Showing a bit of respect.

[Mad Murphy]

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This morning we took our breakfast and went to the forest .Its lovely and we saw some deer and a red squirrel which made my day..
What was less fun was the lack of respect shown by others. There are clear signs saying dogs must be on the lead so of course Murphy was kept on the lead.

There is a bridle path that cuts through the middle of the woods so you have to cross it and the footpaths are not always directly opposite each other so we came out onto the bridle path and had to walk about 100mtrs before turning into the next path. Ahead of us a young lady on a horse came out of the very footpath we were heading for and set her horse into a gallop coming straight at us, luckily we had Murphy on a very short lead and had tight hold of him. He has never seen a horse that close and that fast before and he panicked. If he had got loose it could have been a fatal meeting for him the horse the rider or all of them, but madam couldnt wait until we had passed she had to gallop right there right then. I know its a bridle path and she has a right to be there but she wasnt supposed to be in the footpath and she could see us move to one side why not wait until she had safely passed us?
A little further up as we crossed a narrow bridge which has a clear sign saying Dogs on leads / NO ATB bikes allowed we met father and daughter hacking down the lane. obviously they were going too fast to read the sign!

There are so many negative stories about dogs and their owners not having control etc etc but what about other people showing a bit of respect for rules and general consideration for other forest users?

 

[JudyN]

Couldn't agree more - some cyclists are my particular bugbear. If a cyclist rings their bell giving me enough warning I'll make sure they have plenty of room to pass, grabbing J if necessary, but cyclists should also cover their brakes and be ready to slow down or stop. Some belt past, not even bothering to ring their bells first.

I got hooted at by a driver last week - we were coming back from a very wet rainy walk and crossing a little way down from a roundabout. I could see a car coming round the roundabout that may or may not be turning into the road I was on, but I had plenty of time to cross, assuming they were within the speed limit. I got halfway across and Jasper stopped and decided to shake, just as the car came speeding along, so there was a momentary delay before I dragged him on. The driver didn't have to slam his brakes on, he just had to slow down slightly, but he still hooted. I'm sorry, I should have trained my dog specifically not to shake when he was soaking wet when in the middle of the road

All the horse riders I've met have been considerate and thanked me for putting J on lead. To go galloping past a dog without warning is not just inconsiderate, it's sheer lunacy

 

[Mayblossom]

Goodness! She’s going a bit of a pace on that horse! Definitely not the right place for that , so dangerous for all ! I always walked on bridleways but a gentle trot if it was a good stretch and always be aware of who was about so you could easily stop if necessary. The bikes are just as bad! We used to do carriage driving but were never allowed on bridleways because they assumed we’d drive like the travellers and scare everyone to death!

 

[Caro Perry]

There are a lot of "shared" paths around me but I only use them if I really cannot face another muddy walk. The horse riders are fine but some of the cyclists! Well they seem to consider that they have absolute priority whatever (despite signs to the contrary). Fortunately the considerate ones do outnumber the idiots but it's more than overdue that they should carry mandatory insurance like car drivers.

 

[Mad Murphy]

Im proud that although Murphy was really scared he didnt bark. We told him calm and down and he hid behind OH's legs but he stayed quiet. Lord knows how the horse would have reacted to a barking dog.

 

[Josie]

Dennis got clipped in the face by a cyclist :-(

We were crossing the road outside my house and I looked left and right to cross which was clear but by the time I started to cross a bike came speeding past and caught Dennis on the face and startled us both. I said ‘Oh sorry’ but afterwards I was really angry because the cyclist was going SO quickly and he didn’t even stop when he hit Dennis!!! He didn’t even slow down. Was not a very experience

 

[Mad Murphy]

I cant like that post @Josie because it makes me really angry that someone hurt Dennis.. Of course here in the Netherlands bikes are everywhere. They go anywhere they please and lord help you if you dare say anything,the cyclist is king of the road.
But I get sick of them esp at night when they come through the park without lights I carry a powerful torch and shine it at them them saying sternly 'this is NOT a cycle path please dismount' of course they cant see me and think Im a policeman lol...
The place we walk Murphy most mornings has a turnstile gate and a big sign saying no bikes but the just lift the bikes over the fence and carry on.. Yet this week in the local rag someone was saying that dogs should be banned from the island so that people could use it as a recreation ground.. Its a boggy marsh 99% of the time! But anything to get rid of dogs.

 

[arealhuman]

I've had a similar experience to this, but on motorbikes! Up to about a year ago I did a lot of greenlaning - motorcycle riding on unmetalled roads. Bikes have to be road legal (tax, MOT, insurance, etc.). The amount of people you meet saying "you can't ride a motobike here" was astounding, but it's always nice to talk them down by saying "actually, you're on a public highway shown on the Council's list of streets and maintained at public expense". Our records were (are) top notch, so we always rode only where it was legal to do so. Oddly, we had little issue with horses and their riders, we would always turn off our bikes, and move aside to let them pass, usually exchanging a few pleasantries Perhaps it was the marshalling we do on bikes at horse events that helps with that. Ramblers were the worse, without a doubt, they seemed to think they owned the roads they were walking on and nobody else was allowed to use them.

So, in a very roundabout way, I'm saying that a little respect in these situations between these different user groups does go a long way. @Mad Murphy - due to the potential risk of dogs being unfairly banned from the area you mentioned, I would recommend building some evidence of abuse by other user groups to strengthen your cause

 

[Dami]

I'm so sorry to hear of your problems with other people being idiots! I guess I may have all this coming to me once my dog can go out after her jabs (will be picking her up on Saturday) when I'm on my bike, I always follow the rules and stop and walk it before walking past a dog and his/her owner, I wouldn't want the poor thing to be freaked out!

 

[merlina]

Ricky my corgi x was hit by a cyclist as we were crossing a lane. He saw me but not a very low to the ground dog and thought he'd be clever and zoom past with only inches to spare. He shouted Sorry! but didn't stop. Cyclists are turning the Wirral Way near me into a no-go zone for dogs, small children, buggies and of course the elderly not able to hear them and jump into the thorn hedges in time! They come in huge packs too so when you do get out of the way you can stand and wait for 10 minutes at a time. I reckon one on five says thank-you. It's evolution in action on Sunday mornings if you're not quick on your feet!

 

[arealhuman]

I was out today - two cyclists riding side-by-side on a main road with a car behind them, and me behind that car. They wouldn't move over and the car in front of me could not pass. Eventually the cyclists moved over and we both passed, I don't know why they thought it was acceptable to hold us up like that. Perhaps it was reduced blood flow to the brain caused by the excessively tight lycra these two "men" were wearing.