For those who ride alone…

[OnAMission]

If it makes you feel any better, the same thing happened to me in the chicken coop the morning of my wedding. 40 miles from town, no neighbors, and DH had stayed elsewhere the night before b/c of the whole wedding thing. Pre-cell phone days so I yes MacGuivered my way outta there too.

I don’t like to carry my phone everywhere but I’ve started listening to podcasts while I’m fiddling around so it ends up in my back pocket or bra for most of the day so the odds are better now. A watch would be even better. I think if I remember correctly it was $10/mo to add on the watch when I was considering one a couple years ago.

[Jarpur]

DId my own version of that. In my case, my husband was out of town, so I was alone. Came in from the nightly barn bedcheck, locking the front door behind me. Went to take out our old Shih Tzu for his final potty break of the night, exiting the house through the sliding patio door. The door latch broke as I shut it, dropping down inside the door (I could hear it do so), leaving the two of us locked out past 10:30 p.m. on a cold December night.

Phoneless, and inappropriately dressed for a night in my unheated tack room, the dog and I walked our semi-rural neighborhood until I saw a light on inside a home. Knocked on the door (would be kinda dangerous to do this nowadays), and a haggard-looking woman came to the front door. Turned out that she’d heard my knock because she was recovering from surgery, and couldn’t sleep. I felt terrible for disturbing her when she was obviously in pain.

She offered me the use of her phone; I called another neighbor who is a good friend, but has the kind of serious guard dogs where one doesn’t approach her house in the middle of the night (or anytime, really) sans an invitation. That person fortunately woke up, and answered her phone – a miracle, since she normally retires early and wouldn’t have her phone on. She invited us (the dog and I) to stay with her overnight, sleeping in the living room, so we walked to her house.

After this experience, I’m much more obsessive about having my phone on my person at all times I’m outside our home (even though I don’t like being dependent on it), I don’t shut the sliding door all the way when taking the dog out, and also generally leave the front door unlocked when I’m outdoors (I know that is generally not recommended).

I called the locksmith the following morning, using my neighbor’s phone. However, he was unable to defeat our highly secure front door lock. I figured out a possible solution to gain entry into my home, involving such elements as climbing a large tree, an extension ladder, and scaling a railing to gain access to a locked door that he would then possibly be able to pick. The locksmith, although youngish, was not in great physical condition, and I could tell that he was a little scared (perhaps a fear of heights), but he succeeded.

I think this qualifies as MacGyvering; I imagine he’s still telling this story.

[OnAMission]

Locked outside in Dec without a parka is one of my fear factors! What a terrible experience, glad you found someone to let you in!

[Jarpur]

Thank you! Yep, another lesson learned was to always wear a jacket, even for what is expected to be only a two minute potty break.

[furlong47]

Similar to what I mentioned above about checking in before/after a hike, my friend who lives alone has an app where she has to press a button each day to check in. If she doesn’t check in then it notifies her friend to check on her. Might be a solution for those who live alone in case you get stuck somewhere, fall, have a medical issue, etc. especially if you don’t work outside the home or otherwise have a normal schedule where someone would notice your absence.

[demidq]

I am terrified of being locked out, and have spare door keys hidden in a shed. That’s also useful for guests who arrive earlier than expected.

[moonlitoaksranch]

That is scary. Glad you figured a way out! When landlines still existed, a few barns where I boarded had a line in the barn. The number of times that came in handy….

[hut-ho78]

Before cell phones, I would call a neighbor before and after when I started the horse I owned forever. I would try to coax her into hanging outside too! I did get bucked off and then so did a friend who lived nearby so other neighbors started pulling off the road on their way home and made it a party for a couple of weeks. One even picked up his wife and brought her with him. They would chit chat and call out encouraging words to me such as “where is the rodeo?” They were great.

[amymoyer1]

I’m not sure how you plan to be in contact with emergency services without a cell phone??? Most “panic button” remotes (LifeAlert, etc.) Only work if you are within a certain distance of the unit that will call for help. I understand they have one that works “away from home”, but that would require some cell service usage - either Bluetooth to your phone or it’s own cellular connection. Have you found anything that fits your requirements?

[amymoyer1]

You don’t need to have a separate account for your watch. You can just link it via Bluetooth to your phone. Of course then your phone needs to be close enough to receive the signal to call for help, but if you always have your phone and watch together you don’t have to pay for a separate line.

[NotQuiteRight]

I promised my family I wouldn’t ride if there was nobody else at the barn, but sometimes you have to. And sometimes accidents happen on the ground too, which is why I got my Apple Watch. I like that the fall detection will notify 911 if I don’t respond, and send them my coordinates.

Before getting it, I used to text my friend or my husband when I was getting on, and tell them if I didn’t text them back in 45 minutes (or however long Iplanned to ride) to call the barn owner.

I also only wear breeches now with the big side pockets so I can comfortably keep my phone with me all the time.

[walktrot]

@amymoyer1

Have you found anything that fits your requirements?

No, but I think that what little I found needed an Apple phone. That won’t work at all. A watch of some sort would be more convenient. For now, I"ll stick with my Tracfone flip phone with the emergency call button on the back. $120/yr. Life is simpler. It takes nice photos. I can keep my calendar on it. I don’t feel compelled to spend all my waking moments hunched over my phone. My friends all know: short messages, forward photos. You’ll probably get voice mail if you call.

I had my horse for 21 years. He always had 100% of my attention, mounted or on the ground. I always had a phone attached to me, not the saddle. I’m proud to say that in all those years I never once used it when I was with him. He didn’t use email and knew nothing about shopping on the internet. I think he knew I paid his bills.

[OverandOnward]

Quite a few years ago I was casually acquainted with a new young trainer who was using FB postings to gather attention and business. She was doing the work, out there on a horse at 7 am every morning it was daylight then.

She was posting fantastic early morning nature photos on FB before 7:30 am. People saw them and responded as one of their first interactons of the day. I lived on the farm and saw her riding then – how could she do that?

Of course the penny finally dropped – she was taking those photos and posting them up to FB from the back of the horse she was riding.

[erinmeri]

I’m surprised at all the reports of dismounting or other activities causing Apple Watch fall detection to go off. I am on my second watch, and I have never activated the feature. That said, I can, and do, sometimes activate the 911 feature accidentally if I flex my wrist in such a way that it engages the crown (I think). Usually when carrying heavy bags or other items.

I don’t have my own farm, but when I ride alone (after staff and other boarders have left), I rely on both fall detection and texting a friend or loved one before and after my ride. And making sure they have the address, in case of emergency.

[Laurierace]

I am on my second or third Apple Watch, can’t remember which. Not because they broke, just wanted the newer version for the features. I too had experiences of it randomly thinking I fell and giving me so much time to say I was ok before calling my emergency contacts. Then my latest version I took a super bad fall just walking the dog out to the street and nothing happened.

Not having it even ask if I was ok freaked me out because I was so fortunate I was uninjured, it could have been catastrophic if I hadn’t landed the way I did. I did some research after that and it seems as if they fine tuned the fall detection with the newer model where it takes your movement and vitals into consideration before triggering a fall alert. So I guess if you are moving around immediately afterwards and your heart rate is normal it doesn’t alert. Or at least that’s what they told me when I talked to Apple support. I have had a few trip over my own feet sort of stumbles since then and that didn’t trigger it either although I didn’t go down to the ground.

[Pico_Banana]

I have an iPhone and an Apple Watch - the one where you don’t need your phone nearby. Word of warning though. For whatever reason, calls on my watch do not work as well as on my phone when I am in a lower service area, which includes part of my property. It should be exactly the same but it’s not. I talked to Apple about this a few years ago and they were stumped. So even though I have my watch, I still try to keep my phone on me. Love breeches with the big side pocket for this reason.

[OverandOnward]

@Laurierace

So I guess if you are moving around immediately afterwards and your heart rate is normal it doesn’t alert. Or at least that’s what they told me when I talked to Apple support.

After all of those apple-watch 911 calls on a normal dismount … that I had to immediately rip my sweaty gloves off to stop …

The upgraded thing is never going to alert on a real fall by me! I just don’t have much reaction to a fall. Having learned to ride and fall in an era when people popped right back up to get back on that horse and do the exercise again, correctly, that’s what I do.

The time in my riding career (still very young) that I fell into the arena sand, at a show, and it was the first time that a couple of people I didn’t know came running and shouting ‘Don’t get up! Just lie still!’ while I scrambled to my feet, I thought that they were the ones that had something wrong with them.

Fortunately I rarely ever fall at this point. Maybe I get through the next few decades without a fall ??? Betting pool on this ???

[2tempe]

Ha! I’m so glad to see that I am not the only person who puts my phone in my bra… It also works very well to practice a musical freestyle, lol. I dont even need ear buds (which I HATE)

[OverandOnward]

And your horse can hear it, too.

[OnAMission]

My complicated horse has listened to a lot of Warrick Schiller this year! lol