I'm probably being thick...

[Silverspring]

but I don't understand how this works

http://www.ride-alert.co.uk

So you fall off your horse in the middle of nowhere on your own. The scenarios are:

a) you are knocked out and unable to call ride alert for assitance
b) you are not knocked out and able to call family, friends, ambulance, police, life guard, the queen (well if you have her number!)

so where is the point? surely if you can contact ride alert you can contact your family which is what they plan to do anyway :s as I say probably being thick and missing the point!

 

[smellsofhorse]

im thick too!

 

[SVMel]

If you are unable, through being unconcious, in great pain etc etc, the person who (hopefully) found you calls ride alert.

If your horse runs off after you fall off, the person who finds them calls ride alert.

Etc, etc. Ride alert then can call your emergency contacts to let them know whats happened, and get your horse provided for if you're on way to hospital, or reunites you with your lost horse if someone else finds them....... and it can also provide important medical info if the paramedics and or person who found you need it ie existing conditions, allergies etc. They can also carry vet details in case someone finds your horse in a state where they need a vet.

I've got it, it puts my mind and my familys minds at rest. Job done.

 

[Silverspring]

Ok in respect of the rider, if someone found me in a state of unconscious I would want them to call an ambulance. Clearly after calling an ambulance it might be nice if they called a loved one but I could wear a plain old eventing medical tag with that info on it.

I understand slightly better re the stray horse though in my 20 odd years riding I have never fallen off and had the horse take off. Take that back I have once and she got as far as the end of the track, ran into a fence and got cast (she's an Arab, these things come naturally to her) but she would have got home had it not been for the fence.

Surely a pet tag or similar could hold an emergency number who would then have a vets number? I know someone who has this on her horse's halter as it jumps out of fields and goes wandering. It's just her mobile number and she's had more than one person call her!

I suppose I'm just not thinking worst case scenario enough. I belong to the school of 'tell someone where you're going and when you're likely to be back' before the days of mobile phones when you had 10p in your joddy pocket incase you had to find a public phone box (remember them?!) and call your mum

 

[SVMel]

I can't tell anyone where I'm going as I'm totally on my own, ride alert holds my familys emergency contact numbers as they can't receive personal mobile calls whilst at work, so they have a works number that the employer allows to be used for emergencies, not for when I want to say 'I'm going here, if I don't call you in an hour then somethings happened'. When my husband could take calls in a previous job, I always let him know when I left, and when I was back safe.

I think anyone finding an unconcious person would call 999 first, but that call lasts moments, and after the paramedics turn up, the ride alert call can be made as a quick way to contact next of kin. I think it speeds up finding out who the person is, I heard of someone who was found unconscious, and she woke in hospital didn't know who she was. she was single, not much contact with members of family (not regular enough to worry if she didn't call one day). It took ages for the hospital and / or police to find out who she was, as the horse wasn't found for a couple of days, and she kept it on a rented field by itself. No one to know it was missing!!!! I understand this is an extreme situation, but it could happen.

Not all horses go home, and not all members of the public or police will stand back while a horse careers along a road on its own hoping its heading home, so at least when they hopefully catch it they can sort it quickly.

I use it because they hold lots of info, which doesn't fit onto a small tag. I've tried lol!!!!