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

Maybe not insurance, but as I have said before in other threads (so sorry if you have seen this before!) the police told me that if I wasnt wearing hi vis, the driver that hit us and killed Benson 'could' of claimed he didnt see us, therefore getting an even lighter sentence ((if thats possible!!!)
 
I am finding the concept of hi viz being a fashion statement . . . somewhat

I don't use a quarter sheet in summer but there is no way that franks martingale neck band or his one strip felt leg bands are uncomfortable to him. In fact I use the leg bands because his legs do not do well under boots!
 
I'm going to buck the trend here and say I can understand where the writer is coming from on this. I'm all for hi-viz and wear a tabard or fluorescent fleece, and my horse has his fl. polypad. He also goes hacking in white brushing boots.

But really, you should see some of the people on my yard!! Pink browbands, nosebands, rein tabs, brushing boots, neck straps, exercise sheets, numnahs and tail bandages, tabards and things that go on hats. This is all on one horse, pretty much all at once!

It does sometimes hurt the eyes!
 
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I shall continue to help keep myself and my horse as safe as possible. If that means people think I'm a novice/all about the fashion statement/a yellow banana, then that's just fine, my safety and that of my horses' is what's important to me, not other peoples oppinions :)

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As an aside- the mesh sheet he wears is great for keeping the flies off in summer as well :D
 
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lannerch said:
Indeed hence I have no problem unfortunately they will be the butt of jokes from non horsey communities .
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I also don't understand this statement? I don't know of anyone in the non horse community who thinks it odd/amusing for us to be decked out in hi vis.
 
Golly gosh!!!! A whole 26 yrs!!!! :eek: *swoons in utter admiration*

I'll bet there are plenty of people who rode their entire life without wearing any reflectve gear and never had even a near miss, and lived to a ripe old age, this does not make them special, clever or wise, and it does not mean they did the best they could with regards to safety.
 
My daughter & her pony wear practically head to toe pink even without hi viz, couldn't care less if it hurts someones eyes, she likes it so nobody else's business. So I extend the same courtesy to an adult who chooses to overkill on hi viz.
 
I second the suggestion of using cycling gear when riding. I have a hi-viz vest from a cycling shop which has yellow and orange on it - the latter gives better visibility in fog and poor light apparently which is why rail workers etc have been tangoed!

TheInauguralBoxedRide11-04-10017-2.jpg
 
one of the girls on my yard has made a deal with her husband - he'll always wear his helmet mountain biking if she always wears a hiviz tabard (and, obvs a hat) to hack :)
 
quirky said:
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.
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Well, personally, I think the above comment is ridiculing those whose chose to wear plenty of hi viz.:rolleyes:
 
All our hacking is off road, I never ride on the road, and I still have plenty of hi viz on me/horse/child/pony. I ride and teach for a living, so I wouldn't call myself a nervous rider, but so what if I was?? What is so wrong about being a novice or nervous rider?? Hey we all had to start somewhere :rolleyes:

I've read the whole thread and, forgive me if I missed it, but nobody has mentioned that wearing hiviz not only makes the horse and rider safer, but also other road users, not all of whom are idiots like some riders assume :( So imo there are plenty of reasons why it's more sensible to wear as much of it as you can.

Personally I found the entire article offensive, patronising and scathing. There are some valid points there (not the hiviz one obviously) but the way the article is written is shameful, and not worthy of a mag like H&H. I imagine some of the people interviewed for it will be writhing with embarrassment today.
 
If drivers think a rider is a joke for wearing loads of hi viz then that's great because it means he's SEEN you!!!!!

He/she might then speed past you laughing but people like that are the sort of people who probably would have sped straight into you if they hadn't seen you in the first place!

And as for judging other people's riding ability by the amount of hi viz they wear: a true horseperson will recognise good/bad/nervous riding by seeing the rider themselves, not by what the rider is wearing. If someone is riding out in a top that says "Whitaker" on it, do people assume the rider is a top showjumper??!!
 
sula said:
I second the suggestion of using cycling gear when riding. I have a hi-viz vest from a cycling shop which has yellow and orange on it - the latter gives better visibility in fog and poor light apparently which is why rail workers etc have been tangoed!

TheInauguralBoxedRide11-04-10017-2.jpg
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Absolutely correct. A combination of Red/Orange ,and yellow ,is much more visible. traditional High viz can make you harder to see in some circumstances . Bright sunlight through trees for example. I do a lot of lorry driving on narrow country lanes and just love riders in high viz. Regardless of how carefully I drive,it gives me an extra few moments of time to slow . It also works in the riders favour when they want to cross a road. Because I can see them from so much further away, I have time to stop and let them cross. I confess that 20 years ago I thought high viz was for wimps, Maybe I have become one of those nervous riders:D:D Personaly I think the roads are so fast and dangerous now that we all need to use the stuff.
 
Dear forum members

The article in question appears in the 17 May issue and is not available to read online. It is part of an excellent magazine that features brilliant photographs and reports from The Queen's Diamond Jubilee pageant, Royal Windsor Horse Show, a fascinating vet piece on new ways to treat joint problems, and this feature that so many of you are commenting on, despite most not having read it.

If you had read it I am sure that you would agree that the feature is full of sound advice from experts who see far too many horses swaddled in excessive rugs in warm weather and so on. It also advocates safe hacking, though queries (in one half of a sentence only) if there is a point at which high-viz kit becomes over the top. Clearly many of you disagree with this point, but it always good to encourage debate on these matters, which in turn helps educate more individuals.

For those of you who have not seen the magazine please do grab yourself a copy of the issue and read this entertaining and thought provoking piece in full, rather than lambasting it unseen. If you would like to comment further than do send us a submission for our letters page at hhletters@ipcmedia.com

Regards, Lucy Higginson
 
HHO admin said:
Dear forum members

The article in question appears in the 17 May issue and is not available to read online. It is part of an excellent magazine that features brilliant photographs and reports from The Queen's Diamond Jubilee pageant, Royal Windsor Horse Show, a fascinating vet piece on new ways to treat joint problems, and this feature that so many of you are commenting on, despite most not having read it.

If you had read it I am sure that you would agree that the feature is full of sound advice from experts who see far too many horses swaddled in excessive rugs in warm weather and so on. It also advocates safe hacking, though queries (in one half of a sentence only) if there is a point at which high-viz kit becomes over the top. Clearly many of you disagree with this point, but it always good to encourage debate on these matters, which in turn helps educate more individuals.

For those of you who have not seen the magazine please do grab yourself a copy of the issue and read this entertaining and thought provoking piece in full, rather than lambasting it unseen. If you would like to comment further than do send us a submission for our letters page at hhletters@ipcmedia.com

Regards, Lucy Higginson
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I've read it. No one is debating the rest of the article (or the quality of the issue in it's entirety). The sentence in question clearly implies that there is such a thing as "too much hi viz" (which goes against all equestrian road safety advice) and that a vest alone is sufficient (the use of the word "prudent" also undermines the importance of wearing any hi viz at al).
A disappointing response and I'm sure there will be lots of submissions for the letter page.
 
My second, unhelpful, contribution to this thread is a complaint about the difficulty of acquiring mesh hi vis quarter sheets, especially in orange (since when you're wearing mesh, the rape is yellow and yellow is useless!).

It is somewhat relevant to points about horse comfort in summer - some round here do go out on hot days in full thickness sheets, which is fine if you're just going for a wander, but not at all appropriate for fast work.

Dry Rot said:
I'd suggest that anyone who can't see that hi-vis is a "good thing" when riding (and the more the better) probably lacks the commonsense to be on a horse at all, let alone on the public road!
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Unless they're round your way and bump into Foxy... Whilst carrying a clipboard? :D
 
AshTay said:
I've read it. No one is debating the rest of the article (or the quality of the issue in it's entirety). The sentence in question clearly implies that there is such a thing as "too much hi viz" (which goes against all equestrian road safety advice) and that a vest alone is sufficient (the use of the word "prudent" also undermines the importance of wearing any hi viz at al).
A disappointing response and I'm sure there will be lots of submissions for the letter page.
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agreed
 
I agree AshTay.

Also the Bertie Basset comment was quite derogatory and will not make it any easier to persuade reluctant teens to put safety over looks.

Re the comments about yellow Hi-viz and oil seed rape fields, I agree with that too. A combination of yellow/pink or yellow/orange helps you stand out against more backgrounds and is therefore better and safer than yellow alone.
 
Ashtay sums up my view perfectly.

Sorry, but the Bertie Bassett comment comes over as a rather superior sneer. Sad, the rest of the article is good.
 
I was incensed by that comment, can't have too much of a good thing, and ANYTHING that warns drivers that you're there is good. I'm not a nervous rider at all, but i'm terrified of a vehicle coming past me fast at just the moment a duck flies out of a drainage dyke beside me... anything to slow them down is great. I don't care if the driver thinks I'm a nervy numpty as long as they slow down and keep my horses safe.

The other comment that riled me in that article was ridiculing people who call their horses' feeds Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. Erm, what?! I'm not saying I'm giving them a fry up fgs, but Breakfast = morning feed, no? I don't think that makes me a numpty either!
Totally agree with all the crit of over-rugging though, it's better for a horse to be slightly on the chilly side (can run around to keep warm, or eat, or shiver even, all warming-up strategies) but an overheated horse in rugs cannot cool down... that is cruel.
 
Love the idea of a horse blushing with embarrassment!
99% sure horses don't get embarrassed or blush!
:D
So that just leaves the embarrassed rider and, well, if you think its 'not cool' wearing something that could save your life but you think makes you look silly you really need to take yourself less seriously and stop worrying what other people think. I believe most people achieve this before they reach adulthood.

P.s. while this post contains nothing of value I hope it helps boost this to most discussed topics. :D
 
Bit of a disappointing response there from h&h. Quite a lot of us had read the magazine and the article in question and have no problems with it apart from the "bertie Bassett" crack.

I don't wear tons of hi viz, a hat band, tabard and neck strap on normal days. But surely if it's not causing any harm only helping yourself and other road users, what could be the problem!
 
I also think that encouraging everyone to go out and buy the issue to read the article firsthand is in poor taste as it will only serve to boost sales and draw attention to the statement.

I would have liked to have seen a response along the lines of "Sorry, we can see how this may have been (mis?)interpreted and the implications and we regret this and this statement does not reflect the view of H+H. We will run an article in a coming issue to emphasise the importance of hi viz."

Just a suggestion :)
 
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