How do we stop the no hi vis madness?

I don't know what the answer is to those that won't be sensible. I drove past a black cob pulling a black gig/trap at almost dusk last night and no lights on the gig either though all cars on the road had had to start putting their lights on. I only spotted it coming towards me by the movement of the horse and the shine from the street lights on the wheel inner rims. Utter madness.
 
Maybe if they did something about the prices of hi-viz?
I personally think a lot of the items are way too expensive to be honest..
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The horsey hi-viz tends to be overpriced, sadly, but you can get work utility high vis a lot cheaper at places like Winfields. I got a bomber jacket in yellow hi viz with reflective bands for £30. If it were an equestrian jacket, the price would be three times as much. :rolleyes:

But not getting hit by a car is priceless! :D
 
You can easily get Hi-Viz waistcoats of the type that workmen use for somewhere between £2.50 and £5...I got one in Cornwall in a hardware store and the other from a workman's type stand at Bath & West show a few years ago. They are just as good if not better.
 
BorderlandBabyy said:
Maybe if they did something about the prices of hi-viz?
I personally think a lot of the items are way too expensive to be honest..
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I do agree with that, esp in terms of the more specalised stuff....But then you can get bog standard builders tabbards from places like poundland (i'm sure i've seen them there) so not really an excuse.

I always wear my florescent jacket (not really reflective so will add a tabbard over the top when I need to...not that I hack in the dark) if I hack to make myself more visable to walkers - dark horse and dark clothing - is a running one that only cost me £15 (instead of £40 odd) from sports direct.
 
Unfortunately there are many horse riders out there that will not wear Hi-Viz because it is not fashionable. Unfortunately it is their horses that suffer as a result of this attitude.

Hi-Viz is dead cheap is you buy it from indistrial supply companies such as brookes www.ebrookes.co.uk.

I always suggest riders wear long sleeved Hi-Viz jackets so that other road users can see their hand signals more clearly.
 
My high vis tabbard cost £3.50 including postage off ebay. Available in orange, pink or yellow.

And people spend a fortune on other horsey clothing, so why not high vis? My leg bands cost £10 per pair including postage, and my high vis sheet cost £25 including postage. I don't think any of that is expensive at all.
 
somethingorother said:
My high vis tabbard cost £3.50 including postage off ebay. Available in orange, pink or yellow.

And people spend a fortune on other horsey clothing, so why not high vis? My leg bands cost £10 per pair including postage, and my high vis sheet cost £25 including postage. I don't think any of that is expensive at all.
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And why are they sold in pairs?! It seems that no-one has noticed that horses have four legs after all:rolleyes:
 
BorderlandBabyy said:
Maybe if they did something about the prices of hi-viz?
I personally think a lot of the items are way too expensive to be honest..
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A load of beeswax !

A plain hi-vis tabard costs less than a fiver !

This is one of my huge bugbears , No matter what time of day it is I ALWAYS use some sort of reflective clothing, Perhaps those that do not wear hi-vis aren't drivers ?? I say this because you obviously can't see the difference a piece of hi-vis makes to a driver .

Please folks ..... to those that don't wear hi-vis .....do it for yourself , your horse and the poor sod that is driving should it become to late .
 
elsbells said:
And why are they sold in pairs?! It seems that no-one has noticed that horses have four legs after all:rolleyes:
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This is true, i felt the same. If i ride out with a friend we share them though, and just put them on the outside two legs, or since i usually ride behind (wimpy horse) then i put them on the 2 hinds, and she puts them on her mares forelegs. It's still better than having nothing on there. To be honest i only bought 2 pairs by mistake lol
 
I have always worn hivizfor me but ive recently got my mare a neck band in bright pink and she looks fab and going to get her a equifleece sheet. Not only for the traffic but i ride round a shooting and hunting area so would like my horse to be seen if we get parted.

Some people are just idiots its better to be seen than dead
 
It's simple, really...insurance isn't compulsory; road safety/competency isn't even necessary to ride out on the roads. Common sense is often lacking; riding ability is often questionable; and not all horses can be considered safe on roads.

So why is Hi-viz not compulsory?

All other road users are required by law to comply with insurance, tax, and keep their vehicles correctly maintained and road worthy, with the emphasis on safety for themselves and other users...why should a horse owner be allowed to be less responsible for themselves and others?

The BHS should be lobbying MPs to make hi-viz compulsory for equine users of the roads. It's obvious their current campaign to persuade riders to use it is not working. If it is compulsory, those who don't wear it will be easy enough for the police to catch, and can be charged with riding without due care and attention and without due consideration for others, which is what their refusal to wear hi-viz amounts to.
 
somethingorother said:
Now i don't care about the people on top, they are obviously a blight on the gene pool. I do care about innocent drivers (like me) and i care about the poor horses.
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Quite right. I don't want to go through life haunted by an injured or dead horse on the road.

It shouldn't have to be compulsory - it's just COMMON SENSE and consideration for others.
 
MochaDun said:
You can easily get Hi-Viz waistcoats of the type that workmen use for somewhere between £2.50 and £5...I got one in Cornwall in a hardware store and the other from a workman's type stand at Bath & West show a few years ago. They are just as good if not better.
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Our local market has them for £2 each for the tabbards. They're not reflective, but they also sell the reflective jackets and such. Not sure how much those are.


When we lived in Ascot, my OH & I were driving down a fairly busy road around 5pm and came across a woman on a dark horse in dark clothes, no hi-viz in sight. I just don't understand why some riders can't take the responsibility for themselves and their horse to be seen when conditions call for it, at the very least.
 
This is what I wear - it looks nice, is fitted for a ladies shape, so at that price you can still look smart and feminine - they do a men's version too, and they do it in yellow. It is by Karrimor, and they have long sleeve etc on Sports Direct, so for winter I may buy a long sleeve one in a bigger size that can go over a coat.

http://www.sportsdirect.com/karrimor-high-visability-running-gillet-ladies-456175
 
I think I am totally in the minority. I LOVE hi-vis and am always buying bits and pieces whenever I go to the tack shop. I wear my tabbard and hat band all year round, and add bits and pieces to myself and horse, as weather and light changes. Do very little road work most of the time as well.
 
Iv got loads off hi viz now and so has my son. Nobody apart from me seems to wear it. I stopped and told our local farrier off the other day who is also a point to point jockey, almost fully dark and thin lanes on a dark horse with no hi viz in sight. My heart sank as I only just stopped. I told him what I thought but only got a weird look back.
 
BorderlandBabyy said:
Maybe if they did something about the prices of hi-viz?
I personally think a lot of the items are way too expensive to be honest..
Click to expand...

Yet people are all too happy to spend ££££s on the latest fashionable tack. Why do people penny pinch on safety equipments? Because it's not fashionable????

elsbells said:
And why are they sold in pairs?! It seems that no-one has noticed that horses have four legs after all:rolleyes:
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Just put them on the outside legs :)
 
yorksG said:
I do not understand why people feel it is ever ok to ride on any road without Hi-Viz, summer or winter, full daylight or not. Are these the same people who drive without a seat belt, or over the drink drive limit? People who do not feel any responsibility forthemselves or to others.
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I dont wear hi vis in the height of summer when its 20 odd degrees c and clear as a bell, I also dont drink and always wear my seat belt!!

TBH if a car driver cant see a horse in the road on a clear summers day then they should not be driving.
 
I have registered this morning just to share my experience of my trip to work this morning. We live 2 miles from a major trunk road and the jorney is along a typical minor country road. At 07.40 it was raining, dark and vehicles had headlights on. I came around a slight bend onto a straight and met the school bus approaching, lights on, spray and taking up a huge chunk of the road, my eyes were darting between the bus and my nearside verge, just as I emerged past the bus I noticed the 3 horses 30 metres in front, 2 riders and one horse being led; Brown clad riders on brown horses against an autumnal, tree-lined background.

There was no collision, nor was there any danger of a collision. Had the positioning of the bus and riders been different then my 2.5 tonne pickup could well have hit them at 40mph. Sadly traffic behind and other safety issues meant that I could not stop and inform them of their errors.

Not wearing Hi-Viz is either stupidity, ignorance or arrogance.... I suspect it is usually the latter.

We have a hunt kennels in our village and the hunt staff are often as bad (although there is the odd sign of improvement). It is Health and Safety legislation that ANY employee working on the highway MUST wear appropriate Hi Viz wear, if they don't then the employer can face massive fines.

Fashion or safety is a no-brainer in my book.... even in high summer and if riders want respect and consideration from drivers then they need to show us some. <RANT OVER>
 
Stencilface said:
I can see why people don't wear hi vis in perfectly good conditions tbh, I wear mine all the time - but I don't see why people don't wear it when conditions aren't good. I never get why people go on the roads at night though - sheer and utter bonkers madness :(
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Ditto. just dont understand it .......:confused:
 
The trouble is, there is a real culture of "bright colours are unprofessional" to get past. when i was a Working Pupil i got HELL from my boss's girlfriend every day for having a bright red hat silk. The stupid woman bitched on and on about how "unprofessional" it was to wear such a bright colour and draw attention to oneself while hacking on the roads. What can you do when up against that kind of utter stupidity? Honestly?
It is a total no-brainer to wear hi-viz on the roads, and I wish it could be made compulsory.
Poor horses, and poor drivers who don't get a chance to see totally idiotic riders in their dark camouflage colours...
 
Pah, don't get me started :rolleyes: it's one thing that really really annoys me.

Not read through the whole thread so someone may of suggested it, can you not bob into the yard and mention it to the YO or write to them?

I know it's not your problem and it may be a bit of an inconvenience to you but but if someone like yourself has actually gone out of their way to address the problem with the YO then hopefully they will speak to their liveries about it, you may save someone's life...or prevent a future accident.

I don't understand why the parents don't make them wear hi viz though I doubt the parents would they let them go out on a push bike with no lights or reflectors on so why let them risk it on their ponies.
 
IMO its complete and utter stupidity to not wear hi-viz.

I wear my tabard at all times in all weathers just in case. If a driver/dog walker/quad biker sees me 3 seconds before they would have done normally then I can only see that as a good thing. Even when I was on a yard where all I had to do was cross a road I wore hi-viz then too.

I have said to a couple of the girls that I ride with that I wont go out with them unless they wear some hi-viz as I have seen an accident with a horse (car driver jumped some lights when a string of racers were crossing andf the horse tried to jump the car and got its front feet stuck in the windscreen) and it still haunts me - I would never want that to happen again so think its stupid to at least not to try and prevent it if you can..
 
What I see on the roads in my area are lots of very brightly lit up kids, all wearing helmets, body protectors and hi-viz. It is the adults that are the problem.

I ski and make my lids wear a lid BUT feel I can only demand this if I also wear one. Kids on horses are not the problem, it is the older but less wise ones that are.
 
I always wear so much high viz as possible. I would hate for anything to happen to me or my pony whilst we are out on the roads. Just a thought should it be written into our insurance for our ponies/horses that if (god forbid) we are involved in any kind of road traffic accident whilst out with our horses and we are not wearing any high viz then our insurance would be void.This might already be the case. I'm not sure but it might make people think twice about going out without any especially if your made aware of it by your insurance company every time you are renewing a policy or taking out a new one.
 
If I see people like this I stop and tell them that I can't see them and they should be wearing hi-viz gear. It may upset them to be told (I am not known for my tact but I do try and explain nicely) but better that than causing an accident.
I even wear my hi-viz waistcoat when walking horses across from the field to the yard (I have to cross a country lane crossroads). Unfortunately it is a 'rat run' through and people drive so damn fast. Oh oh now I am ranting.....better shut up!
I drive a black car and always have the side lights on - that is so people at junctions CAN SEE ME COMING and won't pull out in front of me! So why don't other drivers of dark vehicles? PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE - same applies to horses and riders. Rant over (for now)........
 
Could you buy a can of Hi Viz paint and accidentally spill it all over their horses????

Drives me mental, almost as much as "Dont like the way it looks".... who cares what it looks like???? grrrr grumble grumble
 
Drives me mad too, even more so when people go out hacking as it's getting dark without any hi-vis. I've seen a horse in the middle of the road with it's leg hanging after being hit by a car, there is no way I'm going out the yard gate without taking every precaution to avoid that!
 
I think there is always going to be people who feel there is no need for hi-viz. I don't like the look of it but thats beside the point, it would be my choice to walk along a dark road with no lights and no hi viz and I would be taking the chance that I could get injured, a horse doesn't have a choice and I could never forgive myself if something happend to my horse I could prevent. I don't hack in pitch black anyway (Lucky we have an indoor school) but sometimes I have when it's getting dark, I have hi-viz tabard, excersize sheet and my horse has hi-viz boots.

My yard is on a tight bend and the road its on is long and difficult to see whats ahead. Driving off the yard last night a girl, about 15, was walking her nervous 1 year old across the road with nothing on, she was in dark clothing and I couldn't see her until the last minute, luckily I was just coming off the yard but if someone was driving along I dread to think what could of happened.
 
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