Horses and cyclists.

Yes, if you're fully comp.

I've got a horse, i had 2 but our pure bred arab had to go to a new home, due to his unpredictable back legs , when our first born arrived on the scene.
My wife is the rider, me less so. She is hugely experienced as is the horse and as a result they can pretty much go anywhere and do anything.
I on the other hand am not an experienced enough rider to take a horse out on the road so i wouldn't.
But there are a hell of a lot of people out there, with coincidently large arses, that think they can buy a 16 hand section D cob after a handful of riding lessons and venture out into the big wide world.
Its not as easy as it looks, i'm sure Neil will back me up on this.
Generally i see the rider being at fault by transmitting his or her fear and negative vibes to the horse.

Glad you enjoyed your ride Neil

Grannygrinder":15cywmjn said:

I've got a horse, i had 2 but our pure bred arab had to go to a new home, due to his unpredictable back legs , when our first born arrived on the scene.
My wife is the rider, me less so. She is hugely experienced as is the horse and as a result they can pretty much go anywhere and do anything.
I on the other hand am not an experienced enough rider to take a horse out on the road so i wouldn't.
But there are a hell of a lot of people out there, with coincidently large arses, that think they can buy a 16 hand section D cob after a handful of riding lessons and venture out into the big wide world.
Its not as easy as it looks, i'm sure Neil will back me up on this.
Generally i see the rider being at fault by transmitting his or her fear and negative vibes to the horse.

Glad you enjoyed your ride Neil

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Mike, do not not NOT get me started on the suitability of riders and horses :evil:

I am a relatively new rider, but I have the advantage of 1) Knowing I'm a novice. (2) Wanting to learn. (3) Knowing some very good riders (I'm married to one) who I am happy to listen and learn from. (4) Being a calm, confident and empathic person.

I am constantly staggered by the combination of arrogance and ignorance I see displayed by some riders. I have spent hundreds, if not thousands of hours riding, training and most importantly reading on the subject, and feel after six year I have got a reasonable idea of what I'm about. The same cannot be said for many riders I see, of either sex.

I see so many riders on unsuitable mounts, I can only assume the owner walked into a yard where horses were for sale and chose the biggest or shiniest one, without taking their ability or the personality or history of the horse into account.

Plus, there is the big ar$e = big horse syndrome.

This is where a lady who rode as a child decides they would like to ride again, same as blokes and sports cars / motorbikes / mountain or road bikes. Unfortunately, what none of these folk consider is 1) Hindsight is rose tinted. (2) They are no longer eighteen and have gained a pound or thirty since they last rode.

In the case of horses, the fun little Exmoor pony they used to ride when they weighed six stone nothing is now much too small and so they end up with a large cob or worse a thoroughbred or warmblood (car wise we are into V8 / 500 BHP territory here). Needless to say, it doesn't often go well and hence the tense, wild eyed, screaming riders, of both sexes, that we occasionally come across while riding our bikes.

Shame you had to get rid of the Arab, I would own one in an instant if I had the time and have been offered a stunning 16 hand Anglo Arab gelding who would make an amazing cross country / hunting horse.

BTW: Section D's are not usually any bigger than 15 hands... which is usually more than big enough, as most of them are great fun, but completely bonkers.

As for the difficulty of riding. I took up riding after retiring from the Martial Arts after 25 plus years of training.... the MA's were easier :shock:

Sorry, way off track on this thread now, but I just had to reply to Mike's post.

Mike's Post - writer of great tv theme music....... Sorry, I'll get my coat.

One cyclist (me) slows right down to less than walking pace so not to startle 12 horses and their riders.

All horses then neatly streamed out single file and I got nothing but respect and acknowledgement
from the riders which I appreciated. No poo either. Very civilized.

You didn't poo in front of the horses? That Not just civilised, it's downright hoity toity!

Three of us were out yesterday on horses and unusually they were all being a bit silly and excited.

While riding down a long hill, on a wide section of road, several cyclists came up behind, the lead rider called out 'cyclists' in plenty of time for me to look round and wave them through. They gave the three of us enough room for the horses to react (which they didn't) and I called 'thank you' back to them.

Easy peasy.