Today, I went riding on a cinder surfaced trail that's shared by pedestrians, cyclists and horses. I was very surprised to find out that horses are spooked out of their wits by bents. 3 times, I passed a seemingly peaceful horse, trying to ride well out of the way and without making sudden changes of direction, and 3 times the horse started to buck and rear wildly. One of them almost threw the rider off the saddle, and I distinctly felt a whoosh near my face when it kicked back. That was scary...
Upon passing the fourth horse, I stopped, dismounted and stood very still. When the lady riding the horse passed me, I explained what had happened earlier and asked her why, and what I should do. She told me that horses are basically scared all the time, that in the wild they run away as soon as they feel danger, and that even tamed gentle horses have strong flight instincts. She told me that her horse knew about people and bicycles on the trail, but she did feel it tense up when she passed me, immobile as I was, because the shape of the bike is probably unfamiliar to it, and certainly even more so if I had been pedalling on it.
She advised me to stop and wait till the horse pass if the horse goes the opposite way, and carefully signal a horse rider going the same way far in advance, and ask him softly what I should do as soon as I have his/her attention, and let the horse rider decide what to do in all cases. She also told me the most dangerous situation is when an unfamiliar object like a recumbent bike comes up to the horse from behind, that the horse is most likely to become unpredictable then, especially if the horseman didn't see it coming.
So there you have it, I pass the lady's advices along :-)
BlazingPedals
08-25-05, 06:37 AM
Horses will shy at anything unfamiliar or that might be dangerous. I have several horses on my property, and they are pretty blase about bikes - they've seen it all. But one of them used to be VERY skittish around bikes, until I gave him a demo. I walked my MTB bike out to him as he stood at the fence of his dry lot. I let him look at the bike, then I got on it and slowly rode it in circles in front of him. Then I dismounted and leaned it against the fence to let him check it out. He sniffed it, then he gave an exploratory bite to the saddle. Then he made sure the handlebar wasn't a black carrot. Nope, not edible. And it didn't twitch. Must be OK. He's been fine with bikes ever since. In fact, at a recent gathering at my house, Lowracer1 rode his trike along the pasture fence and the horses followed him.
I've found that if an unfamiliar horse is acting skittish, it helps to talk soothingly to them. They might be afraid of a bicycle monster, but they recognize the human voice.
jeff-o
08-25-05, 07:16 AM
If you think about it, a lowracer probably looks a lot like a running animal with big teeth. Like a mountain lion, wolf or large dog. That glimmering 52 tooth cog up front probably looks like a full mouth of REAL teeth!
erik forsgren
08-25-05, 10:02 AM
As I was cycling on my recumbent lowracer today there was a horse, that almost threw its rider out of the saddle. I stopped put the bike at the nearest tree and let the horse pass me at two meters in order to make it confident of me and my bike. It seemed to help, because the horse passed me without showing sign of shyness.
Olebiker
08-30-05, 08:32 AM
We start a lot of our rides in the small town of Calvary, Georgia. There is a pasture within a mile of the start that used to hold a mare and her foal. We would stop at the fence and the horses would come running to us since they had learned that we bring carrots. I miss those horses now.
phinney
08-30-05, 09:07 AM
Horses live in mortal fear and their natural reaction to most anything is to freak out. If you are coming up on a horse while riding make some noise while you're still a good ways away so the horse and rider know you're coming. Then expect and plan for the horse to do something stupid.
A properly trained horse won't spook and one that isn't properly trained shouldn't be on a public road/trail. Of course that won't help you if you get kicked in the head and stomped. The Amish horses around here wouldn't twitch if a bomb went off.
bnet1
08-30-05, 09:52 AM
A horse's basic instinct is flight followed by fight. We raise miniatures and these little guys seem to be far more tolerant of strange things around them. One day I came home from work and found that the Mrs. had turned a bunch of them out on the front yard to graze. The sound of my approach brought them running to the gate. As I pedalled up to the house I was surrounded and escorted by the herd, all happily trotting beside me looking for treats and handouts. It was kind of a rush. A genuine equine welcoming committee!
CaptBob
08-30-05, 10:17 AM
Spooked a heard of camels once, almost got a very large foot in the head...
Arnold Layne
09-10-05, 07:07 PM
I once read where having your feet out in front of you instead of underneath is what spooks the horses. I'm not sure how they know this unless they got it out of Mr. Ed when he spilled his guts (boy, I sure do miss "The Far Side"). One time, while passing through Amish country, I spooked a horse pulling a buggy and thought the thing was going to jump right on me. It was lifting the buggy with two men in it right off the ground! If I'm riding and see horses out on the road I try to avoid going past them or else stop and dismount until they get around me.
ppc
09-11-05, 03:19 AM
I once read where having your feet out in front of you instead of underneath is what spooks the horses. I'm not sure how they know this unless they got it out of Mr. Ed when he spilled his guts (boy, I sure do miss "The Far Side"). One time, while passing through Amish country, I spooked a horse pulling a buggy and thought the thing was going to jump right on me. It was lifting the buggy with two men in it right off the ground! If I'm riding and see horses out on the road I try to avoid going past them or else stop and dismount until they get around me.
I passed a couple more horses since I first posted this thread, and you're right, bent riders with feet forward never fail to spook them. I find it most difficult to pass horses going the same direction: it's tricky to come close enough to a horse from behind to let the rider know you're going to spook it, without spooking it :-)