How not to cycle past a horse

ewc78

Ave Sodalis wrote: »

He doesn't usually spook at hoods. This hood just happened to be very large and completely covered the girl's face. Not your common, run of the mill hood. Normal hoods the horse is well used to, considering I and others at the yard have to work regardless of weather. He's even used to balaclavas since I wear one in winter.



My point wasn't that the girl had her hood up, it was that she made the situation far more dangerous by refusing to stop and lower the hood. If she had pulled it down the first time I asked, nobody would have been in any danger. I'm saying it's not just cyclists that can cause issues on the road for horse riders.

I'm confused. Was the girl coming over to pet or look at your horse or was she just walking along minding her own business with her hood up?

Ave Sodalis

ewc78 wrote:

I'm confused. Was the girl coming over to pet or look at your horse or was she just walking along minding her own business with her hood up?

She was walking down a narrow road with a major drop on one side.

Macy0161

So if it's peeing down rain, a pedestrian is expected to remove their hood and get wet because a horse might get spooked?

07Lapierre

Which would you prefer....wet hair or this: https://youtu.be/SHZdr26nEuc

Macy0161

I'd prefer a horse that can't handle people in standard clothing not to be interacting with the public to be honest.

Ave Sodalis

Macy0161 wrote:

So if it's peeing down rain, a pedestrian is expected to remove their hood and get wet because a horse might get spooked?

I already said that it was not raining, that the horse is fine with normal hoods, and that the hood was huge to hide the girls face because she was smoking.

I've been riding this horse on a near daily basis for about ten years and he's only ever spooked on me twice in that time. Less than a minute without a giant hood is not worth the damage otherwise.

Rechuchote

07Lapierre wrote: »

Which would you prefer....wet hair or this:

Or worse still, this:

07Lapierre

Macy0161 wrote: »

I'd prefer a horse that can't handle people in standard clothing not to be interacting with the public to be honest.

Horses are quite intelligent...its people who are stupid.

fondriest

Wailin wrote: »

Would expect nothing less from some cyclists to react the way you did, like an entitled indignant child. You did exactly what those muppets did in the video and you'd the gall to get contrary with the rider who'd nearly had a serious incident. She was right to **** you out of it.

To be fair if you came around a bend quickly while going downhill and encountered a horse ,it could possibly be more dangerous for everyone concerned to slam on the brakes. Brake squeal, a skid or maybe just the sudden stop could frighten the horse just as much .

Lumen

fondriest wrote: »

To be fair if you came around a bend quickly while going downhill and encountered a horse ,it could possibly be more dangerous for everyone concerned to slam on the brakes. Brake squeal, a skid or maybe just the sudden stop could frighten the horse just as much .

But you'd see the horse in time to slow down, because you'd be riding at a speed where you're able to stop in the space you can see to be clear.

fondriest

Lumen wrote: »

But you'd see the horse in time to slow down, because you'd be riding at a speed where you're able to stop in the space you can see to be clear.

Not necessarily.

the_pen_turner

fondriest wrote: »

Not necessarily.

why. rules of the road and all that

fondriest

the_pen_turner wrote: »

why. rules of the road and all that

So nobody else has gone around a bend and been surprised to see somebody walking on the inside of a bend or something else unexpected ?

the_pen_turner

fondriest wrote: »

So nobody else has gone around a bend and been surprised to see somebody walking on the inside of a bend or something else unexpected ?

we all know that happens. but the blame is put firmly on the that person.

Glass fused light

fondriest wrote: »

So nobody else has gone around a bend and been surprised to see somebody walking on the inside of a bend or something else unexpected ?

He was on a bike and unless he has a hearing problem or had earphones on he would should have heard the clip clop of the horse walking. If not a trip to specsavers might be in order.:D

ford2600

fondriest wrote: »

So nobody else has gone around a bend and been surprised to see somebody walking on the inside of a bend or something else unexpected ?

Yes I have.

I was going to fast for road conditions and available sight lines.

Its the same law we hope will prevent cars from rearending us on left hand bends

fondriest

Glass fused light wrote: »

He was on a bike and unless he has a hearing problem or had earphones on he would should have heard the clip clop of the horse walking. If not a trip to specsavers might be in order.:D

Possibly should have heard it alright but wind noise can be loud when going fast enough downhill. Saying that I'm crap at descending so its not an issue for me :-(

Lumen

ford2600 wrote: »

Its the same law we hope will prevent cars from rearending us on left hand bends

Or driving over us after we've fallen off our bikes trying to avoid a horse. :pac:

TheChizler

Lumen wrote: »

But you'd see the horse in time to slow down, because you'd be riding at a speed where you're able to stop in the space you can see to be clear.

Actually stopping or slowing before you come to them wouldn't be an issue, it's that the action of stopping or slowing might startle the horse.

buffalo

TheChizler wrote: »

Actually stopping or slowing before you come to them wouldn't be an issue, it's that the action of stopping or slowing might startle the horse.

How loud are your brakes?

Macy0161

buffalo wrote: »

How loud are your brakes?

We don't need another disc brake thread do we?

TheChizler

buffalo wrote: »

How loud are your brakes?

I don't know ask them!

fondriest wrote: »

To be fair if you came around a bend quickly while going downhill and encountered a horse ,it could possibly be more dangerous for everyone concerned to slam on the brakes. Brake squeal, a skid or maybe just the sudden stop could frighten the horse just as much .

AndrewJRenko

Ave Sodalis wrote: »

Macy0161 wrote:

So if it's peeing down rain, a pedestrian is expected to remove their hood and get wet because a horse might get spooked?

Less than a minute without a giant hood is not worth the damage otherwise.

It's not a question of whether it is "worth it". The question is whether it is reasonable to take a horse out on the public road knowing that he may react like this. Is it reasonable to expect to be able to communicate your needs to a person wearing a hood AND get a positive response, all in the couple of seconds before the horse gets spooked.

There are many practical barriers to success here, including the possibility that the hood wearer doesn't speak English.

If I have a dog that bites people wearing red hats, is it OK for me to bring him to the park for a walk and tell anyone in a red hat to take it off?

Macy0161

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

There are many practical barriers to success here, including the possibility that the hood wearer doesn't speak English.

Or have a hearing impairment or a light sensitivity issue.

gmacww

Somewhere on the internet, people are arguing weather someone should wear a hood or not!

eeeee

Expecting someone to take a hood down is unreasonable imo, kick on. That doesn't mean the animal shouldn't be out on the road, it means the rider has to do either more work at home bombproofing it, or be more assertive when coming across a hooded person.

I never thought I'd wish we were talking about triathletes again.

CramCycle

I know a triathlete, and she is a really nice person, so there. I also heard stories of a rider coming down in a TT last year and the only person to stop was a triathlete. Don't judge a person by their lack of sleeves.

eeeee

#SayNoToSleeve-ism

Lumen

CramCycle wrote: »

I know a triathlete, and she is a really nice person, so there. I also heard stories of a rider coming down in a TT last year and the only person to stop was a triathlete. Don't judge a person by their lack of sleeves.

Don't humanize them, they'll start demanding rights and then we'll all end up in the Hague.

07Lapierre

CramCycle wrote: »

I know a triathlete, and she is a really nice person,

I'm married to one! ( A triathlete that is, not a horse! )