what side of the road to ride on?

So, in Canada we are supposed to ride on the right side of the road -- that is WITH traffic. Does everyone do that? I started out riding on the left, thinking it should be like a pedestrian, but I was wrong and now have to re-train myself to ride on the right.

We ride with traffic. We ride into the ditch and stop when a car comes though. I refuse to make them walk in the ditch because of idiot litterers and the glass bottles they throw out.

Yes we ride with direction of traffic. However, like Vida, I will often stop, sideways and wait for whatever to go by or move off if there is room and it's safe. Sadly many motorists do not know that horses always have the right of way and their speed is suppose to reduce greatly and move over when safe and slowly pass the horse. Love the horn blast and laying of the rubber!!! Needless to say, I ride the road very little if I can avoid.

Wow, got really carried away, sorry.

I don't know of any unwritten rule about the correct side down here so I just ride on whatever side is most convenient. I choose the wider side, or the side where the trash stuck in the fence is blowing away from me, or the side where the drainage ditches are just up by the road instead of running the width of the ditch. I prefer to ride against traffic because I can always see what is coming but don't always have the opportunity.

SMrobs, I think it's actually a law here. I will have to research further. But I definitely prefer to see what's coming. Ho hum... guess it's safer to go with what people expect though. Plus, God forbid anything should happen, but if it did, I wouldn't want to be on the wrong side of law for liability reasons.

Yep, I hear you.

OK, so I looked it up. There doesn't seem to be a law in Ontario for where to ride. The laws only apply to horse-drawn vehicles. Interesting.

Around here, it depends on the road and how fast people are driving. If one side has a wide shoulder (10 ft+), I'll ride that side, otherwise I ride with traffic. I talked to the NC Department of Transportation and they said you should ride with traffic. When I mentioned that many people come too close (just like with bicycle riders), that actually suggested riding down the middle of the lane. Then the speed limit is 35 or less, I actually do this, and it does force cars to slow down and wait to pass you. Faster than 35, though, is too much a risk for even me. BTW, at least on NC, there are very few laws actually mentioning horse riders...you're not a pedestrian, and you're not a vehicle...somewhere in no man's land, and the few laws that are on the books date back to the days of the early cars. Here is an example...

§ 20-216. Passing horses or other draft animals.
Any person operating a motor vehicle shall use reasonable care when approaching or passing a horse or other draft animal whether ridden or otherwise under control. (1917, c. 140, s. 15; C.S., s. 2616; 1969, c. 401.)

Were can I find laws about this and owning horses in my area? I can't seem to find anything

That's really interesting! Here (UK) it's law that we have to ride with the traffic (ie on the left). If you are leading a horse, you have to walk on the left side of the road but with the horse on your left, ie next to the hedge with you in the middle of the road. And pedestrians have to walk against the traffic.

Don't get me started on drivers, though. Had an argument with a tractor driver the other day. I pointed out that the way he was driving around horses was going to cause an accident, and could he live with killing someone and/or their horse. Probably won't make any difference to the way he drives though.