Are you hacking out safely?

Now the clocks have changed and the evenings are lighter, unfortunately the weather is still somewhat questionable, but this means that people are now able to go out hacking after work (hallelujah).

So with this in mind and summer just around the corner I thought I’d just take a look at and talk about safety while out hacking.

I personally have encountered many rude and disrespectful drivers, walkers, dog walkers and even other horse riders. I’m sure many of you reading this will also have encountered this or know someone that has.
So what can we do as horse riders to make our hacking experiences as positive and enjoyable as possible;

• Wear high viz clothing, make yourself and visible as possible! There are so many great products available these days there really no excuse not to at least wear a tabard. You can get tabards that say different things such as ‘pleas pass wide and slow’, ‘caution young horse’, the ‘polite’ tabards seem to be really good at slowing drivers down. The BGA also sell a really affordable one in their shop - click here. Some people also wear hat cams to encourage drivers to slow down.
• Wearing Hi Viz clothing also means that if you do part company with the horse in a field you have a much greater chance of being found sooner.
• Avoid hacking out during peak travel times, especially if you have to ride on busy roads.
• Don’t talk on your phone, or listen to music when you’re hacking. This is a major distraction and you need to be alert at all times.
• Know your Highway Code. Make sure you know exactly what hand signals to use when and what for.
• If your horse is young, nervous or inexperienced go in company with someone on a safe and experienced horse or take someone on foot with you.
• As much as possible go out in company in case of an incident, if you cant go in company then make sure someone knows where you are gong and roughly how long you’ll be.
• Bear the weather in mind, don’t go out hacking in fog or if it’d due to be really heavy rain, wind, thunder, ice, snow etc. Just be sensible.
• Be courteous and show consideration for others. Unless you are fortunate enough to have private off road hacking then I’m sure you’ll encounter other riders, walkers and dog walkers, drivers and cyclists. Always be pleasant to others you meet, walk passed others and allow plenty of space where possible, say please and thank you and be polite. If you need to ask people to put dogs on leads or cars to slow down or stop make sure you are clear and polite. If you come across rude and inconsiderate people, don’t retaliate, be the bigger person and politely point out to them the dangers of letting their dogs run loose around horses or avert a king to close or quickly.
• It is illegal to ride on the road without a saddle or bridle, which means if you are riding and leading make sure the other horse always wears a bridle.

At the end of the day all of these people have just as much right as us to be in the countryside, we just need to respect each other. Don’t give other horse riders a bad name, we need to help each other to better educate people on how to behave around horses.

The BHS (British Horse Society) run a riding and road safety course, this is a great course to give you confidence and awareness for riding out and about and I’d highly recommend doing it. On the BHS website there is an abundance of information on hacking out and riding on the road,I will include the links below for you to take a look at.

In 2016 the BHS also launched the campaign DEAD? OR DEAD SLOW? This campaign was launched to encourage drivers to pass horses safely.
From March 2017 – March 2018 over 400 hundred incidents were reported to the BHS, read more about this report here.

I think its so important we all try to help educate other road users and people who share the countryside as much as possible to make it a better place for all of us to enjoy. So please share the advert and advice for motorists far and wide.

Remember stay safe, be sensible and be polite!

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