Are they nuts or am I over cautious!!

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Dressagebabe

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I was driving home last night through the village around 7pm in the pitch black when I spotted 2 flashing hi viz belts that seemed to be suspended in mid air, as I got closer I realised it was 2 young girls riding their ponies (1 black & 1 bay) at 7pm at night with just a flashing Hi Viz band over their chests, the ponies had no Hi Viz on at all. Please tell me is this sheer madness or am I over cautious as I hack out in a full Hi Viz jacket and my horses have Hi Viz exercise sheets in DAY LIGHT.
 
They're mad!
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agreed, they're mad. Done that before by accident though. We rode into town with plenty of time to get back before dark, but one of the ponys got very lame and we had to lead back. Went on the pavement though
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i would say their mad an so are their parents for letting them do it. not only is it dangerous for them it could cause a serious car accident.
 
At least they were wearing some hi-viz with lights on, even if it isn't as much as you use, and which was visible before the horses were.
Lots of people ride out in the dark with no hi-viz or lights, now that to me is madness.
 
Mad an illegal if you are riding out in the dark you must have a light showing white to front and red to rear.

Plus you'd think you'd and the horse would be plastered in hi-viz.
 
That is insane, If i was the YO or their parents I would NOT have let them out!!!

Jehesus!!! theres no way that i would ever go out riding at that time of night, even if i had a flashing sign above my head that said HORSE!!!!!
 
Lights with white to front and red to rear are only needed by law if you are using a horse drawn vehicle.
They are only recommended in the highway code for riders
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It should be the law though.
 
I think they may have underestimated how much light comes off those silly bands.

When I lived in Denmark, because it became dark so early over there, we all used to ride out in the pitch dark. We wore lights on both boots, lights on hats, lights on tail of horses, hi-viz jackets and hi-viz bands on horses legs.

These days I would never ride in the dark on public roads - just too dangerous, however I do ride out in the pitch dark here on my farm.
 
Three of the teens at our yard ride out with these flashing tabards and very little other reflectives, often on the roads and ooften during rush hour with their parents approval. Personally I think it's an accident waiting to happen and completely unnecesaary as we have a floodlit school and also direct access to a bridleway.
 
At least they had SOMETHING, which is far more than can be said of far too many, not enough though.


katieibiza, sorry to moan, but can you line the photos in your siggie up so they are in a lne rather than underneath each other please?
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Now I know they're nuts from all your replies and guess what! Ive just met them again 5.45pm and pitch black, maybe I will be reading about them in the paper soon!! Hopefully not.
 
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katieibiza, sorry to moan, but can you line the photos in your siggie up so they are in a lne rather than underneath each other please?
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hi i would if i knew how to keep trying but i cant do it???????
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Complete madness imho, but you've also got to wonder what their parents are thinking of - I wonder if they know what their offspring are up to?!
 
Although the lights can be seen a long way distant they aren't enough protection at all.
My son does extreme mountain biking where they carry a battery pack and the light is as bright as a car headlight. I can't for the life of me understand why anyone hasn't passed the system over to riders, as it would mean being able to school in a dark arena etc. The battery is rechareable and isn't that heavy to wear or attach to the saddle.
I think it should be mandatory to wear a reflective bib or rug, leg lights and a light front and rear if riding in the dark.
I'll google the light and see if I can post a link to it.
 
solidlights.stumpie.com/press/ - (sorry this doesn't work, will try again)
have a look at these lights. If you first see the sort of power they give off then browse through to look at the small battery pack, I am sure they could be used to ride a horse with, as they get charged on a mains charger then would sit in your pocket with a wire to the light.
You can also get fantastic headlamp lights which again, would make night-time riding so much safer.
http://www.solidlights.co.uk/ this should work, but you need to search through the site a bit I'm afraid..
 
Do they give off shadows from the lights as this would prove rather dangerous as we found our horses shying at their own shadow in our floodlit arena!! Whats more, is it really fair to expect your horse to work when they think its time for bed! I know mine would be rather disgruntled by this.
 
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