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What to do with my phone while taking lesson?

8K views 55 replies 43 participants last post by  CJ82Sky 
#1 ·
This is kind of a random question, but I have recently started taking lessons again after not having them since I was a lot younger. I am wondering what I should do with my phone wile riding (as I do not want it in my pocket because I'm worried about it getting in the way or being damaged should I fall). So far, I have just been leaving it in the car, but with summer coming I'm concerned about the heat. Any ideas? What do you do? Thanks in advance! :D
 
#2 ·
Depending on your trainer you can ask him/her to hold it. I have my trainer hold mine because there's only like 3 people in my lesson (so a ton of people won't be asking for her to hold phones) and we're very close (known her for year and years)
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#7 ·
Thanks guys! Those are some great ideas, but unfortunately this isn't a barn where each horse has their own stall or tack trunk. I guess the best thing to do might be just to ask her if there is a good post to leave my phone (unless anyone has any other ideas). It's not really that big of a deal, it just seems weird to say "where can I put my phone?" lol:lol:
 
#10 ·
The horses at my barn don't have their own stalls either. I just pick a stall and hang it there. At the barn I used to work at I'd leave my phone on a shelf in the feed room. Sometimes I would leave it in the brush box. I would just go ahead and ask your instructor where a good place to put it is. I'm sure it won't be the first time someone has asked!
 
#11 ·
That's what I do too.

Oh wait... :cry:

In all seriousness, I put my phone in a grooming kit left where I tacked up and where I will untack. Every student SHOULD have their own grooming kit instead of using what the barn offers, so to the OP... consider buying one and just keep the phone there. Probably safer than laying it in some random spot outside or in the ring where it could get knocked over or "misplaced".
 
#9 ·
Do you have a purse or bag of any sort that you take with you to lessons? If so, I would put it in there and either hang it on a hook that you won't run off and forget about or lay it on the ground somewhere out of the way where it won't get stepped on.

If you don't have a bag, it might be a good idea to get one, that way you can carry your phone, a bottle of water, and maybe a snack (or treats for your horse :wink:).
 
#15 · (Edited)
Before I had a locker at the barn, I used to leave my phone in my shoe in the tack room and made sure it was as far in the toe as it could be and I would put it on silent. Or I would just bury it under the brushes of the groom kit I used.

Also make sure you have a password on it just in case.

If your car is your only place to put it.. I would think it would be fine if you left the window down a bit and/or put it somewhere shady... like your glove department, under your seat or in the trunk, or if you'd park in a shady spot. I mean you are probably only at the barn for maximum 3 hours. My phone gets pretty hot when I carry it in my jean pocket on a hot day, so a ventilated shady car could work I think!
 
#17 ·
I bought a phone holder for my arm (the type runners use) or ask my trainer to hold it. I get private training, though.

If you wear a belt of any sort, you can get a case to put on your belt. I specifically bought a belt when I was riding years ago for just that purpose.
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#20 ·
Fanny pack (super attractive, I know) if I'm riding alone or hitting the trail with friends. I prefer this to a phone holder as it leaves a little room for other things like sugar cubes, pocket knife, etc.

If someone else is around I leave it in my grooming bag.

If I forget the fanny bag, sometimes I just shove the phone down into the top of my tall boots (R calf is a little smaller than the L, so I've got a bit of extra room in that boot).
 
#21 ·
Dang, I would have been kicked out of every barn I've been to 10 years ago if folks were actually so strict about using grooming supplies between horses. If a trainer told me that I needed to have my own grooming kit to take lessons then that would have been even more of an undertaking considering that I already had to invest in breeches, boots, half chaps, and a helmet for weekly lessons. I've NEVER had an issue using brushes between horses, though I keep my brushes clean and would never use them on a horse with signs of some sort of ailment.

Back to the original issue, finding a place to put your phone shouldn't be too big of a problem. I usually either leave mine on the side of the arena, or in my tack locker if I'll be in the pasture. I trust the barns where I've been, so I'd also leave it sitting right on the central counter in the barn. Putting it in a bag sitting next to your trainer is an option if she's not willing to hold it. They even make phone holders that strap around your leg to hold the device, and they don't interfere with your riding.
 
#24 ·
We have like 20 school horses and none of them have their own individual set of brushes. I have my own set of brushes that i use on every horse i ride. I can ride up to 10 completely different horses a week, sometimes I just put a tune up on a new horse, sometimes i get a horse in just or a month, etc etc and I use that same set of brushes on all of them. They get cleaned periodically but not as often as they should. I've been riding professionally (ie: multiple horses a day, new horses in all the time, etc) for over 10 years and I have never EVER had a case of ringworm or an infectious skin disease in the barn. They all have sleek shiny healthy coats. I'm not saying it can't (or won't) happen but I'm kind of surprised this is such a cause of alarm for certain barns as it doesn't seem (IME) to be that common. Don't get me wrong, we're pretty anal about disinfecting water buckets, especially ones that go to shows, scrubbing stalls, quarantining new horses, etc. but not about brushes and it's never been an issue. In fact... I've never seen it be an issue at any of the bigger show barns i've ridden in for the past 25 years and some of those barns were very very anal!

back to the OT, just ask your trainer the best place to put your phone! Most of my kids set them on the judge's stand in the area or leave them in the tack room or tack locker. I have had otter boxes and lifeproof cases and drop my phone practically every day off a horse. haven't had one break yet! (knock on wood)
 
#22 ·
Duck dodgers, ringworm is not always obvious and is spread through contact. On my way to the yard I once helped catch a horse who was loose in the road. He looked fine if somewhat stressed. I then returned him to his field and went on to so my horses. 1wk later my horses had ringworm! They had been no where and this loose horse that I handled for all of 1 min is the only place it could have come from but because they have individual grooming kits and no one else handled my horses the outbreak was limited to my 2 horses on a yard of 10 horses
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#23 ·
If I am riding in our outdoor it's almost always on the fence. If it's winter and I'm in the indoor it'll be zipped up in my pocket. I have an otterbox so if it ever were to fall off the fence or out of my pocket it would more than likely be just fine. =)
 
#25 ·
Let me ask you this: where do you put your car keys? I always leave them in the barn because I'm afraid of having a fall and getting stabbed by my keys if they were in my pocket. If I had a phone worth worrying about, I'd leave it with my keys. Since I don't, it stays in the car.
 
#26 ·
I'm lucky enough to have a tack locker right now where I'm at, so I currently leave my phone and keys (aside from locker key, just in case) in there if I'm having a lesson. If I'm riding by myself, I'll bring my phone just in case. But we're selling my horse, which will lose me my locker (they're for boarders), so once we sell her I'll probably just bring them both into the arena and leave them on the side.
 
#27 ·
From someone who gets all of my business by my cell phone, I wouldn't recommend wearing it. I don't think that your car will melt your phone. If you store it in the glove compartment or on the floor OUT of the sun, it should be okay. Since most people are now glued to their phones or their laptops, it should make your lessons more enjoyable as a temporary escape from the instant access cell phone world. =b
 
#28 ·
Back before smart phones, I'd stick my flip phone in my back pocket of my jeans, but it would always worm its way up out of the pocket constantly and I'd have to shove it back down. Occasionally I wouldn't notice and it would fall to the ground. Then one day, this happened while trotting and the horse stepped on it and killed it :P

These days, I almost always leave it in the car, even in the blazing heat or the freezing winters, and I've never had a phone harmed in years of doing this. Never really thought about the heat hurting it... I'd rather not set it somewhere in the barn or on the fence because it's too likely a person, horse, or cat will accidentally knock it off and damage it (like what happened to a friend's phone left on a bench - cracked her screen). My horse LOVES to knock things off of the fence like water bottles, so it would be very risky to stick my phone on top of the fence with him around.

I will zip it into my coat pocket in the winter if I'm riding alone sometimes, but I have no such pockets in the summer. My horse is a pretty spooky guy, and my phone has rung while in my coat pocket a few times, but thankfully I guess that's not one of the things he's spooky about :P
 
#32 ·
Back in my day the phone hung on the kitchen wall and we didn't have to think about such things.

Okay some newer jackets have little cell phone pockets on them. One girl at my barn wears it on her arm like a jogger does the iPad. Most keep in their tack locker. I have mine in a front shirt pocket that buttons. Never had an issue with it.
 
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