Etiquette when passing horses

You can't always win with horse riders, they have a tendency to have a superiority complex and when combined with a flightly animal that is not best suited to a modern road it is asking for trouble.
I upset a rider a few years back for having the nerve to be using a shiny step ladder when trimming the top of my hedge. The horse didn't like shiny things!

I really shouldn't be living in the New Forest....

I usually shout 'cyclist behind' before I pass to let them know I'm there and they always say thanks and seem happy enough with that.

even when you are in front?

even when you are in front?

Smart arse!

I usually shout 'cyclist behind' before I pass to let them know I'm there and they always say thanks and seem happy enough with that.

even when you are in front?

Smart arse!

As a sailor, Johnny only encounters seahorses, so they could be above or below him, too.

I always call out, a cheery "morning/afternoon/evening*" normally, as it alerts both the rider and the horse that a human is approaching.

This and...

...keep pedalling even if on a geared bike.

...this. Human voices are ok, mechanical sounds can freak them out a bit.

I encountered a rather frisky horse and rider, accompanied by a dog, down a lane this morning.

As is standard for Foxes all over the country every boxing day, despite the 2004 ban. :)

As a submariner, Johnny only encounters seahorses, so they could be above or below him, too.

ftfy

Fox - this rider sounds like a cock.

It sounds like whatever you did, the guy would have had a pop at you.

Fucking wanker.

Wikipedia fact time. If you approach a horse from behind you should make your presence known; a small cough, say "bike behind" or run a Campag groupset.

Where you approach from (quietly) is exactly where a horse's natural predators would pop up from without an invitation. So if horse is not well trained it is likely to have a certain level of protestation when you suddenly appear on it's flank.

So defo best to make your presence known.

As a sailor, Johnny only encounters seahorses, so they could be above or below him, too.

You too? Harrumph.

ftfy

Have you never heard of the Pacific Flying Seahorse? They're very rare.

You too? Harrumph.

'Smartarse behind!'

Oh, hmm ...

Impatient asshole taxi driver, got narky with me for giving two skittish police horses a wide berth at the bottom of Regent Street yesterday, thus slowing him down ever so slightly. Could do without a horseshoed kick in the face right now.

I've been there.

Dry spell?

Extract from my 1989 edition of 'Bluff your way in Motoring' :

No matter how well trained, the horse may feel threatened by a piece of paper blowing in the wind, a savage bush, a feral roadsign. Approach slowly, with mixed caution and mistrust. Riders govern only with the animal’s consent: in any trial of strength the horse will always win. Best thought of as three quarters of a ton of meat on the move with a brain the size of a walnut.

Although the book was sold as 'humour' that doesn't mean it is wrong...

I ride as close as possible, at speed, then swerve in at them. After all, they pay no road tax, always jump red lights, and one nearly killed my gran when it ran past her on the pavement.

**usually plastic bags
One of my mother's horses would regularly throw itself into the path of traffic if it meant not having to walk calmly past a scrap of polythene.

Extract from my 1989 edition of 'Bluff your way in Motoring' :

*No matter how well trained, the horse may feel threatened by a piece of paper blowing in the wind, a savage bush, a feral roadsign. Approach slowly, with mixed caution and mistrust. Riders govern only with the animal’s consent: in any trial of strength the horse will always win. Best thought of as three quarters of a ton of meat on the move with a brain the size of a walnut.*

Although the book was sold as 'humour' that doesn't mean it is wrong...
"savage bush"

sniggers

I ride as close as possible, at speed, then swerve in at them. After all, they pay no road tax, always jump red lights, and one nearly killed my gran when it ran past her on the pavement.

The owners never scoop their poop either. It's a disgrace.

My mate Dave rides a recumbent...
dtm.

I passed a horse the other day, it was only a shetland pony, but it was excruciating.