Re: RC: How safe is night riding?

["Tina Hicks" <tina@liveonthenet.com>]

I've not heard of stumbling, tripping, terraing being the problem with
riding at nite - what the real problem I found is not being able to see
branches before they whack you in the face and facing down scary creatures
like wild turkeys :)

Horses have been running around at nite for a long time - don't worry about
their vision.

I've only ridden at nite for any distance on the 100 I did - I was in the
dark for the last 30 miles - by the time we got to the last 10 miles we were
cantering with reins flopping - after riding that long in the dark I had
gotten pretty brave :)

The first few miles were weird - I had never ridden in the dark - yes, you
should always wait till a ride to try things like this out <eg> - had never
used glow sticks, the whole bit.

After we got over all that it was really a cool feeling to be
trotting/cantering along on your horse when you couldn't see your hand in
front of your face.

Tina
N. AL
tina@liveonthenet.com


-----Original Message-----
From: Dbeverly4@aol.com <Dbeverly4@aol.com>
To: Yenbad@aol.com <Yenbad@aol.com>
Cc: ridecamp@endurance.net <ridecamp@endurance.net>
Date: Saturday, November 27, 1999 8:45 PM
Subject: RC: Re: CTR: How safe is night riding?


>In a message dated 11/27/99 1:42:09 PM Pacific Standard Time,
Yenbad@aol.com
>writes:
>
><<   My only
> concern is since it is really pretty dark, will my horse trip on a rock or
> step in a hole & fall. I wouldn't want to be walking on foot in the dark
on
> the trails. In some ways it seems like it would be fun & exciting & other
> ways, very scary!   I was wondering how many other folks ride in the dark.
>>>
>
>Horses can see fairly well in the dark.  My personal experience has been
that
>if you let them be and  trust them (don't use a flashlight), they do great.
>There are long (sometimes too long) parts of the Tevis trail that are done
in
>complete darkness -- before the moon comes up you can't see a dang thing.
I
>just grab a hunk of mane, stand up in the stirrups and have the roller
>coaster ride of my life (its a blast as long as you don't get behind
somebody
>who's lost their nerve).  Only problem with riding in the dark that I've
ever
>had is motion sickness (try riding with you eyes closed for a while to see
>how icky that can be).  As far as the horse goes -- no problemo -- have
fun!!
>
>Sylvia (Oh yeah, make sure that you KNOW there won't be rider height
>obstacles -- like tree limbs -- across the trail.  Most horses don't watch
>for those.  And, I have the helmet to prove it!)
>
>
>
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Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.    
Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/RideCamp   
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=