do you smoke and ride at the same time?

Luckily my horses have these long things called necks which means the smoke isn't actually anywhere near their faces. Plus I'm hacking so the breeze carries it away.

Each to their own but smoking whilst on a horse is hardly a major crime if safe to do so ie not on a road and whilst it may be doing the smoker some harm it certainly isn't doing the horse any.
 
Broke_But_Happy said:
Most of our hacking is off the roads anyway so I'm also very careful about where I throw the ends, especially in the summer :)
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Surely the only responsible thing to do with a cigarette end is to put in a sealed container and take it home? Even throwing in a litter bin could cause a fire. Throwing anywhere else is surely not acceptable, and in some cases illegal.
 
Wagtail said:
I am shocked at how many people here admit to doing it. I have never seen anyone smoke on a horse in my entire life. What if something spooked the horse and you dropped the cig and it got caught under the numnah or pommel? Unthinkable.
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I'm assuming you've never been hunting then Wagtail ;) when I was in my twenties it seemed compulsory to smoke at every check whilst hunting with our local pack!
 
Spot_On said:
No.

I was out hacking with a smoker friend some years back on a fresh autumn day. She lit up her fag, her horse spooked moments later at a plastic bag flapping in a hedge, horse shot forwards then sideways, my friend dropped her fag and it burnt him - he rodeo'd her off and took off home! When we managed to catch him we found a small burn mark on his neck/shoulder. She's never smoked again around horses.
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This would be my concern. I wouldn't allow anyone to smoke on my horse, and wouldn't want to be on a yard where smoking is allowed.

If other people do it, on their own horses, it wouldn't bother me as that's their choice though. :)
 
Wagtail said:
What if something spooked the horse and you dropped the cig and it got caught under the numnah or pommel? Unthinkable.
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I have seen this happen. On a racehorse too! The rider managed to get the girth undone and the saddle and sheet off before her feet hit the ground. Probably the most impressive dismount/unsaddling manoeuvre I've ever seen :eek::D

There was a middle-aged, stick-thin woman near where I kept my horse, who would be regularly seen out, riding along in skinny jeans, a halter top and sandals, no hat and puffing away.

She was generally three sheets to the wind, so probably didn't care!
 
FionaM12 said:
Surely the only responsible thing to do with a cigarette end is to put in a sealed container and take it home? Even throwing in a litter bin could cause a fire. Throwing anywhere else is surely not acceptable, and in some cases illegal.
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Generally with tailor made cigarettes, however I smoke roll ups which aren't as hot - I can use my hand as an ashtray quite happily with roll ups but not with tailor mades as the ash is a lot hotter. If I'm in the woods/on a bridleway I put it in a tissue until I get back to the yard/onto the road.

ETA: because there are no filters in mine, they rot down pretty quickly :)
 
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A cigarette would not burn a horse if it were dropped and quickly bounced off him. It would only burn him if it became trapped against his skin by some piece of kit or mane.
 
I think it juts looks really common to be honest. I've never understood people who smoke though, the smell is horrid and they never seem to understand that it makes them stink too. Why people feel the need to smoke whilst on their horse I don't know. What do you do with the tab end when you've finished? Do you just chuck it on the floor like blooming car drivers do? I pretty much bet you don't take it home with you!
 
Don't smoke, never had or will. Disgusted last year when during the dry weather, rider I was passing in the car flicked his lit ciggie into hedge. Cue me leaping out with water to damp it off before hedge went up! Won't allow anyone to smoke by my stables, friend lost her hay barn( on a footpath!) plus her hay to a ciggie.
 
minesadouble said:
A cigarette would not burn a horse if it were dropped and quickly bounced off him. It would only burn him if it became trapped against his skin by some piece of kit or mane.
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There are two accounts in this thread of one going under the saddle and getting trapped. One was resolved by rapid dismount and unsaddling and the other poor horse threw its rider and galloped home. I wonder how long the cigarette was burning his poor back before it went out? :(
 
I don't smoke and really dislike seeing riders doing it for many reasons: safety is one thing, riders are usually near forage, foliage and many other flammable material most of the time (I guess not many smoke in pouring rain but if you do then I guess that would be pretty safe fire hazard wise).
Second main reason: my personal pet hate is seeing people treat horses like walking sofas, slouching and generally not self-carrying their own bodies. Smoking seems a magnet to such behaviour.
Third main reason: can't stand the smell, whether it is carried away with the breeze (right into others) or lingers in the tack (and it does), hair, clothes etc
 
Oh shame! yes, I did smoke and ride for years, then cut back and stopped smoking whilst riding ( i did enjoy that fag on return to the yard) but have recently taken it up again due to slight nervous tension as have started riding a just broken 3 yr old......
 
A girl on my old livery yard did whilst riding her lovely TB stallion in the school, she dropped ash on him accidentally causing him to bronc and chuck her. He then bolted, jumped the gate out of the school and slipped on the concrete on landing causing him to fall and slide.
Poor boy had horrific injuries, fortunately nothing broken except skin and flesh.
 
I do smoke, but I would never smoke whilst riding. If I think about the times my boy has spooked, or when I've fallen off, I would be worried about what would happen if holding a fag in my hand too!

I do tend to have one when we get back whilst he is eating though. I rent a field so no one else around, so probably wouldn't do this on a livery yard either.

If we were going for a really long hack, I would get off and have one whilst letting him graze. So we can both have a break :)
 
When I was a young adult it seemed like almost all the top SJers and Eventers smoked, it was almost the norm for riders to smoke whilst on board! I think it's good that smoking is now much less 'the done thing' than it was when I was young, but honestly ash falling on a horse will not hurt it. I've quit smoking now but I have dropped ash on my legs while driving in shorts on numerous occasions and it does not burn - and I promise my legs have nowhere near the amount of hair coverage of the average horse ;)
 
Ladyt25 - sorry i had to laugh at your post about smoking looking common, there are more people who when they open their mouths to speak you know they are common
 
AdorableAlice said:
Are you ready for this............I would not allow anyone to smoke on my horses or on my yard. It is an insult to the horse.

Stands back and waits for a beating !
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Nope I agree with you :)

Used to hack out with a couple of people who would make we wait while they stopped for a fag. I don't smoke and hate the smell of it but if I did I probably wouldn't while riding

I will confess to being prone to mobile checking while walking through the fields though it's harder with my current phone as a bit big to hold and use the keypad with just one hand

Would never text while on the road though do know of people who have done so, one hacked with me once and was on the phone the whole flipping time, another I was stuck driving behind as she was so busy texting she didn't see I was there so was in the middle of the road I then got past and she didn't even bother to look up from the phone to thank me. So tempted to lean out the Window and say something! !
 
Have done as a teenager, but don't ride on board now. I will occasionally have a cig at the yard, but go and stand out the way, away from bedding/hay etc, and use one of those little portable ashtray things, or put it out in a puddle and check it is out before putting it in the outside bin.
 
putasocinit said:
Ladyt25 - sorry i had to laugh at your post about smoking looking common, there are more people who when they open their mouths to speak you know they are common
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Well said putasocinit, I also think the word "common" is a ghastly word and only used by people that aspire to be someone that they are not. I always enjoyed a smoke hacking back to the box after hunting, as did other extremely well bred hunting folk!
 
justabob said:
Well said putasocinit, I also think the word "common" is a ghastly word and only used by people that aspire to be someone that they are not. I always enjoyed a smoke hacking back to the box after hunting, as did other extremely well bred hunting folk!
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Skanky, rough, awful? Are they better words to describe it then? :-) Just my opinion I suppose. People who I have seen doing it just seem to have this attitude that they believe they are 'cool' and look good when in fact it looks god awful. Unfortunately, in my experience, those people I!ve known who ride with fag in mouth also seem to be those who are rather brutal when it comes to their belief of horsemanship and how a horse should be ridden. Hey, maybe that's just my bad experience.
 
Ladyt25 - must be your bad experience, lol, i smoke and i am by no means cruel or harsh on my horses, too soft in fact but then when do raise my voice they know somethings up and they better listen, i also do not have a fag hanging out of my mouth, it is popped in for a drag and removed just as quickly.

If you were to hear me speak, and i quote from one very rich man who called the office oneday, you have the most beautiful telephone voice i can tell you are a long way from home, so common doesnt lie with me i am afraid, but then each to their own.

I would rather my friend smoked on her horse whilst hacking than went home and beat the living daylights out of it because it stopped at a jump.
 
I don't smoke much but on a long hack I like to stop at the stream so my boy can have a drink and a little nibble of grass I like to get off and have a sneaky one but sadly due to some people being so judgemental I get embarrassed if someone goes by. That really annoyes me, Yes I have a smoke and no I'm not common, swanky rough or awful. The stigma around it is absurd.

I don't smoke when on board just in case but I don't judge others that do it.
I've met far too many non smokers who are incredibly self righteous and offensive.
 
Ladyt25 - i agree with you, anyway we are contributing to helping the other taxpayers supporting benefit street, now they are a common bunch, unemployed but still smoking, and they make smoking look cheap and nasty
 
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