Shocked at H+H advice not to wear too much hi-viz

lannerch said:
I agree with h&h you certainly can get too much hi viz!
A tabbed is usually enough anything more excessive and looks ridiculous to the motorist encouraging them not to take you seriously eg when clothed all over in high vid Barbie pink!
Those here that do it certainly get mocked by the neighbours ( non horsey ) and yes they do mollycoddle their horses!
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There's always one! :rolleyes:
 
As everyone else has said, I'm not bothered if me and my horse look like bloomin' bananas when we're out hacking if it helps people to spot us!

I'd rather look a bit silly, than be involved in a traffic accident.

But hey ho, what do I know? I'm only a happy hacker ;) :p
 
lannerch said:
I agree with h&h you certainly can get too much hi viz!
A tabbed is usually enough anything more excessive and looks ridiculous to the motorist encouraging them not to take you seriously eg when clothed all over in high vid Barbie pink!
Those here that do it certainly get mocked by the neighbours ( non horsey ) and yes they do mollycoddle their horses!
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No offence, but are you serious?!?

It looks ridiculous? Who cares? If it prevents horses, riders and other road users being hurt or even killed on the road does it matter?

I don't see how you can call it "mollycoddling" when in reality, it's common sense, and safety.
 
Article may have been written by someone who sits in their London office most days apart from the odd time they get to school their horse thats on full livery and hasn't ridden along a country road for a while!
To make fun of someone who wears a lot of high vis by calling it Bertie Basset is horrendous.
Roads are blimin dangerous now, cars speed around our country lanes and seeing a person on a horse a split second earlier could mean the difference between life or death.

My mum and I were hacking not long ago along a country lane that was lined by trees, it was a bright day but the lane was still quite dark and we had tabbards on (just tabbards). A car came towards us and wasn't slowing down, it was a single track road. We were waving our arms and at the last second the car stopped, the person wound down their window down apologising profusly and said they simply had not seen us!

Another incident a few years ago at our old yard. Riding along a road with tabbards on, a car came speeding up, didnt slow down, didnt even move over and went into my mums horse from behind. Luckily it was only the wing mirror that wacked my mums horse up the arse. We shouted at the driver, he stopped and got out and guess what... apparently he didnt even see us (he was quite old the driver!!).

I was even taught by my driving instructor when I learnt to drive to always put my lights on down single track lanes even in bright sunlight as it would give me an extra split second of someone seeing me to stop.

Ive even started thinking about flashing lights on my horse now to hack.
 
lannerch said:
Seriously it's over kill you ruin the effect motorists think your a joke and don't slow down!
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That's not the response I've had. Have you heard of SMIDSY? Sorry Mate I Didn't See You.
I don't care if I look silly (I think I look fabulous, by the way) but if it helps someone see me before they rear end me, then it's doing it's job.
 
lannerch said:
Seriously it's over kill you ruin the effect motorists think your a joke and don't slow down!
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What Hi Vis do you/your horse wear then? I have a tabard, horse wears an exercise sheet and a breastplate. All the motorists I've encountered have always slowed down, but I'm interested to hear what you perceive to be "over kill"? :)
 
I couldnt care less what i look like with ALL my fluorescent gear on, which is includes basically covering up most of the horse and myself with bright fluorescent gear!
What a bloody idiotic thing to say, people are only just getting over the "embarrasment" of wearing hi viz outfits and you get some stupid comment like that in a prolific horse magazine!
 
ABC said:
What Hi Vis do you/your horse wear then? I have a tabard, horse wears an exercise sheet and a breastplate. All the motorists I've encountered have always slowed down, but I'm interested to hear what you perceive to be "over kill"? :)
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Probably anything that stops people from being killed and it being over :p.
 
Reflective leg bands are brilliant, as the car's headlights really pick them up. A tabbard only, is just too high up as Firewell said. I personally like some Hi-viz on me and some on the horse, then if we ever do get parted, we can both be seen.

I know that many people think that they will never fall off their horse on a little potter around the lanes, but I have come across some pretty unusal stuff out hacking that is hard to bombproof for. The first was a steam engine on a single track lane, then there was the canoe/kyack that was being carried upside down by two people, whose heads were inside it. Then there was the car with a flat tyre (horrible noise) being chased at speed by a police car with full sirens and lights.
 
I am not a troll I am not a new member just because because I dare to disagree ridiculous!
And how can I be a troll when even h&h agree with me !
 
Just keep on posting ! Our aim is to make this thread a " Thread of the week " in HH , and if they don't mention it , it will prove that they cherry pick the threads that put them in a good light. Thanks for supporting this thread
 
lannerch said:
I am not a troll I am not a new member just because because I dare to disagree ridiculous!
And how can I be a troll when even h&h agree with me !
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You don't have to be a new member to troll. On another website, a member with over 10,000 posts decided to become the nastiest troll I've ever met.
For what it's worth, I don't think you're a troll. Just maybe misinformed about the effects of a lot of hi-viz? Perhaps it's different in your area, but for the most part, I get a lot of respect for looking like a lightbulb.
 
If I'm on the roads I like something high up (for being seen over hedges etc), something low down and something on a moving part. Usually I'm off road and in the event of the horse going home on his own he doesn't have to cross any roads so I tend to just put something on me in case of needing the air ambulance...

I agree that 'calling names' is hardly likely to advance the cause of road safety... Not H&H's best move ever!
 
I am pretty damned appauled, whilst I agree with jesstickle, I can't believe that h&h would even include such an 'opinion' in their magazine. I'm also shocked at the wording 'may be prudent' implies that it is not a 'must have' but I'm sure I've heard somewhere that it is a requirement for insurance cover that you wear a reflective tabard on roads (I may well be wrong but I'm sure I remember it in a thread on here honks ago)
 
Ps I do wear a tabbard myself, and I particularly like the polite ones however I do not see any need to embarrass myself and my horse by dressing us both head to toe in fluorescent pink!
 
Very irresponsible, I'd much rather that someone had as many extra seconds as possible to see me and couldn't ever say that they didn't!
 
I'm with lannerch on this, can't really see the point in having more than a tabbard.

I see the 'lit up like a Christmas tree' hi-vizers as being nervous riders, rightly or wrongly, who want to draw as much attention to themselves as possible as they can't cope with traffic coming past at even a reduced speed.
 
Oh dear. H & H are a long way behind current ways of thinking in the horse world aren't they? :o

Wearing hi-viz is just doing one of the few things we can do to reduce risks for ourselves and our horses, and its our responsibility to other road users to do what we can to make sure we can be seen easily.
 
Faracat said:
The first was a steam engine on a single track lane, then there was the canoe/kyack that was being carried upside down by two people, whose heads were inside it. Then there was the car with a flat tyre (horrible noise) being chased at speed by a police car with full sirens and lights.
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Oh the joys of hacking lol
 
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