HI-VIZ

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Who wears it and what do they wear?? Horse and Rider...

Who doesnt wear it and why??

I havent been wearing any but after reading posts on another forum I have realised I'm being rather stupid!!

Opinions Please...
 
This is my minimum

Jacket, hat cover, flashing whip (acts as an indicator)
Hi viz bridle covers on breastplate, hi viz boots, rug (mesh for summer, waterproof for winter)

When it's dark etc I add more, think flashing pink hat band over reflective yellow hat cover, flashing bands on arms etc

Going without is not an option IMO with road becoming busier and busier and sat navs sending people down small lanes. Also I'd like me and horse to be visible if we parted company!
 
Absolute minimum is leg wraps on mare, tabard and hat cover on me. More usual is an addition of quater sheet (on horse) long sleeved jacket on me. I have a summer quater sheet in pink and winter one is yellow, all other bits are yellow and have flashing lights on tabbard, which neighbour thought was a mobile christmas tree :D
 
when out hacking i make sure i wear a tabard wether its sunny/raining or whatever, will add a excercise sheet if raining and if the light it really bad i just dont bother going on the roads!

i dont think some people realise how much they can blend in with hedges etc if they are on a dark horse with dark clothing, there has been a few times near me ive struggled to see people until last minute in this situation
 
I may look ridiculous when I ride but better to be seen!
I wear a hi-viz vest / jacket and hatband. The horse wears hi-viz breastplate, leg wraps, ribbon thing that I plait in to tail, and sleeves on the reins. May even have more in winter!
I think it's important that both horse and rider have hi-viz as accidents happen and I could be seen from a helicopter and the horse would be seen if it was loose on a road.
 
I used to ride in alot of traffic and got into the habit of wearing hi-viz then. It really made a difference and improved how the traffic treated me (slowed down more, went past wider etc...). I am in rural Wales now and meet more escaped sheep than cars :p but I still wear the hi-viz. I was also told that it helps the helicopter find you if you have a nasty accident out in the sticks. I hope that it never happens though.

I always wear a pink tabbard and my pony-o wears a v-bandz yellow mesh quarter sheet or yellow leg wraps.
 
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Oh Gosh, wish I knew how to post a piccy!!! But sorry, beyond my technical ability.

I wear:

Yellow flourescent jacket or tabard (depending on weather)
Sometimes (depending where going) flourescent yellow gaiters

Horse wears:

Yellow hi viz exercise sheet
Equisafety neck band (wide)
Vi Bandz ear covers (very natty!!)

We turn heads, but traffic does slow down, probably thinking cor blimey what the flip's this!!
 
Tabbard (but in pink!)
v-bandz-deluxe-mesh-tp_15394554741496246.png


Mesh sheet
V_Bandz_Mesh_Qua_4b98da98a5941.jpg


Leg wraps
4510.jpg
 
Forgot to add that I've recently bought some karrimoor running tops in hi viz pink. I have a short sleeve one and a long sleeve one that I wear under by yellow tabbard as in some lights some colours are seen better than others.
 
I have those leg wraps Faracat! Got them off ebay.

I wear hat band, tabard, legwraps and my newest acquisition are hi-viz gloves.

Horse wears leg wraps and breastplate.

I would love to find a schooling whip that is made from a luminious braid with a reflective bit at the end. The nearest I could find are ordinary whips covered in a bright coloured plast wrap that always ends up breaking.
 
Indalo said:
Who wears it and what do they wear?? Horse and Rider...Neither

Who doesnt wear it and why??I never wear any, don't possess any. Why? Because I rarely ride on the roads at all, and when I do the visibility is such that I can see and hear vehicles coming literally a mile away. Our roads are unfenced (no hedges, walls or any form of barrier) long (my unpaved country 'lane' is 10 miles long), wide (over 30') straight (roads are laid out in blocks) and in my area flatter than a flat thing.
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Opinions Please...
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If I lived in a high traffic area then yes, of course I'd wear hi-viz but it simply is not necessary where I live.

In Wales where hedges were high, roads narrow and windy and mountains were, well, mountains, I always wore a jacket and a coloured hatcover, never fancied the idea of lying there broken not being spotted or some lunatic coming around a corner and mowing me down.
 
I always wear hi-viz - whether hacking on the roads or off-road. A friend was riding off-road and came off. Luckily a motorist in the distance saw a "bright yellow thing flying through the air" and stopped to investigate - if he hadn't seen her hi viz jacket, goodness knows how long it would have been before she had been found.
I have also got some Karrimoor running hi-viz - they do fab pink and yellow tops, jackets, waistcoats etc. Available from sports direct (& much cheaper than horsey stuff!)
 
You might kill me but i normally only wear a hat band but i always wear brightly coloured clothing and my pony is grey. If the light is bad i add a neckstrap and leg wraps but in the winter i always wear a pink tabard and my winter boots have reflective strips down the back and side.
The roads i ride on are extremley quiet and you are lucky if you see a car! And the cars around here always drive very slowly. Most people riding here never wear reflectives at all there is one guy that hacks out at 7 in the morning in the winter with no reflectives now that is crazy!
 
I always wear some form of Hi Viz, if its bright and sunny I usually wear my pink tabard, I have a pink hat band and yellow leg wraps that fit over his westropp brushing/knee boots, 2 wraps on the back or I have pink hi viz brushing boots, forget the name, legacy or something ?

If its dull I wear

Pink tabard
Flashing rambo tabard
leg wraps on all 4 legs
Hat band
Red flashing cyle light attached somewhere

Forgot, stirrup flourescent thingys

If its raining

All of the above, plus
either an Equisafety 360 degree vision excercise sheet in ping
Or a Masta quarter sheet with flashing light on the back

I think it helps to wear something flashing while hacking, I've had comments from dog walkers that its good they can see me coming from a distance so they can put their dogs on leads, get them under control sooner before I approach, also we have mountain bikers in our woods so they see me quicker too, pity it doesn't make them slow down sooner ! its the bloody brakes skidding that spooks the horses
 
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Minimum of hat cover & tabbard, however can be any or all of the below:

Exercise sheet with tail flap
leg bands
breastgirth
giant lumi jacket
glove spats
Lumi rein cover attached to end of schooling whit (makes cars move over!)
flashing tabbard (I finally managed to kill my flashing tabbard so need a new one before winter.)

All yellow, IMO pink is not nearly as effective.
 
I dont know why but I wear it if I'm hacking on my own but not when I'm with anyone else.

I know I should wear it every time I hack out and I honestly dont know why I dont but am now going to store my Hi-Viz in my riding hat so that I cant forget to put it on.
 
Yes always.

My friend rode out the other evening and as I left the yard I grabbed a spare and as I past her, wound my window down and thrusted at her, told her to put it on and joked (although meant it) and said before you kill yourself! she would of been riding back in the dusk otherwise.

Even on sunny days and evenings are worse, so important.

We have a lot of mad tractor drivers on our country lanes, if your on a bay or dark chesnut for example with drab clothing on, you blend in with the bushes so they don't spot you to slow down till last minute.

If you had a bad accident and the air ambulance had to come out or send a search party to find you, they'd spot you quicker if you were laid up in a field somewhere....those five minutes could save you life.
 
Never really post on hi-viz threads as I know I'll get shot down but, I can't help myself!
Now, I do sometimes wear hi-viz, Red will sometimes wear yellow and reflective spats on his legs and a martingale with reflective strips on. I will sometimes wear a tabard but it really depends on the weather. My coat that I wear in winter has a hi-viz strip across the front and back.
In rainy or dull weather I will wear it or if I choose to I will put it on. My horse is 17hh and bright chestnut, the other day I was wearing this: http://www.joules.com/en-GB/Womens-Striped-Polo/Multi/J_BROOKIESTRIPE/ProductDetail.raction Whilst out hacking, if you miss us walking down the road frankly you shouldn't be driving as you must be blind. Again, I'll get shot down for saying that but, yes, I do drive, I have a moped, I always see cyclists and walkers and people on horses I know the roads and am always looking out for them.
My horse is 100% in all traffic, tractors, motorbikes, quads, trailers aren't a problem, it doesn't matter to me if people don't slow down BUT the thing that gets me when I'm driving is horse riders not saying thank you. I am one of those riders who always say thanks even if the drivers don't slow down, it's a small village and they may remember that I say thanks and slow down next time. I get fed up with slowing down and shutting my throttle off only to get ignored or a dirty look thrown at me, for me that's the reason people don't slow down, not cos they can't see us but they get fed up with being ignored.
Sorry for the rant, go ahead, shoot me down *runs and hides*
 
I guess you're right monkeybum, although you don't see many hedges with pink stripes :p (Joking! Not arguing)
There are worse than me on my yard to be honest, the are 17 other horses on the yard, there are only THREE other liveries who own hi-viz, one wears a hat cover, another wears a tabard sometimes and the other owns a tabard and exercise sheet but rarely wears them. When out on my own I don't wear it unless the weather/my clothing dictates but when out with others I usually put some on as someone needs to take responsibility and I feel at least one of us should wear it. I know this should apply when out on my own but Red is far more sensible when he's not with others and I trust him with the traffic
 
I wear a long sleeved Hi-Viz jacket so that motorists can see my hand signals more clearly. My horse also has Hi-Viz. Wear it both on and off road so that I can be seen and located even if I have an accident. Have ridden both in Central London and the middle of nowhere (Mid Wales, Exmoor, Quantocks etc.)
 
I never wear it, nor do parents, nor OH, or his parents, or anyone I've ever ridden out with or hunted with, I rarely see anyone wearing it and I wouldn't change now. We very rarely ride on the roads- now I'd say that was the dangerous bit, roads.
 
We look like a Christmas tree when we go out with all the flashing lights but I want to make sure we are seen! I even sewed (Velcro) some of the lights onto the Hi-viz Rug, leg bands and tail band to make us even more visible.

We have flourescent reins, neck band, flourescent jacket with flashing lights.
Hi-Vz waterproof rug with extra lights sewn on.
Leg bands - self and horse with flashing lights and a tail band also with flashing lights.
Am thought of as a bit odd but then again most of them daren't even ride outside when its light never mind dark.
 
If I'm riding on the roads then I always use a minimum of hi viz jacket or tabard, hat band and the horse has leg spats and neck strap. I have a bridle kit and stirrup strips and a fluorscent sheet too.

I value mine and my horse's life too much to go without, and it does make a difference, after I nearly wiped out two riders on dark horses who were in the shade on a sunny day it was frightening how they just couldn't be seen.

No, it may not stop the odd idiot crashing into us, but it might just make sure that responsible drivers at least have the opportunity of seeing us and taking evasive action if needed that bit earlier.
 
RunToEarth said:
I never wear it, nor do parents, nor OH, or his parents, or anyone I've ever ridden out with or hunted with, I rarely see anyone wearing it and I wouldn't change now. We very rarely ride on the roads- now I'd say that was the dangerous bit, roads.
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Nope, horse riding is the dangerous bit ;)

Hi Vis just mitigates the added danger of road riding, which most of us are unfortunate enough to suffer :)

I generally only wear a hi vis fleece gilet, rug if its cold. I rarely have lights on, if its that dark - I don't ride! :)
 
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