If the night lights are bright enough to read by, then they would not meet what the rule is asking for.
I would think the lights around the barns and walkways would still be on, just not the lights in the stalls.
At some shows you would be lucky for there to be a light switch! Turning out the stall lights means unplugging from an outlet at the end of the aisle which also turns off fans and fridges, etc.
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Yes.
And a very seasoned friend of mine pointed out that it would also be much easier for thieves to walk off with things if there are no lights on all night.
That had not crossed my mind, but unfortunately, it is absolutely true.
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I think there’s probably a difference between the kind of lighting you see in tent stalls vs the lighting you might have in a permanent building, and I think it’s not that ridiculous of a proposal because of it.
I agree that the tent stall “light bulbs hanging on a string” setup is unlikely to make a difference. But I’ve also shown at a fairgrounds where the stalls were in a permanent barn and all the indoor lights were on 24/7, and you absolutely did see a difference in how the horses did with it. Sure, they NAP outside in the sun, but they still experience night time.
We ended up jerry rigging a dark corner for my mare’s stall when showing at this venue because of how bright it was in there, and you’d constantly see her sleeping back there. It does make a difference if it’s bright lighting. Imagine if you were in an office building 24/7 and they never turned the lights off. I bet you’d crawl under your desk for some rest.
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@supershorty628, I think the wording should be different then. The wording is dark at night. A lower light level at night make sense. But dark at night is…well…dark.
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I don’t think “dark” has to mean “entire absence of all light,” but YMMV.
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If they are going to write a rule, they need to write it in a way that people understand what they mean. To me dark means, actually dark, and I can see it causing an issue if the rule is written as dark.
I totally get what you are saying and anytime I have shown with stabling (not near as much as you have) there has always been a lower light level at night than during the day.
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Yeah tbh I’ve only experienced the lack of dimmed lighting at night at that one venue, but man it was awful, and rough on the horses. I only showed there twice. My mare didn’t like it there at all.
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Would be nice if they specified the darkness of “dark.”
Like @supershorty628 I sleep better in the absence of light. Not that I can’t sleep in daylight, but I feel more rested if I sleep in darkness.
DIHP specifies that Curfew and quiet times must be observed between 11pm and 5 am but I can’t find anything about lights. This was done as a horse welfare thing as they felt that higher equine stress levels contributed to the EHV outbreak last winter. I’ve heard that the Temecula shows have a lights-out policy between certain hours, but haven’t gone looking for it in their premium or rules.
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