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

[Perriwinkle]

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...?

I can see where you are coming from.
Haven't encountered any horses out at night yet, but would have thought it was in her interests to make the horse as visible as possible.
As for the Police....you have Police?

yanbu

she is irresponsible for not making her horse visible, i wear a hi vis in daylight. the horse should have hi vis stuff on and flashing lights.
i try not to ride in the dark but some people have to, for example if their horse is stabled all day or is on box rest with an injury and cant get the wound dirty. IE sand menage or field so road work is only option.

Glad to see that most people think it's as bonkers and dangerous as I do.

Saggyoldclothcatpuss I agree with you that it's bonkers and dangerous for cyclists to go around with no lights and inadequate hi-viz kit on too. How you can think I'm being unreasonable about the horses though is beyond me. What's that all about?

Even round the edge of a golf course,perhaps.

Well, even though I would consider riding to be the best use of a golf course, I'm not convinced the golf course owners or other golfers would agree!

Strangely the only person who rides out from our yard at night is also the only person who doesn't possess any hi-viz whatsoever. Her horse is 17hh and she says that if drivers can't see him that's their problem, totally missing the point that she'll be the one being maimed/killed! She does tend to be very me,me,me, but obviously she is thick as well...

Can you get horse headlights? Brilliant

I guess it's tricky if you own a horse and work during the day. Presumably they need excersise ?

I used to wear a yellow high viz jacket and BigHorse had a matching yellow high viz exercise sheet.

It wasn't unknown for idiots people to shout out 'here comes the Sunshine Bus'.

But at least we were visable>

Gosh is it not a bit late by the time you see the high vis? You'd be on the horses tail by the time that became clear (if, for example you were turning a corner to meet the horses arse)

That's why I used the exercise sheet (Mark Todd one). You could see us for miles.

Must have been slightly spooky, seeing what looks like a large neon banana floating along the road.

Pedestrians also need hi vis and reflective strips on where I live, there are no street lights. You can't see people until you are only a few metres away.

Pmsl at neon banana :)

Perrieinkle, your OP was asking if it was bonkers to ride a horse at night even in hi viz. YABU because for some people, in winter, this is their only option. Horses can see very well in the dark, and with plenty of Hi viz, they should be very visible. Proper hi viz stands out very brightly, from a good distance away.
You were implying that the police should become involved when people do ride in the dark, and my question was 'why', nobody bothers cyclists, why should riders be any different?

I would not do it.

Some years ago a keen horse woman I knew was killed after a fall from her horse.

She was riding early, on a dark morning, a car driving too fast on a narrow lane did not see her in time.

It was very sad and made me think twice about riding, on the road, in poor conditions.

As a fellow horse rider I completely sympathise with the lack off road hacking and the short nights but I don't ride on the roads after dark. IMO it's dangerous enough doing it during day time!!!

If people do insist on riding in the dark the least they can do is full hi-viz kits for both rider and horse and lights. There are plenty of options on lights, you can get them on wrist bands, on boots, etc and can find them not only in equestrian shops but also in cycling stores. Lights should follow the highway code, i.e. white/yellow in front, red at the back.

Saggyoldclothcatpuss when I first wrote the OP I was unaware of all the hi-viz kit and lighting that is available out there for riders and horses. Kitted out properly I don't think that riding at night need necessarily be dangerous, provided of course that the rider is skilled enough to have adequatre control of the horse they're on, which if not controlled properly has the potential to wreek some pretty serious and very dangerous, if not fatal, havoc - be it night or day.

However, I still stand by the point made in my original post - a hi-viz tabbard alone (and particularly the type the women I saw had on which was pathetic) - is just not enough. Riding around barely lit streets on dark coloured horse wearing a black hard hat, black riding boots, other dark-coloured coloured clothing and an inadeqate hi-viz tabbard is bonkers and constitutes a hazard too. No one with a modicom of sense could dispute that, surely?

I'm reassured to read throughout this thread that there is avaialble an awful lot of really good hi-viz equipment and lighting too which responsible riders, who care about their own safety, the safety of their horse and of other roadusers, are sourcing and using. It's also very reassuring to know that if the riders here are a representative sample, that most of them are very responsible and safety conscious people who did not become immediately defensive.

Dragon's Den definitely needs someone to sell bike lights with attachments for horses.

You can get battery operated lights (white to front, red to rear) which attach to your stirrups. Together with hi-viz clothing for rider and horse, it should be safe to ride in residential areas if absolutely necessary.

That said, it's much more fun hacking out on the South Downs in the pitch dark! No traffic but lots of spooky people walking their dogs!