Riding with a Cell Phone--Where do you put it?

[skydy]

@tabula rashah

I have mine on me all the time. Mostly I am out on trail and often by myself. I have had to use it for 911 more than once. At the barn, I am usually the only one there, I am out in the middle of nowhere and there is no landline. No one would notice me missing at home for hours. Do I answer it 100% of the time? No, depends on who it is. It also works nicely as a radio when I’m doing monotonous chores like stacking hay.

You have a fancier phone than I do! Mine doesn’t play music…

[INoMrEd]

@DancingArabian

I bought a cell phone pouch called a “Horse Holster”. I saw it on FB and it fits my iPhone 6+ perfectly. I strap it to my leg.

I did the same thing as DancingArabian. The Horse Holster works great!

[demidq]

Get thee to a Dollar Store, or Walmart if you want to go upscale! They have lots of neat inexpensive padded camera cases that also zip, in a variety of sizes. I hang mine from a belt loop with a carabiner , but they usually have a loop for your belt as well. Can’t beat the price.

[Xanthoria]

Several models of Kerrits breeches have pockets big enough for an iPhone 6. Some on the thigh, some at the side of the hip. Some with a zip, some just on an area where they cannot slide out. Love them - have several pairs. Hate having to remember ANOTHER item like a special holder when I go riding.

[RubyTuesday]

@Cheap Trick

Having your cell phone on you when riding is a safety issue! There is often no one else around to call 911 if you are hurt badly, especially when hacking out alone. The GPS in your phone can be vital to finding your dumped, broken body. My barn is small - I’m often alone, even when doing ring work.

And I NEVER check my phone for messages when with my horse. It’s a piece of safety equipment just like a helmet and vest.

Absolutely! And I prefer the Nite Ize (yep, spelled just like that) 2X (double extra large) nylon holster for my Iphone 6Plus. It has a super-sturdy clip that you have to really work to get off of a gun belt or even the waistband of jogging pants. I use mine all the time, not just for riding.

[drawstraws]

Since I typically am by myself while I ride and I have no arena at home and ride in a grassy area by the road, I always have my phone on me while riding in case of an accident. Four years ago, I was very glad I did when my greenie spooked at something, dropped a shoulder and spun me right out of the saddle. I basically dismounted and came down feet first, which managed to literally snap my lower leg in half. My phone was in my back pocket (I typically ride in jeans in my western saddle) and I was able to call my dad in the house to ask him to call an ambulance. Since we live on a back road it could have been quite a while for me to sit there with my foot dangling and the bone sticking out before someone drove by and found me, not to mention that while my horse decided to stick around to graze, he easily could have taken off and been miles away.

I’m grateful for a lot of these suggestions for options for when I’m in breeches. Will check out several of them.

[skydy]

@trubandloki

Well, in my case I wear it on my person when I hack over to the ring I get to ride in. That way if I have any trouble on the way over, the way back or if I fall off during my lesson I have a phone to contact someone for help. During my lesson my phone sits (still in the runner’s belt) with my other stuff, usually on the mounting block. So I do not actually ride with my phone on me.

When I go on a trail ride or hunter pace or hack out alone, even at home, I do ride with my phone on me.

The ringer is off. I am not wearing it so I can keep in touch with my friends for that time. I am wearing it so I can contact someone if I need them, if I have an emergency.

Example - during one lesson I fell off and splatted more than an old lady should. I got back on and rode more but to be safe (at the suggestion of my friend and my trainer) I called my hubby and he walked over and walked back home with me and my horse. Phone was handy to have. Sure I probably would have made it home no problem but…

I think leaving your phone on the bench at a busy barn would lead to all kinds of issues. Someone picking up the wrong phone, someone knocking the phone off and not realizing it, etc.

I understand the logic in the first part of your post and agree with you that cell phones are a boon to safety when hacking out.

The second part of your post? I am not involved in the boarding barn culture so had not thought about the confusion that could result if boarder’s phones were left to run amok together on a bench. I see that it would be difficult for everyone to cope especially if all the phones looked alike.

Thankfully, it is only online that I find myself living between “how can I keep my cell phone secure while I’m riding” and this; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67zvdvAJpHw

The people I meet IRL (including the people I have met that participate in this BB) seem able, as you do, to balance between the two.

ETA: Whomever compared cell phones to seat belts? Think about that comparison again, for just a little bit longer…

[msbecky521]

@skydy

Since we are discussing carrying the phone on your body however, I am curious how you take video of yourself riding while you are on the horse, or if are you referring to someone else taking video of you with a phone?

I take video of my students. My husband or daughter takes video of me or I will sometimes set up a grippy tripod on the fence rail and turn the video on.

[Couture_TB]

@piedmontfields

I use a SPI belt. It is not super attractive (although it comes in tons of colors, so you can easily match your colors if you like), but it is light, comfortable and fits a wide range of phone sizes.

https://spibelt.com

I ride alone most of the time and always keep a phone on me. Even if my horse and I are fine, sometimes we see things which are not while out hacking. It’s nice to be able to give an alert to the BO, etc.

I use one of these too as I also have to have an EpiPen on me. I train horses and most of the time no one is around when I am working them as I train during the day when boarders and my husband are at work. I have actually on a few horses sent someone a text before getting on saying if you don’t hear from me in an hour call me.

[trubandloki]

@skydy

The second part of your post? I am not involved in the boarding barn culture so had not thought about the confusion that could result if boarder’s phones were left to run amok together on a bench. I see that it would be difficult for everyone to cope especially if all the phones looked alike.

I am going to assume that you did not mean to sound snarky here.

I have not boarded in a good long time at this point, so I am willing to say that maybe things have changed. But my experience was that the simplest thing left sitting out tended to grow legs, even if those legs only moved it to another surface somewhat near by. No big with a $4 riding bat. No big deal with a cheap pair of schooling gloves. No huge deal with your jacket or saddle pad. Your phone…now that is an issue.
So not that people can not tell their blue phone from that blue phone, but huge issue if some lesson kid picks up your new latest version of the I-phone to see how great the new phone is and puts it down some place just wrong enough and it falls between the walls into that dead space that would require a stall wall to be ripped down to get it out.

Now, of course that person could leave their phone in their tack locker or their car and then the risk of lesson student or bored kid dragged to the barn touching it is not there, but then if they need their phone they have to go get it.
Not the end of the world but less than ideal and since carrying the phone while riding is not an addition risk to life and limb and easy to do why not do it?

Yes, really, in the end the bigger question is why not ride with your phone? What good reason is there to not ride with your phone?
If you are the type that pulls up on the rail at the first hum of every text then for sure not a good idea to ride with your phone. But the vast majority of people are more than capable of having their phone on their person and not cause an issue for the others riding.
A nice conversation where we all share what works for us to more easily carry our phone while riding seems totally valid on a horse forum.

[Cheap_Trick]

@trubandloki

Yes, really, in the end the bigger question is why not ride with your phone? What good reason is there to not ride with your phone?

THIS. Why in the world is it better to keep your phone on a bench or in an office, where you can eventually get to it in an emergency? There is zero downside to having it on you. I mean ZERO. They are made for it, and it is safer all the way around. Not having it on you makes no sense.

It’s like purposefully driving with your cell phone in the trunk of your car, just to prove that you’re not married to your phone. But it’s still maybe accessible in an emergency, so we’re good, right? Makes no sense.

Stepping down off my cranky soapbox…

[skydy]

@trubandloki

I am going to assume that you did not mean to sound snarky here.

I have not boarded in a good long time at this point, so I am willing to say that maybe things have changed. But my experience was that the simplest thing left sitting out tended to grow legs, even if those legs only moved it to another surface somewhat near by. No big with a $4 riding bat. No big deal with a cheap pair of schooling gloves. No huge deal with your jacket or saddle pad. Your phone…now that is an issue.
So not that people can not tell their blue phone from that blue phone, but huge issue if some lesson kid picks up your new latest version of the I-phone to see how great the new phone is and puts it down some place just wrong enough and it falls between the walls into that dead space that would require a stall wall to be ripped down to get it out.

Now, of course that person could leave their phone in their tack locker or their car and then the risk of lesson student or bored kid dragged to the barn touching it is not there, but then if they need their phone they have to go get it.
Not the end of the world but less than ideal and since carrying the phone while riding is not an addition risk to life and limb and easy to do why not do it?

Yes, really, in the end the bigger question is why not ride with your phone? What good reason is there to not ride with your phone?
If you are the type that pulls up on the rail at the first hum of every text then for sure not a good idea to ride with your phone. But the vast majority of people are more than capable of having their phone on their person and not cause an issue for the others riding.
A nice conversation where we all share what works for us to more easily carry our phone while riding seems totally valid on a horse forum.

Thank you. You are correct that no “snark”(snide remark?) was intended. I wasn’t aware, but I’ll certainly take your word, that children at boarding or lesson barns are now lacking in basic manners. When I was a kid I wouldn’t have dreamed of touching anything at a barn that didn’t belong to me, so I did think that you meant there would be confusion as to who’s phone belonged to who.

The rules we learned at the barn were horse related. Common courtesy (such as not touching other people’s belongings) was taught at home.

Riding was indeed a privilege and as a child taking lessons from, and later working for, no nonsense horse people I would never have risked losing that privilege by exhibiting poor horse related behavior. Common courtesy was expected to be, and was, taught at home before any child was unattended. If basic manners were not instilled at home, the child was not tolerated in the barn.

I am admittedly out of touch with the present boarding barn culture and should obviously skip expressing my surprise or trying to understand it and the cell phone situation as well.

Apparently it makes me seem like a terrible grump.

[jvk8]

I cannot stand having a phone on my belt area when I’m riding. I ride dressage and having it there interferes with my elbow at times and it also bounces around and drives me nuts. I have a neoprene case that straps to my calf. It does not move at all or interfere with anything; I forget it is there.

Also I think it’s less likely to cause an injury to you if you fall off if it’s on your calf versus on your waist.

I did learn that it is good to place it on my left leg instead of the right, because it can catch on your saddle while dismounting if it’s on your right leg

Here’s the one I have. It’s just big enough for my Galaxy S7. http://www.dressageextensions.com/magnetic-cell-phone-case/p/62554/