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On Horses versus Motorcycles

If you are into motorcycle vlogging, then the name Baron vom Grumble should not sound strange to your ears. The chap has done a whole lot of interesting videos until now, and here's one of his latest productions. Even though its content might anger some viewers, there's nothing truly offensive in it.
Animals on the road are a major risk for themselves, their riders and traffic 1 photo
Photo: Youtube capture
We'd rather say that the Baron was in the moderate camp on this one, especially if we consider how dangerous skittish horses can be for riders. It goes without saying, they are just as dangerous for any other vehicles, themselves and their riders.

Von Grumble mentions that one of his friends owns both horses and motorcycles that are pretty loud, but the animals got used to the machines and will not become startled when one is started in their vicinity.

However, it looks like this is the exception and not the rule. And if you've ridden long enough in the countryside, you've maybe ticked the close encounters with horses box on your "been there done that" list.

Horses, like most other animals, are impredictable in such scenarios

If a horse is not well accustomed to the sound of traffic and the movement of cars, you can expect it to react in impredictable ways. I almost got a kick from a startled horse even though I was riding in the opposite lane.

Looking ahead down the road, I observed that the animal was frightened, so I slowed down and carefully tried to swerve around him. The bike was a stock Transalp which is extremely quiet in the low revs, but this didn't help too much.

The horse pranced and the owner could no longer hold the reins. The animal then swiftly backed a couple of meters and kicked the air. And I can tell it's not exactly nice to see the horseshoes stopping in mid-air some half a meter from your face.

And how about manure on the road?

Some Youtube users have all the right to be frustrated about piles of manure in the middle of the road. People get fined if they leave the excrements of their pet dogs on the sidewalk, but this rarely happens to horse owners, right?

And if the drivers have the right to feel offended by running their cars in the mentioned piles of horse manure, what about the riders? If one has the misfortune to tread on such a trap, it's time to meet the asphalt in most cases.

I have to agree with the Baron, the purpose of the vlog and this piece is to help finding solutions, and not to incriminate in the same old, usual, sterile way.

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