I’m looking to buy a quarter sheet for trail riding in hunting season as I trail ride in rural Alabama during hunting season. The land I ride on is owned by the barn owners who don’t allow hunting on it but I’d rather be safe than sorry. Any suggestions on a good quality quarter blaze orange (or yellow) quarter sheet? It needs to be mesh or some other light weight material as temps here are too warm for a heavy weight sheet.
Thanks for your suggestions!
This one, by Protectavest. The company also makes blaze orange neck bandanas, tail bags, nylon reins, and helmet covers that would be suitable for riding. All made with love in the US by macmtn, who I think is a COTHer but definitely hangs out at The Outside Course.
http://www.protectavest.com/
I gave up on sheets years ago (they keep getting ripped or trampled, I couldn’t find any designed for heavy duty trails, most of them had been made with road riding in mind) But I just use fluro orange duct tape, big stripes of it across my horses hooves, along her sides, a big x on her rump, a strip across her breastplate and two stripes permanently running up and down my jodphurs. Also fluro tail bandages and boots are good.
I’ll echo jn4jenny. I have two of those quarter sheets and they’re made from a nice mesh that’s thick enough not to tear, but light enough not to hold heat. I’ve had mine 3-4 years now, and they’re holding up great.
They’re also sized, so my little Arab doesn’t have to swim in a “regular” sized one!
Overkill?!!
A blaze orange quarter sheet for a horse seems like overkill to me. Why not just make sure YOU have a lot of orange on? Make sure it’s visible in a 360 degree view. Wear a hat cover, or a vest or sweatshirt or all at one time!! Hunters still have to aim and see what they are going to shoot. It’s not like they are going to shoot out the horse from underneath you!! And make a lot of noise too. Maybe a cowbell on your horse or you can sing broadway tunes at the top of your lungs!! Then the only reason they’d shoot you is if your voice is bad!!
I had one sing back to me once when I was riding underneath his treestand and didn’t know he was there. We both had a great laugh! I dunno; I just don’t see hunters as “boogie men” but as partners sharing in enjoying the woods with us.
And we should always wear bright colors when we ride alone; that way the rescue squad or rescue helicopter can see us !!!
Where I used to live in western NY, a girl was riding her paint horse in an open field and someone shot the horse out from under her. I have a chestnut mare and when I trail ride this time of year, I use blaze orange reins, a 1/4 sheet that I made and usually a vest on me. Here is a pic of the sheet I made which is fleece. It could easily be made out of mesh. http://www.flickr.com/photos/simbalism/6845591645/
It is hard to tell in the picture, but the binding around the edge is blaze orange and reflective silver. It shows up very well.
I’ll second echo on the quarter sheet. Mine has lasted for years.
I have heard good things about the Don’t Shoot Me line of products: http://www.dontshootme.ca/horse-apparel-1/
Also, Horze has a quarter sheet: http://www.horze.com/Horze-Reflective-Riding-Rug/29326,en_US,pd.html?dwvar_29326_color=OR&start=11&q=riding%20rug and if you use the code WINTER1 today you will get 50% off.
