# A good something to know



## NorthernMama (Mar 12, 2008)

The part about stopping at the crest: that's common courtesy, IMO. But not a safety issue. Just more enjoyable for people in general.




BryCowboy7 said:


> And you should always let people know when you are slowing down, cause the people in the back don't know and then that puts everyone else and their horses in danger!quote]
> 
> However, this I don't agree with. What am I supposed to do -- yell back "Hey, I'm slowing down now!" or maybe use hand signals like on a bicycle.... No, it is the responsibility of thoses following not to follow too closely and to have their horses under control. This is the same rule in downhill skiing or driving down the highway -- always leave enough room in front of yourself.


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## Vidaloco (Sep 14, 2007)

One of the many reasons I don't enjoy riding with a large group :lol:
If its going to be more than 10-15 riders, I'm stayin home. 
I agree people should be aware of the rules of the ride. Just being aware that you aren't alone and being considerate of the other riders helps a ton. 
People who come riding up at a gallop behind me or at me get my dander up. Alls it takes is a "passing on the left/right" shout out would be great. 
I don't always hear them coming and it scares the poop out of me and my horse. 
I had a guy do that once and then laughed when my horse spooked :evil:


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## BryCowboy7 (May 24, 2009)

To Northernmama,

hmmm... I do understand what you are saying. People shoud have their horses under control and at a distance that is safe and appropriate. But Horses are herd animals and want to stay together. And if you are riding up a hill and people are following you, and you just stop without letting people know then the other horses can run into you and then that causes a problem cause then they kick and that can throw the rider off and hurt them... the same thing happened to one of my friends. They were riding up a hill and the one if front stopped abruptly without letting the other ones know and its not always that easy to stop a horse right on the spot... you sometimes need a little bit of room. Now I do understand that it is common courtesy but also a safety issue in my opinion. I just know what I have seen and learned.... 

But also going back to them being heard animals, the same thing applys when you are riding in a group and you are going into a canter, the horses want to stay together so if you take off, then the others want to follow and then that can bother the other riders if you don't let them know. So yes that is common courtesy but still can limit problems from happening... you know what I mean?


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## BryCowboy7 (May 24, 2009)

northernmama said:


> The part about stopping at the crest: that's common courtesy, IMO. But not a safety issue. Just more enjoyable for people in general.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## NorthernMama (Mar 12, 2008)

BryCowboy -- so how do you propose I tell someone behind me that I'm slowing down? 

As Vidaloco indicated, coming up from behind at a canter is dangerous because the front rider can't see what's behind them, and people going into a canter without asking others if it's OK or going out of the group to do so are also out of line. I still don't agree though that as the lead horse I need to somehow tell everyone I'm gonna stop now. For the most part it's simply because I don't get the logistics of how to actually do it.

Your point about the signals on cars is well taken, but downhill skiing, skating, x-country skiing, and probably lots of other things I just can't think of right now just don't have those signals and the rule always is: _Leave enough room between you and the person in front of you. You are responsible for being able to safely avoid anything in front of you._ It's actually one of the formal written safety rules of skiing. Another rule I've heard and used in sports is when overtaking or approaching to warn the other person that you are in their area and which side you are coming up on. These are the guidelines that we use in my area when trail riding.

And, you know, even with cars, we can flash our brake lights and signal all we want, if the person behind hasn't allowed enough room, it doesn't make any difference at all how many signals we use. So the responsibility in the end still comes to the person in the back. Besides, what if something happens that the leader can't control -- like a kid walks across the street or a bear crosses the trail? There is no time to warn -- stop action must be taken immediately and the followers had better get their act together just as quickly.

Yes, horses are herd animals and we had better respect that, both to use to our advantage and to be aware of expected behaviors. But I have also asked people to not be so close to my horse and they have been very able to manipulate their horse away from mine. If someone can't keep their horse a reasonable distance away on a group ride, then they shouldn't be there, IMO.


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## Flyinghigh12 (Feb 17, 2009)

I'd have to say its just like when you're snowboarding except going up the hill not down. When you're snowboarding you have to keep in mind that there is people behind you so when you do stop don't do it right in the middle of the hill but in the end it is the person behind you that is suppose to be watching out for you. No one has eye's in the back of their head or all the way around so keeping you're distance and not running into people infront of you is what you're suppose to do. As for reaching the top of the hill then stoping right away well if they know there is peope behind them then they should pull off to the side.


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## Vidaloco (Sep 14, 2007)

I guess in the same vein, when you rear-end someone in your car its your fault. Not the person who slammed on the brakes in front of you.
But then again....horses don't require brake lights, yet


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## KatiesMom38 (May 12, 2009)

Where my daughter goes, when they take a trail ride it is pretty safe because those same horses have all been together for many years. Pretty much they file out in almost the same order every time. It's like the horses are playing follow the leader or something. They are a calm bunch.


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## mom2pride (May 5, 2009)

I don't think I have ever had an issue with courtesy on the trail; granted, I haven't ridden on public trails here in the cities yet, but when I was growing up, that's all we did was trail ride (aside from shows, lol), and we were always in a pretty decent sized group. Everyone followed at appropriate distances, and we never had any catastrophies. If we were in a sand pit, we usually waited to go one at a time up or down a hill, that way we didn't have to worry about crashing into someone's horse.


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## iridehorses (Oct 22, 2007)

I've ridden in rides with over 100 horses. I can only remember a few instances when there were problems. Even when I used to ride with a group of 10-15 horses, we would let others know if we were going to go off into a canter so that the rest could maintain control. 

I agree that horses are herd animals and want to remain with the herd but you need to be a rider not a passenger.


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## booner (Aug 17, 2008)

I like a little distance myself. Hubby is always leading and Im fine w/ that.Good advice!


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