The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Pets & Working Animals => Horses, ponies, donkeys & mules => Topic started by: shetlandpaul on January 22, 2011, 02:08:49 pm
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the daughter was walking the in foal mare cob/cross on the road this morning. some idiot decided it would be a good idea to bully them by driving really close and reving up. this mare is not used to cars and as its a single track road it takes a few minutes to get to either a gateway or passing place. the mare panic slightly and refused to move. this has spooked the daughter a bit. i really don't get why someone is so much in a rush we are 8 miles from the nearest main road and if your on our road you must live in the country.
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if it is as remote as you say surely the driver or at least the vehicle is know to your family
when we had cattle and were moving them (farm split by a b class road fields on each side) we used to get the same type of idiot only thing was i did not hold back they were told straight and to the point
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Was there not a grass verge your daughter could have taken to so that she and the mare could be safe and let the car by?
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you know, I know exactly how your daughter felt, where I am now in ABerdeenshire I very rarely go on the road with my boys but have to watch in the forest for timber trucks although they do travel at 15 mph, some of them.
But, when I was downsouth in Cheshire, well, I had to take my life in my hands everytime I went out and they were fairly rural roads, why people think its great to rev up I dont know, another bugbear was people who would slow behind you, yes thank you very much thats really kind, hang behind you til they HAD to drop the gear then change as they accelerated to go passed, sometimes I think its better to slow, give plenty of room and keep going if traffic allows.
Biggest bugbear? Driving my single along the road, people slow behind, overtake, then go to pull in in front of the carriage, hang on! Theres a horse in front of that! The amount of times Odinn has actually lifted his head so not to get clobbered, probably due to the windrush going under his blinkers but, not nice.
Hope your daughter and brood are ok after their experience.
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The circular road has been busy today, the good weather must have brought the townies out for a cruise. Best to go on the Silwick road on the other side of the crossroads from you as they have now taken the cattle grids up and only one person lives on it and a cattle farmer tending to the stock. I walk the dogs on there and have never seen a soul. You can get flourescent jackets with 'young horse' or such like on from Robinsons equestrian who deliver up here. Tell her to take a mobile phone photo next time and report them.
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some one nearly took my OH out last year luck for her the cob went to kick the car as was so close my girl warned the drive to back off and got a gob full then my mum had a go and mums fried did also i did find the guy as they took the reg and reported to police but unlucky for driver i spotted his van outside a shop and he had 4 flat tyres coincidence i think not ::)
hope all is well now
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unlucky for driver i spotted his van outside a shop and he had 4 flat tyres coincidence i think not ::)
I LIKE your style! Well done! ;D
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We have lots of main roads round here and the minor roads are all cut-throughs so to get to the good hacking means dealing with traffic. Hi-viz jackets go without saying: OH has an ex-police one with the chequerboard stripes which slows them down.
Our observation over the years is that BMW drivers are the worst by far, Audi and Mercedes being generally better. The most considerate drivers are motorcyclists and young men in sports cars. Fact.
There's a very special bend near us on the back road going down to the M1 junction. The road is narrow and busy and this bend is tighter than 90deg and a totally blind right hander. It also has a formal 15mph speed limit. Exiting left off the bend is some great hacking so its where we go in our hi-viz jackets and hi-viz stirrup irons etc. We have lost count of the number of times people overtake us on this blind approach rather than wait 30secs. We've seen cars go radiator to radiator several times - no one has yet collided but it's going to happen.
We need a new road sign "Beware Fu**wits" Not sure what the pic would be tho'
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When all the tracks where I used to live were blocked off cause of foot and mouth my friend and I had no choice but to hack on main roads. We both donned ourselves with hi viz gear and cause the horses were big we looked like police!!!! It was amazing how the traffic crawled passed us ;)
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I hate reading about idiots like this. I didn't ride for 16 years because of an idiot who revved up and beeped his horn then shot past causing my cousins horse to rear up her to come off and his hoof to come down on her head and kill her. I get so blooming angry at people that go on country roads and expect to drive like they are still on the motorway.
I have several times turned and faced the car on my boy who now rears to command and scared the blighters out of the drivers he is 17hh and is impressive when he is at full height.
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Sad it comes to this, but that must be damn impressive when seen from the drivers seat.
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It would be damned impressive from any angle - I would love to see the driver's pants after that! ::) Well done!
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It is but sad we have to do it to save our horses and selves and believe me it does take some hanging on. I would much prefer not to have to get him to show himself like that but I have found that needs must. I am not going to end up like my cousin and have to make a stand as young ones ride the lanes around where I live and it would be just horrifying if anything happened to them. I have all the reflective gear I can so we can be seen from a long way off and he is big so can be seen over hedges and still they approach to fast rev the engine and even beep horns. I am lucky to have a mostly calm horse but even he gets irritated when they rev. If I am driving the lanes and meet horses I normally turn the engine off and wait for them to pass as my engine is noisy and I would have to change down a gear to pass which would just increase the noise.
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I hate riding/leading on roads now, people are so inconsiderate. Hope your daughter and horses are okay.
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Some nutter came tearing up behind my daughter and I once we were just below the brow of a hill so he didn't spot us straight away, he was belting along despite the warning signs for horses. He had to slam on brakes and skidded right behind us thankfully the boys shot forward and there was a field entrance to go forward into. Thank god for our rock solid lads, not a sorry or anything from the driver so he got both barrels from me. Some folk just don't accept horses have any right to be on the roads sadly.
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Our scariest riding experience involved the people you'd have thought were the most sympathetic. We were on an a marked sunken bridle way hi-viz'd like lighthouses. The shoot was driving birds across the path to the guns less than 50m away on lower ground. We were seen in plenty of time and they were waiting for us to pass when a couple of birds flew over. Plonker on the end swings round and fires both barrels. We went down the path like express trains: would have been nice to give them an earful but spotted that the local hunt field master was one of the guns and doing it for us.
My chap got used to shotguns after that: we once lined-out next to a bird scarer cannon and he merely jumped sideways when it went off
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were they not to close to a public right of way. i hope the hunt master did give the guy a good telling off.
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At the time I was so livid (reaction from surviving a high speed dash down what is locally called the death track) that I researched the legal position. It turned out that per se shooting across a bridle way wasn't illegal though their proximity to a nearby public road could have been. However the shoot was legally required to have a written health & safety policy with documented safety procedures and training and to have conducted a risk assessment. The penalties for not having this are very substantial so all these people had been trained and were fully aware of what they were doing.
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never had the problem of cars doing that to me on a horse , as my back is buggered and won't allow me to ride . But I walk 6 miles a day everyday , along a country road and I have actually been clipped no end of times by cars cutting the corners and going way to fast . I have been lucky and only had a few bruises , not so lucky for the cars when I spot them outside the local shop in the village. They are nearly always very expensive new cars .... that now have very big dents in the rear wings and the doors or if it's too busy, they have deep scratches all along one side of some very expensive paintwork .... more than one way to skin a cat .
Most people who use the road are really good , some are complete arseholes . The arseholes that come too close to me now get the threat of me tossing a horse shoe through the windscreen , always carry one just in case !!!
Very few come anywhere near me now , they even slow down smile and wave ..... result ....
cheers
Russ
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...that I researched the legal position. It turned out that per se shooting across a bridle way wasn't illegal though their proximity to a nearby public road could have been. However the shoot was legally required to have a written health & safety policy with documented safety procedures and training and to have conducted a risk assessment. The penalties for not having this are very substantial so all these people had been trained and were fully aware of what they were doing.
Don't get me wrong...I agree that this should be the case, but I feel strongly that horse-owners/riders/drivers should be similarly covered to be on the road with horses.
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yes i agree. a horse could do a lot of damage. rusty thats terrible that you have been hit by cars so many times. no wonder you carry a horseshoe. pity you did not note there reg plates and report them. you could be suffering from shock after all those hits. were theres blame etc. it would help feed your animals anyway. iused to ride a bike until i was totalled by a car i could never feel safe on it afterwards.
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There is a horsey family moving in to the croft next to the school,you know them. Perhaps you can join up and walk together with them till your daughters confidence is back.They are well in with the horse clubs etc so may even get some lessons. I think they also have something to do with arranging the farrier coming up from Orkney( No we dont have a farrier in Shetland folks , if anyone wants a job) I am sure I have heard that the farrier did a block booking for the westside at their old house. So with any luck a local farrier visit!!!!
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hermit please pm and let us know.
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I may be wrong, but I thought the woman who does the saddlery and leatherwork (Journeyman Leather) was a farrier.
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it is very hard to read a number plate while I am leaping up a hedge bank to save my life mate .... ;D ;D but round here you see the same cars all the time , so I know the car and the faces of the people. Reporting would do absolutely nothing , no witnesses no broken bones ,etc etc .... had that from the horses mouth ie plod !!! So I sort it out myself . Caving in the rear wing of a nice posh car effectively writes it off , and the scratches down the paintwork would cost an absolute fortune to re spray these days.
So if nothing else I get retribution !!! So far it is one car with deep scratches and two with unfixable dents.
I have been clipped about half a dozen times now . Mainly just the door mirrors clipping my arm , which is bad enough . I am scared that one day I may get caught in something and have my arm ripped off or something, but most give me a wide birth now . The highly visible horse shoe did the trick . I actually wave it at them like I am about to throw a quoit through their screen , wish I could take a picture of their faces !!!
cheers
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Angus , she is only qualified to do her own horses, there are a few like that, she is not allowed to touch other folks.
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hi how do you manage on shetland with no farrier do you do your own? :horse: :hshoe: :wave:
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Angus , she is only qualified to do her own horses, there are a few like that, she is not allowed to touch other folks.
I see.
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The horse clubs arrange a farrier to come up from Orkney or one from Perth! Everyone who needs their horses shoeing has to help pay for the trip/stay and have to have a box cause they only do a few stops around the island and everyone has to be there. If you lose a shoe tough till next time tough. Rasping down of unshods are done by more experienced folk and there is usually someone on hand to do the Shetlands.My OH rasped my two and I rode in the boots, but I dont have horses any more. A few folk that have businesses with horses have gone and got themselves qualified to shoe but only their own as I said earlier. We had a blacksmith / farrier a few years ago that did horses relutantly, he prefered to be a blacksmith, his daughter now works his forge making bird baths and pokers. Same for equine dentists, they have to arranged and pampered well so they come back. The vet will only do feet when somebody has been reported to the SSPCA for neglect which is on the increase since the pony sales crashed last year and lots of ponies not sold and stuck on the island.You cant give a shetland away now. So if anybody wants to be a part time farrier, Shetland is your place.(Not enough business for full time)
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hermit is correct. with the new scale of charges for regestering with the stud book its very bad news for the shetland. most folks trim there own shetlands up here. when a good filly foal will only get a couple of hundred and the reg and chipping and passport costs more than that it really is worrying for the colts and lesser fillies.
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my minis are registered with the stud book, there prices seem to go up every year, my mare had a foal this year but she is stopping with me, i dont breed to sell on, it is very worrying for horses in general i think as there keep goes up and up and up, following the hay prices on the other thread it is scary