Bridleways and horses...
Discussion
So yesterday father and I went for a leisurely ride on the local bridleways, we encountered quite a few more horses than usual but always remained curteous and stopped and gave way as I understand is the law of such tracks.
At one point I stopped and three horses galloped past us which I thought was more than a little reckless considering it was a pretty narrow pathway but they had a clear view of the track ahead.
And so on to the rant... today we went out, did the same trail with my girlfriend in tow- taking corners with poor visibility carefully so as not to run headlong into one of our horsey chums. Anyway, at one point there is a blind corner and as such my dad approached it on the right hand side in order to get a clear view ASAP when a horse actually comes pretty much 'drifting' round the corner forcing him to take evasive action which results in him in a heap tangled in a (fortunately already downed) wire fence.
I saw this unfold before me and the lady on the horse hasn't even looked back despite the fact she can't have failed to notice what she had just caused. So as I pull over to the side of the trail I shout "what the hell do you think you are doing??" referring to the fact that she is flat-out on a public trail to which she politely tells me to "f*** off"!!
Already long story short I checked dad was okay and then pedalled for all I was worth to catch up and remonstrate with the lady- when I did catch up with her (yup, I was pretty chuffed with my performance! although she did have to open a gate which we had closed behind us just moments before although she failed to actually shut it behind her letting me gain precious seconds!) she said that we shouldn't have even been on the bridleway and proceeded to give me even more verbal.
In short between effing and jeffing her excuse was that her horse had just failed to get into a competition because it couldn't make a jump at the riding school, as such she had decided to iron out the kinks by blatting around public rights of way. No apologies- she didn't know how badly my dad was hurt (cuts and bruises but nothing major)- but that she 'couldn't control her horse if he wants to gallop' to wit I replied that she perhaps should stretch his legs at the riding school rather than out where people could get hurt.
Just a rant really- going to complain to the riding school but I don't suppose anything will come of that but I would have not gone off at her if she had stopped immediately and checked that he was alright, but perhaps her school can remind her that although they have right of way on the paths that there should be some level of mutual respect between bikers, walkers and horse-riders.
At one point I stopped and three horses galloped past us which I thought was more than a little reckless considering it was a pretty narrow pathway but they had a clear view of the track ahead.
And so on to the rant... today we went out, did the same trail with my girlfriend in tow- taking corners with poor visibility carefully so as not to run headlong into one of our horsey chums. Anyway, at one point there is a blind corner and as such my dad approached it on the right hand side in order to get a clear view ASAP when a horse actually comes pretty much 'drifting' round the corner forcing him to take evasive action which results in him in a heap tangled in a (fortunately already downed) wire fence.
I saw this unfold before me and the lady on the horse hasn't even looked back despite the fact she can't have failed to notice what she had just caused. So as I pull over to the side of the trail I shout "what the hell do you think you are doing??" referring to the fact that she is flat-out on a public trail to which she politely tells me to "f*** off"!!
Already long story short I checked dad was okay and then pedalled for all I was worth to catch up and remonstrate with the lady- when I did catch up with her (yup, I was pretty chuffed with my performance! although she did have to open a gate which we had closed behind us just moments before although she failed to actually shut it behind her letting me gain precious seconds!) she said that we shouldn't have even been on the bridleway and proceeded to give me even more verbal.
In short between effing and jeffing her excuse was that her horse had just failed to get into a competition because it couldn't make a jump at the riding school, as such she had decided to iron out the kinks by blatting around public rights of way. No apologies- she didn't know how badly my dad was hurt (cuts and bruises but nothing major)- but that she 'couldn't control her horse if he wants to gallop' to wit I replied that she perhaps should stretch his legs at the riding school rather than out where people could get hurt.
Just a rant really- going to complain to the riding school but I don't suppose anything will come of that but I would have not gone off at her if she had stopped immediately and checked that he was alright, but perhaps her school can remind her that although they have right of way on the paths that there should be some level of mutual respect between bikers, walkers and horse-riders.
Why do these morons go on the defensive by getting aggressive? If you've 
ed up, apologise. How hard is it to behave like an adult? What do they hope to gain by trying to bluff it out? Morons ... For example, yesterday, because I am a completely unobservant tt, I managed to reverse the Hilux into a Jag at the petrol station. Collision made a "twoink" which you could hear quite clearly. I hopped out and immediately apologised profusely to the driver, and guess what? It completely diffused the situation. He patted me on the back as we parted.
ed up, apologise. How hard is it to behave like an adult? What do they hope to gain by trying to bluff it out? Morons ... For example, yesterday, because I am a completely unobservant tt, I managed to reverse the Hilux into a Jag at the petrol station. Collision made a "twoink" which you could hear quite clearly. I hopped out and immediately apologised profusely to the driver, and guess what? It completely diffused the situation. He patted me on the back as we parted.I suspect its a case of
female thinking, as you say a bloke is much more likely to get out and
make apologetic noises, thus avoiding unpleasentnes,
where as [treadcarefully] Some women[/treads carefully] might go instantly on the defensive knowing their in the wrong
but hide behind the...
'oh I'm only a poor woman out her on my own argueing with these shifty
cylists'
arguement,
And No,
I don't accept it either,
situation reversed and I noticed silly bitch approaching full gallop
in the distance,
I'd lay the bike down in her path, make her walk past
hmmmm this should be good
female thinking, as you say a bloke is much more likely to get out and
make apologetic noises, thus avoiding unpleasentnes,
where as [treadcarefully] Some women[/treads carefully] might go instantly on the defensive knowing their in the wrong
but hide behind the...
'oh I'm only a poor woman out her on my own argueing with these shifty
cylists'
arguement,
And No,
I don't accept it either,
situation reversed and I noticed silly bitch approaching full gallop
in the distance,
I'd lay the bike down in her path, make her walk past
hmmmm this should be good
I'm totally cool with horse-riders galloping if there is a clear path ahead- personally I think it is a touch irresponsible but the rights of way are weighted in their favour so I accept that and if I have plenty of time to see one and get out the way safely then that's
kind of something I as a biker accept.
This was just a case of someone just barrelling round like it was their own personal racetrack and taking no responsibility- my dad could have easily been a small child or a novice rider like my girlfriend who was pretty shaken at having a rather heavy and dangerous beast (and the horse!) approaching at quite such a pace (as she didn't slow even after my dad bailed out).
We all share the bridleways and a bit of respect from the horse-riders to the bikers and in-turn to the walkers means it all runs smoothly- I'm not some kind of militant biker who thinks everyone should make way for us but this kind of treatment thinks an air-horn rather than a bell would be more appropriate!!
The lady in question stated that she believed we shouldn't even be on there which is just completely incorrect- it's like me burning past a horse on a narrow country road in a flame-popping TVR and then stating that I had more rights than her. Some car drivers may believe that but the law says otherwise and I would be very much in the wrong!
When I was talking to her she was by a road and when a car went past she had a hard trouble controlling her steed even though the car crawled past and was pratically in a ditch on the opposite side of the road to her.
kind of something I as a biker accept.
This was just a case of someone just barrelling round like it was their own personal racetrack and taking no responsibility- my dad could have easily been a small child or a novice rider like my girlfriend who was pretty shaken at having a rather heavy and dangerous beast (and the horse!) approaching at quite such a pace (as she didn't slow even after my dad bailed out).
We all share the bridleways and a bit of respect from the horse-riders to the bikers and in-turn to the walkers means it all runs smoothly- I'm not some kind of militant biker who thinks everyone should make way for us but this kind of treatment thinks an air-horn rather than a bell would be more appropriate!!
The lady in question stated that she believed we shouldn't even be on there which is just completely incorrect- it's like me burning past a horse on a narrow country road in a flame-popping TVR and then stating that I had more rights than her. Some car drivers may believe that but the law says otherwise and I would be very much in the wrong!
When I was talking to her she was by a road and when a car went past she had a hard trouble controlling her steed even though the car crawled past and was pratically in a ditch on the opposite side of the road to her.
ATG said:
Why do these morons go on the defensive by getting aggressive? .
Happens all over. The other week in Matalan with my daughter, this (dare I say young lady), no, slapper I think, with kid in buggy comes along.
I am standing to one side waiting for my daughter, buggy runs into my foot and comes to a grinding halt, no big deal, but enough to cause just a little twinge in little toe.
Buggy gets backed, off, and re-routed around my foot. As she passes I say to her "No need to apologise".
Then she lets rip with loads of F's and lots of other words, some new to me..........What on earths got into folk these days, when a simple "Oh sorry about that" would suffice.
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