RE: Night Riding

["Maryanne Stroud Gabbani" <maryanne@ratbusters.net>]

We do a  lot of night riding here especially during the summer. Of course
when the moon is full or even half, it's wonderful, but we even ride at the
dark of the moon. I've never seen any of our horses trip on the farm trails
or in the desert, so they must be able to see ok.  I've ridden alone at
night as well and never had a problem. Our horses know the area and can
usually see any unusual objects or people long before we do, and they avoid
them. The only problem I've ever had was on one utterly moonless night when
I was trotting through the desert with friend and we suddenly began to
descend a steep hill that I'd forgotten was there. The horses were fine, but
I felt like I was on a roller coaster for a second. The worst thing, I
agree, are roads of any sort where there are vehicles. My mares are used to
the odd pickup or tractor coming up behind them and throwing weird
shadows...but these are on tracks with canals on either side, so no one goes
fast. I avoid roads like the plague.

Maryanne Stroud Gabbani
Cairo, Egypt
maryanne@ratbusters.net
www.ratbusters.net


Barb Peck bpeck@together.net
I've read that horses see on a moon-less night as good
as we see on a full moon night.
I think that if a horse has normal vision, this statement is
TRUE from what I've experienced.

I ride at night in the fall with out any type of light
and both my horses seem to go unbeleivably well. I almost
always go out alone