HOrses and Bicycles on the Road

[Susan126]

Believe me horses can be very unpredictable. My daughter owns two. One mature and calm (14 year old Buck) nothing can phase him and the second one, Buster (4 year old), young and used to be very skittish at times. I remember one time at the stables Jackie was leading Buster to his stall for the night and someone was pushing a squeaky wheelbarrow outside and the noise scared him. He bolted and Jackie immediately dropped his lead rope and let him go. If she would have held on he would have dragged her out the barn with him. Or ripped her arm off! It took us 20 minutes to get him calmed down and back into his stall. We know a bike would have set him off too. But that was 2 years ago. Jackie has been working with him and along with her patience and Bucks maturity and influence Buster is becoming a calmer and more pleasant horse.

Whenever Joe and I approach horses while we are out mountain biking we always stop and speak to the approaching riders and horses. We never take any chances of harming ourselves, the horses and their riders as we know from experience how skittish some horses can be around things they are not sure about.

Here are Jackie's two horses, aren't they cuties?!

This is Buck the mature one (smart and cool as a cucumber!)



and this is Buster (young and more calm this year and always into mischief with the older horses!)

[lph]

aaaww, I'm missing my horses I haven't had a horse for 15 years, but still I get a pang for them sometimes.

I pass horses sometimes on my bike. Based on my own knowledge of horse psychology, I try to be visible, slow down to a speed horse can understand, and make a steady noise which will signal that I am approaching, if that makes sense. Steady gentle braking, for example, rather than a sudden squeal, or gradually clicking through my gears, or I start speaking gently. "Hiya, horse, I'm coming up beside you, everything's fine, who's a lovely horsie then" .

Horses out on the road should be able to handle a bike approaching, but they do spook at things that startle them. And when they do they can plunge off with the rider, (which isn't necessarily that dangerous) or worse, kick you. If the horse starts to act up it might be best just to get past it quickly if you think you can.

I think they react more to sound and movement (and smell) than to the sight of you, so I don't think removing helmet or glasses will make much of a difference. PS. And I'd only use a bell at a good distance.

btw, Buck is a beaut!

[mimitabby]

me too LPH,
i had horses as well, and I really loved everything about them (except for all the hay they required)

when i have the opportunity to "meet" a friend's horse these days; the first thing i do is rub them, to get the horse smell on my hands.

[OakLeaf]

Speaking as someone who rides motorcycles in Amish country - public roads have completely different issues from unpaved shared use trails. Someone who rides a horse on or near a public road has a responsibility to make sure the horse can tolerate the situation, IMVHO. The Amish all use blinders so the horses aren't spooked by the vehicles approaching rapidly from behind. We give them LOTS of room - slow down and keep the engines quiet - if there's oncoming traffic, stay behind the buggy until there's room to pass them - and stay alert for those little low-traction gifts the horses leave us. The same applies to bicycles. Essentially, on a public road, two-wheelers pass horses in the same way that we bicyclists expect motorized traffic to pass us.

When you're on a shared use trail, it's a whole 'nother thing. The trail may not be wide enough to give the horses much room, for one thing. For another, bicycles are the fastest traffic on the trail, and neither horse *nor* rider may be prepared for those closing speeds. Having no actual experience with this, I would be inclined to give a holler so the rider can prepare themself and their horse for the cyclist's approach well ahead of time.

[Tuckervill]

Speaking as someone who rides motorcycles in Amish country - public roads have completely different issues from unpaved shared use trails. Someone who rides a horse on or near a public road has a responsibility to make sure the horse can tolerate the situation, IMVHO. The Amish all use blinders so the horses aren't spooked by the vehicles approaching rapidly from behind. We give them LOTS of room - slow down and keep the engines quiet - if there's oncoming traffic, stay behind the buggy until there's room to pass them - and stay alert for those little low-traction gifts the horses leave us. The same applies to bicycles. Essentially, on a public road, two-wheelers pass horses in the same way that we bicyclists expect motorized traffic to pass us.

When you're on a shared use trail, it's a whole 'nother thing. The trail may not be wide enough to give the horses much room, for one thing. For another, bicycles are the fastest traffic on the trail, and neither horse *nor* rider may be prepared for those closing speeds. Having no actual experience with this, I would be inclined to give a holler so the rider can prepare themself and their horse for the cyclist's approach well ahead of time.

In the state parks where I live, cyclists are required to get off the trail and wait for horses to pass.

[Geonz]

All I could find online was stuff about trails, and it makes sense you have to be ten times as careful there. The roads here are on the prairie... there's generally a field on either side so the horse would even have some place to bolt - and the roads are ten times as wide as a trail.
All the horses I've encountered have been cool, calm and controlled (but that's about 5 all told, not counting Amish buggies). It helps to hear things from teh horse peoples' mouths, though

[CCinSC]

There's nothing better than the sight of the trail between two ears!!! I agree with everyone that stated to make it known you are there-on a bike or on a horse! I have also owned and trained horses for as long as I've been walking and I can tell you this, it hurts REALLY, REALLY bad to be dumped from a horse and drug or stomped on b/c the horse was spooked by a bike rider! And, yep it happened to me and on a "safe" horse . I must admit, I was VERY surprised by this mare's total freak out! I've seen people shoot off of her, do a drag bag of cans, rope cattle and completely ignore flags!

You'll all love this....the owner told me after we wrapped my bruised ribs "I forgot that she is terrified of bikes!" That little bit of info would have been very welcomed about 4 hrs earlier!

The point is this, a biker is safer than the horse rider so keep up the good work on letting your presence known and wait to know what the horse rider wants to do.

[OakLeaf]

In the state parks where I live, cyclists are required to get off the trail and wait for horses to pass.

horses are traveling faster than bicycles?

[btchance]

As a rider, what I would want the cyclist to do is start talking when they are still quite a distance away from me - no bells, no air horns, just your voice. Continue talking until you are past.

Move away from the horse as far as possible as long as it is still safe for the cyclist - try moving towards the center line. Slow down some - ie don't go flying by at 20mph, but you don't have to slow down to 5mph either.

Don't make a big deal out of it. Just let us know you're there and give us (and yourself - you want to be OUT of kick range) some room. As a rider, one or two cyclist close together won't be a big deal - my horses are used to bikes, mopeds, golf carts, cars, all that fun stuff. A peleton will be a bigger deal, but as long as you are respectful to the horse and rider, we should be responsible for ourself. (think what you would want as a cyclist with a car approaching, and use that as a guide - plus kick range, of course)

Hope that helps (says the owner of a couple of flighty horses who can jump at their own shadow)

Oh, and those horses sure are cute

[Tuckervill]

horses are traveling faster than bicycles?

No, when they are approaching each other. Obviously, it wouldn't be an issue of the mountain bikes are in front of the horses.

Karen