Horse Sense on the Roads

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Website with information on riding areas.
 
 
Horse recreation group - working for better public access for horse recreation.Get the latest information, add your support to submissions, by joining. 

 
 
 
 
Motorists, cyclists, pedestrians and horse riders all have a right to use the road.
They also share a responsibility to consider each other's needs.

This site has been created to help all road users understand the special requirements of horses and their riders, and to remind horse riders about safe riding practices on the roads.
 

About Horses

Unlike any other 'vehicle' on the road, a horse is a living, breathing animal with instincts, thoughts and feelings. 

They outweigh and outmuscle their riders, often by a factor of 10x or more. Through training and trust, a horse can perform amazing tasks for its rider, but it is also a timid and fragile creature by nature.
 

About Riders

The rider you meet may be a pensioner on a tight budget, a farm worker, a working mum, a schoolchild, a banker or executive.

Horse riders and owners come from a wide variety of backgrounds, age groups, and experience. Horse riding is often perceived as a pastime of the idle rich, but this is not usually the case in New Zealand where the costs of keeping a horse are similar to many other sports or hobbies.

About Roads

Roads have existed for thousands of years, and are for people to get from place to place. A road is for pedestrians, horses, cycles and pretty much anything else you can think of.

Motorised vehicles are relative newcomers; and the road rules that apply to them are often based on keeping other road users safe from them. The motor vehicle does not have any special right to be on the road, nor does it's driver . The only roads specifically designed and allocated to motorised vehicles are motorways.
 

LTSA Legal

While the common law courts developed detailed rules about the rights of people on foot, riding animals or driving animal-drawn vehicles to use roads, they never had to deal with motor vehicles.
 
In a 1981 case (
Brader v Ministry of Transport [1981] 1 NZLR 73 at 78, 84), the New Zealand Court of Appeal rejected a claim that the law gave individuals an absolute right to use motor vehicles, stating that the 'liberty to drive' is not a natural right and that even the provisions in the legislation imposed restrictions and obligations, rather than granting rights.
 
The court commented further in 1994 (R v Jefferies [1994] 1 NZLR 290, at 296) that there is no traditional approach of the common law to motor vehicles.
www.horsesenseontheroads.info


Horse Sense on the Roads has been created by the NZ Horse Recreation Inc to raise awareness of road safety for horse riders, and educate all users about safe road sharing. 

Attachments (6)

  • Code of Conduct Brochure Style.pdf - on Mar 15, 2010 4:57 PM by Vivien Dostine (version 1)
    196k View Download
  • Horse Manure Pamphlet.pdf - on Mar 15, 2010 4:16 PM by Vivien Dostine (version 1)
    1022k View Download
  • Horse Sense for Cyclists.pdf - on Mar 15, 2010 4:15 PM by Vivien Dostine (version 1)
    143k View Download
  • Horse Sense for Walkers.pdf - on Mar 15, 2010 4:15 PM by Vivien Dostine (version 1)
    309k View Download
  • Horse Sense on the Roads Intro.pdf - on Aug 17, 2008 8:31 PM by Vivien Dostine (version 1)
    47k View Download
  • roadwatch-form.pdf - on Jul 8, 2009 9:44 PM by Vivien Dostine (version 1)
    45k View Download

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