Forum menu
Dog walkers make and maintain great trails.
Horse riders only destroy great trails.
What about them bloody sheep! Sh&&&ing everywhere and then getting in your way when descending a cracking gravel path.
Best comment I've had from the owner of a dog that had just bitten me (and drawn blood) was " Well, he's never bitten anyone before. So it must just be you" 🤔
What about them bloody sheep! Sh&&&ing everywhere and then getting in your way when descending a cracking gravel path.
Karma for being a groveller
What’s the divisor here?
Could it be that plenty of us have managed to own dogs without getting in the way of other people, so we know that it's actually a pretty simple thing to do, and that the inconsiderate dog owner is literally that?
Pretty much, it isn't difficult but takes effort, consistency and patience. Not a handful of visits to a dog trainer and job done.
Best comment I’ve had from the owner of a dog that had just bitten me
To be fair, our dog goes crazy for squirrels. 🐿
😁
Sorry, I missed this reply.
1) – I tolerate both – just do what the law and basic morals dictate
What happens when "the law and basic morals" clash? You were the one waxing lyrical on page 2 about being bothered by other people's dogs whilst minding your own business. "I have seen this many times. I do not want your dog coming up to me at all." Which is it, do you tolerate them or not?
And I agree with you, I don't want unknown and unpredictable animals running up to me either. But your stance seems somewhat contradictory.
2) – – No I understand why the law is like this.
YO have now veered into being very patronising with your attitude towards a well worked out code and a system that works well. Please read up on it if you ever come north of the border
I couldn't give a toss about the code, I'd never heard of it until you brought it up. I'm unlikely to ever find myself in Scotland with a dog or or a horse given the number of dogs and horses I own.
Pretty much, it isn’t difficult but takes effort, consistency and patience. Not a handful of visits to a dog trainer and job done.
Doesn't even have to take that. When I am walking in public with my dogs they are on a lead and don't go near anyone. That is very easy to do.
But just as with cycling, loose out of control dogs are as much a problem when out walking my dogs as they are very small (2kg) so there is a risk of attack from loose dogs.
Its completely unacceptable
could be a robins face next time
Trigger warning. I **** love Robin! Batman's great too.
What’s the divisor here? That horses deserve more respect because they are better placed to **** us up?
There are several
1. Horse behaviour is rather predictable, dog behaviour is not.
2. Dogs are now EVERYWHERE: cafes, shops, icecream parlours, hairdressers, you name it. Horses are in the countryside.
3. Horses are rare (~250k of them) Dogs are not (12million)
If people want to continue to treat dogs like people/children, with significant assumption of rights and sensitivities associated to them, they should be expected to have them trained to behave well in that society.
People and things that can't are invariably isolated/contained/constrained by law. There's no direct law for leashing your dog, but the animals act of 71 states that it MUST be under control and that it IS a criminal offence for a dog to be dangerously out of control, this includes chasing a person/bike.
1. Horse behaviour is rather predictable, dog behaviour is not.
If horse behaviour was predictable, we wouldn't need to ride / drive past them at 5mph to avoid potentially spooking them and throwing the rider off. They might be more predictable than dogs, but it's not black and white. E.g. I've had a horse rear up towards me when I rode past it very slowly from behind it on a double-wide track. Hooves at face-height do focus the mind a bit. This happened on a shared-use track (where seeing cyclists is to be expected) because the rider didn't have full control over their animal and it was spooked by someone trying hard not spook it! I'd have been better off not slowing down.
Risk management is part of my job. You typically have two factors,* likelihood and severity.
The relative severity of the outcome of a horse attack vs a dog attack is arguably very high, yes. I’d probably take on a pissed-off dog over a pissed-off horse. But the likelihood of a horse attack happening in the first place is vanishingly small.
Yes. What I was trying to say is that I personally will take a low risk of being nipped over a very low risk of being trampled and killed. I'm aware that other people may put different values on the relative severity, even if the absolute likelihood of each occurrence is known (obviously it is not). P.S. Your reply came across as a bit patronising.
I just find the horse thing really weird and anachronistic. "Hello, is that the council? Hi, I'd like to ride my pet Zebra on a public road, just for funsies. Is that OK? No, no, it's not dangerous at all, I've trained it. Well, I mean, there's only a relatively small risk of trampling someone. Oh, and it's probably best if everyone else slows right down and gives it a wide berth because, you know, unpredictability." Not in a million years would that pass, but our laws (and apparently our culture) make allowances for this because it was a reasonable form of transport until ~100 years ago.
1. Horse behaviour is rather predictable, dog behaviour is not.
🤣
No, horses are unpredictable. One of the reasons we don't let them loose on the roads, or bridlepaths, or parks, or.... Unless you're crossing the land they're grazed on, they're going to be on a lead rein or have a rider on them. Dogs can be trained to recall on voice or other commands. Much more predictable. But until a dog is trained, we keep them on a lead where they will come into contact with other people. Or at least we should.
@Superficial - your comments could equally be applied to cars and their drivers, from whom we are at much more risk.
No, horses are unpredictable. One of the reasons we don’t let them loose on the roads, or bridlepaths, or parks, or
I take it you have never been to the New Forest? The 'loose' horses (5,000+ of them) in the New Forest are very predictable and I have ridden amongst them for 20 years.
The horses with riders on are another matter and they are often easily spooked.
@scotroutes
True. In fact, I had this exact conversation with my son as we walked to school this morning - this would all be much nicer if we didn't give up so much of our space to cars. But since 90% of the population probably considers cars a necessity (I'd probably be in agreement) I don't see that changing any time soon.
The ‘loose’ horses (5,000+ of them) in the New Forest are very predictable and I have ridden amongst them for 20 years
I've ridden though wild grazed ponies plenty of times. I've been involved with looking after them as well. I think I mentioned this on a previous page. Some ponies being predictable does not make them all predictable. Grazed ponies have never caused any issues for me. They tend to move away from cyclists [ please don't feed them people ]. I wouldn't let your average flighty horse kept for competition and leisure loose on a road though, or in any public space... and people don't. They do everything they can to avoid that.
Some ponies being predictable does not make them all predictable.
Replace 'some' will 'all' I have ever come across in 20 years of riding and encountering horses on pretty much every ride and it sort of does though.
I haven't been anywhere near as lucky with loose dogs and even this morning had to avoid one that was completely ignoring the owners commands.
1. Horse behaviour is rather predictable...
2. ... Horses are in the countryside.
Neither of those things are necessarily true. I've seen unpredictable horses and I've seen them ridden past my house.
P.S. Your reply came across as a bit patronising.
Sorry if that was the case, wasn't intentional.
Replace ‘some’ will ‘all’ I have ever come across in 20 years of riding and encountering horses on pretty much every ride and it sort of does though.
You don't encounter loose unpredictable horses on your rides, because the unpredictable ones are on a lead rein, or are being ridden, and are grazed away from the public. Or at least should be. You can tell me I'm wrong if you want, but then we can exchange knowledge and experience about horses. I could get quite boring about it.
I haven’t been anywhere near as lucky with loose dogs and even this morning had to avoid one that was completely ignoring the owners commands.
Unpredictable and untrained dogs should also be on a lead. As (nearly) everyone seems to be saying. That is not all dogs. People should not have to put up with being chased by dogs. I'm entirely on your side here. Dogs without recall shouldn't be loose when there are other people around, on bikes or otherwise.
If horse behaviour was predictable, we wouldn’t need to ride / drive past them at 5mph to avoid potentially spooking them and throwing the rider off.
No, horses are unpredictable. One of the reasons we don’t let them loose on the roads, or bridlepaths, or parks, or….
Which is why their behaviour is predictable. You KNOW that a horse can be easily spooked. You also KNOW that it's not going to chase you down the road. You don't KNOW either of these things in relation to any dog you meet.
Horses are a flight animal in all but the most dire of circumstances. Dogs can be fight or flight.
So, horses are predictably unpredictable, whereas dogs are unpredictably unpredictable?
I think I need a lie down.
I don't slow down for a dog. If it gets spooked, it gets a fright, nae big issue.
I do slow down for horses. If it gets spooked, someone (ie the rider) could be seriously hurt.
I'm not that bothered if I ride into a dug, a horse, sod that. 🙂
Which is why their behaviour is predictable. You KNOW that a horse can be easily spooked. You also KNOW that it’s not going to chase you down the road.
So... they're predictable because their unpredictability should have been predicted?
If the injury is the same, I honestly don't care if it's administered by a hateful mutt or a compassionate but lily-livered horse.