Hacking in the dark in winter... does anyone do it?

[EchoInterrupted]

I have always thought of hacking in the dark to be unsafe, but after visiting horse-keeping family in Sweden, where it's dark a ridiculous number of hours during the winter, I've started to wonder. In Sweden it can be quite common to go out hacking with TONS of hi-viz and strong headlamps in the middle of winter in the dark - not on roads, but in woodland/on bridle paths and similar. I was surprised because I thought the horses would be more nervous and it just seems more risky to me, but I guess they grow use to it and if it's only light out from 10am to 3pm you don't really have an option.

Just thinking aloud here as I don't actually have a horse to do so with at the moment, but...
The UK doesn't exactly have loads of daylight during the winter. Do any of you hack in the dark (with aforementioned safety precautions) in the winter? How do the horses handle it? This seems to generally be a big no-no in the UK, but maybe it's because most hacking tends to require road work? I definitely wouldn't feel safe doing any road work in the dark, but maybe bridle path hacking with tons of hi-viz, strong headlamps, and a hacking buddy wouldn't be that crazy if the horses were slowly introduced to it on routes they already know well? Seeing how things are done in Sweden last winter made me rethink my anti-hacking in the dark stance a bit...

 

[milliepops]

I used to hack in the woods in the dark, horse was fine, i wore a headtorch. we were decked out in hi vis because we had to cross a road. The only downside was the various sets of eyes peering back at you from the undergrowth

At uni I used to ride out on the lanes with someone else who knew where they were going, i couldn't see a thing it was a very horsey area so we were lucky with drivers.

I've schooled in the dark too, as long as you can see the edges it's great for improving your feel.

 

[TwyfordM]

We have off road hacking direct from yard that doesn’t go near roads but as Milliepops says above, headlight picks up eye reflections of all the animals and it’s a bit unnerving sometimes! Horses are generally not bothered though.
I don’t tend to as tracks are really muddy past this point in the year and it’s a bit harder to navigate in the dark, only do the small track near the yard really if no other way to exercise.

Plenty of people on endurance scene have to in both training and competition. Just purely to get the mileage they need for training in. We’ve done 80k race rides and the first hour or so in the morning when they set off can be pitch black in unfamiliar territory. Hivizzed and headlights and not seen any issues yet.

 

[Peglo]

There was another thread short ago of people hacking in the dark. I was pretty jealous of all the people with places they could hack safely as there’s no where near here that would be very suitable. I also didn’t realise it was a thing in the UK.

 

[MuddyMonster]

I'm going to start & had lots of helpful advice on this recent thread https://forums.horseandhound.co.uk/threads/hacking-in-the-dark.810392

 

[Jango]

I used to as a teenager as the yard was straight onto offroad hacking. No lights or hi Vis, it was great fun! I would do it now but we have go on a road to get to the off-road hacking and I just don't think it's safe. Even in a load of hi Vis.

 

[meleeka]

When I was a teenager in the 80’s we thought nothing of hacking in residential areas at night (with hiviz and lights). A friend was training for long distance and she did miles down country lanes.

 

[palo1]

I hack in the dark sometimes and if off road then without a torch as both my and the horse's night vision is adequate and headtorches tend to make me feel a bit queasy when trotting or cantering. I love riding in the dark but don't do it that much as I am a bit idle!!

 

[catembi]

I used to hack twice a week during the working week all year round, so winter was completely in the dark. One route had no roadwork at all & the other had about 50 metres on a very little used road with good visibility i.e. no high hedges or blind bends, then a track with one house at the end. I did it for years! Two things: 1. I had sharers at the time & one left a note saying to watch out for the rabbit hole. I thought, what rabbit hole...? Until I went out at a more normal time on a Sat & saw that I'd been inches away from a huuuuuuuge rabbit hole. 2. My feisty WBxTB was fine to hack during the week & then v spooky at w'ends. It took me a while to work out that he was fine going past < whatever > in the week because it was dark & he couldn't see it!

I did have hi viz on even though I often didn't see a single car for weeks on end, but never bothered with lights.

 

[EchoInterrupted]

I'm going to start & had lots of helpful advice on this recent thread https://forums.horseandhound.co.uk/threads/hacking-in-the-dark.810392

Oops, I should've searched before posting! I'm normally on here pretty regularly so am surprised I missed that thread!

Glad to hear there are lots of people who have found safe ways to do so! Thanks for all the experiences and tips!

 

[HashRouge]

As a teenager (so through the '00s) I used to hack in the dark all the time. I tended to do shorter rides but I did go on the road, because if you didn't then you couldn't get anywhere. They were fairly safe roads as it goes - either main roads through villages, one with speed bumps and a 20mph limit, or rarely used back roads (no winding country lanes with 60mph limits or anything like that). I probably wouldn't ride on the roads in the dark now, but then I don't like riding on the roads in daylight! I'd definitely do off road though.