Police are urging motorists to remember to ‘Pass Wide and Slow’ when encountering horses on the road this Summer. As the weather gets warmer, it is expected that more people will be getting back in the saddle more regularly across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. The British Horse Society (BHS) has a web page with dedicated advice to drivers around this topic. Some of the key points to remember when you come across a horse in the road are:
- Slow down to a maximum of 10mph
- Be patient – don’t sound your horn or rev your engine
- Pass the horse wide and slow – at least two metres
- Drive slowly away
You can read the full guidance from the BHS at https://www.bhs.org.uk/go-riding/riding-out-hacking/riding-on-roads/advice-for-motorists/. If horse riders need to report an incident to police and have Go-Pro footage, you can report this within 7 days of the incident occurring via ‘Hants Snap’ at https://www.hampshire.police.uk/police-forces/hampshire-constabulary/areas/hants-snap/hantsnap/hants-snap—report-an-incident/.
This is good practice, though I have seen horses being ridden along the Newport end of Forest Road at 8.30am before causing long tailbacks during peak time.
Thank you for highlighting this Police advice to motorists. Without being a horse rider or carriage driver, it is almost impossible to fully appreciate the dangers faced by equestrians through having no choice but to use vehicular roads to link the fragmented network of bridleways and byways.
I wish we had way more bridleways so that we never have to go along the road, only cross it from time to time for a few seconds.
For a tourist destination like IOW that would be absolutely amazing!
Would also be a great idea if horse riders avoided riding on the roads during rush hour
As a driver I can say it would be amazing if drivers avoided driving during rush hour too!
Bit impossible sometimes to pass with 2 metres gap, some roads are not even that wide. Even worse when they ride 2 abreast, maybe they should not try to “dominate” the road so much, and just get in to the side a bit more. Also don’t don’t give drivers the “we are superior” wave when you go by as well.
Huh? People usually wave to say thanks. How would you even go about waving to showcase your superiority? I can’t even imagine that.
What you describe as ‘dominating the road’ is actually called ‘defensive riding’. It is official Police advice to prevent reckless drivers endangering other road users by passing too fast and close to vulnerable users. A wave from a rider/carriage driver is to acknowledge gratitude for driver courtesy.
Wow! You have an active imagination I wish I had a horse now. I’ll show you superiority.
I would always slow down for horses, but it makes it safer if they didn’t ride two abreast to make a wider obstacle. Just like cyclists they should consider the motorists and the traffic they can cause on Island roads.Very rarely see a Cyclist or a Horse rider pulling over to let a long queue of traffic pass.
Look in the highway code why cyclists are sometimes two abreast, actually makes passing safer as the car is on the opposite side of the road (facing oncoming traffic) for the least amount of time.
cut their legs off and stick wheels on them. then they can drive at 70mph like the rest of us
If you attached the horse legs to your car you could jump over the hedges!
No more traffic innit
They should stay in the bloody fields! Ridiculous! I won’t be slowing down, and will be definitely giving it some revs!!
Advise thinking about the insurance price hike if you manage to stay out of prison after ignoring the Highway Code and causing a vulnerable road user to get injured. Many horse and bike riders now wear cameras that record front and rear at the same time, for a full 3hrs. Check out Techologic DC-1 to find out.
p rick – horses were using roads long before cars appeared on the scene.
and humans used their fingers to eat with before knives and forks…
A lovely demonstration of being respectful… Well done (moron)!
Sadly will never happen, have you not seen the way
Numpty’s drive on the Island, there are NO Speeding rules / speed
Camera’s on the Island.
Hmm! Narrow road and a series of bends. The horses should be single file at this point to reduce the risk of an incident and an unclasped helmet is no helmet at all if the horse threw him… It looks as if horse riders need to follow a few basic rules before heading out on the road too. 😉
Could common sense prevail on the part of the horse riders also, ie asking themselves if it is a wise decision to take their poor bloody horse out along forest road at rush hour?
Seen this too often.
It’s not only a BHS advice. It’s also, in your copy of Highway Code 😉
>>> Wait behind them and do not overtake if it’s unsafe or not possible to meet these clearances.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/the-highway-code-8-changes-you-need-to-know-from-29-january-2022
You can get your free up-to-date copy here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code
Rule 54 of the highway rules for horse riders.
“To keep yourself, pedestrians and cyclists safe, never take a horse onto a footpath, pavement or cycle track.”
I am happy to give them room, I like seeing them out and about. But grinds my gears when bad horse riders go where they like and think they are above the law. Gives the good responsible riders a bad name.
Riders from Trotters Riding School Ryde are constantly using local foot paths to gain accesses to pig peg lane, an area they are not allow to ride in. They have also vandalised the gates and no horse riding signs.
You sure gates weren’t just removed by owners? Pretty sure it was done so to allow easy access for mobility scooter. Pig Peg Lane website states „The site is free from gates and stiles”
http://www.gifttonature.org.uk/discover/sites-in-and-around-ryde/pig-leg-lane and talks about mobility scooter access.
Not sure which local paths you mean but for example Weeks Road and Rosemary Lane are bridleways, those are OK for horse riding: https://footpathmap.co.uk/map/?zoom=15.7&lng=-1.16520&lat=50.71867
Alas Pig Peg Lane is not, that one is correct.
Looking at this map is crazy how you can’t go from crossroads of Weeks Road and Rosemary Lane to the bridleway in the west.
It would just be a short ride through a forest.
Instead you are supposed to go through multiple streets in Ryde.
And then some drivers will say that you must be doing it out of spite when literally that’s just the lack of few meters of bridleway missing 😀
I like the way horse riders always quote the highway code , I’m sure when they are driving they 100% follow it, no speeding , looking at their phone , minds wandering elsewhere !! But when they are on their horses all motorists on the roads at the same time have to 100% be switched on and follow the highway code to the letter!!
I personally think taking beautiful animals as horses are on our dangerous roads is an unnecessary risk taking by the riders alone..get a horse box, and make sure the horse is as safe as can be when needing to travel on our dangerous highways!
I guess I can cast the first stone because I don’t drive a car at all 😉
Though I’d say the higher you are in road hierarchy, the bigger „vehicle” you have, the bigger duty you have to be more vigilant because you’re more dangerous. At some scale we start licensing people, and then at another level we increase requirements like for truck drivers.
The problem with horse box is that at some point you will have to get on a road. UK bridleway network is severely segmented, pieces are rarely connected. You’d have to get into a horse box every 10 minutes.
Just take a look here for bridleways (pink) and try to plot a route from north to south or something :
https://footpathmap.co.uk/map/?zoom=15.7&lng=-1.16520&lat=50.71867
Missing the point completely and my points are no less valid because you don’t drive, I’m sure plenty more horse riders do.
If you drive and break any rule of the highway code, you are just as guilty as those you accuse of breaking it when on your horse. If you don’t follow the highway code 100% why do expect others to? And if you know you break the highway code what’s stopping you possibly injuring a horse? Plus if you know you break the highway code you’re obviously aware it happens so why risk taking your beautiful horse on a road where you know there are drivers like you that break the highway code?
Would be a good idea if the Horses wore nappies when out and about.
Keep them off the road until they pay tax and are insured with a horse licence.
Amen.
They leave shit all over the road, dispite being required, by law, to clean it up. Funny how they forget to mention that when they quote the highway code.
They should 100% be forced to pay road tax for the hourse. A hourse does more damage to the roads than motorcycles and mopeds, yet those vehicles need to.oay road tax because of “wear and tear”.
My main gripe is that people ride courses in the middle of Ryde, as well as kn forest road, and then get annoyed when people don’t slow down to 2mph because their hourse is too scared. Hourses on the road should be forced to go through mandatory police training to train away their fear of people talking slightly higher than a casual conversation.
If a hourse is to be ridden on 70mph roads, they must be forced to undergo police training to get rid of the fear of vehicles. If cyclists can be overtaken just fine at the speedlight, courses should be able to handle the same.
It’s not my fault that your hourse is so incredibly fragile that accelerating (mandatory to operate a vehicle) is enough to make them almost die on the spot from a panic attack.
What do I do if I’m on the bus?