We are members of a Mounted Assistance Unit for state
parks in CA. When we ride along our designated route, a single lane (just
barely in some places) old truck road, we meet bicycles routinely. We also
meet hordes of Boy Scouts with backpacks. The horses handle the bikes much
better than the backpacks. So far, almost all bike riders have been
unfailingly courteous to us by stopping and standing until we pass. We
thank them for doing so, and so far, there have been no disasters. Rarely,
we raise our hand as a "stop" request and that is usually met. Mutual
courtesy is the keyword when sharing trails. As for the backpacks, by the time
we met the third wave of Scouts, we stopped the horses in front of them,
explained that horses consider people with backpacks to be very threatening, and
offered to let them pet the horses. All ended well.
I can understand the sentiment towards bikes, and while Ravens story
and others are terrible, I just want to spin something positive for
everyone. I have been riding for over 20 years, and my dad has been
mountain biking for slightly less than that. When he first started
riding, there was a huge "fight" over trails at our local park that resulted
in horses and bikes being generally unfriendly towards each other. To
try to soothe the situation we started a "campaign" of our own where we rode
together-my on my "hot arabian show horse" and my dad on his outrageous down
hill racing bike. It did seem to change a few attitudes, especially
the bikers. They got to know my pony and could understand the troubles
they were causing with their bikes. My dad runs many local races and
is widely known in the mountain bike scene. He ALWAYS stresses how
unpredictable and dangerous horses can be and anyone he meets, especially
new riders, he impresses upon them that they should always get off their
bike and talk softly to the horses and their riders to make sure no one gets
hurt. He will even stop bikers when he has seen horses ahead and make
sure they know what to do! :) As reasonable as that is, many times the
horseback riders refuse to even say "hello" when my dad has tried so hard to
be friendly. Clearly a spooked horse/rider are not expected to
exchange greetings, but I think, as horse riders, we should be especially
appreciative of the bikers that do the RIGHT thing and at least say
"thanks!" So, next time you see a biker do the wrong thing, let them
know what the appropriate behavior is (if they are reasonable), and if you
see them trying or doing the right thing, say THANK YOU!! We
need to be responsible for creating a park environment that is friendly for
all to use. A happy attitude is contagious, and aren't we all out
there to have a good time?!?!?
