Having a rant about hi-vis

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myfatpony

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Lovely day today! sun shining, 15 degress, not bad for february! Been for a nice ride out on the pony, made sure i was all hi-vised up before i ventured out. yet an hour later i saw two people on horse go by the MAIN road and roundabout with not one bit of hi-vis clothing on. both riders in dark clothing and both horses dark too. couldnt believe it! I was just wondering what other peoples thoughts were about hi-vis? :)


Sorry, im on a rant.
 
Happens all to often around here,1 girl was very lucky she had long blonde hair,as one day last yr she very nearly had my car up her arse :( dark horse,dark clothes,all i saw last minute was the blonde pony tail....If you ride without high vis you take yours and your horses life into your own hands!
However saw 2 girls high vis'd up to the eyeballs today on 2 very unruly horses,I pulled my landy over so they could pass safely,not even a polite nod or smile,seriously close to getting out and giving them a slap for being so fooking rude!!!
 
doesnt cost much to have a hatband and tabbard and leg bands on horse, slowly i am using more and have large selection to chaase from just ordered polite tabbard. joggers and cyclists are also getting better but some are bad just like horseriders. Riders prob trying to control horse and no hand free but a nod is safer but just started hacking mymare and concentrate on her behaving to puttin hand up
 
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The trouble is that the way we drive has changed in the last 30 years. Roads are designed so that everything we need to see is reflective. The trouble is tha we become conditioned to not seeing anything else. Trust me ,this is true. we find it incredibly dificult to see betwean all the bright reflective signs adverts etc. So if you aint high vized up to the nines you wont be seen. Even car headlights have changed to enhance the fluorescence of signs etc.(Those dazzling blue headlights).Some people say ,why should I wear this stuff. Drivers need to take more care. Unfortunately there is more to it than that ,The game has changed and we all need to be high viz.
 
Never ride without high vis, even when popping up the road to cool down after a lesson I have one hung ong the fence to pop on or my mate grabs me one.

When hacking in winter we have a big yellow 'dress' (as his owner calls it, 'can't believe you have put my boy in a dress!), tabbard or hoody (£11.99 off ebay!), tail guard.


Summer tabbard, tail bands (lighter than tail guard, like those snap bands I had as a kid) and hat band.

I am a real hi viz promoter, at the end of the day it is each person's choice but the horse doesn't get the choice so make the decision to be safer, it makes a difference, end of.

PS I also nod (rather exageratedly) as I don't like taking both hands off the reins unecessarily.
 
Riders do need to be hi-vis but also need to blooming well say thank you!:mad:

It drives me mad the amount of rude riders who don't say thanks when drivers have made the effort to pass wide and slow.

As a horserider I might forgive them if their horse is on it's toes but not when they are mooching along having a gossip/fag or on their mobile.

No wonder drivers don't bother slowing down :rolleyes:
 
I agree, passing riders on calm horses with riders not even acknowledging that you have passed them wide and slow is very rude. A quick smile is all that's needed as a basic courtesy.
 
Mike007 said:
I dont expect to be thanked for driving correctly , though I must admit that a friendly smile and wave does chear me up.
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Correct it maybe but it is polite to say thank you to drivers and something I was always told to do from an early age.

Drivers are far more likely to remember being thanked and slow down the next time they come across horses rather than being patient and not even getting so much as a nod of thanks.
 
I went out today in the sunshine with hi-viz on. I was the only one on the yard to do so, and everybody asked me why as it was sunny!

Well out on my hack a car driver thanked me for wearing it, they had come across the other people out on a hack...dark horses, dark clothes and the glare from the sun on a windscreen meant she couldn't see them until the last minute!! She could see me straight away :)
 
Please don't shoot me! But I don't have any hi-viz.. YET

It's not something I have ever honestly admired but after being thrown off onto a road, which my horse then bolted up, I realised that we needed some! Although we are out in the sticks tractors, lorries and landies are always zooming about and I realise that if he'd have been silly ten minutes later (when I'd retrieved said horse and traffic started appearing) me and or B probably would've made a rather bloody splat on the road. I feel silly that it's took something like that for me to realise the importance of hi-viz :o
 
hi_viz.ashx


I'll say no more.
 
I must say wearing Hi Viz is highly PC. But please, does it excuse you from thanking the drivers that slow down for you. I have yet to come accross a HVd person that thanked me. I dont wear it myself, but I make it my priority to thank every driver that passes me. I am riding TBs on the road and have had no problems with drivers slowing down for me. I am constantley passing the HV bregade and they totally ignore me when I slow down for them. Needless to say they get a mouthful from me.
 
Wearing high viz is not PC its just plain common sense and to be honest I get thanked as much by both sets of riders . But as a driver my life is made so much easier by the high viz set.
 
Gaaah! Drives me mad when people don't bother with hi vis. Its simple and inexpensive to pop on a tabard and some leg bands so why not do it?!

Cyclists too drive me mad when they don't wear it.
 
polopony said:
Please don't shoot me! But I don't have any hi-viz.. YET

It's not something I have ever honestly admired but after being thrown off onto a road, which my horse then bolted up, I realised that we needed some! Although we are out in the sticks tractors, lorries and landies are always zooming about and I realise that if he'd have been silly ten minutes later (when I'd retrieved said horse and traffic started appearing) me and or B probably would've made a rather bloody splat on the road. I feel silly that it's took something like that for me to realise the importance of hi-viz :o
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I'm glad you've realised and before something nastier happened :) Lots of people won't be that lucky!
 
hadfos said:
However saw 2 girls high vis'd up to the eyeballs today on 2 very unruly horses,I pulled my landy over so they could pass safely,not even a polite nod or smile,seriously close to getting out and giving them a slap for being so fooking rude!!!
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i just burst out laughing when i read that, fair cheered me up :)
 
Well, we had BAD fog this morning, and guess what?? Dark horse, rider wearing all black, in fog in rush hour traffic (7am) on a rat run. I was blooming fuming at her! And she had the nerve to glare at someone who overtook too quickly and upset her horse. She was lucky I was not driving, as I think I would have stopped the car and given her a piece of my mind. :mad:
 
When my yard is up and running, I will not permit riders to leave the yard without a sensible level of hi-vis.

We (my partner, daughter and I) took our youngster (10months old) out on the roads today for a nice walk. All were in hi-vis. I was about 5 meters behind ensuring a gap behind my partner and the youngster, every car that past got a thank you from both of us.
 
To all those who say I look ridiculous in my dayglo clubbing outfit :D...

"Pride comes before a fall"
 
Perhaps some of the "rude riders" have thanked you but you didn't see it......... I'm aware when riding that a driver can't actually see me for part of the time during the overtake, especially as a rider is much higher than a car driver. Add in that the fact that the driver is also trying to look where he is going and keep control of his car, watch out for other road users etc etc etc

I'm not excusing failing to thank drivers, i think we should all do it, even when we wish they had slowed down a little bit more, but a nod and smil is easily missed......
 
What mike007 is so true. People only notice other things on the road with hi-viz on these days.

Please take care when riding out in low bright sunshine as drivers can be completly blinded by the bright sunshine.

I wear a log sleed hi-viz jacket so that other road users can see my hand signals clearly.
 
Yup, been for a hack - all Hi-vized up - I don't really care whether people think I look daft - too old to care anymore! If it gets me and the horse home in one piece I don't care if we look like a giant glow stick. I have a youngster, who so far has been a saint in heavy traffic, but I want to keep him like that rather than risk any dodgey incidents which could affect him for god knows how long. Always make sure he is Hi-vized up too so just in case we part company he can scare on coming drivers!! :)

I have just purchased one of those "polite" tabards to replace my old "pass wide and slow" tabbard - what a difference! Nearly every single car that saw me slowed to an absolute crawl and the recycling lorry (who I met twice) turned his engine off (twice) and waited until I was well past him before starting off again. He got a big thankyou!! Best £13 I've spent and it's got a big pocket for my phone - bonus!

I did see 2 teenage girls on very smart looking horses, looking like they should be going to a dressage competition - dark horses, dark clothing - no hi-viz. Obviously not the done thing when your 15........although I think the horses belong to the same woman who rides on the roads with no hard hat on either........no hope.......
 
When we take our horses out onto the road we owe it to them to do everything within our power to keep them safe and that includes making sure that drivers can see them.

I'd never forgive myself if something happened to any horse that I was riding on the road that could have been prevented by something as simple as a bit of hi-viz.
 
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