Can I ride a horse on the road pa?

Q: I have a subject I would like you to report on that would benefit the many Lehigh Valley residents who love to ride horses. Please look into the road etiquette and laws regarding who has the right of way and other rules for approaching and passing horses on the road or at the side of the road. Many motorists display great disregard for people riding their horses at the roadside. If you put the word out, it might help save the life of a horse, a horse's owner, or a motorist.

— Sylvia J. Toth, Upper Macungie Township

A:

I was surprised to find that Pennsylvania law affords horses and their riders the same rights and privileges as motorists (but also the same duties). The phrasing is much like that specifying the rights and responsibilities of bicycle riders: "Every person riding an animal or driving any animal-drawn vehicle upon a roadway shall be granted all of the rights and shall be subject to all of the duties applicable to the driver of a vehicle … except those provisions … which by their very nature can have no application or where specifically provided otherwise."

One very wide road of a limitation immediately follows: "No person shall ride an animal or drive any animal-drawn vehicle upon a limited access highway."

I suppose I shouldn't have been shocked by this revelation, since horse-drawn carriages on the road are not an uncommon sight in parts of Pennsylvania, including Berks and Lancaster counties. The state Vehicles Law sets forth requirements for the red-triangle markers and other provisions for slow-moving vehicles, including those whose use of horsepower is literal, but those rules do not apply to a person on horseback.

Bethlehem police Capt. John Sarnicky, who administers the department's mounted patrol, said he, too, was somewhat surprised to find that by law, people on horseback "have every right to use the road." Should motorists decide to ride horses to work and back every day to save on gas expenses, they could simply do it, he said: "If someone decided to ride [a horse] down the middle of the street, there's nothing anyone could do about it," at least not under the Vehicles Law. That doesn't mean it would be a good idea to do so, of course.

There may be ordinances restricting horseback riding on the roads in some municipalities, but I could find no such regulations in Allentown or Bethlehem, and Sarnicky knew of none in Bethlehem. He surmised that the reason the law seems to be lacking in tight restrictions on people riding horses on city streets is that such rules aren't necessary, because for the most part, the horse no longer is used for daily transportation. "Most people don't ride [horses] around anymore. We have the car," he said. Or the bus, or the train, but few horses for daily travel other than in some fairly isolated communities.

People who ride horses for recreation do so because they enjoy it, and most of those folks love the animals, which likely explains why they don't try to ride down the middle of Main Street on the way to work every day. Horses might fare better than pedestrians in conflicts with cars, but not by much, and more importantly, there's a pedestrian of sorts atop the horse. It's not a situation you want to mess with.

Debra Hutchison, director of the Promised Land Equestrian Center in Moore Township, agreed with you, Sylvia, that many motorists don't seem to understand that people on horseback, like bicycle riders, have every right to use the roadways. "We are considered a vehicle," Hutchison said of a horse and rider.

She said most riders make common-sense choices to protect themselves and their animals, sticking to off-road riding on state game lands or in parks. Generally they transport their steeds to these places by trailer, but sometimes riding at roadside is required for the trip from a legal parking spot to the riding area.

When doing so, "I think basically you have to be smart … knowing what your horse can handle," Hutchison said. Horses can be trained for acclimation to the sights and sounds of riding at roadside, she said. "You are responsible for your horse … and its actions. You want to take the time to ensure that … the horse is well-trained to your cues," and obedient enough that, for example, should the rider need to stop, "your horse is to willing to stop and [then] not dance around and get anxious."

Riders should remain on the right-hand shoulder, in single file, and if that's not possible, on the right-hand edge of the roadway, Hutchison said. Though it's not required by law, she recommends helmets for riders.

Motorists, she said, should approach a horse and rider slowly and cautiously, trying to avoid startling the animal or its rider by sight or by sound. "If you see somebody riding a horse, I would ask you to slow down, and move over [to the left] if it's safe to move over, just as you would a bicycle," Hutchison said. Most importantly, "Please don't beep your horn."

Bethlehem patrolman John Buskirk, one of the city's mounted officers, said it's likely that motorists generally treat police officers on horseback more cautiously than civilian riders; he said he's noticed the difference as a bicycle cop versus a bike rider in street clothes. Basically though, Buskirk's safety recommendations are similar to Hutchison's, the first point being knowing the horse's capabilities. He added that city officers wear reflective vests and use reflective gear attachments, and even use flashing-LED lights when they might be riding in low-light conditions.

In an amusing aside, Buskirk confirmed Sarnicky's assertion that city officers clean up after their horses, carrying horsey-bags, you might say. Sarnicky said this unglamorous duty was specified by Mayor John Callahan in considering the return of the mounted patrol a year or so ago.

"You have to kind of swallow your pride," Buskirk said of the practice, adding that "the cameras immediately come out" as bemused residents record the officers' tactical approach to the protecting and serving the roadways in this manner. You never can tell what you'll run across in this column, folks.

The rules of the road regarding horses reflect those for bicycle riders, and the advice of Buskirk and Hutchison maps out a similar course. In the view through my windshield, there's good logic in that.

Road Warrior appears Mondays and Fridays, and the Warrior blogs at mcall.com. Email questions about roadways, traffic and transportation, with your name and the municipality where you live, to , or write to Road Warrior, Box 1260, Allentown, PA 18105-1260.