why do they do it? (hi vis)

brighteyes said:
I think, like riding hats, it ought to be made compulsory. The horse and in some (though not all) cases the drivers are the innocents in these tragedies.
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Are you saying riding hats OUGHT to be made compulsory? Or that it IS compulsory to wear them? Because there is no law that says adult riders have to wear hats, you just have to hope common sense prevails!
 
pastie2 said:
Well good for you, take the lemons out of your mouths. I dont and never have ridden out with Hi Vis. I have ridden out for years and never had any problems, possibly because I have always had total control, also years ago there was no such thing as Hi Vis. I ride horses on the road, all be it in rural England, I have come across riders smothered in Hi Vis, they never thank drivers who slow down, O no they have Hi Vis on so they are immune to even thanking drivers who slow down. We used to come back from hunting in the dusk hours in hunting clothes, nobody to my knowledge was ever run down, it was just common sense!. No doubt you will all have a lot to say about that. Feel free.
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Not going to waste my time, your to clever for me.........
 
Kate , I live in the middle of nowhere, so easy for me to say, I also have my dogs with me. I move into the middle of the road and glare at them, always works! I have been known to hit their car roofs with a stick.
 
just to upset things even more, although i cant ride now i never used to wear a hat( bar out hunting) always a headscarf!! ( i know- great protection!)so, that stuffs the Hi Vis!!
 
I haven't got any hi viz for chad but do have flashing stirrup lights that are on even in the sun, a high viz band for my hat and a rather fetching high viz polo shirt that I get off the market at £5 a go!

Better safe than sorry.
 
It's not my horse I don't trust it's the drivers. Hi viz makes me and my horse more visible.

And I also always go out with a schooling whip, specifically to hit the roofs of cars if they come too close.
 
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pastie2 said:
Kate , I live in the middle of nowhere, so easy for me to say, I also have my dogs with me. I move into the middle of the road and glare at them, always works! I have been known to hit their car roofs with a stick.
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Ha Pastie, i clobbered the range rover roof of Lord St.Aldwyns farm manager after he drove past me, leading 2 polo ponies, at the rate of knots. he told me hed report me to my boss, carry on i said, when i got back to the yard boss had been rung, Lordys manager had beengiven a good *******ing by boss!! gotta be hard on these road hogs----- this WAS in 1974!!
 
rosiefronfelen said:
Ha Pastie, i clobbered the range rover roof of Lord St.Aldwyns farm manager after he drove past me, leading 2 polo ponies, at the rate of knots. he told me hed report me to my boss, carry on i said, when i got back to the yard boss had been rung, Lordys manager had beengiven a good *******ing by boss!! gotta be hard on these road hogs----- this WAS in 1974!!
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Rosie, I just love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
pastie2 said:
Kate , I live in the middle of nowhere, so easy for me to say, I also have my dogs with me. I move into the middle of the road and glare at them, always works! I have been known to hit their car roofs with a stick.
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Done this myself a couple of times. Mainly when some ****** in a landrover with a trailer on the back thought he could carry on doing 60 odd down the back road we were on and just swerve round us instead of stopping, when my horse was having a temper tantrum in the middle of the road. After my friend going into the middle of the road with her hand firmly asking the car to stop...the road was completely straight and the car a good field and a half away and in broad view.
Missed my horses hocks by mm's and just skimmed the hairs. The words that guy was being called, his ears should have felt like acid! I lost my whip lobbing it after him. [Frigging missed too!]

I know there's a small minority of rude riders not being polite by thanking the polite drivers, etc...but the trouble is the rogue drivers which put us all in danger, hi-vis or not, if they're going to drive like maniacs [this is excluding freak accidents of driver driiving legally and safely and the rider just not being seen]...the problem lies there not with rider gear I think.
 
Binky01 said:
Done this myself a couple of times. Mainly when some ****** in a landrover with a trailer on the back thought he could carry on doing 60 odd down the back road we were on and just swerve round us instead of stopping, when my horse was having a temper tantrum in the middle of the road. After my friend going into the middle of the road with her hand firmly asking the car to stop...the road was completely straight and the car a good field and a half away and in broad view.
Missed my horses hocks by mm's and just skimmed the hairs. The words that guy was being called, his ears should have felt like acid! I lost my whip lobbing it after him. [Frigging missed too!]

I know there's a small minority of rude riders not being polite by thanking the polite drivers, etc...but the trouble is the rogue drivers which put us all in danger, hi-vis or not, if they're going to drive like maniacs [this is excluding freak accidents of driver driiving legally and safely and the rider just not being seen]...the problem lies there not with rider gear I think.
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QUITE Binky, you could be dressed up to the nines in Hi Viz, its about attitude.
 
ah but the boy racers we get are actually excellent at passing....... as long as they see you in time. turn off their 'music' and everything....

but they have to see you first.
 
ester said:
ah but the boy racers we get are actually excellent at passing....... as long as they see you in time. turn off their 'music' and everything....

but they have to see you first.
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Agreed....that's what I meant though. A lot of the road rider accidents nowadays aren't from lack of Hi-Vis, but from pure idiotic ignorant drivers speeding.
Hi-Viz or not....if you're driving on country lanes you should be alert for horses, it's just common sense really.
 
yup and every second can count

actually have to say the worse times are when there is an accident on the M5, which backs up the A road, which means people use the back roads who arent use to being on them (so dont expect horses) and are stressy because of the traffic. We normally stay at home then ;)
 
What also bugs me is two abreast on narrow lanes. I remember this winter I was driving back and it was getting dark and this girl had obv been caught short as she was still riding and pony v upset. I pulled over and asked if she wanted me to follow her back to her yard in my car, she said no she was fine so I eneded up giving her a hi vis from my car. I did get it back though. I ride out min a hi vis vest and I normally but bands on horse. This winter my hrose coat met its end so I just bought a hi vis bomber jacket from Screwfix, best £15 I have spent.
 
*wanders back on onto forum, cleaning teeth* ('Scuse the peppermint spit*)

I agree Binky, but round here we also (sadly) seem to have lots of new riders who don't register anything around them, let alone a driver being polite and if I slow down in my car, and wave as I drive slowly past, they look at me like I'm pig sh!t.... (no offence to pigs here - you taste lovely)

*wanders off forum to bed, mumbling as per usual, clutching a bacon buttie....*
 
I always wear Hi-Viz, minimum of hat band and tabbard on me and leg bands on the mare. My mare is traffic proof, but that does not make her magically visible! We currently have a friends pony mare as a lodger and her boys are learning to ride on this excellently well mannered and bomb proof pony. I was very pleased last weekend, the 7 year old boy was being led on his pony, met local ******* (insert your own word here :p ) man on flashy warm blood, no hat, no Hi-Viz, man greeted little boy, who replied very sternly, 'why aren't you wearing your hat and your flourescents?' Out of the mouths of babes.........
 
I have a bright orange builders waistcoat. Its not fashionable but I can be seen for miles. I prefer to see the orange and yellow hi viz than the pink. Pink does not stand out until you are ontop of the horse. Infact I don't really call the pink hi viz as its not
 
It has been suggested that pink and/or orange is better on greys or other pale colours because the contrast is greater, from what I have seen this does seem to be a bit the case.
 
I can't really even say what I think about the smugness of some people who don't wear hiviz. I assume you don't need seat belts cause you are such wonderful, capable drivers too... sadly thats not the way the world works really. All the flair in the world wont help you if a car is coming at you at 60mph and it hasnt seen you. But hey ho, live and let die eh.
 
From a legal perspective I think employers who allow their staff to ride out without hats and/or hi viz could be on very dodgy ground if an accident occurs.

I can just imagine the HSE coming in to investigate
"and why wasn't your employee wearing suitable head protection and hi-viz?"
"Oh because they are a really good rider and have control of their horse"

It'd be like an investigation in a factory
"and why wasn't your circular saw guarded when your employee chopped their fingers off?"
"Oh because they are a really good machinist and know how the saw works"

Just wouldn't cut it.

Cue H&S prosecutions, civil negligence claims, and skyrocketting insurance..........................
 
I always used hi viz hat band, belt thingy and leg bands for me and leg bands and browbands for the ponies. 2 road coloured ponies (dark grey/ black) made for poor viz. I did ride bareback though, naughty me.

I don't like tabbards cos I get too hot really easily but the over one shoulder and round the waist harness/belt things I really liked. My mate has one with lights on to go with her stirrup lights for dark winter evenings.
 
I agree I always were a high vis tabbard, even if I'm not doing any road work. I nearly always ride out on my own and it would be so much easier to find me if something awful happened. I've heard stories of this before where people have been badly injured and only been spotted because they were in High Vis.
 
Kitsune said:
I can't really even say what I think about the smugness of some people who don't wear hiviz.
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It is quite bizarre! :confused: Why would you think it so clever not to do everything possibly to protect your horse, yourself, and other road users?! :mad:
 
Anyone in employment with duties which include rideinga horse out should be provided with Hi-Viz to the correct PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) level by their employer. If they where involved in an accident and it was found that they had not been provided with Hi-Viz then this could result in the Health and Safety Executive taking action against the employer.

Also anyone allowing someone else to ride their horse out would be well advised again to provide them with complient Hi-Viz and ensure that they are wearing it corectly.
 
I'm a pragmatist - I believe in living in the world as it is, rather than constantly going on about how it ought to be and refusing to adapt. The roads as they are make it necessary to take precautions to keep horse, rider and drivers safe, therefore I wear high viz.

IME those who do not are almost all people who can't adapt to change and spend all their time whining uselessly about it and harking back to the past with rose-tinted specs on rather than getting on with life! Or they are stupid teenagers (who are universal).
 
I always wear high viz now, as well as take my phone with me, and quite often wear my BP as well. It's habbit and feels completely normal. In fact I'd feel as though I'd forgotten to put my pants on if I rode out without my high viz on the roads! LOL

When I was a teenager (about 25 odd yrs ago) high viz hadn't been invented and no one had a mobile. I think I also had a very attractive beagler type hat which I used to wear without its chinstrap!
My god I am lucky to be alive! :o

Alas, times have changed. I suppose riders safety has caught up with car technology and the increase in traffic, so for me, wearing high viz or not, isn't an option. It would be lovely to live in the idyllic past but the roads are busier than ever before so the risk of collision is far greater than it's ever been in history.
 
pastie2 said:
Well good for you, take the lemons out of your mouths. I dont and never have ridden out with Hi Vis. I have ridden out for years and never had any problems, possibly because I have always had total control, also years ago there was no such thing as Hi Vis. I ride horses on the road, all be it in rural England, I have come across riders smothered in Hi Vis, they never thank drivers who slow down, O no they have Hi Vis on so they are immune to even thanking drivers who slow down. We used to come back from hunting in the dusk hours in hunting clothes, nobody to my knowledge was ever run down, it was just common sense!. No doubt you will all have a lot to say about that. Feel free.
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I can be polite to drivers, control my horse and wear hi-viz all at the same time - they aren't mutually exclusive.
As I driver I am aware how much easier it is to see someone in hi-viz so I wear it when I ride - that's my idea of common sense.
 
Coming home from the stables just now we passed three horses (seperate not together) all bays with riders wearing dark clothing. In this light it was really hard to spot, plain ignorant in my honest opinion.

One of the riders was wearing a bikini top and tiny denim shorts whilst riding along the A420 (Bristol-Chippenham road, which is v.busy at this time today) but I guess you could say her wotsit style fake tan made up for the lack of hi viz ;)
 
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