The joys on long reining and idiot drivers!!

lauren123

Well-Known Member
Feb 3, 2007
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East Yorkshire
I have been taking sox for in hand walks for a few weeks now, and week by week building the time up. A few nights ago I walked him as normal, our 'route' for the week should I say. And I felt like he just seemed very fed up and bored as I dragged him around , felt like I was dragging him around:(, until we turned around.
So tonight I thought I would try some a little different to try to keep him interested.:D . Long reining. Now previously I have only ever long reined sox in a school . However even then he clearly knew more then me :D

So I acquired a foot solider, borrowed a girls roller. I put his bright hi vis sheet on ( was raining) and my big police jacket. We were all set:D. Sox was alert and bright, not plodding along and seemed to enjoy it :)

However there was one point that I needed to go around some cars and over a few speed bumps. There was a little red car coming up behind. My foot solider said ' He better not try to get past' There was a cars width but only just!! We are talking less then 2 ft. More like a foot if that between sox and this car. Well it starts moving forward, slowly trying to squeeze passed us!!!:mad::eek: I told my foot solider to tell them to stop. But they didn't appear to see it or just take any notice:mad:. I just saw this small gap ( if sox spooked) and this car trying to fit through it! So me being me and me not wanting to put anyone in danger and how and earth he felt he could get through I have no idea!. I told them to firmly stop! Which they did:). Thank god! We carried on and I praised sox.
Next thing we are plodding a lot and I was going to turn down a side street then realised the car behind was going to go down there. So went to continue sending sox forward. Sent him forward and he slammed the brakes on and backed up a little as he saw a man hole cover! Silly boy. So confidently and calmly I encouraged him forward again which he did. Cars passed us while and slow after that!!!

We carried on, praising sox throughout. There was a car door open and a woman sorting out a childs car seat he looked but that was it. People stood talking on door steps, dogs barking at the window. Idiot taxi driver... He didn't put a hoof wrong. And we both praised him a lot :) He was such a good boy. :D
 
Well done Sox :)

Silly question but where was your foot soldier? Because they're of limited use if they are walking along with you. If they'd been further forward then they could have stepped wide & made it impossible for the car to squeeze by, plus if anything had gone wrong they'd have been closer to Sox's head to reassure & help control.
 
Well done Sox :)

Silly question but where was your foot soldier? Because they're of limited use if they are walking along with you. If they'd been further forward then they could have stepped wide & made it impossible for the car to squeeze by, plus if anything had gone wrong they'd have been closer to Sox's head to reassure & help control.
Foot solider was telling driver to slow down. True. But I don't think that the car should have tried to have passed me given their was hardly space..
 
What you thought of as not enough space may have been seen differently by the driver, we need to remember that most drivers are not horsey and often assume that if a horse is on the road it's safe.
 
Well done Sox but like carthorse says, a lot of drivers just aren't horsey and wouldn't understand. Sounds like it was good for something to do with him for a change.:)
I've probably said this before but years ago OH's business partner was in the works van with him and was about to go zapping past a horse and rider until OH stopped him. He honestly had no idea what he was doing might spook the horse (small gap, bendy country road).
 
If I'm out walking in hand I do what I was taught on my motorbike trying, command the road, put myself out of the gutter and make sure I'm seen, if I had been in your position I would have taken a wider position on the road until I was safely passed the parked car, no way past then.
At the end of the day we have as much right to be there as anyone else.
Well done Sox for being such a good boy though :D
 
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