Ducati Sporting Club UK > Model Specific - Discussion, Technical Problems and Help > 998 / 996 / 916 / 748 > What is normal behaviour for a horse?

[Redruth]

Has anyone ever experienced anything bad when going past a horse and rider in a country lane? I ask because I had a nervous moment on a narrow country lane this afternoon. I was already taking it slowly because of the horse ***** all over the road but when I caught up with these 2 horses, I waited for them to stop in a lay by and then went past as quietly as a Ducati in 1st gear can go, which isn't very quiet at all.

One of the horses was twitching and backing away and it occurred to me that if it came towards me I was dead vulnerable. I've never thought about it before but was going that slowly trying to be quiet the best thing to do?

I've been on horseback when a bike has gone past without slowing down. My horse reared up and took off down the lane. I managed to get it back under control without coming a cropper but it was not a pleasant experience and put me off road riding for good.

[Redruth]

How do I move this into the right forum? 8 months and I still don't understand how this flipping website works!

[monstermob 998]

sounds as tho you done the right thing - waiting for the horses and riders to get in to a layby and went past as quietly as poss- according to highway code horses have right of way over ANY motor vehicle--- im always very cautious when approaching horses as they are (in my experience) very unpredictable--- what annoys me are a couple of things when the riders never acknowledge your consideration for them in slowing down and giving them right of way- just a wave of appreciation is enough! and seeing kids on massive horses that, if they had too couldnt control the animal if they had too

[ericthered40]

in Brentwood were I am we have lot of horses on the roads and a large dear heard that jump out at you all the time
I have had three dear culls in my cars so i take it very steady round the lanes here
had a horse thing on the bike to,One backed right up to me had to stop would have got me to ******* things
by the way most pepole I know in the Brentwood area have had a dear cull as well so if your passing look out for bamby

[adam]

my mate collided with a horse, wrote off his 636 and broke his collar bone, no one on the horse at the time, just ran out of a field. when out on our enduro bikes we would pull over and turn of the engine off. No point being the idiot thinking sod em and blasting off.

[Loz]

Wherever possible, I close the throttle and pull in the clutch when passing by horses - as long as I can give them a wide enough berth. The downside is that you have to coast by a bit quicker (albeit more quietly) as you need to maintain sufficient momentum. I'm not sure whether slowing right down but having twice as many revs going is a better idea.

Genuinely puzzled - never had this quandary when I owned a Japanese bike!

Imagine this for a moment - you are riding a motorcycle that pretty well does as you want it, but when you are faced with other road users, the bike is prone to react unpredictably - it goes onto the pavement, into the face of ongoing traffic, pulls wheelies and tries to land the front wheel on people's heads, etc. I wonder what the chances are of making a motorcycle like that legal, and to cap it off, by law it has the right of way over other traffic.

[Glyn]

horses are no problem on the road aslong as the animal is used to vehicals and has an experianced rider in charge.
i would like to see them wearing some sort of equine nappy though

[Glyn]

maybe the horse and rider should pass some sort of road test before they are allowed out of the feild

[ericthered40]

The rider should get off and pick it up there self they woud'nt like it I stoped and **** in front of them

[weeveetwin]

Whilst 'coasting' is not generally the right thing to do, I find if I pull in the clutch and allow the bike to idle just before I reach the horses, this allows me to pass fairly quickly and with minimum noise. They hardly know that I've been there. Selecting first gear and crawling past slowly may well keep you in the animal's physical (and emotional!) 'blind-spot' for a longer period and increase the likelihood of it being 'spooked'. It goes without saying that you need to leave a lot of room between you and 'it' though.

(I remember a racer on the IOM hitting a horse a few years ago, and being killed outright. Not sure now who it was).