Horses.

Diane Bulley · Post by **Diane Bulley** » 11 Feb 2007, 5:42pm

A lot of horses are exercised on the country lanes in this area (Kettering) and I just used to ride by them. Then once I was overtaking a string of them, and suddenly, a big one in the middle backed across the road in front of me, nearly trampling me under its feet. The man riding it completely lost control, and was very embarrassed. I braked hard, and it just missed me by about 3'. Awful shock. Then I thought about it. Horses are listening all the time, you can see their ears go up, but cannot identify cyclists as they only hear the sound of the wheels spinning around. They are naturally focussed to protect themselves from predators, and this horse that nearly killed me may have been frightened, thinking I was a cheetah or some other dangerous animal. Ever since, when I approach any horses from behind, I ring my bell and call out "Good morning! " - and say to the riders " I am talking to the horses, so they know its me ! " Better safe than sorry.

Charlie · Post by **Charlie** » 11 Feb 2007, 5:58pm

A lot of horses are ridden in the lanes by me, I ride a 'Fixed bike' so I'm deadly quiet, the once I spooked a horse, I appeared by the side of it
despite giving it a very wide berth, I realised it hadn't heard me approaching, it panicked and reared up, I shouted my apologies to the rider.

I now purposely flick the brake lever till I see the rider has heard me and acknowledges I'm there,I check behind that it's clear and overtake on the opposite side of the road, more times than not I get a very cheery "thankyou" shouted to me.

Simon L6 · Post by **Simon L6** » 11 Feb 2007, 6:14pm

If you've ever been chased by a bolting horse then you treat them with great caution. I slow right down and talk from about 30 yards out, then pull well over to the other side of the road. And, having got by, pedal like a madman.

Post by Si » 11 Feb 2007, 7:00pm

I find that it's better to call out than to make any kind of mechanical noise. Horses are used to human voices but not bells, etc! When I used to ride, years ago, I found that mine was perfectly happy with any sound that it recognised but not sounds and sights that it didn't.

Dai · Post by **Dai** » 11 Feb 2007, 7:20pm

I've always found that whistling a happy tune solves all the problems. However if I see what looks like hunt riders I stop for a rest because they are usually being followed by the idiotic band of brothers known as hunt followers, who ride the range in 4x4 death machines usually talking (possibly to the fox) on mobile phones as the career along lanes barely wide enough for a hiker at maximum velocity. I call 4x4s dum-dum bullets - because they are huge chunks of flying metal driven, for the most part, by dummies.

thirdcrank · Post by **thirdcrank** » 11 Feb 2007, 7:52pm

I think a search on horses will show we trotted this one out around February/March last year. (And to summarise my position: the horse can see you coming, the rider cannot. Some horses are spooked by cyclists, others are not. If the rider tries to control a spooked horse rather than looking round to see what is spooking it, the situation can only get worse and the hapless cyclist will get the blame. This can happen even if you approach at walking speed)

bikepacker · Post by **bikepacker** » 11 Feb 2007, 8:12pm

My daughter is a horse rider she and other riders I know state they would always prefer a cyclist to call out when a short distance behind. I always shout "cyclist passing" then both horse and rider know you are there.

reohn2 · Post by **reohn2** » 11 Feb 2007, 11:15pm

I'm with Bikepacker and Si, they recognise the human voice also the riders appreciate the passing the time of day.

Diane Bulley · Post by **Diane Bulley** » 12 Feb 2007, 6:35am

Thank you to all who have replied. You are quite right, its the human voice that horses recognise and understand.

I think the CTC should send out this information to Schools for their Cycling Proficiency Theory Tests.

Simon L6 · Post by **Simon L6** » 12 Feb 2007, 1:24pm

this very forum gives you the opportunity to make that very point
http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewforum.php?f=11

stof · Post by **stof** » 12 Feb 2007, 1:38pm

The most spooked I've ever seen a horse was when I was out with the kiddy trailer. They were coming towards us, heading the opposite way on a fairly wide road but the horse took against the trailer flag and wouldn't pass until I took it off. Fortunately the rider guessed what the problem was!

Actually, horses quite often get skitterish around the bike+trailer combo, I guess most are pretty well used to solo cyclists but don't know what to make of more unusual vehicle...

softpedal · Post by **softpedal** » 12 Feb 2007, 2:30pm

I was out cycling and could see ahead of me 2 horses and riders having a difficult time. One was obviously very badly spooked, sideways across the road and no way was it going past a small peice of white board about 18 in. sq. lying in the road.
Went past on the verge moved the card and got rewarded with smiles and a thankyou from 2 very nice young ladies. What it is to be a knight in shining armour.

tina · Post by **tina** » 12 Feb 2007, 2:49pm

As a cycle trainer in Herts, I for one alway warn our trainees to talk to the horse and not ring their bell (it is even a 'homework' question for the children).

I have ridden horses too and this seems to work well from up on the beast too!

BTW. I was sat on a picnic bench enjoying my lunch on a Route 12 link last week when a horse who was out on its first ever ride out with a human on top took exception to me in my yellow jacket. It took a lot of talking to get it to walk past me:-)

Hugo · Post by **Hugo** » 12 Feb 2007, 5:11pm

Horses are listening all the time, you can see their ears go up, but cannot identify cyclists as they only hear the sound of the wheels spinning around. They are naturally focussed to protect themselves from predators, and this horse that nearly killed me may have been frightened, thinking I was a cheetah or some other dangerous animal

I've ridden horse and bike and know enough about both to be aware, that there are only bad horse riders and no bad horses. I am at the level of the horse's hoof on my recumbemnt, so I have taken to wearing Helmet AND using a flag on the trike, so that bad horse riders get well clear.

There are a great many very inadequate horse riders about, many of them
posing as former olympic champions.

I wear a helmet to protect me from horses' hoofs; is this a first?

Simon L6 · Post by **Simon L6** » 12 Feb 2007, 5:55pm

Hugo wrote:
I wear a helmet to protect me from horses' hoofs; is this a first?

Yes