RAF Red Arrows and horses

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Mr_Ed

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A couple of weeks ago when I was walking our dog the Red Arrows flew over our Chiltern village at what seemed like a couple of hundred feet. Apparently, they had been asked to fly over a nearby village fete, but as this was at 8.30am in the morning it was of no use to anyone. It was however very loud. My wife was teaching the following week about twenty five miles away and again without any warning at about the same height the Red Arrows flew over the outdoor menage. Luckily, all the kids she was teaching managed to stay attached to their mounts.

The Red Arrows displays are great fun to watch but not so much fun if you're mounted on a horse when their jets suddenly appear from nowhere.

They do actually publish a calendar of scheduled events at http://www.raf.mod.uk/reds/displayinfo/displaydates.cfm

I just wondered if the Red Arrows have caused problems for any other horse owners?

I also wonder why they can't be "safe by distance" by flying at higher altitude between actual displays.

I don't want to be a party pooper but wonder if you have any thoughts?
 
Yeah they have flown over us VERY low a good few times, but so have many aircraft, occupational hazard having our yard next to the RAF Brize Norton runway!
 
not been bothered by r.arrows but have had balloonists low and noisey in `my`bit of sky.
shook my fist at em.
 
No plane has ever caused any problems to any horses I know or own.

Horses have better hearing than us so these planes do not appear out of nowhere, they have heard them before we do.

They fly at low altitude to practise and they have to get into order in plenty of time and at a great distance from where the actual display is taking place, this is particularly the case when it comes to fly pasts.

Weezy: Feel sorry for you being at the end of Brize's runway and even more sorry for you that it will only be getting noisier.

At one point our horses lived at RAF Northoltl. The stables were sandwiched between the A40 (6 lanes of continous traffic into and out of London) and about 100-200metres away from the runway. They had to put up with the landing and taking off of whatever aircraft was at the base at the time.
I have also experienced the Red Arrows practise right above our horses and friends horses and the horses weren't bothered
 
I have to say my stooopid TB mare wasn't bothered in the slightest when we got caught in their flight path one summer (Trafalger year). She grew a little bit but that was all - I was totally stunned as they were quite low! When I heard them approaching I totally expected to be carted across the field we were riding round.

Instead she freaked at a log on the bridlepath and shot through a fence (which fortunately was plain wire and the posts came out of the ground) without injury, then stood 10 feet from a working combine while I explained to the farmer what had happened (he saw it all and thought it was funnny!).
Flippin' horse!
crazy.gif


Anyway not much help to you but it's an incident I've never forgotten cos my horse ignored them!
grin.gif
Shame about the log though.....
confused.gif
 
I was "dressaging" on the same Sunday as the Biggin Hill airfair. I have one of those horses who sees things everyday at home but when we are out hacking the same things are VERY SCARY!!!!!! ie someone sweeping their path. The displays were going on directly over his stable/field for a few days and he seemed to enjoy watching them, doing his best penguin impersonations!
The Red Arrows flew over just as I was going up the centre line to do E44 and we proceeded to do our worst test ever, snorting, sideways, eye popping etc.....
but I managed to contain him to the extent that he didn't bolt off.
Waiting outside the arena for our second test and the satellite spy plane (don't know its real name) went over but you don't hear the "boom" until the plane's out of sight. And that's when he panicked, I could feel him ready to bolt (he freezes before he really freaks) and jumped off to reassure him.
 
They caught us unawares last week out riding but none of the horses were bothered in the slightest- very surprised as the red arrows were very low and loud- but then my horse did have a tantrum at a rabbit hole we passed - idiots!
 
i used to keep my mare next to a base on dartmoor and i found that she very quickly became accustomed to the low flying planes, chopper etc - i think its horses who live in 'quiet' areas that suffor the most if they do a fly-by!
 
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Weezy: Feel sorry for you being at the end of Brize's runway and even more sorry for you that it will only be getting noisier.

At one point our horses lived at RAF Northoltl. The stables were sandwiched between the A40 (6 lanes of continous traffic into and out of London) and about 100-200metres away from the runway. They had to put up with the landing and taking off of whatever aircraft was at the base at the time.
I have also experienced the Red Arrows practise right above our horses and friends horses and the horses weren't bothered

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Gargh, I know pretty much where you were, thats worse than here!

On the whole, our horses are NEVER bothered by the planes, we canter along as the planes are taking off next to us LOL! The biggest problem for us are the huge helicopters suddenly appearing - as you said, the horses give not a hoot about the noise, thats fine, but when one suddenly appears, very low, coming in to land, from around a hedge and is suddenly in front of you, well you can forgive the odd spin!
 
Had them fly over Saturday afternoon, just as we were loading one into the trailer. He just put his head up and watched them fly over with great interest! He is a very chilled chap though...
 
Never had problems with the Red Arrows or the Ordanance Survey plane or the Police Helicopter of which we are on the flight path for, but do have problems with those bl**dy scooters that sound like hairdryers....
 
We were climbing a steep hill up onto the downs once when the cam past - they seemed to be at the same height as we were!

The horses totally ignored them though...
 
I keep my horse in a valley often used for low flight practise and it is particularly fun in winter when riding in the dark in the outdoor menage. At first I used to stop, hold the breat plate, grit my teeth and shut my eye but soon realised they dont bat an eyelid.

It still makes me jump when they fly over but there is never a reaction from any of the horses.

I saw the red arrows once flying back to base from a display in formation. I was in the middle of the countryside on a glorious day with my daughter who was only a tot at the time. I was a fabulous sight.
 
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Apparently, they had been asked to fly over a nearby village fete, but as this was at 8.30am in the morning it was of no use to anyone.

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They can't really arrange a specific time. Generally the only time they can do flypasts or displays is if they are transiting to another location. It could have been the case that they had to be at an airshow at 9am and dropped in to do a flyover for the fete when they could.

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The Red Arrows displays are great fun to watch but not so much fun if you're mounted on a horse when their jets suddenly appear from nowhere.

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Give them a ring and let them know that there is a riding centre in the area and you'd like an avoid placed over it if possible.


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I also wonder why they can't be "safe by distance" by flying at higher altitude between actual displays.

[/ QUOTE ]As far as I'm aware they transit at high level and drop into low level when doing a flypast, display or are approaching an airfield.
 
the red arrows have flown over us several times when we have been out riding, often very low but the horses have never bat an eyelid at them, they usually make me jump more than them!
 
Last Autumn as I had viewers to see Sunny - a bombproof child's pony, we were standing in the middle of our paddock discussing just how steady he was and the Red Arrows flew directly overhead at what seemed like 10 feet off the ground!!!!
The purchasers were fairly speechless as Sunny just stood unperturbed smiling. Needless to say they bought him.
 
Horse at my yard are used to low flying aircraft as we have a small airfield on 1 side and "Mr Pokemon" (Japanese guy who invented Pokemon) lives on the other and commutes to meetings by his own helicopter.
 
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