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¡apesta!
Today on my run I was accosted by a woman on a horse who demanded that I not run laps up and down “her driveway”. The track in question is a paved farm access road with a footpath running the whole length and a riding stable at the end. I pointed this out and a long debate ensued about the rights and wrongs of public access. I emphatically reject most of her arguments (tractors will run me over, my high viz tshirt and trundling red buggy scares wildlife, the village is getting ruined by newcomer townies etc) but her main point was less clear cut…
Her primary argument was that a) me running with my buggy scares horses and b) that many of the horse/rider combinations are vulnerable in some way (eg someone was about to take a “half doped up” horse out, or her daughter was about to go out on a particularly skittish race horse that they weren’t sure she could handle).
These have given me pause for thought and firstly I think point “a” is in most cases simply wrong… we often meet other horses, we stop and walk past courteously and none have ever expressed concern. If we are a hazard to horses then it seems to only apply to the most skittish cases. Point “b” however is more complex - a skittish horse would be dangerous to both me (and my baby) and the rider. I wouldn’t want to go victim blaming if a rider had an accident inadvertently caused by me, but surely people shouldn’t ride potentially dangerous horses (or horses that are beyond their skill level) in public areas, especially if that horse might be a danger to other people? Since getting home I’ve checked and I feel vindicated by the new Highway Code which explicitly places pedestrians above horses in the hierarchy of vulnerability stating that horse riders have responsibility to avoid dangers to pedestrians (and cyclists for that matter). That doesn’t give me free reign to be a dick around horses but so long as I am reasonable and courteous, it’s not on me to stop running on a public footpath because it scares her horses?
Not much of a question, just a rant, so have I missed something or made an error of interpretation? It wasn’t only me, I also heard her berating another woman running with a buggy who happened to be nearby.