WHAT a HORSE SEES! - Meeting a Horse and Rider on the Trail

Hello folks!

Here's a great new resource for info on sharing trails with horses, mountain bikers, and hikers: "What a Horse Sees!" -- a short film illustrating safe ways of passing horse and rider on the trail -- as seen on www.HorseSees.com.

Here's the nutshell version:
When you meet a horse on the trail, make sure it knows you're a mountain biker, not a mountain lion.

Here's how:
• STOP — Horses spook easily, and may perceive movement, especially quiet movement, as a predator — and bolt. 
• TALK — Human speech is reassuring and comforting for the horse. Continue to talk until the horse has passed.
• MOVE DOWN to the low side of the trail. If horse gets spooked, you don't want it going off the steep side or horse and rider can be injured.

This trail etiquette — stop, talk, and move down - to the low side of the trail — is based on the experiences of hikers, mountain bikers, and horse riders over many years, and is illustrated in our film What a Horse Sees!

Happy trails!

Everett Lewis
Hiker, Mountain Biker, Horse Rider
Producer of the film and website - What a Horse Sees!

Everett is a horse rider, a mountain biker, and a hiker. A member of Back Country Horsemen, he helps maintain trails in the North Cascades Tree Farm, and helped create the 1,200-mile Pacific Northwest Trail from Glacier National Park in Montana to the Pacific Ocean. Everett and his wife, Karen, live in Arlington, Washington, with four horses and three barn cats.

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