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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think it's bonkers to be riding a horse at night even with a hi-vis tabbard on?

44 replies

Perriwinkle · 07/11/2011 19:35

Just seen a woman riding a horse along a not particularly well lit street in a residential area where there is quite a lot of traffic that travels reasonably quickly.

Horses do get spooked quite easily, and moreso when it's dark I'd imagine, so she was taking her life in her hands, not to mention putting other at risk too.

She paid scant lip service to saftey by wearing what I'd loosely describe as a hi-vis tabbard but even that was not the luminous yellow variety and only the stripes on it were reflective. The horse had no lights on it!!

The woman was/is bonkers.

Surely the Police should have stopped her if they saw her...?

OP posts:
Puffykins · 07/11/2011 19:37

Maybe she works and still has to exercise her horse? I remember riding my pony in the dark when I was at school. Whether I rode her before school or after school, it was always going to be dark.

SoupDragon · 07/11/2011 19:38

PMSL "the horse had no lights on"

I do see where you are coming from though.

catgirl1976 · 07/11/2011 19:39

How would you suggest she exercises her horse - if she works she cant do it in the day. And why would the police stop her?

squareegg · 07/11/2011 19:39

[biggrin] at the idea of a horse with headlights.

Maybe she didn't realise that her tabbard is actually crap. Or is very confident in her horses temperament, which is daft as it's mental drivers you have to watch out for. Not the smartest move I'd agree.

Would understand your comment about the police if she rode past a police station while you were there and they didn't stop her. But there weren't any around surely?

squareegg · 07/11/2011 19:40

I think I meant GrinBlush

ChristinedePizanne · 07/11/2011 19:41

Presumably if you're in a residential area, you weren't driving fast?

Not all horses get spooked easily - generally you don't take them out on the road if they do. You sound like you're the one that get spooked easily - perhaps you should get your eyes tested? Horses are quite big

MangoMonster · 07/11/2011 19:42

I agree, not a great idea in the dark, but sometimes you get caught out or you have to for some specific reason. It's probably not that different to a cyclist or walker if the horse is well trained.

toboldlygo · 07/11/2011 19:44

I respect that you might need to exercise horses in the dark in the winter - I'm lucky enough to be able to ride during the day, can't imagine how I'd cope if I worked 9-5 - but that's no excuse for not wearing adequate hi-viz. You can get all sorts of special gear these days, flashing tabards and hat bands, wraparound sheets for the horse, leg bands and of course should have a red light to the rear and white to the front.

Then again a lot of riders just don't help themselves in this regard and don't realise that even in daylight riding a bay horse on a black road wearing a green jacket renders them pretty much invisible, especially in the low winter sun.

ChristinedePizanne · 07/11/2011 19:47

Yes, agree the hi-vis could be improved - my sister wouldn't go out without reflective/hi-vis leg bands (she exercises two horses a day and is out 8-6 so has to exercise in the dark

catgirl1976 · 07/11/2011 19:48

Agree the rider should have had a light and leg bands but think the OPs reaction is OTT

FredFredGeorge · 07/11/2011 20:11

Unfortunately she wasn't committing any offence, so the police would likely not stop, it is unfortunate that horse riders don't have to have lights when on the road like other traffic, but that's the case currently.

It is against advisory parts highway code (which can be used in court to help establish negligence) so if she was hit / or caused some other problem she may lose even if it wasn't her fault.

AnnoyingOrange · 07/11/2011 20:22

At night. It is safer not to ride on the road at night or in poor visibility, but if you do, make sure you wear reflective clothing and your horse has reflective bands above the fetlock joints. A light which shows white to the front and red to the rear should be fitted, with a band, to the rider?s right arm and/or leg/riding boot. If you are leading a horse at night, carry a light in your right hand, showing white to the front and red to the rear, and wear reflective clothing on both you and your horse. It is strongly recommended that a fluorescent/reflective tail guard is also worn by your horse.

from www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Highwaycode/DG_069853

Shutupanddrive · 07/11/2011 20:25

YANBU!
And I do ride horses but would never dream of doing that

BlueRedGreen · 07/11/2011 20:32

It is dumb to do that, whether illegal or not. I wear a headtorch on my hat, with a red one facing backwards, and a variety of reflective leg bands, tabards, tail bands, etc, and keep to quiet roads.

Original poster
Perriwinkle · 07/11/2011 20:45

You're dead right ToBoldlyGo. This was a dark brown horse and it just sort of loomed up ahead of me. It was quite startling. It was almost absolutely camoflauged against the black road because the area was so poorly lit. The rider's tabbard was a dark colour and only the stripes on it were a reflective silvery grey. She was wearing a dark coloured hard hat too.

I wasn't driving fast by any means, maybe 20 mph but if I'd been able to see the horse more clearly I would have purposefully slowed down a lot more, as I always do for a horse. Other drivers may not have been as considerate as me.

I think the Police should have an issue with this because it was a huge horse and something that large and powerful moving on the public highway at quite a lick (she was doing a very swift trot) is a hazard if it is not adequately well lit or visible to other road users. It could quite conceiveably cause a hazard on the road. It was larger than a scooter for example and they have to have lights!!

As for the fact that people have to exercise them in the dark, I wonder what the Police would say if I was tootling along with no headlights but I explained that it was an emergency and I just had to collect my granny who was stranded at the train station?

If people must exercise their horses in the dark on public highways then it should be law that they are kitted out with the sort of specialist hi-viz equipment and lights described here that make both rider and horse properly visible to other road users. It's crazy for them to go about - and be allowed to go about - like the horse and rider I saw.

It's an accident waiting to happen if you ask me.

OP posts:
Pixel · 07/11/2011 21:08

I always wear hi-viz on myself and the horse even on quiet roads in broad daylight. If I had to go out at night I'd be so lit up I'd be a hazard to the nearby airport! Grin
I recently saw a woman riding an almost black horse with not a speck of white on it and she was dressed from head to foot in black too. She was riding along at dusk by a tall dark hedge and might as well been wearing an invisibility cloak, luckily traffice was forced to slow as it was a very narrow road with speed humps but she did make me very cross. Idiots like that give the rest of us a bad name but she obviously thought she was too superior to wear hi-viz.
The police might not bother (I mean they don't even bother about cyclists all in black with no lights) but I'm pretty sure the insurance companies would take a dim view (ha!) of someone trying to make a claim if they were involved in an accident and not wearing hi-viz, so there may be some justice. Just a shame for the poor horse who doesn't get a choice.

toboldlygo · 07/11/2011 21:09

FWIW I wear this stuff - it's approved by the police before anyone says it. Brilliant kit, people see you earlier and slow right down.

IfAtFirstUDontSucceed · 07/11/2011 21:22

I live out in the sticks and frequently come across horse riders. This time of year the winding country roads are pitch black by the time I drive home from work.

Last year I was driving home in the dark and could see some lights in the distance, as I got closer I still couldnt work out what it was. It was only when I was right next to it that I realised it was a girl on horseback draped in fairy-lights Shock. Where she plugged them in I have no idea!

It certainly made me slow right down (I thought it was some sort of martian and was a little nervous about approaching it).

Saggyoldclothcatpuss · 07/11/2011 21:31

Horses can see very well in the dark, and that shouldn't really be an issue. Hi viz is totally a must though! Dd doesn't leave the yard in broad daylight without head to to high viz for her and dpony! It can give drivers up to 3 seconds more warning even on a bright day. It shows up amazingly at night.
Riding at night involves more risk, but mainly from stupid car drivers, it's not really the horse's fault!

Saggyoldclothcatpuss · 07/11/2011 21:35

Oh, and YABU! There is no law stopping cyclists riding at night with those stupid tiny flashing led lights and nothing else. I've seen several near accidents caused by just that!

Pixel · 07/11/2011 21:40

Saggy, just to clarify, when I said about the poor horse not having a choice I didn't mean about riding in the dark, I know they can see really well and when we had direct access to the Downs we often used to go out on clear nights. I meant poor horse possibly being in an accident because he doesn't get a choice whether to wear hi-viz or not!

Saggyoldclothcatpuss · 07/11/2011 21:45

I missed your post Pixel, I was just ranting generally! Smile

Pixel · 07/11/2011 21:48

Ha ha, well in that case I mentioned cyclists first! Grin

AnotherEmptyNest · 09/11/2011 16:19

Aren't there any fields where the horse could be exercised? Even round the edge of a golf course,perhaps.

catgirl1976 · 09/11/2011 16:32

Oh farmers love you riding horses through thier fields. It's not trespassing or anything. And a golf course? No.....