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news
horse incident video screenshot.PNGDramatic footage serves as a reminder for cyclists to take care around horses
A video* of a horse rearing up as a group of cyclists approached has outlined the importance of taking extra care around horses, according to the road.cc reader who recorded the footage.
> Look out for horses — here's how to pass horse riders safely
The video shown a group of cyclists slowing down on a descent as a horse and rider comes towards them. The animal was somehow spooked, and a man pushing a pram behind managed to get out of the way as the horse reared and turned.
Luckily, the woman riding the horse managed to get it under control quickly – and road.cc reader Adrian, who shot the footage, told us that the baby in the pram slept throughout.
Adrian told us: “I have posted many near misses by cars and vans, showing careless or wilful dangerous driving over the years towards cyclists and thought this video may be something of a change to remind us of other vulnerable road users, namely a baby in a pram.
“Whilst out riding with [Adrian's cycling club], enjoying the sunshine and new lockdown rules, this Easter Sunday our group of seven riders encountered a very nervous horse.
“Our club president was ahead of me and you can see us bunching up, showing braking was taking place,” he continued. “We would have normally carried much more speed than this to help with the hill to come.”
As for what caused the horse to suddenly rear up, we wondered whether it might have been the flapping jacket that one of the riders was wearing?
“I think you may be right about the flappy jacket as two of our riders passed without any incident,” Adrian replied.
“Louise with the blue jacket was a bit flappy as the temperature had warmed up from near freezing to a pleasant 13 degrees-ish.
“So just a reminder to pass horse riders wide and slow.
“Only the lightning reactions from Dad, removing the pram from harm’s way, saved the day.
“The good news was that the baby remained asleep throughout, completely unharmed and totally unaware of the incident,” he added.
As we highlighted in our article on Monday about the latest update to the Countryside Code, in 2018 Cycling UK teamed up with the British Horse Society to launch a nationwide Be Nice, Say Hi! campaign – the concept was originally devised by Cycle Sheffield – to encourage horse riders and cyclists to share country roads and bridleways safely.
> New version of Countryside Code urges people to be nice to each other when enjoying the outdoors
The Be Nice, Say Hi! initiative was drawn up in part due to an incident in the 2018 Royal Windsor Triathlon in which a participant on the cycling leg of the event made contact with a horse and rider as he undertook them at speed.
The incident made national headlines and the cyclist, Iain Plumb, was subsequently given a life ban from events organised by Human Race, and was also found guilty at Windsor Magistrates’ Court of riding without due consideration.
Equestrians, like cyclists, are considered vulnerable road users – as the British Horse Society and British Cycling pointed out in leaflet issued in 2016 entitled Code of Conduct for Horse Riders and Cyclists: “We share similar risks when riding on the road". You can find more advice about riding bikes safely around horses here.
* Update, 11/4/21: The footage of the incident has been removed following a request.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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76 comments
I didn't see this footage, shame it was taken down
There's some very juvenile comments about the horse altercation on here, for christs sake, just be sensible about it and offer them the same courtesy, you have a share the road with them after all. Of course some get spooked by cycles. Animals can be very unpredictable.
Common sense, people!.
With this story, road.cc are just trying to stirrup controversy.
That comment has me bridling....
Well, now you're saddled with it.
Dear road.cc - footage removed following a request by whom? One of the cyclists? The horsist? Or the perambulatorist? Just curious.
Dear road.cc - footage removed following a request by whom? One of the cyclists? The horsist? Or the perambulatorist?
This does seem pretty barmy- is this in case the horse sees it and is upset?
Well that explains its long face
H
The OCG
???
Line of Duty tv showw BBC1 Sundays
(told you my sense of humour is warped !)
If you see a horse bloody well slow down! We all know how twitchy they are so why risk an incident when you can boost cyclists' reputation by slowing down or even stopping to let it pass?
Um - but they did bloody well slow down. And it still spooked.
Hi Griggers
I completely agree with you. When I ride off road and encounter horses I slow right down, call out to the rider which side I'm one and pass very very slowly. Horse riders have always been pleasant to me and appreciate the thoughtfulness. Remember if you spook a horse, the rider has a long way to fall. The guys in the video at the head of the column where completely in the wrong as far as I'm concerned/
Looks to me like bad luck rather than bad behaviour.
The cyclists were going slow... Look at how quickly/short a distance they stop in (short of the horses length, so a couple of metres. That suggests a speed at most ~10mph - slow).
The cyclists left plenty of room (hence why when the horse spooked they were safely clear).
There are several posibilities as to what spooked the horse - the existance of cyclists, squealing brakes, noisy hub or freewheel, the pram being too close behind, tumbleweed blowing across the road behind the camera, rattling chain/mudguard, flapping clothing etc etc...
AFAIK perfect practice with horses is to call out well in advance, keep talking (but not SHOUTING), slow down but keep pedalling to prevent freehub clicking and leave plenty of room just in case, and don't get close behind, as they can hear but not see you, so might kick out or as demonstrated can turn around to trample something in their blind spot far quicker than you might expect.
This sort of incident is of course a good reminder that (like the cyclists in this clip) you should slow down, call out (n.b. assertive, clear speaking rather than SHOUTING) and leave lots of space for horses, just as cars should allow for cyclists swerving (whether to avoid potholes, or unbalancing slightly when signalling/shoulder checking, or just by mistake...). Hence why the highway code has a bunch of rules designed around the assumption that things like this WILL happen on occasion, so the rules should allow for it to go wrong without anyone getting hurt.
"Guys, Guys, Guys! Horse ahead! Let's all freewheel past it so our screaming hubs help it stay calm!"
Flapping jacket 🤦🏻♂️
Remove the horses road licence if it's not ok being on the road
Is that horse fully taxed? Not seeing a tax disc...
You're not looking in the right place. Lift the tail, it's under there....
But what if the horse doesn't speak English? It could be a foreign horse (coming over here, eating our oats...).
They all speak English. Just say it LOUDLY and clearly enough.....
A stiff upper lip makes it impossible to do the horsey noise
Dirty deeds, done dirt cheap
[NEIGHS IN HEAVY SPANISH ACCENT]
Nobody in the wrong, arguably they could have slowed a bit more but horses can be unpredictable at the best of times. As the saying goes "horses are dangerous at both ends and crafty in the middle"
My 2p's worth:
- They should have slowed down to a stop and done so earlier
- making "clicking" sounds with your mouth or speaking will help to put the horse at ease
With the risk to riders, bystanders and horses when horses rear up or kick to the rear, it's just sensible to let the horse pass first.
This is based on years of growing up in the countryside and a similar number of years riding bikes.
And yes, I do recognise there's a big element of the horse will do what it wants even if we as bike riders play it safe.
Don't do that!
The clicking sounds that you'll frequently hear horse riders making is to encourage the horse to move forwards, and the last thing a cyclist should be doing is trying to emulate the sounds of the person in charge of the horse, and potentially conflicting with their instructions. Admittedly the rider/horse bond is usualy pretty strong so the horse may not respond the same way to noises from strangers, but even so you really don't want to introduce any confusion.
You could ring your bell from a good distance away if you have one, then call out or talk to the rider as you get a bit closer. Usually gives all parties plenty of time to judge the situation and adjust accordingly, and the sooner the horse knows you are a friendly human rather than a potential threat the better.
Hear, hear, re. clicking.
As an aside, we have a police horse around here that will tolerate football crowds, fast-moving emergency service vehicles, gun-fire, explosions, and so on. However, a plastic bag being blown about in the breeze...
Score 10 points!
https://ihearthorses.com/13-completely-normal-objects-spooky-horses-are-...
1. Plastic bags
Plastic bags are almost every horse's worst nightmare.
Or just don't take a ton of animal you can't control out on a road.
I do my best to slow down for horses especially when approaching from behind as they are prey animals. If I'm cycling I usually cross into the opposite lane to widen the angle of vision for the horse so it sees me sooner.
We had horses on our farm in Norway and once you lose control of them there is little you can do to stop them, even as an adult male - nevermind the 45kg young girls you see riding on roadsides. As Spen says, it's a one ton animal. I'd add that a lot of that ton is pure muscle.
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