Riding at night

While I don't do much training at night, riding at night is a necessary part of a 100 (at least at the speeds I do 100s!).

I like to be able to see the trail--after a horrible experience of being out on trail with no lights and a bunch of glowsticks that failed as trail markers, I don't go out without illumination. Dream sports lights on her breastcollar and I use a headlamp on the red setting. The white lights being below and behind her head (and shining down at the ground) don't mess with her night vision and the red light is enough to warn me of branches to duck, etc.

Ah, I look forward to when my time is my own and I can enjoy the night again. It's so peaceful at night.

During my time with search and rescue we rode quite a bit at night with few problems. We had headlamps but tended not to use unless necessary to avoid ruining the horses night vision. I found that it's really us that want the reassurance of the light not the beasts.

I did a quick piece on night riding a while back. You can find it here.
See better on the trail at night

We do night riding here sometimes, we usually take flashlights with us in case we do get caught out in the dark. We have to ride on the side of the road for 1 1/2 miles to get to trails or fields. The only time we turn our flashlights on are if we see a vehicle coming so they know where we are and they always slow down and we get as far over as possible. We don't leave the flashlights on because horses do have great night vision and I think it hinders them when it's on.....

Never ride at night unless ur set up for it or absotutly have to!
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My horses ride in the dark fairly frequently and I use a headlamp on the front of my helmet and a red one on the back of it. It doesn't seem to hinder them and I don't want to get unseated by an errant tree limb in the total darkness as previously mentioned by Phantom. I have tiny highly visible LED lights on their crown piece of their bridle which velcro on and off. I also have reflective bands for their legs if needed and reflective vest for myself. I really enjoy riding during a light snowfall. The falling snowflakes glimmering in the low light are amazing.

Phantom I really like your setup! I think I might use some of your ideas to alter my stuff;)

The other thing that works well on your breastcollar is a headlamp! You can either attach one to each side or just use one attached to the ring in the center (just make sure its pointing down and forward and secured.. I have seen some people on the side of the trail readjusting because the light bounced around and wound up pointing upwards.. great for scary campfire stories, but not so much riding.

What's your definition of setup for it? All I need is a saddled up horse to ride at night. I've never even had a flashlight in my saddle bags for the just in case situation though it's not a bad idea to have one.

I love night riding and do it whenever I can.

Guess I now have a new thing to work on with Mia next summer...

A couple of years ago, I read a history of a cavalry unit during the Civil War. They often saddled up and moved out at 1 AM, and they sure didn't have a lot of flashlights. Or streetlights. And they didn't wait for the moon...

Of course, I'd bet when you have 700 horses all going the same way, the horses feel pretty calm about it.