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Horses (was Thanks for the warning)
Thanks for the warning Martin.
Slowing/stopping for horses is just part of sharing the trails my friend, remember we are all out there for the same reason regardless of what we ride & a bit of horse poo never hurt anyone(as long as you dont ride with your mouth open 
).
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the horses come in from both ends. This won't stop then but may stop the motorbikes I've seen the last 2 times I've been there
Unfortunately it hasn't stopped the motorbikes, as they either get of and do what we do to get around the tree or they jump on the track from the second junction which is about 3 ks into the track.
the horses were on those tracks years before the bikes and i would challenge you to find 8 people who actually ride their horses on the trials out there these days anyway...
So that's where all the dooh-dooh comes from?
It's OK Christine, like Bruce says, horse riders are just another bunch trail users... we've got no problems with them.
I agree with Bruce and all but when I was there late Easter Monday I passed
2 girls on horse on Long Trail (moving very slowly cause of spider webs)
1 Bloke on horse on Long Trail
1 lady on horse at start of Perimeter
oh yeah, and one old bloke on a blue ss (who still left me in his dust)
isn't your best thing is it Stuart?! That adds up to only FOUR horses and Paul...
Yeh, but if you passed both ways that would be 8 and I had a sore throat so I was a little hoarse as well.
So four on horse back in less than 1.5 hrs. What about the rest of the day, or do they only come out when they know I'll be there to make sure I have fresh stuff to ride through?
maybe the fact you are full of the proverbial s&*t has spread to the horse riding community!!
Paul, i am sorry but they only count as one person/horse even if you passed the same one six times...
Truly! hardly anyone rides the trails any more - when i kept my first horse up there, i rode one afternoon and came across 32 other riders, it was horrible!
that is not to say that you can complain about them now - the trails are there to share!! Having said THAT! The horse riders are complaining that there are so many mountain bike riders out there...
Now, now blondie... you're skating on thin ice posting stuff like that on a mountain bike forum!
Move along folks... nothing to see here... move along...
How would any of you know how many horses you pass on a ride, when you're apparently all going SO FAST that you can't even look up to SEE the horse??????? I complained to Christine - my sister - about the bike riders who came down Heath Track so quickly that they didn't even have time to warn me - I was riding a big, brown, hard-to-miss horse - that they were coming, and thus give me time to get out of the way. She said, oh well, we go so fast that we don't even see you until we've gone past. Great. What about safe sharing of the trails? They don't belong to the bike riders. And while I'm on the subject, the same thing has happened to me when running in Acron. Obviously as a single human quite a lot smaller than a horse, I had NO chance of being noticed before the bike riders had swooshed past with inches to spare and manic expressions. I think it would be good if bike riders paid more attention to the other trail users.
I am Christine's sister and I know that there are some nice bike riders using the trails, they just don't seem to ride at Acron (or Heath Track) very often.
For a start... don't tar us all with the same brush!
Personally, I never, never, never fly past horses on a bike. Horses are skittish things that if scared could quiet easily throw a rider and cause them significant injury or death. For those that don't stop, remember that - it's why we give way to horses, they aren't as smart as a bike
All of the guys we regularly ride with are just as courtious... I wouldn't ride with anyone who wasn't.
So please, think about what you are saying before you go slagging off all bike riders and placing them in the same pot, you'll just alienate the ones that are on your side. Because most of us do at least slow, and most likely dismount (after asking the horse riders) before walking or letting horses pass.
Humf!
Ok! we agree that nobmob riders are excpetional with their manners BUT there are lots of other riders who aren't - Julie complains to me endlessly about the behaviour of the riders at Cascades in the morning and how they nearly run over the running group... I say, well! they aren't people I ride with...
Of course, she also thinks this whole post is quite funny - our system is down so we don't have to much work to do while we wait for our computer man and as you ALL know both she and i both horse ride -
Often though, we have had to shout at bike riders to ask them to stop and/or slow down as they go past - just yesterday, i had a guy ride straight past me at Red Hill on my horse who wasn't happy...my horse not him! HOWever! he was going up a hill and as i am now doing both sports i did have some empathy for him! But, i did have to get off her and he did not care!
Again I think it's the minority that spoil it for the majority.
As Rob said, all Nobmob members I have ridden with either get off or slow down to a walking pace when they come across a horse.
The same can be said of some riders on the trail during the Mainenance Day at the Dam on Sunday. Some came tearing through at full speed through the single track even though signs were up and we told them that maintenance was going on.
if "hardly" any horses and riders use those trails anymore, then how do they know there is now lots of mountain bikers?
Hi Julie, time to get off your soap box, ah sorry your horse survived the horse flu didn't it.
Oh come on you know I'm only joking.
I also hope that you would agree most of us here that you have met ride relatively sensibly, and more importantly, aware that we share these great trails with all kinds of users
you would reply - i said... just wait until he gets home this afternoon!!!
Blondie?
what has happened is... because so many of the horse riders don't like running into the bike riders they stopped riding on the weekends out there and ride mid-week - at least that's what our friends do! It's all too traumatic for them!!!
See, they USED to ride there but then stopped...
Monday Morning Angries
It may be a generalisation but IMO I have found those people who run through Cascades are usually the grumpiest people you can meet on the trails. I've met teenagers who are more communicative (no offense to any teenagers out there).
Walkers will have a chat, so will horse riders, so will other riders but runners seem to have forgotten the beauty and serentity of the outdoors as they scury along, head down, eyes forward like some type of rodent or automaton.
It's not so much your destination but rather the journey that is important.
Well Buzz, you haven't seen me and my happy group of runners! In fact we run at Cascades every Wednesday morning and not only do we enthusiastically greet everyone we see - waving from afar and singing cheerful hellos as we skip gaily past - but we travel at a sedate pace that allows us to enjoy every nuance of the bush: the trees, the crayfish we occasionally come across, the twittering birds, the odd sunbaking snake, even the changing autumn leaves and the early morning sun glistening on the many spiderwebs currently being woven.
Of course, if you happen to be one of the mountain bike riders travelling at top speed down the hill, eyes fixed to the ground and wraparound sunnies obscuring your view of the countryside, well you probably haven't noticed us either!
Wouldn't it be great if after reading these posts, everyone became more tolerant of all the other trail users? Because whilst the journey might be important, HOW you undertake the journey is even more so.
(Note: This is Christine's sister Julie posting on her login. I don't want anyone to think that Christine is a runner - she'd be horrified!).
Julie, I look forward to running into you one day (I mean that in the nicest possible way)
As a teenager i take no offense at the comment about teenagers, we do tend to be a silent and mono sylabic grunty bunch
. Its not horses that the problem on the trails (only there poo motto hear ride with mouth closed), they are generally a friendly bunch who'll have chat with you. However barely a ride goes past when you don't encouter a few horses on the perimiter track though, and this includes the weekends, so people are still riding then not all of them have been scared off
Collect their dogs poo, so what's sooo special about horse owners, they'll just have to carry larger plastic bags.
Does any one else remember the NPWS trying to get horses to wear nappies a few years ago
Huggies, now for horses
to be fair... horse poo is mostly digested grass... compost that disappears quickly.
as meat eaters Dog poo is a bit more contaminated with worms and germs.
Horses are cool, it's just the people that ride them are weird... Just joking Christine, just joking
I read what to do when I see horses and my friends and I do it.
-See horse rider
-Stop riding
-Wait for horse rider to call us through
-Get off and walk past, or ride past slowly (up to the horse rider)
-Continue on
-Throw lump of horse shit at closest friend (aim for his front spokes)
-Keep riding
Only takes a minute out of the day and gives us a rest.
Horses can be scared by bikes and bolt off injuring the rider.
I read a different passing method
-See horse start ringing bell till the anodising comes off.
-Keep riding
-Wait for horse rider too be bucked off
-Get off and walk past (its dangerouse to ride when your pissing yourself laughing)
-Continue 0n (continue pissing yourself laughing)
-Throw lump of horse shit at at said horse rider (aim for the bleeding wound, they say horse poo in clean, right!)
-Keep riding
Only takes a minute out of the day but jez its bloody funny
Horses can be scared by bikes so it pays to practice.
Never abuse a Bell!
The problem with twisting trails is that you can round a corner and all the sudden be face to face with a horse. A scary situation for all parties.
This is where I think the horse riders should be a little more pro-active in their safety precautions. They should consider having someone preceed them by 20-30 metres or so warning oncoming trail users there's a 60k human trying to control a semi-domesticated and unpredictable 800k animal using just their thighs, heels and a leather strap (why did I just think of something else here).
Horse owners should be pro-active and stop nagging - just kidding April fool.
Gosh, we are all out there doing our thing in the way we like to do it. Do we really need to be critical of each other?
Sure the bikers like to go fast.
Sure the horses like to go slower.
Sure the runners like to smell the roses.
I am not that keen riding through horse poo as it washes into local streams etc but hey, we are all out there enjoying what God(or who/whatever) has given us to enjoy so that is the point we should be most glad of.
We are all aware of each other so a smile and a wide berth at a sensible pace as we pass really is a simple thing. Education and awareness is the key which NOBMOB has always championed and practiced. Most of the time we have a bit of a chat to the horse riders, most runners look to be in more pain than we are and short of breath however.
Bloody hell all this who ha to see who was there first and who is king of the heap!
Disclaimer: The following is a joke and not intended to cause any stress, pain, discomfort or invoke the red mist.
Why dont we divide the day into the following divisions:
Runners 6:00-8:00
Bikes 8:00-10:00
Horses 10:00-12:00
Public 12:00-17:00
Fair dinkum!
and most of the time I don't even do that, can I take the early slot with them? I'm more of an early riser
is dedicated mtb tracks instead of just using whatever tracks are there, then the walkers and horse riders wouldn't have to worry about mtb's flying by.
In New Zealand the councils work with the clubs and help build and maintain tracks which has become a huge public asset and a tourist attraction.
John.