A Police Plea to Riders Hacking alone!

bounce said:
As my old horse was a very good at the dump mother and run scenario I invested in the Ride Alert package whilst I was at Badminton last year. You register on the database and can put in lots of details about your horse, you, who to contact, medical history, vets, where the stables are etc.

I have a badge which is visible on my skull cap just at the base of the front of my silk, a wrist band and a tag for the d ring on my saddle. The tags have a number to call in case of emergency and the tags have a unique ID to match you up on the database.

I also have ICE on my mobile and never ride without it. I just thought that the Ride Alert thing was good as if the person on my ICE number was not around when they called at least with the Rider Alert scheme there are lots of other numbers that can be tried.

I hope that I never have to use any of it!
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I also have this and haven't yet had to use it BUT it's there!! Actually - while I ensure horse always has her tag, I'm really bad for NOT using my tag and forgetting it. Will make an extra effort to remember mine!!
 
Has anyone heard of Ride Alert -I joined last year at Badminton - I have a tag for the saddle and a wristband and hat band for myself- these cover all details on a web based system, with a contact number on these tags.
You can then add where the horse is stabled, yard owwner, your conatct deatil, any medical details etc;
 
alliersv1 said:
Funnily enough, this is something I've been meaning to do for a while, and only yesterday I bought a money barrel (like the ones you get for dogs and cats where you write your info on a slip of paper and screw barrel back together, but bigger) to attach to his saddle with a slip of paper with important details on. I was going to get dog tags but they were blummin' expensive, and I felt that I could get more info on a piece of paper.
I mentioned to my hacking buddy this morning that I'd bought it and left it at home, but this thread has reminded me to fill it out and leave it handy to take down to the yard.
Thankyou :)
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hey alliersv1, where did you get your money barrel this sounds like a good idea!! also does everyone who has ICE in their phone put their next of kin as the contact? as im a student who has moved to glasgow and my family are elsewhere so would it be worthwhile contacting them if something happend to me, when they wouldnt be able to do anything but worry?
 
Dog tags attached to your tack is a great idea. Admittedly, it hasn't even occured to me what would happen if I happened to become separated from my pony. I shall definately have to invest in a couple of tags.
 
I also got the Ride Alert
http://www.ride-alert.co.uk/
Bought it at Bramham last year as I had a recently broken in youngster to bring on.
Tag always on saddle, wristband on me, sticky pads on helmet and ICE on the phone.
I always tell someone where I am planning to go.
Before Ride Alert I always carried a medical card with me.
Even if you think everyone knows you where you live and ride some stranger might be the first person to find you...
 
MinskiKaii said:
I have dog tags on my saddle and bridle as well. Its not like they get in the way or cost alot, so I don't see why people wouldn't use them. I always take my mobile out, have had a few friends left injured and not able to go for help when they came off.

Also a relative of the people who I kept my horse with, was a good rider with a well behaved horse. Came off her horse out hacking, she left her mobile at the yard when she went out. She never came back and after searching for a lot of hours found her. She had died by the time they got there, but had crawled some way before she died, so if she had her phone with her she would have been able to get help.
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OMG that is so sad and I can only feel terribly sorry for you and the family, I always carry my mobile phone with me and if on the odd occasion I do forget to take it riding with me, I feel quite worried and hope that nothing happens when I am out. Will definitely get the dog tags, thanks for the idea:o
 
I have ICE in my mobile also and always take it with me when i hack out,i regularly go out on my own as have a small private yard to myself,i was very tempted to get the Rider Alert at Badminton,they were very helpful the company,might be a good birthday pressie from the parents,something they'd be keen to do i reckon. Will also get tags for my saddles,hadn't thought about putting one on my tack before,also useful if you go to a sponsered ride etc and your horses unseats you,handy to have some contact info on the actual horse. Lots to think about
 
All excellent ideas, and to be honest, like many others I hadnt even thought of putting ID tags on tack. I'm putting ICE on my phone as we speak but do have ICE labels outside my horses stables in case anything happens to them when I'm not there as we are on a large yard and the YO is VERY OLD and cant seem to remember who I am despite having been there about 4 years, let alone my horse's vets!
 
Thanks for the reminder just ordered a couple more tags from eBay :)
I have 2 ICE numbers in my phone and don't go out without my mobile or hi-viz on us both. I already had some tags for my turnout rugs as they don't always have somewhere to write your details - so sensible to have them on tack too and they are pretty inexpensive.
 
I bought a Locata, the ones on ebay. My wife bought 2 one hi viz pink and the other hi viz yellow, can be seen from a great distance. I have the brown leather one to match my tack.
They are inexpensive, simple to use, highly visible and carry everything you need in an emergency, I would not ride now without mine after falling off badly a few years ago and my horse took off leaving me injured on the deck and unable to raise the alarm.
 
I've had a tag on my saddle for years after being parted from Mick out hunting.

I phoned the police straight away to alert them and they wern't interested until he caused an accident. A little concerning when I was right near a motorway junction. :eek:
 
I didn't know about Ride Alert or the idea of putting dog tags on your tack so I'm getting those sorted and engraved this week I think!
 
martha said:
Everybody should have ICE on their phone. It stands for In Case of Emergency and it is the first thing the emergency services look for to know who to contact.
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You beat me to it. You should also have the contact name of your emergency contact so "ICE - George".

This is really useful to emergency workers so please everyone - programme it into your phone! I know of 2 people whos lives have been saved by this as the emergency services were given allergy advice etc when they called the ICE number!

I don't have dog tags, but figure I am safe for the time being as a. everyone in the surrounding area knows mine very well! and b. I am not riding at the mo so they "should" be in their paddock anyway! What I did have was a very small saddle bag with a few small items, bandage, 20p's, hoof pick, knife, string, eyewash tube thing etc in it. I tried to think of anything that would come in handy if something happened. The string was most useful on many occasions!
 
This is really useful to emergency workers so please everyone - programme it into your phone!
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BUT please remember no one can get to the number if your phone is damaged, lost in a fall or locked.

I don't have dog tags, but figure I am safe for the time being as a. everyone in the surrounding area knows mine very well! ...
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But it might not be someone you know that finds your horse and raises the alarm to the emergency services? So for the sake of a tag you get piece of mind and all bases are covered before a full scale search is launched to find you.

It really is sensible for someone who has a medical condition that might affect their treatment carry it somewhere visible on your person.

This post is making me think and hopefully all those who have read it will as well.
 
I've joined Ride Alert http://www.ride-alert.co.uk/, it's a really good scheme (although I can understand that a dog tag is cheaper! Ride Alert is £15 a year) and I like the fact that you can store lots of numbers and details with them so they should always be able to get hold of someone for you. You can also give them medical details for both you and your horse, which if either of you take regular medication or have any allergies could be a life-saver.
 
For all of you that have blackberry phones, the blackberry apps world actually has an ICE application which is free..... once down loaded you can move the icon to the home screen so it can be seen easily.... and it obviously has categories for who to contact, doctors name and number, blood group, allergies etc......
 
Taboo1968 said:
For all of you that have blackberry phones, the blackberry apps world actually has an ICE application which is free..... once down loaded you can move the icon to the home screen so it can be seen easily.... and it obviously has categories for who to contact, doctors name and number, blood group, allergies etc......
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That's really helpful - thanks! Will download it.

Dear H&H perhaps an article in the mag on this topic would be a good idea? Thanks Hants police for raising it and raising our consciousness!
 
Having read this thread, I've just ordered two tags engraved with emergency phone numbers. It's something that I'd been meaning to do for ages but hadn't got around to.
 
Thank you for this thread. I have just created a word document with all the emergency info for me and my horse, and will print it out and keep it in a labelled plastic bag in my coat pocket (a money bag perhaps?).

I think those pouches you attach to the saddle look as good as anything else, as well as 2 basic phone numbers on a dog tag on the bridle. I'd be a bit worried about using the rider alert system alone, because in the time it takes to call that number they could have called a vet or my yard owner themself.
 
KarynK said:
But it might not be someone you know that finds your horse and raises the alarm to the emergency services? So for the sake of a tag you get piece of mind and all bases are covered before a full scale search is launched to find you...
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ah but the second half of the quote was that I hardly ever ride them any more... bit misleading to only quote one half of me... Please read I have actually sat on the back of a horse (not neccessarily my own) 5 times in the past 3 years! They do not leave the paddock/ barn...

Your comments are valid IF the horses are actually being ridden though!
 
On blackberry's you can have the phone owner name and information appear on the screen whenever you lock the phone, simply go to settings then owner. Therefore anyone that even presses a button can see your name and ice contact
 
My p/l mare has had a dog tag on her saddle with 3 emergency numbers engraved on it for ages now and I was called overcautious!
I also had engraved "needs daily medication" just in case she wandered across some not very nice people!
K x
 
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