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

Nah, those pictures are brilliant!

As said earlier, you won't get in trouble for using BB will you? He will have some sort of copyright issues to be careful of. :(
 
horserider said:
I was very distressed by the comments last night having been driving down that road at the time of the accident. This is a public forum, stop and think before you post. It's not the time to score points for this topic, quite frankly Hi viz wouldn't have made a difference. The real issue in the area is the lack of bridlepaths and the speed of traffic.

Having recently moved to a near by village, I scoured the area for decent livery near bridlepaths. There is none. Riders in the Newcastle Under Lyme and Cheshire border ride on roads daily, that in 45 years of riding I would never have previously put a hoof on.
The choice is riding on A roads or winding narrow country lanes or nothing at all. There is not one single bridlepath within a 5+ mile radius of my yard.
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Plesae read the thread, there has been an apology.
 
There is Bateswood bridlepath but local people and dog walkers are always complaining about a horse riders because a small minority keep going off the path, therefore spoiling it for the rest.
 
We all say things we shouldn't in tim heat of the moment, especially when caught up in a good cause. An apology has been made and I would think it's probably too late now to edit the comments from last night.

A very sad and tragic accident. Rip poor horse. :'( x
 
horserider said:
I was very distressed by the comments last night having been driving down that road at the time of the accident. This is a public forum, stop and think before you post. It's not the time to score points for this topic, quite frankly Hi viz wouldn't have made a difference. The real issue in the area is the lack of bridlepaths and the speed of traffic.

Having recently moved to a near by village, I scoured the area for decent livery near bridlepaths. There is none. Riders in the Newcastle Under Lyme and Cheshire border ride on roads daily, that in 45 years of riding I would never have previously put a hoof on.
The choice is riding on A roads or winding narrow country lanes or nothing at all. There is not one single bridlepath within a 5+ mile radius of my yard.
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im sorry if my comment on the matter offended anyone too.

i made the post not to score points but to raise the issue that it is vital to be seen on the roads. its a tragedy, but i have my right to voice an opinion on this emotive subject. i want to make it clear, i was not condemning and have not condemned her, my thoughts and condolences go out to all the people concerned.

the fact that if hi viz was worn or not will never truly be known. yes the horse spooked to the side. but would the driver had more time to slow down if the girls had been more visible? was speed an issue in this? if so, would he have slowed right down had he have seen them earlier. unfortunately we will know only when the report is released.....

and everyone commenting, including both me and you, is doing so on just ones speculation. im local and ride these roads almost daily. so it was pertinent to the thread in my opinion.

I for one would much rather give the driver that extra 3 seconds! and the fact that most insurance companies are now looking into whether the rider was wearing hi viz or not a factor as to whether they pay out.

like i have said before, ive been on the business end of a horse involved in a RTA. i had to kneel on the horses head to stop her from trying to get up. her chest cavity was ripped open, her jaw had been ripped off and her leg was broken totally in half at the cannon bone. i comforted that horse for 15 mins before she finally passed away. it was one of the worst days of my life and she was in terrible pain. the horse was not in any hi viz as it had escaped from a field. which no one can help

once more, my apologies for any distress i have caused to parties involved.
 
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Black_Horse_White said:
There is Bateswood bridlepath but local people and dog walkers are always complaining about a horse riders because a small minority keep going off the path, therefore spoiling it for the rest.
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tell me about it! sometimes we are a threat to ourselves!

keeping fingers crossed that they do open the circular route to us.... as of yet ive not heard anything.
 
amymay said:
Sorry, I meant do you yourself know the road, is it one you drive or ride down?
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yes, ive ridden down it many times, especially when i was younger and we had access to a place called apedale woods from that road. but apedale has been closed off from there and we have been refused access to it from that end of the villages, so riders are forced to ride on the roads.

i sometimes drive the road too. its fast, even though the hill is supposed to be a 30MPH zone.... not many people keep to the speed.
 
Love the pictures Nah. Do Bassetts make the fruit salad chew sweets? If so - better to look like a fruit salad than be a vegetable.

Going back to the article, it seems to me that part of the problem is that it's really three articles in one (and I think that people's reactions to it varies according to what type of article they perceived it to be):

A- Article on horsemanship and in particular modern horsemanship problems - what are all these rugs/gadgets for and do I need them, are modern ffeds better than traditional, how do I improve my horse's performance

B- Article on human/horse relationships - do people let their horses be horses, how can people improve their relationships with their horses, is it 'fair' to keep horses under certain conditions

C- Humour

Hacking and road safety would certainly be a reasonable part of article A and probably article B; and I doubt a serious article on either would have advised wearing little or no hi-vis. The Bertie Bassett jibe might be a reasonable part of article C - something along the lines of the stable stereotypes series. Ok it would have upset some people but it wouldn't have been taken seriously.

All that said the impact actually seems to have been generally positive if it gets people thinking/talking about horse safety on roads. Paradoxically it also looks like increasing hi-vis use judging by the number of people on here who've bought more of the stuff
 
Thoughts go out to the 3 girls and the poor horse :( whilst in this case hi viz may not have prevented the accident, I would hate to be not wearing hi viz and be left in the aftermath thinking 'what if'

Armchair rider: I fail to believe that the whole point of the crass patronising snobbish and totally irresponsible statement was to incite a debate and encourage the use of basic safety attire. If the intention was this the section on hi viz should have been written entirely differently. I am appauled that h&h have behaved this way, I sincerely hope that they realise the seriousness and potential impact of their article. It is positive that on here it has sparked debate and resulted in people buying more hi viz and assesing their safety for the better, but this is an unforeseen byproduct of the article, the opposite could have happened and in light of the article would have been more likely.
 
i know the owner of the horse very well, she was not a child herself, she is mid 20's now. none of the riders were hurt as far as i am aware

she told me that the pick up truck with a rattling garden trailer on the back was going too fast and it struck the hind leg of the mare and sliced it open.

The mare had to be PTS at the roadside :(

RIP Ruby
 
Queenbee said:
Thoughts go out to the 3 girls and the poor horse :( whilst in this case hi viz may not have prevented the accident, I would hate to be not wearing hi viz and be left in the aftermath thinking 'what if'

Armchair rider: I fail to believe that the whole point of the crass patronising snobbish and totally irresponsible statement was to incite a debate and encourage the use of basic safety attire. If the intention was this the section on hi viz should have been written entirely differently. I am appauled that h&h have behaved this way, I sincerely hope that they realise the seriousness and potential impact of their article. It is positive that on here it has sparked debate and resulted in people buying more hi viz and assesing their safety for the better, but this is an unforeseen byproduct of the article, the opposite could have happened and in light of the article would have been more likely.
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+1.
I think people have gone out and bought hi viz from the points raised by forum members, not from the article stating wearing too much hi viz looks stupid.

It has certainly sparked people's anger and I don't believe for a moment that that was the purpose of the article, it was very bad journalism if that was the case and it should have highlighted their views on safety for readers awareness.
 
Just to be clear, I also do not believe that the article was designed to encourage Hi-vis wearing (and if H&H should come out and say that was the aim I won't believe them).
 
Exactly cc, but again responsible journalism is lacking, far better ways to write an article and provoke debate, it should have been obvious that it was an inappropriate statement that could do damage :(
 
lyndsayberesford said:
i know the owner of the horse very well, she was not a child herself, she is mid 20's now. none of the riders were hurt as far as i am aware

she told me that the pick up truck with a rattling garden trailer on the back was going too fast and it struck the hind leg of the mare and sliced it open.

The mare had to be PTS at the roadside :(

RIP Ruby
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I'm glad there's someone that knows the poor people and horses involved. I'm so pleased that none of the people were hurt, but how awful to lose one of the horses in such a way :( Send my condolences to your friend.
 
lyndsayberesford said:
i know the owner of the horse very well, she was not a child herself, she is mid 20's now. none of the riders were hurt as far as i am aware

she told me that the pick up truck with a rattling garden trailer on the back was going too fast and it struck the hind leg of the mare and sliced it open.

The mare had to be PTS at the roadside :(

RIP Ruby
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Glad all the riders were OK Lyndsay.

It was a pick up truck with a rattling load that knackered our driving pony. I just don't know what we can do about getting them to be more careful round horses, they need to pass horses the way tractors do, but hi-viz certainly isn't enough to solve that problem. :(

RIP Ruby
 
RIP Ruby, no-one will ever know if the wearng of hi-viz would have made any difference, but maybe, just maybe your very sad death will make just 1 more horseowner buy hi-viz and help safe a life, albeit horse or human.
 
Justforfun the accident sadly would have happened with or without hiviz that is no comfort to the poor poor person who has lost her horse.
 
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