Out of all the gloves I've tried for my yard duties, gardening gloves have definitely been the best I've tried so far. Okay so I haven't tried any that are £10+ in the equestrian range but when I found some for £1.25 from Wilko that do the job for me I couldn't justify trying any more out really. The ones I've found are these kids ones. That's another struggle I had when trying to find a great pair of yard gloves was that my fingers are so small I have to wear kids gloves. This includes riding & everyday gloves too and to be honest these gloves are still a little too long in the fingers for me. I find that I get the end stuck in the little clip to keep the hosepipe head turned on when filling up water buckets. These gloves have a tough bottom half of polyester, this means they are waterproof as long as I don't end up fighting with the hosepipe and it gets the orange bit wet, this has actually happened a few times. 

These are great for when you get the off thistle in the haylage, as there's nothing worse than having a thistle thorn spiked into your finger or under the nail when you reach in for haylage. 

These types of gloves are more frequently found as work gloves in adult sized gloves. You can also get some which are hi-viz which would be great for riding out hacking if you were to use them as riding gloves as well. These would also double up as that due to the grip they provide.

Vote for Myself & Legacy Please

Horsesmart are holding a competition to see who shines the brightest in their Hi-Viz hacking gear.

I've entered myself and Legacy into the competition with this picture, isn't she a happy bunny here.

Any votes would be muchly appreciated to try and win the hamper of equine goodies.

 The link to our entry is here!

As far as I'm aware all you have to do is click on vote.

Thank you,

Be Seen, Be Safe!

Reading a post a Lady put up on Facebook the other day about her horse being hit by a car while out hacking really made me start thinking and then I came up with this post. Wearing Hi-Viz when out hacking is something which is up to the rider. Up until mid February I only used to wear a vest out on the road and this was only when I felt like it, there were often times when I would think 'Oh I'm only going down the road, 20mins and I'll be back.'

But it hit me one day that I could just be leaving the yard and something could hit me, the fact that Legacy hates hacking out on her own and will nap and have a little dance in the road when she can get away with it made me feel like I needed it even more. Even with the dark evenings, the fact that she's dark bay doesn't help that she's less likely to be seen out on the road.

So I set off searching throughout the internet for Hi-Viz gear, I bought myself a hi-viz coat for the colder months, if I'm already wearing this I will be less likely to forget about putting on a vest, I got Legacy a netted exercise sheet, which will be great and airy for the summer months too and a bridle kit. This included nose band strip, brow band strip and strips for either side on the reins. There was also one point where I thought about getting her hi-viz boots, but she can be a bit funny with boots at the moment so it's something we're working on.

Now I will always wear hi-viz on the road, thankfully nothing has happened to myself or Legacy but it can be the difference between a driver not seeing you and a driver seeing you even by only a few seconds it can still make a difference. If you still end up being hit, it can be the difference between the impact you have from the car. It's just something to think about when you're hacking out without anything next time.

What are your views on hacking with and without hi-viz?