd never thought of it like that before, I always assumed it was a leisure/stroll type thing!

Well yes, it is - but I'm assuming you don't live on a vast private estate and need to walk your dog/s along the pavements and roads to get to the park or fields to exercise them? It's just the same with horses - you need to ride them along the roads to get from the stables or field to bridleways and fields for exercise. They need exercise just as much as dogs do.

I don't ride, don't want to (scared of horses unless there is a fence between us ;-) ) but I always slow down and give them a wide berth. If they don't acknowlede me then I think they might just have their hands full keeping the horse calmed down as it might just be a tad skittish. What would you rather they do - say thank you, and risk falling off, or keep the horse under control? Those that can and do say thank you get a huge smile from me, and a nod and a wave :-D

> If they don't acknowlede me then I think they might just have their hands full keeping the horse calmed down as it might just be a tad skittish.

Our village riders are often too busy texting on their mobiles to acknowledge the rest of us!

In all seriousness though I do wish there was a road riding proficiency test for horse riders - I've been on both sides of the debate as it were and, although I stopped riding not long after I started to drive, I was a more considerate road user as a horse rider once I'd been driving a car for a while.  So many of the riders that don't bother to thank me are in their teens...

Another point to note is that one's idea of speed is often related to the size and sound of a vehicle, that's why tractors, lorries and buses, all seem to travel faster than they are.  I read the data recently about an exercise in our village a few years ago when a speed camera was used, not for prosecution but for a test of speed.  Pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders all thought the vehicles were travelling much faster than they were.  It's worth mentioning too that a car drivers idea of slow enough for horses might be different to the riders view.  Education on both sides is important

My daughter did her Pony Club road safety test, and there is the BHS road safety test https://www.bhs.org.uk/Training_and_Qualifications/Riding_and_Road_Safety.aspx of course it is not complusary for any horse riders to take this test but all PC members will, and any responsible horse rider should. 

Thanks for that link - I notice that it's possible to arrange a local test for 8 riders or more.  I might suggest to our Parish Council that we investigate this further and/or that we publicise our nearest test event on our village website.  Perhaps we need to advise some of the parents in our village too as they might not know what is available...

i carry my schooling whip out to the side of me and when cars are too close smash it down on their roof - this stops them getting so close and means that my horse won't hurt herself kicking the living daylights out of their car :)
95% of drivers are so kind and considerate though, I always wear hi vis and make a big deal about thanking them.

a yr and a half ago a squeezed between the white centre line and me riding my horse hee took my ankle with his wing mirror.  it badly sprained my ankle but luckily I was riding my older horse so She stayed calm - although as my foot kicked her on the return she did look back at me as if to say " are you sure you want me to canter on the road?  We don't normally".  They guy then swore at me and complained that i'd damaged his wing mirror and was going to sue me.  He got out his car and hurling abuse - Hanna (my horse) had been quite calm until then when with all the screaming and honking his horn she decided to chuck a little rear into the mix.  Needless to say he looked petrified and got back in his car screaming at me.  Another driver had stopped to check I was ok and couldn't believe what had happened.

Luckily this is the only time I have ever had a car touch me or the horse in years of riding on the roads. 

I think some poster around livery yards and stables of a car thats had a collision with a horse would make drivers slow down!

>If they don't acknowlede me then I think they might just have their hands full keeping the horse calmed down as it might just be a tad skittish.

A nod can be all that's needed.

I must say all the riders ( and we have loads as there's a racing yard close by) round our way are very polite and give a cheery wave and thumbs up when I slow down, mind you, I'm so terrified of having an accident with a horse I crawl past at a snails pace as far away from the horse as I can, and won't even consider over taking if another car is coming the opposite way. I've seen the aftermath of what happens when a car comes into contact with a horse, truly horrific and something that haunted me for years.

You know, I've been following this post with interest!

We were on a hack once and my friend and I were waiting at a red light when someone in a car rolled into the back of her horse bumping into her hocks. Needless to say her horse was a cleveland bay cross and quite fiesty and kicked the cars bumper off. Nothing much the driver could say as it was his fault.

Have you ever wondered why there were roads in the 1st place? For cars/lorries etc to speeed on?
No, it was for horses and carts.
Without horses (and carts), cars wouldn't have evolved.
I think car drivers should know that fact as so often horses on roads are frowned upon but they came 1st.
I love seeing horses out riding.

>I think car drivers should know that fact as so often horses on roads are frowned upon but they came 1st.

Absolutely right. Cars are guests on riders' territory, not the other way around.

Cars are guests on riders' territory, not the other way around.

Couldn't have put this better :-)

It's what I say to my Dad when eh huffs and puffs about horses being on the roads instead of in fields 'where they belong' (according to him).

To be fair to him he does slow down and is careful but it's down wth such poor grace, think I will rename him 'Victor Meldrew'. ;)

i put it down to jealousy - whenever I'm driving and I see someone out riding I'm always totally consumed with jealousy that I'm stuck in a car and they're enjoying a ride.......................  but maybe that's just because I'm completely horse mad :)