How do you ride if you can't get to the yard until about 4ish?

[HorseManiac]

So all you full time workers... or like me, in your final year of college, full time education... how on earth do you ride in the evening without a floodlit school nearby? Do you hack out with head to toe in Hi Viz? Do you use headtorches?!

Percy will need to be kept fit as he will be competing most weekends!

Ideas please!

A

[xloopylozzax]

roadwork in a wrap around hi-viz sheet and flashy stuff on blackie and me with brightest stuff i can find.

needs must :)

[newforest]

At the moment it is still light enough to go round the block, i always wear hi viz anyway so wouldn't need to add to it. By law we should also have a light if the cars have switched on, but who does i wouldn't know;)

You could start looking for a sharer or friend etc to help keep fit.

[HorseManiac]

roadwork in a wrap around hi-viz sheet and flashy stuff on blackie and me with brightest stuff i can find.

needs must :)

ooo where can i find 'flashy stuff'?

[Sexy Sietske]

Horses are actually really good at seeing in the dark, with a bit of practice you could easily still see in the school to do basic schooling or even just do ground work in the week would be better than nothing.

I would hack out but would be on fluoro horse :cool: and only on quiet well lit roads which are regularly used by horse riders, just a couple of laps around a housing estate :p

[xloopylozzax]

mine are from equisafety- blackies got a flashing band on her tail (its pink with red lights, either just on or flashes its great) and im hankering after the tabard thing with LEDs in.

[Matchbox Milo]

i too also wonder this.. i don't finish work until six sometimes!

[*GroovyGallop*]

Ride in the mornings before work and college :)

I'm going to do this as the nights draw in even though i have a floodlit school, i wont be motivated to do it after college when its cold.... and dark...::p

[HorseManiac]

At the moment it is still light enough to go round the block, i always wear hi viz anyway so wouldn't need to add to it. By law we should also have a light if the cars have switched on, but who does i wouldn't know;)

You could start looking for a sharer or friend etc to help keep fit.

Yes thinking about finding someone to ride him during the week!

Thanks LL... will have a look!

[Hullabaloo]

I ride or lunge before work in winter. I'm lucky though as I work flexi-time.

[amandal]

I'm going to be getting up early and exercising before work, hoping YO's don't really mind me arriving an hour before I'm meant to ;)

[xloopylozzax]

its still dark on a morning though...

[acw295]

I don't get to yard until well after 6pm, usually 6.30. Tonight I managed a 40 min hack in trot before the light went. Not many more weeks of that sadly.

In winter I always ride 4 times, 2 long hacks at the weekend and 2 schooling sessions in school during the week. If I am having a good week will squeeze in some hacking at first light in the morning and some jumping.

It is a struggle but it is enough to keep Molly reasonably fit until the Spring :)

[Daffy Dilly]

You can't unfortunately.

You can prolong the inevitable by decking out in as much hi viz as you can get your hands on, and using car headlights to light the school if you have that sort of set up, and try working him in the morning instead.

I absolutely do not condone skipping lectures or taking extended lunches so you can ride in daylight *cough cough* :o

I've actually done quite well with my timetable this time around. Whilst not having a day off sucks, I have 5 half days meaning I'll get daylight at the yard each day if I time my workload right, so as well as spending time with Daffy I'm hopefully going to be riding for other people.

[rtk]

In the dark ages, before I had floodlit schools to ride in I used to ride very early in the morning rather than at night.

The only traffic I used to see were milkmen and the odd lorry which had parked overnight in the town.

I found is much safer than the evenings which were much busier. But then I have always found getting up at 5am easy :D:D

[alwaysfallingof]

If I'm schooling in winter, I usually ride in the dark. You get used to it and Max seems to be able to see where he's going. It's also better IMO to ride in the complete dark than it is to ride in bad lighting.

If you're hacking out on the roads in the dark you MUST wear flashing lights as well as your normal hi-vis. We've got a flashing vest, and 2 sets of lights that I attach to my right arm and right leg.

[FayeObs]

I ride out! Though Selina wasnt in work last winter, so i'll be out this winter in Hi Viz all the way :) x

[Che's]

You can lunge in the dark - as long as you are sure the area is free of obstacles. You can school in half light becuase horses see better in the dark than we do. But persoanlly I wouldn't jump in anything less than full light.

High Viz hacking is OK - but as the eveings draw in and commuters are just thinking about getting home I worry that the standard of driving gets worse. So that isn't my favoured option.

Club together with others at your yard and get floodlights?

[jazzy's girl]

We regularly ride round in the dark. Flashing tabbards, flashing bands on right arm and leg, flasing bands on both right legs of horse, reflective band on hat, reflective exercise sheet on horses.
We frightened the life out of a friends OH the first time we rode through the village like that - he thought a couple of aliens had landed:). He saw the lights from about 1/2 mile away and obviously couldn't see the horses, so they looked as if they were mid air.:D
There is only one stretch of lit road in the village, the other roads are unlit. We have never had any problems with cars seeing us and slowing down. On a clear moonlit night we tend to go a bit further - off the road. It is a lovely ride and you see all sorts of wildlife:cool: