Police in Scotland are hunting for a cyclist who threw his bike and a brick at a horse and rider, causing the equestrian to fall off.
Police say the incident, amounts to an assault and are calling for witnesses.
The cyclist in Gorebridge, Midlothian, who was riding with a‘poodle-like’ dog, assaulted the rider and horse by throwing his bike at them, which caused the rider to fall.
The cyclist then hurled a brick at the rider before leaving.
The offender was described as being in his 50s, dressed in a yellow high-viz cycling jacket, black lycra leggings or shorts, and a white cycling helmet.
Anyone with any information, or who witnessed the incident close to the junction between Ladybrae and Barleyknowe Road, should contact Sergeant Michele Lindsay on 101 at Penicuik Police Station.
40 thoughts on “Police seek cyclist who attacked horse and rider with brick”
hi viz and a helmet!!! just
hi viz and a helmet!!! just sayin’
One sided story, much?
One sided story, much?
Some randommer bloke (wearing hi viz and a helmet???) just threw his bike at a horse and rider? Then a brick…
I’m presuming something happened before the alleged assault…
Maybe he was a cabbie (he’s a cyclist too, you know)…
Maybe he’d had a bad experience with a motorist before and decided to take it out on an equestrian…
Maybe he needed a Snickers…
The _Kaner wrote:
are you suggesting that something could justify this sort of behaviour?
ConcordeCX wrote:
are you suggesting that something could justify this sort of behaviour?— The _Kaner
Exactly; I reckon we’re only moments away from “He’s not a cyclist; just someone on a bike” too….
namesarehard wrote:
Exactly, he was disguised as a cyclist from above description. Real cyclists don’t dress like this.*
*No True Scotsman fallacy.
namesarehard wrote:
I’m not sure what a cyclist is, other than “someone on a bike”, but please don’t let’s try to take responsibility for the actions of all such people.
Having said that, some horses do seem to border on the pathological in their response to anything that passes closers than 5 metres, and some riders seem incapable of controlling the things.
oldstrath wrote:
Exactly; I reckon we’re only moments away from “He’s not a cyclist; just someone on a bike” too….
— oldstrath I’m not sure what a cyclist is, other than “someone on a bike”, but please don’t let’s try to take responsibility for the actions of all such people.— namesarehard
A cyclist is someone who self-identifies as a cyclist. It is, naturally, a circular definition.
ConcordeCX wrote:
Self-identifies? I think other people may be able to identify a cyclist too.
atgni wrote:
well, that’s what the police are asking, but take away the bike and kit and all it says is that it’s a man in his 50’s – which makes identification a bit difficult.
namesarehard wrote:
Not a cyclist but a bloody dog walker!
It’s be interesting to hear
It’s be interesting to hear how this situation occurred.
My general experience of horse riders in Hampshire is that even if you get of your bike and crawl passed them on your hands and knees and offer them your first born child it still is good enough for them and their horse still spacks out.
Housecathst wrote:
My experience of horse riders in Hampshire is that if you pass them slowly they’re quite grateful and offer a cheery “morning !” or thanks.
bigblue wrote:
I have to agree with you and say that that is my exact experience as well. Having lived in rural Suffolk and now Southampton but cycling plenty in the Hampshire countryside, I have never had a horse “spack out” as I passed them.
medic_ollie wrote:
Mostly. Most horses and most riders are fine, and appreciate warnings and being passed slowly and carefully. Most.
Out riding my bent trike one day when I come across a horse and rider approaching me from the front. I approach slowly and carefully but the horse gets extremely agitated, while the rider, a young lady, swears long and hard at me, telling me to back up into the driveway I’d just passed. I pointed out that I didn’t have a reverse gear and if she can’t control her horse, perhaps she shouldn’t be on the road. Cue more swearing.
bigblue wrote:
As above. Without exception the horse riders around my part of rural Hertfordshire are grateful for some consideration and I’m pleased to see them out on the roads as rolling road blocks to slow down the cars. After all if you hit a cyclist it’s bad luck but if you hit a horse then no-one will give you sympathy.
Hope they catch the dangerous individual involved in this assault.
bigblue]
My experience of horse riders in Hampshire is that if you pass them slowly they’re quite grateful and offer a cheery “morning !” or thanks.
Same here, mutual respect for the great outdoors.
PapaSmurf]
Same. I usually whistle a merry tune as soon as I think I’ll be within earshot, so there’s least surprise.
bigblue]
My experience of horse riders in Hampshire is that if you pass them slowly they’re quite grateful and offer a cheery “morning !” or thanks.
Same here, mutual respect for the great outdoors.
Housecathst wrote:
I live near 4 stables so frequently have to pass horses on the road. They have no problems with cyclists as long as you give them plenty of room when you over take. It’s simply self preservation to. However if you are in a car it’s tough luck you just have to wait, as the last two horses that have bolted were spooked by regular traffic not cyclists.
Horses should be encouraged
Horses should be encouraged to wear Hi-Viz vests and helmets from now on.
The irony of these stories is
The irony of these stories is that if it went “Police seek motorist who deliberately drove too close to a cyclist and hurled abuse at him”, the internet would probably crash. Not a brick, but had the remains of a take-away thrown at me once.
For me, most horse riders are
For me, most horse riders are fine, however some view cyclists like something thats fallen out of the back of the horse no matter how polite or considerate you are.
drosco wrote:
I assume you [i]don’t[/i] mean they view them as something to scoop up and put somewhere they won’t inconvenience others?
Other than what they leave behind, my experience with horsey-folk’s attitude is, on the whole, better than with certain other groups of road users. Which is why I think it is more likely that the trigger for this incident was the interaction between the “poodle-like” dog and the horse. Sometimes the smallest dogs are the most aggressive, and the least often trained properly by their owners. So I could well believe it could have taken on the horse and got what it deserved, precipitating a reaction on the part of the “cyclist”. After all, the first thing he threw at them was his bike before looking around for a brick. But, whatever the reality of the situation, I doubt we’ll see this reported anywhere under the headline “Police seek dog-owner who attacked horse and rider with brick”.
Horses must have tail lights.
Horses must have tail lights.
Horse riders only get angry
Horse riders only get angry when you don’t give them a bit of notice because a horse can ‘spack out’ in the same way you would if someone snuck up behind you. Just be considerate to others especially as we are nearly silent and a horse weighs far more than you.
has to be more to this you don’t generally start assaulting random people unless something happened. That said violence is never the answer.
If coming from behind
If coming from behind equestrians I always announce my presence and pass as wide and slowly as possible. Never ever had anything but polite thanks & greetings up here in Stoke & environs. A couple of horses have been nervous in that situation but never overly out of control. Lesson to be learned there.
Treat others as you would like to be treated.
Story sounds rather bizarre. Bloke sounds unstable attacking a horse. He’s lucky he got away in one piece.
1961BikiE wrote:
Mongo just pawn in game of life.
So who makes the best Horse
So who makes the best Horse Shoes then, Shimano, Sidi, North Wave. Mostly gravel and off road, bridlepaths etc. Are there any reviews?
ken skuse wrote:
http://myhorseforum.com/threads/razor-horseshoes.502118/
substitute a few words of subject-related vocabulary and all internet forums are the same.
So who makes the best Horse
So who makes the best Horse Shoes then, Shimano, Sidi, North Wave. Mostly gravel and off road, bridlepaths etc. Are there any reviews?
“cyclist” or just some nugget
“cyclist” or just some nugget that happens own and ride a bike?
Scenicroute79 wrote:
And there we go! Congratulations: you win the prize!
(disclaimer: you haven’t won a prize)
“cyclist” or just some nugget
“cyclist” or just some nugget that happens own and ride a bike?
Love horses. Got a friend who
Love horses. Got a friend who got one and likes to ride it fast. When temp is really cold she has a JACKET for the horse!! Funny to see.
Going round horses leave 1.5meter space. Everyone happy.
A cyclist with a dog isn’t a
A cyclist with a dog isn’t a cyclist. I’m not sure what they become, but they’re not cyclists.
But still he had lycra and hi-viz. Such confusion. Such is the modern world.
Yorkshire wallet wrote:
doggist? dogger… erm…?
Its an interesting questions
Its an interesting questions isn’t it… why would someone just throw a bike adn a brick at a horse and rider?
What would it take to justify that in someone’s mind as being reasoned and acceptable actions?
I mean, your bike, what would it take to throw your bike at anything?
The point is, there is no justification, its crazy, the action of a lunatic.
But… why is it that my first thought is… ‘what happened to make this dude do this… it had to be something pretty significant’?
Why is it important to gain that perspective?
Is it because as a fellow cyclist, I don’t want others to view cyclists as acting this way, so trying to justify it?
Is it because the term ‘cyclist’ is being used specifically because the writer is wanting to develop the association of cycling with psychopathic behaviour?
Maybe its just curiosity, and from the viewpoint that no sane person would act that way unless extremely provoked, are we looking at a nutter here, or a situation that is only being half reported? either way, itneresting!
Dog-walker and brick-user
Dog-walker and brick-user attempts to damage bicycle by throwing it at horse.
I have a slight quibble with
I have a slight quibble with the headline. Someone attacking a horse with a brick could be any bog-standard despicable hothead. The newsworthy bit, IMHO, is someone attacking a horse with a bike. You have to be either the dullest knife in the drawer, completely out of your mind, or mightily worried for your safety, to throw your bike at anything while out riding. Particularly if you’re wearing road shoes.
And finally, not to make light of a serious allegation, but good luck finding a middle-aged man wearing high-vis 10 miles from Edinburgh.
Whilst thoroughly condemning
Whilst thoroughly condemning the wanted miscreant’s alleged criminal behaviour which is inexcusable in any circumstance, one general point raised does have validity. For some strange reason horses despite in all but very few cases not used for either A to B transportation, or utility such as carrying goods etc, do they enjoy this revered, protected status. If a cyclist was inexperienced and wobbled badly because another road user approached them at more than 5 mph, the cyclist would be blamed and called stupid.
What were they doing out on the road if they are so incompetent. So why are horses that are afraid of traffic allowed on the road when lets be honest, they are there solely for pleasure purposes, i.e. the rider is going out for a hack. A sizable number of cyclists cycle for utility rather than pleasure. Shouldn’t horse owners and riders accept greater responsibility for their own safety and apply common sense about using roads.
When I got lightly clipped by some idiot doing about 90mph on a dual carriage, the police didn’t hesitate to say that I shouldn’t have been cycling on dual carriage way. Never mind about what the idiot was doing in the inside lane, if I had wobbled outwards by just an inch, I would have been taken away in bits.
In another news story we hear how some MPs and taxi drivers think that cyclists cause congestion by cycling at 12 to 20 mph. Horses typically walk at about 4mph and need considerably more space to pass at a slow pace, not 30mph. And, if the horse rider wasn’t riding then they wouldn’t be doing the same journey in their car unlike a cyclist.