as to my suggestion of using light on night rides I want to make
something clear.
- I don't recomment using the light on a competition because it disturbs
  other riders. But how often do you ride in competition and how often
  for training ? I simply got bored by riding every day in the dark.
- When you are out on the fields and have some moonlight there is no
  need to put the light on. I really love to ride like that when we
  have full moon and nice weather.
  Unfortunately we have a lot of cloudy/rainy weather around here.
- I tried it first with a small hand flashlight. These lamps are good to
  check something on your equipment but they are nothing to enhance
  your vision on a ride. You only see a small bright spot on the ground
  and all the rest is dark. You surely have a better vision if you switch
  it off. That's why I'm using a 50 Watt halogen lamp now. I use one with
  a wide opening. This way it illuminates about everything not only in the
  front of your horse but also to the left and right. This way it's a real
  pleasure to use light.
>I had a friend that was overly dependent on a flashlight, and one night
>dropped and broke the thing and was afraid to move. She had no clue how
>to navagate in the dark and couldn't trust her instincts - or her horses!
Well I'm not dependent on the light. I can navigate without but as I like
to ride in the forest, I got bored to always hold a hand in front as to
avoid all the low branches on the small paths. Furthermore, on the small
paths that wind through the trees, the horse surely navigates between the
trunks but it often takes no account for your legs :-(
Roger
  \-'\\
  |/\ \\---==     Roger Kurrat  <kurrat@surface.mat.ethz.ch>
   _(,___( ) \\   Oberflaechentechnik
  ( /    /\\ ||   Sonneggstr.5  NO-H55.1
   /    /  |      ETH Zuerich - SWITZERLAND
________________________________________________________________