Trail Riding Etiquette

Perfect job Vida...

May I add that our local CT Horse Council and Volunteer Horse Patrol have brochures we have made available at the trail heads that provide information about trail etiquette and we also have a Roadsafe Brochure that is displayed at our Town Halls and Dept. Of Motor Vehicles.

That is an excellent idea. Always a good think to educate the non-riding public about safety issues.

I would also like to add my own "trail etiquette" rule...

While I agree it is our responsibility as riders to follow all the rules posted, it is also our responsibility to train ourselves and our horses to accept that there are some, if not many riders that will ignore one or all of these rules.

ANYTHING can happen out on trail and we should do everything in our power to condition our horses to accept that fact of life. Too many people get hung up in the "who's right" of it all, when what really matters is safety.

Sure, you can yell "you were wrong, you SOB" all you want. Yelling it from a hospital bed makes for a hollow victory.

Haha I would like to add, "don't go on a trail ride and expect it not to BE a trail ride"...ask questions if you've never been on one before, tell people what you're comfortable with and see what you're getting into! We had a group out one time and these two women came on their fancy show horses and in their fancy show clothes and spent the ENTIRE ride yelling at us for how awful and dangerous the trail was. There were one or two spots that WERE rough, but it was a GREAT ride minus all the whining...the cause of all this whining and yelling at us: fallen trees to step over and a stream bed to cross....haha pretty typical for a trail ride.

I would like to add that if you know your horse spooks at bikes, loose dogs, etc. warn people if it applies. My mare kicks at dogs so I always warn people that have loose dogs about that. This is something that I've never been able to train out of her.
Also, if a trail says "No horses" please respect that. Around here it is a safety issue because many of those trails have old coal mines running under them or it is to please the hikers who don't want to share the trail with the horse. I have seen too many riders ignore those signs.

I always thought stallions wore blue not yellow. Someone told me another meaning of yellow but I can't for the life of me remember it now.
Green for inexperienced/young horse and red for a kicker.

I just did some google work on what color ribbons and what they mean...

RED- Horse kicks and should be given pleanty of room.

GREEN- Horse is either green broke, not use to the type of riding being done, unpredictable or uncontrolable in anyway, or if they are not use to being ridden in a group and you are out with a group.

YELLOW/WHITE- This horse is a stallion.

Mares in heat who get testy and foul tempered may also wear a ribbon. The color of this ribbon is not important so long as it may be seen. Red is commonly used since mares in heat are known to be more likely to kick. Blue is also a good color for foul tempered mares.

So there are the ribbons lol hope this helped everyone. I have to go buy a red ribbon sometime soon....Bause has been proven as a possible kicker...lol

I can tell a stallion by his dangly bits; no ribbon necessary!

Yellow also used to mean a horse was for sale. I don't think they use it like that anymore, though.

The only color ribbon I've seen actually used has been red, and I stayed well clear of that horse. Definitely a kicker.

One more thing to add--please don't hang back and then race up and past other horses! I used to ride with a group in Arkansas and one time there were two younger girls who thought it was hysterial to hang back, then gallop up and past/through the group. This was just great for our poor horses/mules, and they kept doing it even after several people asked them not to. Needless to say, they were never invited back.

If you need to pass others, let them know clearly you are coming up behind them, that you want to pass, and what side you want to pass on (we usually rode logging roads, so plenty room to go by). I usually say something like, "Behind you, pass please, on your left!" Always pass at a walk or slow controlled speed.

Its usually just my husband and I but even then we say "coming up on you" if we're coming up fast and "passing on the left/right" as a common courtesy to each other. Plus if you do it all the time it becomes habit for when you're with a croud.

I've been on countless trail rides with others and my pet peve is PACE.
The leader of a group has a responsability of maintaining a constant easy pace. You can not speed up going down hills, slow down and suddenly speed up again. The reaction down the line puts everyone in jeprody??
The leader should pick a nice pace and hold it regardless of up hill or down around corners, everywhere the pace should be maintained.
No loping if everyone is trotting. Keep distance which has been already mentioned. I refuse to tolerate anyone running up my guys butt. He could get seriously injured.

Warn everyone about stopping and make it slow. Warn everyone that you are going to trot, warn and then start trotting but again sing out that you are trotting.
A leader that speeds up when she feels like it, slows down suddenly, breaks from a trot to a canter and back down to a trot is not considerate of others and I wouldn't ride with her.

Leading is not just about being first in a group.