I don't care if it's been done before

Pedantic

Pedantic

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Or if it's in the wrong section, tough, 3 riders this morning, using the road/s not a stitch of Viz gear on any of them, I don't care about them, just the horse's, I think some people have a serious intelligence problem, is it this "have you had an accident" mentality country we live in that it's "always" going to make it "someone" elses fault, yea big compensaton is obvioulsy going to make you feel better with your horse lying in the road sqwealing in agony with bones sticking out in a pool of blood, I can "maybe" understand 1 out of 3 not wearing any but 3 out of 3, what is it, a fashion thing, a cost thing, or just thick as ****, you don't need to dress up like a xmas tree, but maybe a tabard or hatband/martingale/legbands, FFS give your animal some chance.
 
I refuse to hack with anyone not wearing hi viz. I don't go out looking like a Christmas tree but I value my horses life and i would like to give drivers every chance to see me.
 
I always go out in Hi-Viz...there was a rider the other morning who was on a dark bay [no white markings] and she was wearing beige and green. Up against the verge and hedge, they were nearly invisible. Bloody stupid. Bugger your own life up if you want but don't pass your ignorance on to your horse who doesn't get a say.

Bailey starts his backing next week; he will be kitted out with a full hi-viz set in pink for the summer and yellow for the winter. Going to look super sexy on a dun :D In all seriousness, I don't care what it looks like, I just want the two of us to be as safe as we can be.
 
There's woman locally who rides a heavy cob, no hat, no body protector, of course no hi viz and has a little dog running alongside the horse off the lead and that runs across the road as it pleases annoying dog walkers and other dogs by pestering their dogs. She often has a young girl following her on a pony who has the hat etc and the child is more responsible and sensible than the adult who should be setting an example, it's embarrassing to watch!
I agree with you Pedantic, they are SO stupid.
Oz :)
 
I always always wear hi viz, to me it has never even entered my head not to. I even wear it if I'm going down the drive opposite where you rarely meet traffic.

Am excitedly awaiting my 'polite' tabard and hat band now :-)
 
Fair enough, I was wearing hi vis and it didnt save us from being hit by a car, BUT if I hadnt been wearing it I would enevitably blame myself for not protecting Benson, and I suppose there 'could' be a let out for the driver.
 
benson21 said:
Fair enough, I was wearing hi vis and it didnt save us from being hit by a car, BUT if I hadnt been wearing it I would enevitably blame myself for not protecting Benson, and I suppose there 'could' be a let out for the driver.
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That's a very important point. I wouldn't wish an accident on anyone, but if it does happen you want the best chance of pursuing the driver through the courts and not wearing high-viz may be used against the rider.
 
Gaaaaah it drives me mad. I came across exactly the same in our village last week. 3 riders on 3 dark bay horses not a stitch of hi viz anywhere and riding 3 abreast. Still, they were at least polite and thanked me for slowing and letting them past!

I never, ever go out without some hi viz on me AND the horse.
 
I don't get why people don't wear it either tbh. It annoys me, and like you say, if they want to risk themselves then well thats their choice, but there horse does not have a choice, they should be protected as best they can....
 
There is a high number of horse riders around me, and it is pretty much the norm NOT to wear any hi-viz, it drives me mad, especially as some regularly ride out at dusk.
 
Like you say you don't need to be dripping in the stuff to be noticeable. I took my lad out yesterday, he wear a neck strap and leg wrap, I wear one of those sash things and twice I got asked if he was a police horse!
 
There was a rumour going round our livery yard last year that unless you and your horse were wearing 2 Hi viz items between you, you may not be covered by your insurance. It may/may not be true but it's just another damn good reason to use hi viz in my opinion...
 
My insurance policy says nothing about hi-viz, so they wouldn't be able to go that route, but I always wear it anyway :)

I just don't get it, but I have come to believe that people who consider themselves "good riders" also consider themselves to be "too good to wear hi-vis". And far "too cool" to need it. They always have dark horses, wear dark clothing, and have no idea how hard they are to see, or if they do, they are just too good a rider to be bothered. Around us, they are often exercising in work racing TB's ..and these horses are often skitting into the road - I drive past so slowly, and so worried.

It's the only thing I can think of, and until hi-vis becomes law, more accidents are waiting to happen. Highly recommend the polite tbard btw - work wonders !
 
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I ALWAYS wear hi-viz. On bright sunny or clear days it's usually just my POLITE tabard and a hatband and on days with poor visibility or if there's any chance of getting caught out in the dark (though I would never purposely ride in the dark) I have a hi-viz coat, hat band, excercise sheet, boots (horse), neck strap and bridle pieces.
I constantly get asked/ridiculed by others on my livery yard why/if I'm going out in reflectives (the majority of which are adults!). It astounds me that they can't see the point or benefit in them:eek:
 
I ALWAYS wear Hi Vis, I would never forgive myself if a driver couldn't see either of us - give you and your horse a chance! I couldn't care less if it isn't cool; being 6 feet under isn't cool either. I always make anyone I ride out with wear it too - I keep loads of spares.

I like it that at most Endurance rides the number bibs are dual purpose and not only have your number on but are also Hi Vis.
 
Completley agree, there is no need not to wear it these days, i have a lovely little pink waistjacket with matching hat band & i think it personally looks really nice.

So there are obviously 100's of members on here and by the sounds of it quite alot of us wear hi-viz, but can anyone who dosen't explain why they don't, i would be interested to know.

I see lots of riders in the area i live without it on and the last yard i was on there was approx 30 horses and veery few of the riders wore hi-viz, when i questioned them it was 'oh i cant be bothered' 'i'm only going for a short hack' 'i've never wore it before i have been riding for x no of years and i'm still alive' etc etc.
 
I never wore high viz several years ago......until someone said to me if you think anything of your horse then wear it....how very true.Now when i go out on the roads i always put on my pink coat!!
 
We never go out with out hi viz on both us and the horses, Infact we probably take hi viz to another level, we even have our parents walking one behind and one infront slowing and cars down yet they still seem to ignore the fact all of this is going out and speed past. We both wear a tabbard, hat belt, glove pieces, boots(horse) hi viz sheets in a mix of pink and yellow, I thinks it's silly of riders not to wear hi viz!
 
its fashion im afraid :-/ i once new a girl who bought a new toggi pink body warmer. we were going on a hack. i had my tabard on but she refused to wear it saying 'it will cover up my new top and i dont want to look like a tw*t'. my mom bless the fiery coot gave her a rolloking so she put one on and off we went. soon as we got out the drive and down the road she took it off :-o i said 'what you doing' she replied 'it covers up my new pink top' i thought f*uck it gonna make this hack a short one. she was riding a allover dark bay TB. i even seen a rider by my come hammering down a bridle path no hat no hi-viz and no support on his horses legs (very hard ground) pulled the living daylights out of it to stop, then continued hammer on. such ignorent idiots what is it going to take?
 
RhennyRocky said:
We never go out with out hi viz on both us and the horses, Infact we probably take hi viz to another level, we even have our parents walking one behind and one infront slowing and cars down yet they still seem to ignore the fact all of this is going out and speed past. We both wear a tabbard, hat belt, glove pieces, boots(horse) hi viz sheets in a mix of pink and yellow, I thinks it's silly of riders not to wear hi viz!
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can i just ask why your rents go out with you? are you young?
 
binkymerlin said:
can i just ask why your rents go out with you? are you young?
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We have a newlyish rebroken horse, who can be very spooky, I am young but my sister isn't but it's just too help him get used to it, he's been there and done it all before but just to be on the safe side as the road we hack along cars fly up it, They also like walking so our hacks turn into family outings!
 
I've been going on about wearing Hi Viz for 20 years and I'm still the only one in my local area that wears it all the time. Mind you, some of the riders round here ride out on the roads when it is icey & foggy - so that's how little they think of their horses. Interesting post the other day saying that in bright sunshine, pink hi viz is actually more visible that the normal yellow - so I now have a equisafetly pink waistcoat as well as my "polite" one.
 
I always wear my high viz even if we're going off road hacking as it could help you be seen if for example you were to have a fall and end up in the bushes or a ditch.
 
Okay okay, you've convinced me, I don't normally wear it, I have a very conspicuous 17hh leopard spotted horse and I never go on busy roads, but you've convinced me, I shall wear hi viz from now on, or at the very least, a bright green jumper, I draw the line at wearing any shade of pink though
 
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