Horses Hikers Multi-use Trail Systems

Multi-Use Trails: 5 Tips To Navigating Horses and Hikers While Riding

Horses Hikers Multi-use Trail Systems

As much as we might wish that every stretch of fresh single track on this planet was ours for the taking as mountain bikers, there are times where we need to share our areas with hikers and equestrians as they have every right to enjoy the outdoors as we do. With limited parks and protected land (and people to build the trails), sharing these trail systems is sometimes the most efficient way to make everyone happy.

5 Tips To Navigating Hikers and Horses On The Trails

When you are sharing the trail with other people that are not on bikes, there are several things you need to do to keep the harmony between the different groups in balance. When you don’t take these tips to heart, you run the risk of mountain bikers being banned from the trail system…not the horse riders and hikers.

  1. Slow Down For Blind Turns – If you do not have line of sight around a turn on a downhill, slow down. The last thing you want for your own well being is to come blasting around a turn at mach 5 right into the face of a horse that outweighs you by a large margin. I live for DH, but riding that quickly around a turn that you can not see what is on the other side is dangerous for you and the hikers/riders in the area. It is worth slowing down just a little bit so you don’t end up eye to eye with an animal that can be unpredictable.
  2. When In Doubt…Get Off and to the Side – When on the trail, I have been around all kinds of horses. Typically, if the horseback riders also ride bikes, the horses have zero problems with mountain bikers riding by at a reasonable pace. It is just another day in their life at that point. However, there are a lot of horses that guys in funny hats riding wheels that move and make noise completely freaks the hell out of them. If you even get the slightest feeling that the horse is getting nervous, get off your bike and to the side of the trail. Once there, wait for the horseback riders to navigate their horse past you. A lot of the time, it is also a great idea to talk to the horse as it passes much like you would your dog.
  3. Always Have a Coke and a Smile – Like it or not, it is up to us to be the nice guy in most of these encounters. This really should be carried on to all situations on the trail, but be as nice as humanly possible to every other person you encounter on a multi-use trail. You do represent all mountain bikers while riding whether you like it or not. Even if you feel that you are in the right, giving attitude just heightens a tension that leads to the mountain bikers getting kicked off the trail…not the horseback riders or hikers. Since we have the largest probability of getting booted from the trails, it is up to us to go out of our way to be cheery and nice even if we do not want to be. Otherwise, you might as well not ride there anymore as it is going to be taken away from you with that poor attitude anyway.
  4. Look For Fresh Tracks and Landmines – One way to tell if you are about to have an encounter with horses is to pay attention to the trail. If you are starting to see fresh crap on the trail (and you will probably be navigating around it on a regular basis), there is a good chance that there are horseback riders ahead, so be on alert.
  5. Yield To Hikers and Horseback Riders – Technically, it is our job to yield to the other users of the trail. There are times when hikers yield to mountain bikers on climbs and downhills which is really cool of them, but pedestrians always have the right of way and horses can be unpredictable at times. If you do have to pass, always announce what side you will be passing on and do it at a reasonable speed. Do you like it if a car blasts by you on the road way to close for your liking? Probably not…so use the same courtesy when passing hikers and horseback riders.

By taking a little bit of extra care while riding, you can ensure that the trail stays “multi-use” for a long time. We actually have a trail locally that is almost completely closed off to mountain bikers because of complaints of hikers. This was the trail I grew up on and now it isn’t even worth going to anymore because there is not enough open trail to enjoy.

When you are a jackass on multi-use trail systems, you aren’t just hurting yourself…you are running the risk of losing the land access for all of us.

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