# Overtaking horses



## Tails and Trails (Jan 9, 2014)

Im quite horse savvy, have experience of riding and my other half rides.

So i always slow down for horse and pass slow and wide

today I did just this, for two pairs of horses ahead of me riding 2 abreast (or it might have been 3 horses with 2 abreast, im not sure)

Its a lane with a stables on it, but can also be quite fast with traffic.

So here I was, already in the process of passing wide and slow. I was quietly and slowly getting up alongside the horses, on the other side of the road, with the intention of slowly returning to my side of the road in front of the horses.
It was safe to do so at this point, as the road was very straight with a good long view and there was no oncoming traffic. However, by the time I had taken to get alongside the horses, a car had come bombing up his side of the road. He could see well in advance what I was doing, but kept his fast speed up. This left me with the choice of suddenly accelerating alongside and in front of 4 horses, which I was was not prepared to do. So he slowed down a tad but still proceeded to flash me to compel me to do so, but I kept to my decision.
At which point the riders became aware of the situation and pulled over on to the grass verge, as I was stranded alongside them, unable to get round in front back to my side of the rode, as the other driver had stopped too close in front of me blocking my access.

What does everyone think of this situation?


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## Wiz201 (Jun 13, 2012)

he was a stupid idiot and should have slowed down to let you pass as well as passing the horses.


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

The bloke was a complete w*nker! Sounds like he had plenty of time to be considerate and was obviously going too fast if he appeared from nowhere in the conditions that you state. 

A scenario similar to this resulted in an horrendous accident with someone I know. One rider broke a leg, one rider broke her back and ended up in a wheelchair. Both horses had to be destroyed. 

The driver was unscathed - just delayed.


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## lymorelynn (Oct 4, 2008)

The other driver was being pigheaded in the extreme!
Okay, the riders shouldn't have been two abreast on a road that can be busy but the other driver was obviously aware of them and you. He should have slowed down to allow you to pass.
I am a rider and live in area where seeing riders on the roads is common - I always give them a wide berth when overtaking and have rarely had less than the same courtesy extended to me.


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## Tails and Trails (Jan 9, 2014)

Hi guys I'm glad you said that. Thank you

What happened next was I eventually got round the horses back my own side of road and slowly set off.
I had my Windows down and I heard the three lady riders shouting and ranting at me

I pulled over and tried to ask what they are shouting at me for as I couldn't understand what they were saying with them all shouting at once.
It took me couple goes to get that out as I couldn't get a word in.

One then accuses me of deliberately riding from behind them into oncoming traffic endangering the lives of their horses

I was a bit gobsmacked and when I had explained the facts of me passing them slowly they replied when the other car blocked me I should have reversed back behind the horses


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## Wiz201 (Jun 13, 2012)

oh god, they were shouting at the wrong driver. What speed were you going at? I usually slow down to about 10 - 15 mph on a clear road around horses if I'm overtaking. Obviously slower than that if I'm waiting to pull out.


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## Tails and Trails (Jan 9, 2014)

10 or less


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## Wiz201 (Jun 13, 2012)

um, I always pull pass horses smoothly so going above 10mph would probably be safer. Doesn't excuse the behaviour of the other driver though


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## Tails and Trails (Jan 9, 2014)

Wiz201 said:


> um, I always pull pass horses smoothly so going above 10mph would probably be safer. Doesn't excuse the behaviour of the other driver though


i was driving smoothly. they were two abreast also

seems a bit odd to me they abused the horse friendly driver.
clearly that jumped to the wrong conclusion. even when i explained the actual facts to them, they wouldnt stop their attitude.
after ranting about 'endangering them', seems a bit odd they then tell me I should have endangered them by reversing back around them.

I also got a spiel about how they have to deal with inconsiderate drivers putting them at risk.
but my thoughts are if thats the case, they shouldnt go round discouraging considerate drivers by being hostile toward them.

the other matter of concern is that they clearly never noticed how I had been slowly overtaking them this whole time, even before the other car came into sight. seems strange to me that 3 horse riders dont even notice traffic, poor riding really.


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## Dingle (Aug 29, 2008)

Some people are just oxygen wasters and have no time or courtesy for others... I had an incident once where my young daughter (5 at the time) and I were out hacking, to get to the nice bridal way we had a short bit of rd to nip down so two abreast with me on the outside we headed down. Some silly couple in a posh 4x4 decide to blow their horn at us for being in their way. This caused my daughters pony to spook a little... Unluckily for them I had spotted this motor several times before as they live almost at the entrance to the woods, exactly where we were heading. They got a shock of their lives when i dismounted in their driveway and not so politely gave them a piece of my mind.


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## Tails and Trails (Jan 9, 2014)

Dingle said:


> Some people are just oxygen wasters and have no time or courtesy for others... I had an incident once where my young daughter (5 at the time) and I were out hacking, to get to the nice bridal way we had a short bit of rd to nip down so two abreast with me on the outside we headed down. Some silly couple in a posh 4x4 decide to blow their horn at us for being in their way. This caused my daughters pony to spook a little... Unluckily for them I had spotted this motor several times before as they live almost at the entrance to the woods, exactly where we were heading. They got a shock of their lives when i dismounted in their driveway and not so politely gave them a piece of my mind.


Yes, but when us drivers are good we get abuse for it. And the bad driver is defended!


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## lilythepink (Jul 24, 2013)

Times like these can be very confusing all round so I can see why a rider would blame the wrong driver...especially if the rider doesn't drive themselves.

Horses always have right of way on the road but there isn't enough info out there how to pass safely any more.

The other driver flashing at you is a complete moron. Annoys me these selfish people only ever think about themselves and are totally unaware of the consequences of their actions.....flashing lights, driving too fast approaching from front or behind and worse yet....sounding a horn in close proximity to a horse being ridden.

Too many motorists think a horse will react exactly the same way as a bicycle.


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## Tails and Trails (Jan 9, 2014)

lilythepink said:


> Times like these can be very confusing all round so I can see why a rider would blame the wrong driver...especially if the rider doesn't drive themselves.
> 
> Horses always have right of way on the road but there isn't enough info out there how to pass safely any more.
> 
> ...


It was obvious the reason they got wrong end of stick as they hadn't noticed all along when I had been manouvering around them. They didnt notice me until the very last point when I was head on with the other driver flashing me as that was all they ranted about

To my mind thats terrible riding on their part. And whats more once I put them right on the facts and pointed out to them I was in that very position because I was thinking of the horses they showed no interest in back tracking on their own hostility to the point they came out with comments like I should have reversed my car back round behind their horses!

Very rude ladies. They and the other car driver shared common traits of rudeness in consideration and confrontation. Both are risk to responsible drivers and horse riders.
These sorts of riders will put off drivers doing the right thing.
Also if they had noticed me earlier and thus seen the other car blocking me they would have come to a stop enabling me to get in front of them quicker getting out of the way of the danger the other driver was forcing me into

Whats more after I had pulled over and got out to talk to them they proceeded to ride of down the side of my car continuing wlth the comments not allowing me to pull away first which meant I had to pass them slow and wide a second time 
This time they saw me doing this and far from showing some thanks I heard more rude comments being made whilst I was passing them.
Clearly more interested in saving face than showing gratitude


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## Moobli (Feb 20, 2012)

From your description it sounds like you were driving safely and sensibly and it was the other driver who drove dangerously and with excess speed for the situation.


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## Amelia66 (Feb 15, 2011)

I'm going to take a probably semi unpopular side here, but as you were the one on the wrong side of the road technically if anything had happened you would have been to blame. Yes the other drive sound like a knob and the ladies on the horses were incredibly rude when you were only trying to be courteous to them, but when the driver had come barreling down the road i probably would have just dropped back behind the horses just encase. 

What if he hadn't of been able to stop in time? 

I know had it been a car you had been passing at the time you could have sped up to over take and couldn't because of the horses, but you were the only person in the wrong section of road.

sounds like you got unlucky meeting some very rude road users this morning tho!


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## Tails and Trails (Jan 9, 2014)

Amelia66 said:


> I'm going to take a probably semi unpopular side here, but as you were the one on the wrong side of the road technically if anything had happened you would have been to blame. Yes the other drive sound like a knob and the ladies on the horses were incredibly rude when you were only trying to be courteous to them, but when the driver had come barreling down the road i probably would have just dropped back behind the horses just encase.
> 
> What if he hadn't of been able to stop in time?
> 
> ...


Oh no I wouldn't argue the legal technicality but the other driver had no risk of not breaking properly as he had stopped barrelling toward me in time as he saw I decided to continue my overtake the horses. but then he deliberately edged forward flashing his lights trying to force me to 'reverse back behind the horses
Which I wasn't prepared to do as horses would have spooked especially as the riders hadnt noticed me. Between them not slowing down and him doing what he did I was stuck with the choice of staying there or risking the horses

The riders and driver had a lot in common and if I'm in same situation again I will forget about risk to horses due to reversing and do that anyway


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## lilythepink (Jul 24, 2013)

Tails and Trails said:


> It was obvious the reason they got wrong end of stick as they hadn't noticed all along when I had been manouvering around them. They didnt notice me until the very last point when I was head on with the other driver flashing me as that was all they ranted about
> 
> To my mind thats terrible riding on their part. And whats more once I put them right on the facts and pointed out to them I was in that very position because I was thinking of the horses they showed no interest in back tracking on their own hostility to the point they came out with comments like I should have reversed my car back round behind their horses!
> 
> ...


Anybody can go and get any horse or pony and ride it on the road.....it wouldn't be sensible to do this for many reasons but it is possible.


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## Amelia66 (Feb 15, 2011)

Tails and Trails said:


> Oh no I wouldn't argue the legal technicality but the other driver had no risk of not breaking properly as he had stopped barreling toward me in time as he saw I decided to continue my overtake the horses. but then he deliberately edged forward flashing his lights trying to force me to 'reverse back behind the horses
> Which I wasn't prepared to do as horses would have spooked especially as the riders hadn't noticed me. Between them not slowing down and him doing what he did I was stuck with the choice of staying there or risking the horses
> 
> The riders and driver had a lot in common and if I'm in same situation again I will forget about risk to horses due to reversing and do that anyway


Ahh i see!

ugh i hate impatient drivers, he sounds like a right pratt!


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## Tails and Trails (Jan 9, 2014)

Amelia66 said:


> Ahh i see!
> 
> ugh i hate impatient drivers, he sounds like a right pratt!


not according to the silly cows riding the horses


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

As the OP stated that the road was straight and he could see far enough ahead to determine that the road was clear, then I don't see how he can be accused of overtaking in an unsafe situation. Clearly, the other car was driving too fast. It may have been any obstruction in the road - a combine harvester blocking the road, an accident, a herd of sheep - whatever. The second car could clearly see that the OP was already passing the horses so he should have simply eased off the accelerator to allow him to complete the overtake and return to the left lane, especially as he should have been slowing down himself in order the pass the horses safely too. 

If the OP had chosen to overtake without being sure the road looked clear, that is a different matter.

The riders should have been concentrating on the road and what was going on around them and actually flagged down the approaching driver impelling him to stop. They should have thanked the OP for his consideration, rather than having a go at him!

I used to ride on the road a lot and I was 100% aware of what was going on around me. I took charge of the vehicles around me, in effect, and would put out a hand to stop cars overtaking in dangerous places or wave them through if I could see the road was clear, to assist them and let them know the horses were ok to be passed. Self preservation and the safety of my horse were at the forefront of my mind when riding on a public road.


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## MerlinsMum (Aug 2, 2009)

Is it just me that thinks reversing back *past the horses* would have been the least safe option?


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## Tails and Trails (Jan 9, 2014)

MerlinsMum said:


> Is it just me that thinks reversing back *past the horses* would have been the least safe option?


im glad you picked up on that one

my jaw nearly hit the ground when one of the riders actually had a go at me telling me I should have done that!


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## MerlinsMum (Aug 2, 2009)

Tails and Trails said:


> im glad you picked up on that one


Makes sense to me as your view is more limited when reversing versus going forward, and if the horses panicked while you were doing so, then you'd be less able to manoeuvre out of their way.


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## Elles (Aug 15, 2011)

> Never ride more than two abreast, and ride in single file on narrow or busy roads and when riding round bends.


From the highway code, so it does sound as though the riders were okay to ride two abreast on the road in question, though would have been sensible to drop back to single file if a car approaches from in front or behind.

The riders should have been aware of you and helped you pass them. They told you to reverse back behind them?!  They need locking up. 

Idiot horse riders not paying attention and idiot, impatient driver harassing you. Bad situation and you were trying to do the right thing. 

Maybe next time if there is one, wind down your window and shout to ask the riders if they know you're there. :yikes:

Unfortunately owning or riding a horse doesn't make a human more sensible or polite than not owning or riding one.


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## Blitz (Feb 12, 2009)

I have come in a bit late on this one. 

I am on the road with driven horses most days. We do sometimes get people coming by us far too fast but we also get the ones like you who come by so slowly it seems like they will never get by and often another car is approaching by the time they get by and there is a near miss. I know it is difficult and whatever you do will end up being wrong but personally I prefer cars that slow up well behind us and then go by at a sensible speed when they can be sure there is nothing coming towards them.
If it is not safe we will tend to trot on to either get off the road or to get to place where there is enough visibility to be sure it is safe and then indicate to the driver to come by - and ALWAYS thank every driver that comes by us unless they are speeding ridiculously. Even if they ease off a fraction they are thanked.

It sounds like the other driver was an idiot and the horse riders were even bigger idiots because even if it all went wrong you were doing your best to be courteous and should be thanked.


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