Portable Outdoor Light

I ride at several different barns, but with the time change and winter fast approaching, it is difficult to ride and even harder to teach before it gets dark.

I am looking into buying a couple of lights I can take with me for wherever I am riding- but wanted to see if anyone has some that they recommend?

Not looking to spend a fortune - will be getting 2 or 3 fixtures

someone was talking about lights on this thread. maybe helpful?

http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showthread.php?503689-Riding-by-Solar-LED-Lights-These-lights-are-pretty-promising-I-think

I checked them out, but only 400 lumens - I was looking for more like 10,000 lumens

Here, many work thru the night in different construction jobs.
They are building wind farms like mad around here, you can see their lights in the night illuminating the whole site.

They rent special big lights that come in a trailer, with it’s own generator, that would lighten a large area for you outside.
Caterpillar has some, check with them and other such rental places.
Here is one such:

https://www.sunbeltrentals.com/equipment/subcat/796/lighting-and-surveillance-equipment/

You may be able to rent one of those little trailers with banks of lights cheaper for the few months you need it than buying big powerful lights yourself.

you’ll want LEDs… since by the time you use extension cords and plug in ~4 high-output floodlights, you’re probably going to overload a circuit. Also, most of those bulbs are fragile once they’re hot, so packing up the whole shebang after use would go through a lot of bulb replacements.
You might be best served by buying LED floodlights and either attaching them to a tripod/stand, or if you work at H/J barns, make a hanger that you can drape on strategically placed-jump standards. Most of the LED floodlights aren’t on a plug, so you might need to get an electrician to hardwire a plug end.

I think the biggest challenge is that at 10K lumens, it’ll be blinding to look at, but with a portable light system, you’re not going to be able to hang the lights high enough. So, horses/riders will be dealing with having the lights shining directly into their eyes. You’ll also be creating spooky shadows.

I tried to do portable lights a few years ago, and was never able to get anything to work out. Good luck.

hmmm lots of good things to think about.

I found this one that I was thinking about placing in the center of the ring - thoughts?

http://www.in360light.com/impact-series

[QUOTE=Dressage_Strider;8927667]
hmmm lots of good things to think about.

I found this one that I was thinking about placing in the center of the ring - thoughts?

http://www.in360light.com/impact-series[/QUOTE]

Let us know how it works.

Do you have a plug in the center of the ring for it?

nope, doing extension cord :confused: getting it on trial, will report back

Wanted to ping this one back up to say…I love the light! Works great for exercising/working horses as it is quiet and can raise up so it’s not in anyone’s eyes.

I am using an extension chord and nailing the chord down with pcv pipes to ensure horses aren’t stepping directly on the chord/ able to trip

:smiley:

Thank you so much for that great update!

Great, thanks! What size of area does it light up?

I ride in a 60x60 with great visibility

Sometimes I just set it up just outside the arena if I don’t want to bother with the pcv pipes, and it still gives me plenty of light for that half of the arena :slight_smile:

Thanks!

@Dressage_Strider _I assume you have it set up on the tripod that you can buy direct from the same company?

If you were to use it in a 75x100 arena, do you think you’d need 2? I’ve been looking on their website since you posted the update and I’m tempted to get one even with the exchange rate. Our indoor houses a lot of round bales, and it’s small to begin with, so using the outdoor until it freezes would be awesome.

Yes :slight_smile: - it’s very adjustable too. On it’s highest notch I have to reach up as high as I can (I’m 5’9") to get it on

It depends how much light you want, I think you might. I use just one in that size space, and supplement with a cheaper directional light if I have one area that isn’t as bright as I want

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073RJVGJV/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_8?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A363LJCRVDZDQ3

We have two of these up over a 70x150 arena. I am certainly happy enough, given that last summer we used Christmas lights on the fence line to ride by. They plug in, are waterproof, and easy to manage. You would use extension cords to plug them in. You would need to have a way to hang or mount them. For me, I climbed up a ladder and used a rope to attach them about 20’ up in a tree and I turn on a generator that they are plugged into when I need light. Once the power is run to our barn we will get a bit more legit, but the basic premise will stay the same.

Yes, we are redneck. It’s okay.

I have these placed around my fence line and they provide enough light to ride at night. Probably not enough light for jumping but they seem to work well enough for me. Solar and motion detector. They are quite handy. I have one placed by my front door so I can see to open the door when I come back after dark.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B012ZPKNFE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I always consider these types for riding, but am wary of motion detector lights while riding. I don’t like the idea of them constantly turning on and off as I ride by. Do you find an issue with this?