Horses have a right to be on the road too!

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This is very simple! All horse riders/owners on the roads are not stuck up, posh and snobby. In fact the majority of us work really hard to afford what we do and go without other things so we can own or ride a horse.

I understand that encountering horses on the road can be tiresome and may take up much needed time to pass them safely, and then to not be thanked by a rider is just galling, but there are rude people in all walks of life, drivers often witness other drivers being inconsiderate, pedestrians stepping out in front of them, drivers doing dangerous things like drink driving or speeding, but everyone is not tarred with the same brush. There is nothing more frightening than having your stirrup whipped out from underneath you by a wing mirror!

"You shouldn't ride your horse on the road..."

Please drivers, consider that when a horse rider asks you to stop or slow down it is not because we want to be awkward, we have a very good reason, like we can see over the hedge and can see a car coming the other way, or some prat on the pavement thinks it's funny to wave a plastic bag in the horses face and we know it is going cause an issue. And the cry of "You shouldn't ride your horse on the road if you can't control it!" goes up, very true but consider this, has your dog ever slipped it's collar and run off? Just once? Has your child ever done anything like run away for a bit of fun and get too near the road? Your cat never had a near miss dashing across the road? These are all unpredictable events, as are most incidents that happen with horses. But have you ever wanted kids, dogs and cats banned from the roads? Do you refuse to slow down when a child is too near the road? Or a dog is loose running down the road?

Just because we are on horses doesn't mean we are automatically rude, inconsiderate and stuck up! The next time you sigh and moan because there are horses in front of you please remember that the person on that horse is probably just as hardworking as you, on just as tight a schedule and could be the person who serves you at the supermarket, or looks after you elderly relative for a pittance to afford a sport we love! We are only asking that we can be safe and not have our lives put in danger because people are too busy to slow down or have stereotyped horse riders as 'Hooray Henry's'. We have a right to use the roads, but more so, we have a right to be safe and so do our horses!

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Me too Manx Hound ! It's like an ever spinning roundabout that you can't get off from.

Nikki 13-May-2009 17:10

ok ok you didn't Road User ! And I CANNOT check the previous posts, I have already explained that my computer crashes when I try to do so, so I will take your word for it that you didn't, fair do's. But no need to get your boxers in a twist !

And where did the accusation of lying come from? For goodness sake, get a grip ! All I said was that I couldn't tag back through the archives, I never said I thought you were lying.

I thought I was hot-headed !!

Nikki 13-May-2009 17:10

Good grief is this one still running? I would have thought the subject had been done to death weeks ago.

Manx Hound 13-May-2009 15:22

No. It wasn't me Nikki. I did NOT raise the issue. Or are you accusing me of lying now? If you can't or won't check the previous posts on this topic then fair enough but don't make accusations you cannot back up. I did NOT raise the issue.

Road User 13-May-2009 13:46

Sorry Road User that my posts are irrelevant to you. I am not a mind reader, I had no way of knowing whether you were, or were not a bike rider. I was, as well as being a horse rider, so I think that gives me the authority to know what I am talking about from both points of view !

I think you will find you DID raise the issue. You said something along the lines (I can't go back through the archive for some reason, my computer crashes if I try to, so I cannot check this) of why horse riders didn't clear up after their horses. I would have responded in one of two ways : I may have said o no, not another one, read back through the threads, I cannot be bothered to go through yet again why it is impracticable for us to pick up as we ride along, or I may have actually taken the trouble to say for about the thousandth time why. Your memory is probably better than mine, so you can be the judge !

But either way, I did not raise the issue !!

Nikki 13-May-2009 13:24

No Nikki, I'm not a biker, thus your post is irrelevant to me. Sorry. And no, it wasn't me who raised the issue. Go read all the posts if you want proof. That's what you tell others to do. Why not follow your own advice.

Road User 13-May-2009 10:04

OP : well posted and well said !!

Can we please get back onto the subject, which is the right of horses to be on the road.

Nikki 13-May-2009 09:50

Road User : now you are just being childish. When you drive round a corner on your bike (I am assuming you are a biker), here's a novel suggestion for you. How's about driving at a speed such that you can avoid an obstacle such as a pile of horse poo? After all, the obstacle could be a child, or a rabbit, or a pheasant. Wouldn't think it would do you much good if you hit a large rabbit on a bike.

It's just commonsense. You have to drive defensively when on a motorbike especially. If you don't, then you'll end up seriously hurt or worse.

It is such a particularly nasty human characteristic ... when proved wrong or proved to be being idiotic and you are backed into a corner ... come out fighting with all guns blazing by going on the attack !

What are you talking about ... I've hijacked the topic ! It was YOU who raised the issue of horse poo being dangerous !

Nikki 13-May-2009 09:49

I think this topic should be renamed, "Horses Have A Right To Poo On The Road", because clearly that's what Nikki is interested in telling us all now. (Yes, if you look down, you'll see that she hijacked the topic).

Road User 13-May-2009 08:28

How does the issue of horse poo on the road affect the issue of slowing down to pass a horse on the road? There is a whole gripe dedicated to this topic as Nikki has already pointed out. And 'How do you like that', while I do think that your comments aren't really mature, it is the flip side of the coin I think. This is basically what motorists are saying to horseriders about riding on the roads - despite it being perfectly legal they don't want horses on the roads because it inconveniences them, that comment I feel was made in the same vein, to point out the down right stubborn veiws of some people - who want it all their own way!

OP 12-May-2009 21:40

Thanks Nikki, I'll try and make sure that I check the freshness of horse poo before I decide how to deal with it next time I come round a corner into a pile of the stuff. Oh, and I'll be sure to avoid driving at all when it rains, just in case there's a fresh steaming pile of it glistening with raindrops.

Road User 12-May-2009 17:20

Horse poo is ONLY dangerous if you go and hit it at high speed and when it is fresh, or it is raining. And if you hit it, you are either not paying attention to the road conditions, which as an ex biker is absolutely essential if you want to live, or you are going too fast to be able to take the appropriate evasive action.

Nikki 12-May-2009 16:30

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Horses have a right to be on the road too!

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