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The tack room
Why do they laugh at me?
FryingNemo · 13/11/2011 20:28
It's hi viz gear. Not a fucking comedy turn. Grrrrrr. Rant over.
Booboostoo · 13/11/2011 21:02
Because they are idiots, ignore! I can't stand the people who say "I don't wear hi-viz, I don't want to look like a Christmas tree"...erh that is exactly the point, it's supposed to make you stand out so you don't get run over by a car and dirty the tarmac with brain matter?!!!
FryingNemo · 13/11/2011 21:15
Other people at the yard. And many of them do not wear hard hats either.
It was extremely foggy today so I wore a hi viz jacket and horse wore her banana suit and we were laughed at. Idiots.
LisaD1 · 13/11/2011 23:40
Agree, it's because they are idiots. We too were in our hi-viz gear today and we didn't have fog, it was early and we were on the roads for part of our ride, imo it was the sensible thing to do.
TrinityRhino · 13/11/2011 23:45
I don't even ride but I do live where a lot of horses live or are ridden
I would have thanked you, as a driver, riders without hi viz on them or their horse are a danger, to me and themselves
they were stupid to laugh at you
Selks · 13/11/2011 23:54
As a rural car driver I would much rather have horses and riders be visible than not, so carry on wearing it and never mind the numptys.
TrinityRhino · 14/11/2011 00:01
yes rural car driver thats the name for it
much prefer you being visible
wothout a doubt
just be content that you are right and they are silly 
ManateeEquineOhara · 14/11/2011 07:29
What a bunch of morons. I always ride in a hi viz vest thingy and depending on the weather I add other hi viz stuff to our 'look' :) I drove past several horses yesterday without hi viz on a busy road, one lot was at 4pm and it was getting gloomy, they were all on black or bay horses and really hard to see! So dangerous. They laugh because they are stupid imo.
AlpinePony · 14/11/2011 09:22
Pfff, don't worry about it.
I used to live in Belgium where adults don't wear hats. One of my horsey friends had broken her neck, another fractured her skull.
BlueRedGreen · 14/11/2011 09:28
Maybe it was because you were going in the indoor arena and not on the roads? 
MoreBeta · 14/11/2011 09:33
Many motorcyclists used to have this kind of attitude. Then laws were brought in to enforce the wearing of helmets and attitudes gradually changed. Mandatory wearing of hard hats and hi viz in industry for safety reasons is also now standard.
I used to ride ponies as a child and frankly falling of a pony and banging your head on hard ground from just 8 ft up can kill you. People increasingly wear helmets for skiing for similar reasons. Refusing to wear a hard hat and a hi viz jacket is just stupid.
brighthair · 14/11/2011 11:26
Because they are idiots
Someone once said to me - I never want to be holding my horse injured on the road saying I'm sorry I didn't give the driver chance to see you
That stuck with me and I plaster myself in the polite high viz stuff now. I don't care what I look like - I never want a driver to be able to say "I didn't see you"
Callisto · 14/11/2011 13:11
Oh, and the people laughing at you are clearly fools as well as rude. What an odd thing to laugh at.
Mirage · 14/11/2011 13:49
They are idiots who have no regard for themselves,their horses or other road users.The dds always wear hi viz if we are out on the road and so do I because I'm on foot on the traffic side of the pony.It is astonishing the people who don't appear to notice you even wearing hi viz stuff.
I was very grateful for it on Thursday,when the fog came down unexpectedly and it got dark really early and we were a mile from home.
FryingNemo · 14/11/2011 14:10
Thank you everyone. I just feel like the nutty furriner who is laughed at for their quaint ideas - hard hat, hi viz, no horse shoes etcetera.
A banana suit is what I call my horses bright yellow reflective exercise sheet. No-one can say we can't be seen. I am keen to be seen by the hunters as well as the cars.
FryingNemo · 14/11/2011 14:11
@brighthair. What's polite hi viz? Is there such a thing as rude hi viz too? ;)
Callisto · 14/11/2011 14:26
Ah, I had a vision of your horse dressed up as Banana Gorilla's car (Richard Scarry).
brighthair · 14/11/2011 14:33
FryingNemo - looks like a police one but says POLITE notice please slow down
By equisafety, there's a huge range
SaggyoldCHRISTMASHUMBUGcatpuss · 14/11/2011 14:41
They are arrogant and stupid! We have paople round here like that. There is more than one very expensive livery yard, populated with wannabes (who think they are the dogs bollocks because they ride overbent thoroughbreds and warmbloods and have lessons in dressage from jumped up instructors with stupid names,) who think that it is their right as horsewomen/men to ride the roads unmolested. As a horsewoman who has on several occasions had near misses with these people, (think overgrown country lane, bay horse, rider in navy and dark green) I contacted the owner of one of these yards suggesting that she recommend that her members wear hi viz for safety. I was told that her horses were very well bred and highly strung and that hi viz 'upsets' them!
DD doesnt get off of the yard without vest, martingale, tail wrap, bandages, hat band and gloves in Hi viz!
Let them laugh! They are twats!
FryingNemo · 15/11/2011 09:26
It's very interesting to hear from non-horsey rural car drivers too as I hadn't really thought of their point of view. Glad to know the hi viz is appreciated there.
As to highly strung thoroughbreds being upset by hi viz, what absolute tosh. My TB ex race horse is as sensitive as they come and she is fine with hi viz.
@brighthair - I still fancy some rude hi viz kit. "slow down MORON" for example.
Olderyetwilder · 15/11/2011 09:42
Our yard is the hippiest, most laid back and non-judgey place. The only thing people get disapproved of for is riding out (even off road) without hi-viz. It's the culture on the yard and everyone wears it.
georgesmummy11 · 15/11/2011 09:53
I'm a big fan of hi vis, I have always rode on country lanes and woodland tracks with cyclists and walkers who also need to be able to see you.
But you also have to be careful what is on the back of your vest my friends use to say "caution please pass wide and slow". A driver once got to close and her horse kicked the car due to her vests her insurance wouldn't pay out as her vest was pointing out her horse wasn't safe on the road. This was about 8 years ago !
Olderyetwilder · 15/11/2011 11:39
We have added a comma to DH's 'wide and slow' vest as that describes him and his horse quite well
Booboostoo · 15/11/2011 13:05
Saggy - she told you her horses are so well bred hi-viz upsets them??!!! So this woman breeds horses with aesthetic appreciation, how wonderful! Do they buck you off if the saddlepad doesn't match the bandages?
Now I have heard it all, it would be funny if it wasn't so stupid!
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