Listening to music whilst riding...

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lilpinkdonkey4

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Personally i ALWAYS school whilst litening to my ipod as im normally the only up at the yard in the eve and i find it is a good substitute for company.

I also listen to it when i hack out, (only in one ear and reasonably quiet so i can hear traffic comming)... I dont really have anyone to hack out with either so again find it quite comforting and if i didnt id probably start having convosations with myself...

Ok so someone has commented i shouldnt, and the post on talking on your mobile got me thinking... is it rrreeeaallly THAT dangerous...? what do you think?

I know im not alone in doing this!
 
I wouldn't personally because i like to have full concentration on the horse but know plenty of people that do!
As long as it isn't too loud i think it is personal preference
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I dont listen to my ipod simply b/c I feel that I wouldnt be able to hear anything above the headphones and am petrified of anything strangulating me, I tend to put the radio on my mobile on speaker haha chav at heart..
 
I always listen to music while schooling, but we have a sound system in the arenas so its a bit different.

Im not sure id want the earphone cables hung close to my neck while riding.. Ok, the chances are low, but i think it would still make me slightly nervous.

I find it helps hugely tbh!
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hehe i dont think you could hang from earphones... i swing them round the back of my neck anyway... Wow i wish we had a sound system... i wonder if it makes a difference for the horses too.?!?
 
I know my horse has some capacity to listen. He went crazy last week cos our head trainer switched the CDs round and suddenly i had the start of Michael Jacksons Thriller blaring out... the bit with the were wolf at the beginning? Yea :P

I think it helps you to ride rhythmically, ive also found it generally useful for my boy as hes quite spooky. Putting music on gives him something to listen to (or something to drown out) any other noises.

Ours also have the radio on when theyre in their stables in the afternoon
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The yard manager is very strict about what they listen to those - its classical all the way and mozart seems the latest preference (and no, im not joking one bit
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) Classical music goes on as soon as theyre done with their lunches; he believes it helps to induce a peaceful afternoon for them.
 
haha thats great. At my old yard there was a horse on box rest whos owner insisted on playing it classical music (personally didnt mind too much) People wernt impressed and started to try and play their choice of music over classic FM... it wasnt a pretty noise or very peace inducing!

Ours just end up with radio 1 when someone forgets to turn it off!
 
I dont think any of us would dare mess with the radio tbh.... our trainers and managers are quite um strict, to say the least
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Everything is done their way and there is no arguing or negotiating on that.

Its not my kind of music tbh, but if they think its good for the horses, its all good. We do fight over the music on the sound systems though. The head trainer has some bizarre 80s love ballards on there. The younger girls favour some trashy boy band [****], while me and another girl school to hard rock ;p

Luckily i ride while the staff are on lunch and before most liveries show up so it doesnt effect anyone
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I was listening to my iPod last Saturday when i hacked out, it was only 1 ear and on quiet, couldn't actually hear it most of the time.

I don't wear it in the school as i would get done by the instructor
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Also wear it when mucking out, doesn't seem to take as much time when i'm listening to it.
 
I wouldn't listen to music out hacking, I like to hear the traffic coming - but would love a sound system for the school, I think it could really help with the rhythm of the paces ( might have to get some of those annoying rhythm beads instead - not!)
 
Right ok! So it is now law that you can be prosecuted for listening to or texting on your mobile whilst driving because it has been scientifically proven that your brain is side tracked and not focused enough on the job of driving for it to be safe...and then you get people hacking out on flight animals whilst listening to an ipod!!!!!!!!!! Oh but I guess THAT is different and you can perfectly well hear when the traffic is coming and won't moan at all when caught out by a fast driver that spooks your horse!!!!! Any common sense going spare for these people????!
 
Last year I did some dressage training with our own Partoow. One of my faults (one of a hundred or so) was riding with a stiff back which blocked most of my subtle aids. She gave me a Claire Lilly CD and recommended I use it when schooling alone. Wow, what a difference - instead of concentrating on putting my faults right, I felt MY backend swinging with the music and my upper body felt fluid, if that makes sense.

I have also been helping one of the girls on the yard who has a huge confidence issue with her velocoraptor of a horse - by her listening to the CD she found that she wasnt worrying about birds flying out of hedgerows, waiting for jets to fly past, what if the wind blows the leaves around. She has made such terrific progress.

As I am quite deaf in one ear, I wouldnt ride out listening to music as I wouldnt be able to hear traffic, but I think its fabulous way of relaxing your body and tuning in to your ponio.
 
The problem with driving and talking on your phone is that you are going 10 times faster in a car in a horse you are normally just walking which is what 2-3mph compared to 30mph in a car so therefore you need longer to react to things in a car.

I know if your horse spooks its a split second reaction but if you are riding a horse that is spooky and prone to getting upset by things then i agree you shouldnt be using your phone on a horse like this.

I have found that some spooky horse relax when you sing to them and if you can sing along to a tune on your ipod and the horse is relaxed then go for it. As for strangling yourself with some earphones you would have to be the unluckiest person alive!! If im anything to go by i cant get the earphones to stay in my ears for 5 secs let alone time to strangle me with them...
 
kellewdhc totally agree!

Talking on a phone is also far more distracting than listening to music... you have to respond to the other person... have a 'conversation', listening to music is rather idle...!
 
I do use the phone when i am riding but all my horses are totally bombproof but if i am on a horse that im not sure about i wont.

My horses fields are adjacent to a busy country lane and has all manor of vehicles passing them at speed on a minutely basis so they are oblivious to traffic. Now get them in a wood and a phesant flies out of a bush then i might end up galloping off but i know my horses and i know what i can do and what i cant.

I think the trick is to "know your limits" lol
 
If it's in one ear only so you can hear whats going on around you ie dog running up behind barking, trial bike ect and your not riding on the road I dont see it as a problem, I would have to consider where the wire was going as to whether it could cause stangulation in an accident.
 
It does! It helps enormously! It was my first classical trainer who started me off riding to music and the difference is quite amazing. You become much more aware of how rhymical the horse is under you (or not as the case maybe). Its worth picking your music carefully depending on the work you want to do obviously but its helped me more than i can say really.

Also as someone above mentioned, its really good for stopping people who fixate on potentially spooky things... if you cant hear the tiny scuffling noises in the bush, you dont back off your horse thinking its going to spook and your body language and riding alone often prevents it from ever happening.

Sadly, i'll be losing the sound system when we move but when we discussed the arena the other day, my OH asked if i wanted floodlights... "nope! I want a sound system instead!"

Screw the lights, gimme the m00sic
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