hacking safety 101 please

[Alameda]

ok, so I wasn't leaving the farm therefore neglected to wear hivis leading to it taking 40 minutes for the ambulance to find us on Sunday - an excruciatingly long time to sit with an unconscious rider while your horses are goodness knows where (although she was sort of conscious by the time they did find us, just not very lucid :()

the other thing was phones - I don't take my precious iPhone after having crushed too many under hoof before, luckily my friend had one but it was passcode protected. I could make an emergency call but I couldn't contact the yard to get someone to find the horses before they caused some other sort of accident (of course they were only round the corner stuffing their faces but I wasn't to know that, I couldn't hold two ponies and get close enough to a prone figure on the ground safely to check for breathing, bleeding etc)

so a basic phone loaded with local contacts, some hivis (I could have stuck it on the road side of the massive hedge that obscured us) what else? I like to learn from my mistakes or at least put on a good show of doing so

For trec comps you have to have a fob on the nag's bridle and saddle with an emergency nbr or two on. Very useful if you get separated from your mount and they ate found.

oh that is a very good idea, and something that has been on my list FOREVER

ok, that is another quite easy one and also helpful for when friends ride and don't know the difference between sets of tack

probably be under £10 to get something on each bridle and each saddle, although on my list was the head collars because they are identical and close in size, so one can wear either but the other one only fits his own - it is really annoying to walk about three miles to the bottom of the field only to find I have the wrong head collar AGAIN

Oh no, was she ok?

I have a rope halter over the bridle and a lead rein rope wound up and attached to a d ring on saddle.

Tag with name on saddle as I've heard of a rider going over the ears and taking bridle with them.

Always always always high viz, & a phone.

she sort of is ok, as in nothing broken, home from hospital etc

bit less ok as there is now a question mark over does she/doesn't she have epilepsy - big difference between something happening as a result of the fall or the something that was possibly a seizure preceding the fall. And can never drive HGV again for example, ever. Of course if it turns out that she has untreated epilepsy it is probably not a bad thing to have brought it to light. It will be an adjustment but she is a fairly practical person who gets on with stuff and will be ok. Not so ok in terms of bruising and stiffness. Argh, feel bad. I know these things happen but it would not have happened at walk.

Do you actually do that with halter and lead rope? Is a good idea, might do it for longer rides. Blood runs a little cold at some of my 3+ hour solo expeditions without phone or anything (except cigarettes)

Isn't it beids.co.UK (?) Do a central database tag thing?

One of Mary king's sponsors anyway.

Alameda, that sounds like a difficult time. The worst I've had was my friend breaking her arm and the little shit treading on his bridle and breaking it. So I had to fashion a halter out of a pair or reins, catch and lead both horses home whilst she hobbled behind whimpering.

I tend to tell people where I'm going and say "if I'm not back in 90 minutes".

For me any problem on a hack has 99% of the time been caused by riders not following basic etiquette. E.g., overtaking during a canter, setting off at a canter without informing others, not waiting at the road, not warning others that a particular house has a barking dog type stuff.

Sorry to hear about the accident.

Yeah, hi viz and phone. Don't know if hi viz would be any use in woods though - lots of woods on my rides.

DH was knocked out recently (bike accident) and although he had his phone it was a while before the hospital could phone me as when he came round he couldn't remember his pin number. So maybe stick the ICE number on the outside of the phone? Wouldn't help with phoning yard etc. though.

Tags are a good idea - would have to be on you and horse in case you get separated.

Buy a cheap 10 pay&go phone to take. I've seen some for less than a tenner.

Libby's do an 'endurance' bridle, it doubles as a headcollar. You can attach a lead rope and loop it round the horses neck, or hang from the saddle.
My friend has a coat with a gps signal thing in it. Not sure how it works, but might be useful.
You can get those plastic tags with a keyring attached that you can write on, really cheaply. You don't necessarily need anything expensive.

Oh, and always make sure someone knows your route.

thank you! I know the plastic tags you mean

got a £2.95 phone from carphonewarehouse !

Gps jackets are like ski ones. If a skier gets lost in an avalanche the gadget in the jacket can be used.

alps yep it's beids - see fb or google.

Keyring fobs are ideal - one in saddle and one on bridle.

Hi viz is still good in woods. Means horse can be seen from a distance - eg neck strap / nose band / exercise sheet.

Ice number def good
I always have baling twine
Attach fob to bridle and saddle - then if one gets pulled off, you have one still on. I can't remember which one I used for a while but it was about £4.95 and rider got a card, the company held all medical info and emergency contacts
Leave a note of approx route and time due back
I work for ambulance service as a 999 call handler - try to know road names/house names/villages you are closest too
If you take iPhone, there is an app now that if movement stops (e.g u fall off) it sends an emergency text/call to a number of your choice
For a longer ride I would have a bandage or vet wrap with me - you can fashion a head collar, lead rope, bandage a horse, bandage a human, use as support for an arm.....

oh yes it was so difficult to explain where I was, although anyone/everyone at the yard knew our exact location when finally got through to them, there didn't seem to be a way of describing location to emergency services - I thought I was very clear about which roads were parallel to the field, how far from nearest villages and landmarks but it still took 40 minutes. Everything is so overgrown, and they said not to leave my friend for an instant so I couldn't walk to the road and wave when I heard sirens approach (and leave again, argh)

so v interested in anything that would pinpoint location quickly, probably not a jacket at this time of year

Hope your friend feels better soon.

You don't ride a grey horse in a bit of the world with asparagus fields and strawberry tunnels?

one of them is grey (sort of blue roan and white anyway) he's the one who fell over - I don't think so though, it's all oil seed rape and wheat and stuff

I found this about the app if anyone wanted to look at it. Apparently there are also just map apps too - we can use coordinates to locate people, but a lot of people think we can track them from their mobile - we can't! It's all individual though - if a call comes through to my colleague in X area, and I know X area because I used to ride there, I can help colleague find it on the map/listen to the call/speak to caller, so we try and work together with local knowledge

Horse Rider SOS App
Completely essential bit of kit for anyone going hacking. You turn this on when you go for hack, and it will track your progress. In the event that you have a fall and can't move, it goes into alert mode and notifies your emergency contacts, with your exact location as pinpointed by the GPS. Brilliant to give you peace of mind.

Livery/riding school where I used to keep horse (don't have one now) had old-fashioned blackboard for people to sign in and out with time/intended destination/contact/ETA/ numbers of nearest and dearest etc.

A bit hit and miss and not everyone filled it in but it came in handy in an unexpected way when we were burgled in broad daylight (lots of expensive tack stolen) and police worked out everyone's movements/timings from the board and were then able to get a witness which led to arrest & successful prosecution of thieves. Sorry - bit of a diversion there

Meant to say - sorry to hear about your friend Alameda

Great tips on here (taking notes for future)

Ok got that, it's coming anyway - £4.99, not bad?

How do you keep your phone safe? When it's hot I don't have pockets, just keep cigarettes in bra or tucked into waistband - would iPhone be safe in one of my boots, in a case?

armband for phone? With velcro pocket thing.

good idea, handy for gym too!

Yeah I have an armband for iPod and it feels v secure, was cheap off eBay too
Phone needs to be on you - no good if u fall off and horse gallops off with phone attached

Dd isn't allowed out of the yard without being hi vized up like a Christmas tree! When my yard owner goes away next week, she won't be allowed to hack out if I'm at work at the weekend either, there will be no horse aware rescuer available if she gets into difficulties!
Tbh, I don't think you can take too many safety precautions. Its a dangerous world out there, populated by idiots in cars! and buses, and tractors.

I always buy jods with pockets, preferably with zips. More than my phone, I tend to worry about my car key (fell off jumping a hedge once, and spent a while in the field looking for the car key....). If you have jods without pockets you could sew some on the inside under the waistband.

I know it's a good idea to leave a note of your route, but to be honest I don't think I would ever do this. I often don't know in advance where I'm going, and I might take a detour while I'm out. Or, I start off planning to school but get bored and go for a hack instead. Just love the feeling of freedom .

I haven't ridden in jodhs for ages, gym things otherwise just too effortful to get changed - likewise will just see how I feel when I am out, which way to go. We are spoilt by a maze of lovely bridleways in all direction and if I get back and horse is all 'NEED MORE CANTERING' will divert and lap some fields before heading home.

Have superstitious idea these things happen in short succession so will play it safer for now at least. Not getting on well with the SOS app, being a bit thick ab