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It's not just new riders.  It could be green horses, too.  The frist few times I took Drako to Quicksilver's Hacienda entrance was real trying for a green horse, and trying to explain that to someone barreling down the hill at your horse is quite an experience.  Any horse could react to bicycles if they are startled.  I've had newbie bicyclists at Quicksilver riding their squealing brakes in the kick zone of my horse.  I was riding side by side with someone at Arastradero Preserve and had a bicyclists brake real hard and ended up right in between us.  Boy, did he get an earful about how dangerous that was for him.  Sheer stupidity on the bicyclists part.   So bicyclists have a responsibility to maintain control over themselves, and should be informed to keep a safe space and slow speeds around horses for their safety as well.

 

I've shared trails with mountain bikes at Monte Bello without incidents, and with a lot of smiling.  Seems like the gnarlier the mountain bike trail, the more experienced riders ride, and most of them understand about sharing trails with horses.  Wilder Ranch/Grey Whale/UCSC complex (where part of Fireworks run through) has a mixed bag of bicyclists, but as a group they try to promote cooperation between equestrians and bicyclists by sponsoring educational "carrot feeding" days.

 

I agree about not insisting on right of way.  At Santa Teresa Park, the bicyclists are experienced and considerate.  We always give them the right of way going downhill, and they yield to us going up hill, and we are always smiling at each other because we are both doing what we enjoy best.  I accidently took a no horse allowed trail to the golf course, and came trotting fast around a corner only to be greeted by a bicyclist flying around the corner.  We both almost endo'd.  Then we looked at each other and asked if we were okay, and then laughed about it.

 

A lot of bicyclist will stop even when we tell them it's okay for them to go on.  My horses could care less about sharing the trails with bicycles - they suffered through the above incidences without any real reaction, except the almost-endo-braking!

 

K.

On Thu, Jun 26, 2008 at 9:33 PM, k s swigart <katswig@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

D'Arcy said:

> Most, and usually they are mountain bikers, realize
> they would or could have put a horse and rider in
> jeopardy, are polite and apologetic.  Especially
> when I ask them to consider the fact there may
> be many NEW riders to the industry and as such
> may not have full control of their horse.

Personally, I would be very careful about asking non-horse people to
consider that there may be many riders out on the trail that "may not
have full control of their horse."

As it wouldn't surprise me if these same people started asking
themselves (and quite reasonably) what such inexperience people are
doing out in a public and shared environment on a thousand pound animal
that they cannot properly control (and keep from trampling small
children???).

We, as equestrians, do NOT want to be emphasizing the fact (and tell all
the other users to consider) that we are riding a dangerous animal
overwhich we have little or no control, as the response might be that it
is not safe to let horses out on public trails.

At least, I don't think that this is a productive approach.

And, recognizing that I, as an equestrian, am very outnumbered (by
pedestrians and mountain bikers), also do not ever go out of my way to
point out that I have the right of way (and threaten to sue people if
they don't properly yield it to me).  In such situations, it is rarely
ever productive to antagonize people who outnumber you, especially if
you have also armed them with the information that the reason you are
given right of way is that you may have no control over your horse.

Please do not do this.  The argument "Equestrians should be banned from
public trails because they do not have reliable control over their
mounts" is a perfectly legitimate one.

_I_ go out of my way to try to demonstrate to every user I meet that I
do have control over my horse, that they CAN share the trail with me
without fear of accident, and that they don't have to worry about me or
anybody else getting hurt.

And if I am on a horse that I don't have sufficient control over to
ensure this, I make damned sure that I am doing everything I can to keep
said unruly horse from endangering the health and well-being of
strangers and chance encounters.  While I may have the right of way, I
don't assert it.  I try to keep my unruly horse out of everybody else's
way.

kat
Orange County, Calif.
:)



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