Hacking- What do you take with you?

SpringArising said:
Why do people take their car keys with them? Am I missing something?
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Am also baffled, the only time I take any keys with me, is the horsebox key when I am on fun rides, as I go on my own.
Otherwise my car keys are in the usual hidey place at the yard from the moment I'm parked up, till I leave. Husband knows where they are :)
 
SpringArising said:
Why do people take their car keys with them? Am I missing something?

I take just my phone.
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ponies spend half their time on a farm where there is noone else there (farmer doesn't live on site and given all the stock are now out, he's not around on the yard much at all). chances of someone knicking my car from there are very tiny but I generally stick them in my pocket anyway.
 
SpringArising said:
Why do people take their car keys with them? Am I missing something?
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Mine are a big bunch of keys no way I’d want to take them with me. I lock mine out of sight in my storage which has a combination padlock. Or I randomly leave them somewhere and spend ages looking for them! Once found (after I’d been driven home to get my spare set) in my tub of turmeric! :D
 
Going out for just an hour or two from the yard, I have a Leatherman on my belt, by FFE license in a pocket, a couple of €20 notes and ziplock back some horse treats or an apple or a carrot. If the weather is really hot, then I attach a Maxpedition insulated bottle carrier to the saddle; inside that is a 1 litre Nalgene bottle of iced water. I never ride out alone, though, and at a guess around 80% of the group bring out mobile phones.

Going out for a full day, we'll be in a very small group of guide plus two to four paying riders. I'll have the same as for an hour or two, plus some kit provided by the organiser in the pockets of the numnah: hi-viz jacket, lead rope, maybe a bag of grain, and a basic first aid kit. To that I'll add a second insulated bottle carrier and bottle, a couple of folded cloth buckets to water the horses, a length of 550 paracord, some emergency rations for me (beef jerky and an apple), €100 in cash plus bank card, mobile phone, head torch and maybe a proper compact camera.
 
Phone in my hi viz waistcoat or running belt ( bum bag annoys me ) also drink container that attaches to my saddle
 
Blimey, you are an organised lot. I might remember my phone, but more likely to leave it on a random shelf in the yard, have been known to forget chaps without realising until I have a sore spot and i wipe my runny nose on my sleeve !

The thing is at my age, an hour is a marathon that will need pain relief and my horse is fully aware of what 'go home' means so I never get lost !
 
My horse, my phone, a hoofpick after an incident last summer, always wear a waterproof unless it's absolutely gorgeous day, gloves,
 
If it's a long hack then I take a little bag.
- Phone
- House Keys
- Whip (for protection mostly lol)
- Emergency Phone Numbers and Phone Password written down on a slip of paper (Phone has health info)
- An extra coat (Wear, if too hot tie around waist)
- A little bottle of fly spray
- Money
- Pony Sweets
- Water
-
 
AdorableAlice said:
Blimey, you are an organised lot. I might remember my phone, but more likely to leave it on a random shelf in the yard, have been known to forget chaps without realising until I have a sore spot and i wipe my runny nose on my sleeve !
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haha! this! I'm glad you piped up AA, I was starting to feel very remiss in my hacking packing. If I have a pocket it fits in, then I take my phone. Otherwise... nothing :D
 
milliepops said:
haha! this! I'm glad you piped up AA, I was starting to feel very remiss in my hacking packing. If I have a pocket it fits in, then I take my phone. Otherwise... nothing :D
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This, although if needed I'll wedge my phone in my jodphurs. Car keys too, but only so it's secure where it's left.
 
As I am the last person on earth without a phone, I don't usually take anything. I wear loomy vest and usually carry a stick of some sort but that's it. There is no signal where I live and I would probably end up dropping a phone or falling off on it if I had one.
 
I used to just take a phone and anything that I hadn't removed from my pockets but that all changed on one fateful day when a bird pooed on me! Luckily my hacking buddy always brought a bum-bag with a small assortment of helpful items including tissues.

Shortly after the bird incident I vowed to get myself a similar handy bum-bag (Cotswold outdoors waterproof thing) and my brother arranged it as my Christmas present. It has a basic first aid kit, some ID, hoof pick, a few horse treats, an emergency fiver in case of pub or ice cream shop emergencies, and the all important tissues. It also provides a very helpful place to carry my phone in summer when my outfits have fewer pockets.
 
milliepops said:
haha! this! I'm glad you piped up AA, I was starting to feel very remiss in my hacking packing. If I have a pocket it fits in, then I take my phone. Otherwise... nothing :D
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Another who is feeling rather remiss. I always have hi-viz on both the horse and myself and I always carry a stick and nearly always forget my phone
 
Sometimes all I take is a bridle.
Rarely remember to put anything in my pockets, so if anything does happen I rely on the accidental pocket contents (fence staples, rusty screws, the odd broken dog biscuit and a whistle usually), and anything I can find in the hedge.

Usually manage to work something out :D
 
Lucy-Jay said:
A little bottle of fly spray is a good idea. How big is the bottle you take?

I've got a folding hoof pick too!
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I take a little bottle of fly spray too. Glad to see I'm not the only one! For me it's one of those 50ml refill spray bottles you can buy for a pound at Tesco's as my Mum gets loads for me to put a spray in my PE bag!
 
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Just a phone but I wish they would make bigger pockets in breeches as always have to wear fleece or waistcoat even on a hot day with a zip pocket, I also have a dog tag attached to my saddle with my phone number on it just in case horse dumps me and bogs off home.
 
iPhone which can take photo's, if needed for evidence etc; I have it in a hard case in case I fall, and within the wallet is my BHS Gold card. I normally carry my phone in a bum-bag, unless I'm wearing one particular pair of jods which have room for it.

On the saddle, I have a folding hoof-pick.

I have a set of reins that are clip-on ones made of nylon rope, so are able to be taken off for leading if necessary, or can be used for tying-up if I for e.g. spot a sheep on its back and need to rescue it. I'm riding a youngster at the mo, so reins that double-up as a leading rope are a very handy little piece of kit!

For normal hacking that's all I take. Applaud the OP who's obviously very well prepared; if I see a little first aid kit then I'll get one, what a good idea. I'd include in that a triangular bandage or something similar too, useful for rider or horse if you have a problem away from home.

Not done any pleasure rides with little'un yet (she's only 4), might take a bit more kit when we do............ :)
 
ceva said:
Just a phone but I wish they would make bigger pockets in breeches as always have to wear fleece or waistcoat even on a hot day with a zip pocket, I also have a dog tag attached to my saddle with my phone number on it just in case horse dumps me and bogs off home.
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A friend of mine has a kind of belt thing, made of cloth, with biggish pockets that she puts on over her riding breeches... Next time I see her, I'll ask where she got it.

One of her uses for this is to play music from her mobile phone, pieces that are about five minutes long, so she can judge warm-up of five minutes of fast walk, five minutes of trot, five minutes of walk and trot transitions, and so on.
 
google is your friend. im useless on phone with copy paste lol. im old. always have a folding hoof pick lol.
 
BSL said:
google is your friend. im useless on phone with copy paste lol. im old. always have a folding hoof pick lol.
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I tried googling for "horse riding pocket belt", the most descriptive term I could think of, but I just saw loads of belt pouches worn by people carrying saddles. That kind of googling is a little bit dangerous for me, because I somehow always end up on Pinterest's pages for "equestrian fashion", full of pictures of comely maidens wearing high boots and jodhpurs. :rolleyes3:
 
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