We've even gone down a road accompanied by 3 or 4 kids on bikes - no problem.
But when we're on the road or an incline, ohmygosh. Those bicyclists simply
zoom. My mare doesn't hear them coming and suddenly this fast moving object
is approaching her. This is where she gets a bit upset.
Riding a bike around a horse to get it used to the bike is a good idea.
That's what a bicycling group did here.
However, I don't know how to get a horse used to the surprise generated by a
fast approaching insensitive gonzo.
Another group is having a sensitivity session this weekend (or was it last
weekend?) at a nearby state park. Mountain bicyclists are riding horses,
hikers will ride bikes, and equestrians will walk.
I've heard in CA there's a problem with gonzo equestrians who race up and
down the trails, ignoring other horses, bicyclists and hikers. Then there is
the true story about a mountain bicyclist seeing a rattlesnake on the trail,
picking it up by its tail, and swinging it around his head only to have it
bite him on the shoulder. They needed to airlift him out - an equestrian is
the one who rode out to make the emergency call.
Natural selection at its finest!
Candy
NederCO@aol.com