20/07/2026
It’s been a while since I’ve shared some general info posts, but after my ride at the weekend I’m going to try to get back to doing it.
I’ve noticed lately more and more people are nervous to over take horses when hacking and hanging back behind them. When I ride, I try and help drivers out where I can, by pulling into passing points, getting as close to the left hand side as possible and calling drivers past when I can see the road ahead is clear. I know a lot of riders are the same. Understandably not everyone is comfortable driving past horses. However, hesitating and sitting behind a horse could actually cause the horse more stress by doing this compared to just over taking, providing it is safe and legal to do so. Due to horses having eyes on the side of their heads they have different blind spots to us, as can be seen in the diagram. When a vehicle sits behind them, they possibly may be able to work out that there is something behind, but not well enough to work out what it is. That combined with the noise of the vehicle is enough to upset any sensible horse if there for longer than necessary. This is due to them being prey animals and it targeting their flight or fight system of their body. I appreciate not everyone believes that horses should be on the road, however with significant reduction of bridle paths, a lot of people’s only option is to ride on the roads. Having said that do I believe every horse should be on the road, no I don’t. Horses should be carefully desensitised to what they may see on the roads. I wouldn’t take a horse on the road that I did not feel was safe. A it’s not fair to put the horse in that position. B it’s not fair to put other road users in that position. C I would rather not risk the chance of getting injured and not being able to work.
So if you’ve been sitting behind a horse and notice them getting upset it may be because they can’t work out what you are. Generally most horses will then settle quite quickly once you have gone past. Please don’t sit behind a horse for the sake of it, watch the rider as most will help you out. Generally riders would rather not hold people up.
Imagine credit: Magazine Equine Vision