Riding in the dark/poor light

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jumpthemoon

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Following on from the rta post in latest news - what are everyones opinions on riding in the dak or poor visibility? Personally I wouldn't even think about venturing out in the dark, dusk, fog or heavy rain, purely because it's so much harder for the drivers to a) see you and b) react. I always wear high viz too, but I know loads of people who don't. I just don't understand it
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nope, i'd never hack in those conditions. Where my hores are stabled the roads can get quite busy, and although my horses are good in traffic, it just isn't worth the risk.
 
Poll won't work!

I wear a Hiz Viz tabard, and no wouldn't hack in those conditions although have been caught out in heavy rain. Also Misty has such a wide arse they'd see her a mile away
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Yes I ride in dusk/fog & heavy rain. I wear lots of Hi viz including a flashing tabard. I don't have a school so if I want to ride I do it on the roads.
 
I can't vote yet, but yes I ride on the roads in the dark/dusk/fog (unless it's really bad) and heavy rain. I also hack my horse out when it's windy, and have ridden out in snow before now, and will again.

I wear fluorescent waistcoat everytime I leave the yard, and in the dark I wear a flashing waistcoat, 2 lights, hi-viz neckband for the horse, and this year will be adding flashing lights round my horses legs.

I've never had any problems riding my horses on the road in the dark, but then I've spent a long time training them so they are safe in traffic, and have done bhs riding/road safety training so that I feel confident on the roads in any situation.
 
i'll ride out in heavy rain if i have to, but i try not to!
i can't understand it, people riding out in the dark. just too dangerous. walking on the roads in the dark is bad enough, but at least you can jump onto the verge/into the hedge if you see and hear a car coming. not an option with a horse that doesn't necessarily react as fast as you'd like, in the right direction.
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a few years ago a friend left my place to drive home in her horsebox. got 2 miles up the road and 1 horse had a headfit and she had to unload them both as he was totally destroying the box. it was high summer, about 9 pm, still light, but i still begged boyfriend and friends to lead and follow us in cars with hazards on, the whole way home, as we led the horses back on the road. i was terrified that someone would come round the corner not expecting a horse to be out on the roads that late and pile into us. we jogged the whole way home, were totally knackered, but at least we managed not to cause an accident.
 
I would never hack in those conditions.
Last year I was on the bus coming home, around 11pm it was pich black and we went past a horse and rider wearing no high-vis gear at all. The horse didn't look like it was coming back from the field either, I personally thought they were very stupid to hack out at that time with nothing on, especially as our roads are very bendy.
 
I know it went wrong somehow
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Getting caught out is one thing and it's happened to me before, but I don't understand why people risk their horses and themselves and other road users by assuming they will be seen in plenty of time regardless of the light/weather conditions
 
Yes I do ride in the dark with plenty of hi-vis on and flashing light. TBF, I only have a 2 minute walk along a well lit road and then I am in Epping Forest with miles of off road hacking.
 
I wouldn't ride on the roads in the dark tbh. I have ridden in heacy rain, and always put on a hi-viz vest and leg bands if doing more than a very tiny amount of roadwork!
 
Always wear hi-viz (jacket/fleece or polo shirt- much more visible than just a tabard), would never ride in the dark/fog/dusk and not intentionally in heavy rain. Drivers do not expect to see horses on the roads in the dark - it's bad enough in broad daylight.
 
I only hack in clear dry conditions, I never set off on a hack in the rain but I have been caught in showers before now.

I admit I dont always wear my hi viz if I am in a group where the person at the front and back have theirs on. I always where it if I am on my own or there are just 2 of us.
 
I always ride in the dark i dont have to as i do have a school but its nice to ride out to vary my horses routine! I ride in a well lit area and have lots of reflective gear! Most of the time everyone always shouts i look like a chritmas tree! so i must be very bright! I rode last night and it was fine! Its not dangerous if you trust your horse 100%. My neddy can be spooky but if im riding out in the dark he always follows so is a lot better!
 
Yes wear high viz, but we are lucky as our hacking is on forestry roads, very rarely do we have to venture on main roads, mainly to get to the beach. Horrid news about last night, sends shivers down my spine, but this happens without horses, my boys have to wait at the end of our drive for the school bus and as we are just before the derestriction sign drivers speed up before hand to overtake and on more than one occasion have mounted the pavement near to them on overtaking. Have spoken to the police on several occasions but not interested!
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I don't understand why people risk their horses and themselves and other road users by assuming they will be seen in plenty of time regardless of the light/weather conditions

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How many people walk their dogs on country roads with no high-viz on, or go running at night? To me, this is more dangerous.

I enjoy hacking out, am unable to ride before work, so go after work. I have to go on busy roads to reach off-road places, and if I want a short hack (less than hour), then almost all of it will be on busy roads. I wait till the worst of the rush hour is over, but am still normally out in busy traffic.

In the last 15 years of regularly riding out on roads in the dark I've never had a problem from drivers not seeing me. Idiotic drivers are a different matter, but then they'd be the same regardless of how visible I am.
 
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It's nothing to do with trusting your horse, HorseBetty it's more car drivers not expecting to see a horse that late at night and causing an accident.

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Very true but again if you are lit up how can they possibly miss you?
 
I never ride in the dark as I don't think drivers expect to see you. I never ride in dusk or fog, occassionally in rain/ grey conditions and they I will wear Hi Viz gear
 
totally agree with Gina, it's not about trusting your horse (although i think mine would be spookier in the dark), it's that drivers aren't expecting to see a horse on the roads at night. a LOT of drivers take the racing line at night because they rely on other car's oncoming headlights to tell if there's anything coming... i do this myself sometimes.
just because you can hear a car coming, it's very easy to forget that the driver, cocooned in his bubble, can't hear you, and has no idea you're there until it's too late, at times. i've had very near misses in broad daylight in spite of being very defensive and wearing hi-viz...
 
I was driving on a busy b road on Sunday evening and came up behind two horse riders wandering along oblivious to the fact the light was fading fast and they were well nigh invisible. They had no reflective gear on and were both wearing dark colours. The lead horse was a bay cob and behind it was a brown horse with a blanked spotted bum. Had it not been for the spotty bottom on the 2nd horse I wouldn't have seen them.
The road was too busy and narrow for me to safely pull over - they didn't acknowledge my car slowing down or other cars doing the same.
Obviously I was appaled and disgusted with them. Clearly though it isn't always the fault of the driver when accidents happen, these two were a liability to all other road users.
Finally if you were the ignorant woman on the bay cob, or her slimmer but equally stupid sidekick on the blanket spotted horse riding out of Mangotsfield towards Syston Common at 5.30 on Sunday evening, sell your horses and stay indoors, less of a liability to the world at large that way.
 
Twisty, bendy country roads if you come upon a horse while doing national speed limit (I think the laws regarding speed on country roads should be changed) chances are you will not get stopped in time. Also you don't expect to find a horse walknig along a road late at night in the dark.
 
"It's nothing to do with trusting your horse, HorseBetty it's more car drivers not expecting to see a horse that late at night and causing an accident.
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Very true but again if you are lit up how can they possibly miss you?"

because at night a lot of drivers rely on oncoming headlights to tell them that the road is or isn't clear, and take the racing line if it looks clear. i do this myself sometimes.
it's easy to forget that just because you can hear a car approaching, he can hear you... not so. in his little bubble, he has no idea you're there until he sees you, if he does.
even being very defensive, in hi-viz, in broad daylight, i've had some very near misses...
oops, sorry, bit repetitive... last post disappeared for a while.
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At 6pm it is pitch black, even with Hi Viz etc you cannot garantee a driver will see you. I value the life of my ponio way too much to even vaguely consider riding on the roads at night regardless of lights hi viz etc

ETS, didn't mean that to sound as if you don't care about your horse, it's just personal choice that I don't ride in the dark.
 
Wear hi-viz, go out in heavy rain and may very occasionally be guilty of riding home in poor light. Roads are dangerous places to be but most of us have to use them to get to bridleways. But riding in dark or poor light is getting more and more dangerous with the increasing amount of traffic (and the behaviour of a few drivers.) Agree with Siennasmum that people who do not take time to acknowledge/thank drivers who have bothered to slow down should stay at home! They just make drivers less likely to slow down the next time they meet what they may perceive to be a snooty rider!
 
Twisty bendy national speed limit roads would be just as dangerous in daylight.

Horses are no different to cyclists on the road in many ways. See lots of those of a night. Some probably a lot less lit up than me and my horse.

Riding in the dark IMO, is no more reckless than riding with no hat.
 
siennamum, you should have told them they were very hard to see, for the horses' sakes. poor horses. i wouldn't mind if the stupid owners got dumped in the ditch, but the poor trusting horses don't deserve a car crashing into them because of their owners' stupidity.
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