The Horse Forum banner
Status
Not open for further replies.

riding at night..opinions?!?!

5K views 51 replies 21 participants last post by  kait18 
#1 ·
whats everyones opinions on riding at night on flat open trails?

i have been told to try this since i don't have time to ride during the week and don't have access to an indoor. i was thinking it sounded crazy but then i was reading some articles about it and people made it sound interesting and safe when done properly. no trotting or cantering but at a nice walk.
they mentioned riding with a glow stick on the breast collar so you are noticed from the front without interrupting the horses night vision. and one tied around the tail to be seen from the back. then you need the assorted flashlights and night gear to be noticed. no night riding on the road!
what do you guys think on this? and if you think its worth a try what would say to bring?
thanks in advance... please no mean comments i have not done this yet. i am just exploring the possibility.
 
#2 ·
I personally wouldn't ride in the dark. There are too many predators that come out at night, and you can't see nearly as well as you can during daylight. Then again, maybe I'm just paranoid. :) My friend has tried riding in the dark, and she had a flashlight on her helmet. Her horse didn't like the fact that there was a light shining above his head. So I imagine your horse's quirks definitely have to taken into consideration.

IF I were to go trail riding at night I would bring 2 flashlights, extra batteries, a cell phone (that's fully charged), wear reflective gear, have a basic first aid kit, and bring water.
 
#3 ·
I used to live in the desert and in summer the night was about the only livable time to ride. I LOVED night riding in the washes and river bottoms and through the desert. I always took food, lots of water and a flashlight in case I got lost or had to walk home and of course, wore a hard hat. We used to have to watch out for the mountain lions but not sure what kinds of predators NJ has.
 
#4 ·
One thing to remember is to make sure someone always knows where you are. Night riding I think is more spooky to us than it is our horses. Horses see quite well in he dark, unlike us. Make sure that you keep a flashlight, not just with you, but -on- you. If for some reason you got left in the dirt (sure it would suck, especially at night, but let's always be prepared) you won't have access to the saddle bags that are attached to Courage the Cowardly Lion's saddle horn, and you could get stuck walking in the dark. For that reason I would also suggest carrying your cell -on- you, but that should go for the day time, too. I've never been riding on trails at night, but I do often work and ride in the round pen at night. Something about just you and the horse and the crickets is exhilarating. Alot of times I go out at dusk thinking I can beat the sun and when I'm done I haven't yet realized that the only light I have left is star/moon light. Suprisingly, I can see quite well, and again, my horse can see even better.

Anyway, if you do go out, I hope you have fun and stay safe! ^^ Maybe someday (somenight) I'll join you on the lonely trails once my green broke haflinger is, well, more than green broke... ^^
 
#5 ·
Night riding can actually be quite peaceful. I wouldn't charter unfamiliar areas at night. They have three way led night light head bands for about ten bucks at Menards(white, red and blue lighting.) I bring extra batteries and I make sure the batteries in the head band are new before riding out. I don't think you have any critters worse than what we have here in MI. Is there a fellow rider you can go with?
 
#6 ·
Think it would depend, I think a night with no moon would be too dark. You can see pretty well in the dark if there is some moon light. I wouldn't want to go somewhere that you can't see at all, because even if your horse can you still need to see where you're going/hazards.

But a familiar trail, with some moonlight, and not too cold weather should be fine I would think. But to me it would sort of ruin the experience of trail riding, because its much better with scenery. I think I would freak myself with bush noises.
 
#8 ·
thanks for the info guys. i will look into it. we aren't ready to attempt this yet but maybe eventually. trying to find ways to keep riding during the week. grrr
but i have a little backpack i use for working out when i run i can carry so all my gear is on me if worse case comes to losing my horse ;)

and yes where i am in nj we don't have to many predators. bears, coyote's, deer are the main animals in my area.

thanks again for the info guys and hopefully i will have a partner as that will make things easier :)
 
#9 ·
I love night rides myself and yes the horse does see way better then you do in the dark. It is better to pick nights with a decent moon so you can see the branches before getting smacked in the face.

Just how much better do horses see then us at night? Can't tell you but did have a trail ride go longer then planned and there was no moon. I literally could not see my hand in front of my face but my horse never once stumbled and took me back to camp. Just glad he knew where camp was because I couldn't see the trail to know when/where to turn.
 
#10 ·
I love riding at night especially with lots of friends. We routinely have a night ride once a month on the full moon. I wear a headlamp on my helmet and a red lamp on the back of my helmet. My horse has a lighted browband with white led lights and I have a reflective yellow vest for myself. I just keep picking up more stuff for our night rides. My horses got used to me wearing the headlamp very quickly and all the other horses are now used to this too. Its not important for everyone to have a headlamp if you ride together. In the winter the snow lights up the ground so a light is not always necessary. One ride in the spring was so spectacular 2 years ago because the creek we ride beside was completely engulfed by thousands of fireflies. It was amazing!
 
#11 ·
wow... thanks guys for the all info. i am going to start looking more into this. i was scared that it was crazy but now that i know otherwise. i wise start slowly working from home in the dark and progress to trails later on when we are accustommed to the lights we are wearing :)
i am now excited i don't have to give up riding 5 days of the week.

thanks everyone
 
#12 ·
Better off with no lights, you'll never get ur night vision if you keep shining lights everywhere. That would drive me nuts if I was on a night ride and people kept shining white lights everywhere. Turn the dang lights off you will see better,
Start on a clear night on a full moon, with trails you know, maybe a red glow stick on a tail and breaststrap, thats it. Have a flashlight but dont use it unless an emergency, and even then close your dominant eye, Youd be surprised how well you can see if you give your eyes an hour or so to adjust without artificial light.
 
#13 ·
I never used any kind of light out in the desert, and mostly we could see fine. A light would have ruined the whole thing, for me. Horses see so much better than we do, it will really build your trust in your horse if you try riding after dark with no light. A flashlight for an emergency is a must & a cell phone (mine didn't work where I rode so I didn't bother), food & water. You'll be amazed at all the neat things you see after dark! You just need to relax and let your horse take you where you're going and back again. It's a novel experience.
 
#14 ·
lights not as flashlights sorry... meant like those glowstick things for his breast collar and tall so we can be seen by others. flashlights are going to be in my little back pack and one in my saddle bag. sorry for the confusion.
i was thinking maybe instead of those to get those reflective tape material that goes below the horse fetlock. just looking into different things at the moment.
 
#15 ·
be a good time to hi tthe store, look in the left over holloween section, and get the pencil sized glow sticks that make circle, usually 6 or so in a bag, sold for kids trick or treating, the locking circle makes them handy for hanging on tack, I allways hang one on my horses halter when I camp, I can look out and see the circle hanging still and know what my horse is up too.
 
#19 ·
We do have bears in NJ. I've had them wandering through my yard but when they hear us moving around, they typically lumber off in the other direction.

I do think one got in to my barn once. I went in and the feed cans were tossed everywhere, the shavings ripped open and the hay strewn all over the place. It seemed way more damage than a bunch of raccoons could do. And my mare wouldn't come in the barn for breakfast that day. But that only happened once thank goodness!

I also have bobcat and coyote up by me in the nw corner of the state. Very creepy sounding to hear them wailing at night but they don't seem to bother my ponies.
 
#20 · (Edited)
jake and dai what part of jersey are you from???
i am in warren county and have tons of coyotes near my house. we had a huge wild cat spotted a few weeks ago and everyone locked up all there animals :)... we didn't know what it was but could tell it was a big cat by its tail. could have been a bobcat...
 
#22 ·
this is to funny... i am practically your neighbor... :) i am in columbia on the border of white township or belvidere.. your about 15 minutes away :)

yea its crazy the noise i hear at night near our farm. i never heard the cat but we saw him running through our back field... scared the crazy's into me... all my neighbors and myself locked all the animals into the barns... its worse in the beginning of spring because we have a huge male black bear who has his den right behind our property line... lets just say we don't go back there enless we have to :)
 
#24 ·
yeap the short stub tail.. is what made us think bobcat... we have heard of mountain lions but this one didn't look like that... mountain lions have the long tail which this one didn't it had a short tail and was kinda spotted... but he was running and running fast so i could have the cat species wrong :)
 
#25 ·
Usually they're tails are hard to see but chances are if you saw a short tail it was a bobcat. They look LONG on a mtn lion. That's usually the first indicator when people say they saw a mtn lion. If they don't mention it's tail they'll usually get blown off as a coyote or dog by fish and game.
 
#26 ·
well i thought it was a stubby tail it kinda had this extra few inchs going straight back when he was running... but it was barely existent... either way i would like to keep my distance from any wild cat... :) but always good to know whats out in the area :)
 
#27 ·
Bobcats are relatively harmless unless you have chickens or something like that. They'd be hard pressed to bring down any big animal like a horse. I do know they have been known to bring down a deer but it would be an exceptionally large cat.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top