would you ride on well lit main roads in the dark?

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darkhorse123

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We are in leeds - couldnt ride because of fog all weekend and by time work is finished etc we cannot ride till after 4 or 5.
So - if we are all hi vizzed up, us and the horses and stick to well lit main roads - do you see a problem?
Im thinking police ride in dark - there will always be at least 2 of us - riders in hi viz and horses, only on well lit roads
 
Nope, no way. Value my horse too much and although I enjoy hacking, I wouldn't enjoy that because I'd be worrying about cars so much.
 
foxy1 said:
No definately not.
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blazingsaddles said:
I wouldn't. The roads are dangerous enough with good visibilty, let alone rush hour in the dark.
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Tr0uble said:
Nope, no way. Value my horse too much and although I enjoy hacking, I wouldn't enjoy that because I'd be worrying about cars so much.
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quirky said:
No, I wouldn't risk my horse in the dark.
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margerita11 said:
nope specially not in rush hour too dangerous!
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No way.I agree with above.IT IS MUCH TOO DANGEROUS.
 
Depending on the time and the particular road, I probably would, I have done for years, but I am picky on which roads as some I try not to use even in daylight.
 
ty all - we were discussing it at yard today and i was in 2 minds, hence why i asked - i know i can be a bit too safety concious sometimes - you have all made my mind up for me :)
 
sharon1959 said:
No way.I agree with above.IT IS MUCH TOO DANGEROUS.
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ditto all the above...never worth it..everyone too busy thinking about getting home..all the hi viz & lights in the world won't help if they are momentarily distracted by their phone..we all know it happens.also I know I wouldn't with mine as even tho they are good...headlights cast peculiar shadows which will only add to your driver watching..hindsight IS the marvellous thing it is cracked up to be and more..:)
 
marydoll said:
Pitch black ?? Your either nuts or know the tracks like the back of your hand.:D
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Well, many people at the yard think I'm nuts! But at the moment, with the hours I'm working, I've got no other way of getting her out, and she's stabled 24/7 through the winter. We know each other very well though, so I trust her - even though she has been a moo bag this week....! I always take a dog (or a couple of hounds!) with me too :D

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Absolutely not! It can be difficult to judge to the inch when drivers coming the other way with lights. And as a driver I would rather concentrate on traffic and not a horse who may sidestep at anything.
 
I do. My horse has arthritis and needs to be ridden daily so we do roads and bridlepaths in the dark after work- horse can see in the dark, even if I can't. I go out lit up like a Christmas tree - polite jacket on, fluro/reflective trousers, flashing hatband/armbands/leg lights on me. Horse wears polite exercise sheet with red flashing tail light, reflective necklace and reflective boots. We go on the side of the road and there is a grass verge and a pavement on the other side of us so we have room to move away from traffic if we need more space. Drivers in our area are pretty good - although I haven't seen a single other horse on the roads when driving around, you get an awful lot of cyclists, most of whom don't wear lights or even fluorescents so I think drivers are used to looking out for hazards.
 
I ride on bridlepaths and farm tracks with flashing led lights and high viz, don't often go out in the dark but we get caught out from time to time.

One ride takes us across a residential private road for about 100 yards but it is very well lit, has a 20 mph limit and speedbumps and we can see a long way ahead
 
I used to regularly ride in the dark with a friend when I was in a more urban area, well lit roads, with pavements to step onto if we needed to. Fully kitted out in hi-viz with lights, we waited until 6.30, so traffic easing, and we did the same route every time so that regular drivers of the route would sub-consciously expect to see us!
Now I'm in a more rural area with no street lights and no pavements I wouldn't do it.
 
I do it regularly in the winter and have never had any problems. Like so many others have said it depends where you are, I am in an area where there are lots of street lights and we stay of busy roads and we have a lot of lights and hi viz and I would never go out on my own. I have an arthritic horse who needs regular riding and cant cope with too much schooling so it is the best way to keep him fit in the winter.
 
Yup i do. I work full time and so riding in the day just doesnt happen. But i obviously put my horses safety above all else in the matter.

My horse wears a lot of reflectives and lights. and i mean a lot :D

He has an exercise sheet with red battery powered superbright led fairy lights sewn onto the back of it.
A tail wrap with a large reflective strip down the whole thing with two red led bike lights attached to it.
Four leg wraps with smaller red superbright led bike lights attached to the back boots and white superbright led bike lights attached to the front boots (i made them all myself lol)
A reflective breastplate with White led battery powered fairy lights sewn on it.
A reflective Bridle kit
A Headtorch attached to the top of his bridle so the light shines between his ears :p
I also wear a hat band, a coat with reflective piping, and a headtorch which clips onto the peak of my riding hat.

Better safe than sorry!

I knew i was highly visible the first time i set out when four people in one night commented on his gear. Two ladies walking their dog said how wonderful it was that i was so bright (they gave me a ten out of ten rofl) a guy slowed down his car laughing and said that he wondered what on earth was coming down the road but it sure made him slow down! and when i asked if he could see me from a distance, he replied that he sure could as he saw me as soon as he turned onto the road which made him slow right down and then he knew what i was when the headlights illuminated the reflectives he was wearing. But when another guy said that the lights were so bright they hurt his eyes when he looked at them too long, i knew i didnt have much to worry about visibility wise! :D

Iv had lots of very positive comments since including a little girl asking me if i was dressing him up as an xmas tree lol

So my advise is that you can never have enough lights! Better to overdo it like me i reckon! All of my lights i put on existing stuff myself, which hardly cost me a thing and didnt take long to do either. And as everything is attached to everything id usually wear in the day anyway, the only reason it takes a few mins longer is pressing the buttons to turn it all on.
 
I have to agree with the last post, I used to do it a lot, due to work and the fact that we live in a very urban area. I think if you trust your horse, are well lit up and the drivers in your area are used to the fact that there may be horse on the road you should be ok. Our horse was stabled 24/7 in the winter and we couldn't always get in the menage, because everybody else wanted to, so it was a case of ride on the roads or lead her round the yard (which could be more dangerous sometimes!)
 
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