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

I use hi vis boots it's easier for the driver to determine where the horse is, I would dip my mare in hi vis paint if I could, she is a saint and rode through a busy town past the fair which was just starting its rides, she was good as gold, but that doesn't mean that I won't truss her up like a luminous chicken, not due to nerves (if that were the case id never ride through town) but due to giving a damn about myself and my horse and understanding that as a driver I appreciate a the biggest flashing neon sign warning me that I am approaching a horse! I shall be doing the same with my youngster, even more important since one can never be entirely sure how they will react, you can never wear to much hi viz, and not because you are a pansy, but because you are intelligent enough to understand the importance of it.
 
Thinking of tweeting them the link to this thread. As cc said, I have no plans to keep buying the magazine when they clearly write drival. It's disgusting they would print it, bhs should be notified too!
 
Nah said:
While we're on the subject, does anyone know of any good lightweight sheets? Ned's is a bit thick for summer wear and he gets hot/sweaty easily.
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I got a mesh one from Aldi last year for about a tenner. Remarkably good quality so well worth keeping an eye out for them if they get them back in again :)
 
Ibblebibble said:
how on earth can you risk asses when you hack out, you have no control over the traffic you may meet:confused: do you ever actually hack out?? if i avoided the possibility of meeting too much traffic or certain types of traffic i'd never get past the end of the farm track!
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Of course I can risk assess ;).
I drive to the yard, so can assess as I am going what the visibility is like for a driver. Any doubt, I don't go out :)
Secondly, if say the farmers are spreading, or harvesting, I'll give it a miss as the lanes don't fit both a tractor and horse down. I would hate to inconvenience them when they are so beholden to the weather :).
I have been at current yard 6 years. I meet cars, motorbikes, cycle races, milk tankers, tractors (also steam driven), horse and cart, low loaders, quad bikes and finally a golf type buggy. Of those, the horse isn't overly keen on 2 stroke motorbikes but it sin't a major problem.

And yes, I used to hack out 7 days a week but now I'm down to about 4 times a week due to work encroaching on my riding time :rolleyes::D
 
jesstickle said:
Nope. That is the roundabout at exit 32 on the A14 :D My horse is a saint :D
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Ooo you're near me then! Sadly enough I thought I recognised that roundabout and definitely wouldn't want to ride round there myself!

I tend to only wear a tabard but mainly because he would have a complete fit of i put a sheet over him & he doesn't wear boots. Might look into other things at Burghley this year, i seem to collect more hi-viz there each year.

I also completely agree that there is no such thing as too much hi-viz, yes you look ridiculous but can be seen, I pass so many cyclists round here & often think it should be made the law that cyclists, riders & motorcyclists have to wear at least a tabard then people can't complain.

Although I do also agree that you shouldnt be riding out on the roads when it is late enough that you really couldn't be seen without it, and therefore if you're not on the road & don't want to be found when you fall off then that is your own problem really!
 
Nah said:
While we're on the subject, does anyone know of any good lightweight sheets? Ned's is a bit thick for summer wear and he gets hot/sweaty easily.
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I've got a mesh wraparound 1/4 sheet which is used all year round, apart from when she's clipped mid winter and needs a wool one. Don't ask me where to buy though, as I was given it and would love another if anyone knows of where to look?
 
Ceris Comet said:
Thanks all for keeping this thread alive , H&H will show their true colours if they don't state that this is a top forum thread
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Has Shils' cob thread ever been in H&H's top 10?


ETA.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fluoresce...t=UK_Horse_Wear_Equipment&hash=item43afc25399

$(KGrHqF,!psE9eLob!OQBPnGMNOVDw~~60_12.JPG
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We wear tabards, tail guards, hat bands & mine wears leg wraps. Exercise sheets in winter & if its a dull day have various other light up stuff. Even on a grey 14.2 a tabard isn't visible from a windscreen. If someone is deluded enough to think I'm a nervous novice for having hi viz, I don't care. I have enough confidence in my own ability not to care if someone thinks minimizing risks makes me incompetent. The attitude that hi viz is for nervous novices reminds me of being in my early teens when my friends & I thought never wearing a hat meant we looked like experienced & confident riders. Luckily, we grew out of that.
Fwiw, our hacking is the type that an extra few seconds makes a difference, & the people who hack without are usually the nervous incompetent types.
 
jesstickle said:
I got a mesh one from Aldi last year for about a tenner. Remarkably good quality so well worth keeping an eye out for them if they get them back in again :)
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Lol! Got to love the random aisle at Aldi - only supermarket where you can come away with a Bavarian cheese and a chainsaw/scuba diving kit/equine hi-viz!
 
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Mad_Cow347 said:
Ooo you're near me then! Sadly enough I thought I recognised that roundabout and definitely wouldn't want to ride round there myself!
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We're actually moving tomorrow. So I live near you for one night more and then I'm gone. Somewhere with loads of off road hacking in fact. Will still wear my hi vis though. Just incase!
 
A random person (someone out walking) once said to me that when driving they find the hi viz boots on a horse really stand out. Must admit have only recently started using them as needed some new everyday hacking boots and thought it made sense.
 
I'm also relatively new to the "Berty Bassett" crowd.
I didn't really know much about it and I thought it was only for police and warehouse workers.

Me a few years ago...
29924_403362877887_516957887_4173699_8147583_n.jpg




I feel much better and safer now.
HiViz001.jpg
 
quirky said:
Are you for real?
I haven't got an agenda, unlike you :rolleyes:.

I choose when I ride out. I won't ride out in a low winter sun, if visibility is bad, if the light is failing, if there are copious tractors about.
I risk assess every time I hack out. I do not and will not put myself in unnecessary danger.
I am content that my hi viz tabbard is a sufficient warning to motorists.
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The thing is.....as soon as you and your horse step foot on the roads you cease to have control: you cant possibly know what you are going to come across; tractors, buses, a hgv, a milk float, a flotilla of cyclists wizzing past, or even a granny driving her nissan micra back from afternoon bingo, you just dont know.

I very much dislike hacking on roads, unfortunately for me I cant not- i have to go on busy roads if i want to hack. i risk assess too- i will not go out in poor visibility, or fading light, i try and avoid busy times and only hack at quiet times, however, that doesnt mean that i feel i shouldnt wear any hi-viz, the two things are not mutually exclusive. Because i hack during good visbility, during quiet times of day means that i am trying to avoid putting myself in any more danger than is necessary, however, the fact that even in good visibilty days i wear a tabard, hat band and my horse wears leg bands means that i am trying to reduce that danger even further - i heard that hi-viz gives drivers approx 3 secs extra stopping time,(it may not be accurate but if it is, 3 secs at 60mph is quite some distance). i just do not understand any reason to be against wearing it, except one that is purely for vanity's sake.

Having thought about it some more this evening, i can not think of one reason to justify the comments made by the writer in h&h, and am really shocked that it got past the editor. If it makes one person stop from putting on that extra bit of hi-viz for fear of being called a 'bertie' then the damage has been done. But also, i do not consider it appropriate at all for a well regarded horse magazine to mock people for wearing any kind of kit- it would certainly not be acceptable for them to openly mock people who wear katie price jods and hoodies, or people who only wear uber expensive german dressage brands. Mocking people for the way they dress is bullying, even in jest- the fact that this is regarding the safety of riders and their horses makes it all the more disgusting.
 
Ceris Comet said:
I used to get comments like " We can't miss you can we !" To which I used to reply " That's the idea !"
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^^^
Exactly the same experience and exactly the same reply! Our comments were from someone who rode a brown horse along a hedged single-track road while wearing a brown coat...
Hi vis is not about my preservation, it's about keeping whatever horse I'm riding safe.
 
humblepie said:
A random person (someone out walking) once said to me that when driving they find the hi viz boots on a horse really stand out. Must admit have only recently started using them as needed some new everyday hacking boots and thought it made sense.
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I was driving to the yard once at dusk and a local rider on a 14hh pony only had a tabard on. I couldn't tell that it was a horse until it was almost too late, as it just looked like a tall person with a tabard. This was on a single track road so I was only doing about 15mph. Had he been wearing leg wraps, it would have been much more obvious that it was a horse.
 
BlairandAzria said:
The thing is.....as soon as you and your horse step foot on the roads you cease to have control: you cant possibly know what you are going to come across; tractors, buses, a hgv, a milk float, a flotilla of cyclists wizzing past, or even a granny driving her nissan micra back from afternoon bingo, you just dont know.

I very much dislike hacking on roads, unfortunately for me I cant not- i have to go on busy roads if i want to hack. i risk assess too- i will not go out in poor visibility, or fading light, i try and avoid busy times and only hack at quiet times, however, that doesnt mean that i feel i shouldnt wear any hi-viz, the two things are not mutually exclusive. Because i hack during good visbility, during quiet times of day means that i am trying to avoid putting myself in any more danger than is necessary, however, the fact that even in good visibilty days i wear a tabard, hat band and my horse wears leg bands means that i am trying to reduce that danger even further - i heard that hi-viz gives drivers approx 3 secs extra stopping time,(it may not be accurate but if it is, 3 secs at 60mph is quite some distance). i just do not understand any reason to be against wearing it, except one that is purely for vanity's sake.

Having thought about it some more this evening, i can not think of one reason to justify the comments made by the writer in h&h, and am really shocked that it got past the editor. If it makes one person stop from putting on that extra bit of hi-viz for fear of being called a 'bertie' then the damage has been done. But also, i do not consider it appropriate at all for a well regarded horse magazine to mock people for wearing any kind of kit- it would certainly not be acceptable for them to openly mock people who wear katie price jods and hoodies, or people who only wear uber expensive german dressage brands. Mocking people for the way they dress is bullying, even in jest- the fact that this is regarding the safety of riders and their horses makes it all the more disgusting.
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Spot on . thank you for taking the time to respond
 
I think there are a couple of people who post on here who actually are more scared of what wearing more than a tabbard will say about them to others, than they are concerned about the safety of all involved. such a shame that people are more in love with appearances than their horse and their lives. btw quirky, you can not risk asses for a car that comes along while you are on your ride and Knocks you flying, isn't it better to be over visible than 'adequately visible'?
 
Just posting this for support...
Me and horse both wear at least one item each as a minimum now (since I grew up and started to feel my mortality!).
And I'm more likely to wear extra items on bright sunny days when the shadows from hedgerows break up your outline, and the drivers are squinting...as a driver, that's when I fail to see pedestrians/cyclists etc.

Come on H+H, sort it out.
 
After having an accident due to a rogue driver I was wearing a hi viz tabbard he was in a one of those off road kit cars and driving very fast on a country lane, asked him to slow down politely and he speed up frightening my normally very sedate pony who spun and then fell on the road grazing his hocks could have been much worse. Wearing more hi viz would not have stopped this accident but has made me more aware of being on the roads and now I have hi viz trousers as well as tabbard and pony has hi viz leg wraps. Yes I look silly as the trousers are a bit baggy but no-one could say they could not see me.

We also have cyclists who race through the bridleways and the hi viz also help them see us, too.

I think hi viz is important and people who are trying to be safe and avoid an accident should not be mocked or patronised. It is easy to think an accident would not happen to you. You can be the most fantastic rider ever but when you share the road with others then that is not enough to protect you.
 
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