Never had any issues riding on roads in Indiana. But I honestly don't know the "laws". I did notice the amo have plates on some of their buggys. And we ride bare foot on the road.
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Call your local police department. They can tell you if thereare restrictions on where and when you may ride. There may be rules regarding reflective equipment necessary. Never forget the first time I saw a couple of cowboys waiting at a traffic light in Phoenix - and I mean downtown Phoenix!
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There is a useful website here:

Riding on Public Roads

 

I know that horses are street legal in Wisconsin and are supposed to be offered the same rights as a car. Obviously, if there is a minimum speed limit like you suggest with highways that doesn't count. I suppose going through drive-thru would be more of a private property type thing. The people in the drive thru might think it's awesome and excuse any "leftovers" or they might be annoyed. You could offer to come back and pick it up (what's left of it) if your horse does go.

I rode on the road a lot when I was younger including going into town and never got into any trouble. Some people are jerks though and will drive very close to you, throw stuff at you (I know, jerks, right?) or honk at you. So, make sure your horse is ready for that type of crap. It sounds like your horse should be ok but just to be aware of this. Your non-horsey neighbor may see you and honk thinking that they are saying "hi" and not realize that it can spook a horse. Also, keep an eye on the footing because broken bottles etc are common.

I actually loved riding on the road when I was younger. It's different than trail riding but fun anyways.

 

Can I add a question? Do horses have to ride on the sides of the road, or can they be right in there in the lanes with the cars?? As long as they are obeying regular street rules, of course. This sounds like fun!!

 

Ones i saw were on the sidewalk just hanging out waiting for the crosswalk sign. LOL

 

It depends on where you are. Smaller towns are more lenient where bigger cities are strictly against it. You may need to get a permit in the bigger cities. It's not only for you and your horses safety but if it was to disturb traffic. Some smaller towns have ordinances that you have to clean up after the horse.

As far as needing shoes, I think you would only need them if it was done regularly or daily. An occasional ride would be fine without.

More and more drive thru places won't serve you due to health risks and possible "messes" outside.

There are towns setup to accommodate horses. One of those is Narco, CA. They even have crosswalk buttons at intersections that are horseback height. I have a YouTube friend that lives there that posted a video showing them. I'll see if I can find it.

Riding on any roads, you have to be extra cautious. Some people are not aware how horses react. They will drive by fast and honk their horn. Just like riding a bike, follow the rules of the road but try to give extra room.
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It depends on your area. Where I live, it's not uncommon to see horses riding on the street. Some of the restaurants even have hitching posts to tie them up at.
However, our local McD's will not serve you if you ride through the drive-thru on your horse. So you may want to call ahead before you ride over.

 

That sounds like it would be ooooodles of fun - if there were no cars, or bicycles, atv's, etc.,. It is good that you are going to actually try and make it happen...my hat is off to you. I won't go near pavement anymore, just the "out back", but if there were no cars, it would be heaven!

 

I think this is the video but I can't view it on my phone:
*~*Halloween Costume Ride*~* - YouTube

xJumperx - you should stay to the side of the road. With the many distractions drivers have, they might not see you easily. Also, just like riding a bike, stay in single file. Don't spread out across the road and block traffic.
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That looks fun. We like to ride through the neighborhoods on the horses to look at Christmas lights. We have to be careful though. The horses have lots of reflective tape and red blinking led lights on so drivers can see us.

 

I would like to start this off by saying... I ride my horses through town all the time. And your right... IT IS A BLAST!!!! I live in a rural community and there are about 6k people in my whole county. But you are right and I commend you on asking questions before you take off.

1st. You horse really does need shoes on. And if you are going to do anymore than a walk they need to have drilltex on the bottoms. Any ferrier knows what that is. It is added to the regular shoe on the toes and heels in order to give he horse more grip on the slick pavement.

2nd. We ride along the highway only because we have to. Indiana doesnt have any regulations against riding on haighways or in town. Our horses are like yours and are been there done that horses so we dont have to worry too much about them spooking at cars, trucks, or semis. We ride along the grass on the side of the road where possible. In town we ride on the side of the road but go right through the middle of town and even around the town square.

The biggest thing that you need to watch for is... THE IDIOTS!!!

I love to ride in town and most people git a big kick out of seeing a group or even single riders going through town. But there is ALWAYS one person that has to be an A-hole. I have had cars and trucks swerve at me. Run right up behind my horse and blow their horn trying to get them to spook. The worst was... when a semi squeezed me and my horse up against a rock wall and actually brushed the side of my foot as he went past me. As he went past he laid on the air horn. My horse spooked, threw me, and drug me hanging from a stirrup down the highway. (yes the driver was stopped and ticketed)

Im not telling you all of this to scare you but to warn you. If you are going to ride through town to just be careful and watch out for EVERYTHING and HAVE FUN!!!!.

 

We ride the roads everywhere. It's the only way we can get anywhere. We never ride in the road except for turn lanes. We act as pedestrians not cars. So if possible we ride the ditch but usually on the gravel side. If they poop, they poop. It's digested grass.

Just today we went galloping on the snowmobile trails. Most everyone was friendly and they even waited for us to pass before they continued, except for two teenagers but can't really expect much out of the youth. We had to be in the road because of ice concerns but that said we were still on the shoulder past the white line. No one gave us trouble and some will even stop if they notice we need to cross.

We rode to McDonalds this summer and everyone was taking pictures and videos of us lol. We didn't go thru the drive thru as that would have caused issues but we stopped at a grassy spot to rest.

 

We used to road ride in town a lot! We had to obey everything just as traffic did. The only time this was a problem was when we were the only ones at a stop light and didn't have the weight to trigger it. Then we had to dismount and lead them down the sidewalks (could not ride the sidewalks and would be ticketed of we disobeyed the traffic signal). I was only pulled over once and it was due to a complaint but was no issue. The cop said we were right in how we handled it (moving to the ditch area to allow traffic to pass us before moving on).

If in doubt call and ask.
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Thanks to everyone for their advice and personal experiences! I'm not entirely sure as to when I will get the chance to go ridin' through the drive thu, but I will definetly get pics for sharing!
If anyone else has anything to add to this thread, I'd be happy to hear it!