If it freaks you out that much…don’t do a physical night check. Your horse will forgive you.
Arrange your barn routine around your intention to skip this task. Assure hay and water are provided in volumes that will not run out. As a previous poster suggested, a baby monitor. Quick look on Amazon shows wireless, two camera system with 1,000 foot range and night vision selling for just over $100.
It is more important you are happy, than Dobbin gets a cookie at 10 pm.
That, or have an overhead light on the barn door and drive yourself over there those 200’, why not?
We have flood lights on the house and I keep the barn floodlight on and the inside barn lights on until I finish night check. I also have a very “aware” 80 lb female dog that walks with me. The flood lights are the trick to not being afraid. Not that big of a deal to just keep your lights on at the barn until you are done!!
A couple years ago I farm sat for a friend while he was on vacation. He lived in an apartment above the barn, so its not like I even had to walk outside, but the staircase down to the barn was dark, and the door to the parking lot wasn’t locked, so I was always worried someone had wandered in and was lurking in the dark. The property was about 15 minutes from town, and the only way anyone was getting up the long driveway was if you had the gate code, or felt like scaling a 10 foot gate.
I blame watching Criminal Minds for my paranoia. :yes: and the big farm dog? a 10lb Italian Greyhound. :lol:
OMG I’d kill him!!
I moved to FL from TX, so snakes are always in the back of my mind :eek:
So now my list is as follows:
For those with barn cameras - how do they link back to you? Maybe I’m a dodo with these things, but I thought most required Wi-Fi to see them? Our house Wi-Fi doesn’t stretch to the barn, so how would I view the footage? Or is this where a baby monitor would come in handy?
While it doesn’t specifically deal with this scenario, the book “Brain Training for Riders” may help you understand what’s going on and how to deal with it.
Does this book address dealing with fear after riding injuries?
Yes!
This chapter covers what to do when you’ve had The Big One – a major fall, a serious injury (or injuries), or any experience that has scared you to the point that you can’t just get back on and go back to where you left off.
“Brain training for riders”, Andrea Waldo
I bought several to give as presents and everyone loved it.
Interesting and kind of fun with many examples to fit most anyone.
Trainers said it helped them with a part of training that is normally not paid enough attention to, the mental part.
They could see some of their students in the examples.
I have big-ass LED lights that I switch on in the house that point out towards my barn, and another one at the barn yard gate. I also have a remote switch that turns on ALL the LED lights on every side of the house that I can put in my pocket and take with me if I’m feeling particularly weenie. It’s brilliant, in more ways than one. Looks like an alien space ship has landed.
My bugaboo here is moose. I spent 45 minutes sitting in my damned hay shed in the snow one night because aggressive mama moose and her baby got between me and the house and I’d not taken my phone with me. Did my husband notice that I was gone? Nooooo. Was I pissed? Oooh yes.
Is this only available in Alabama??? The Power Company will come and set up a security light. They put up a huge power pole with a dusk to dawn light on it. You pay about $12 a month for the light and the Power Company maintains it. If the light gets dim you call them and they come fix it. The only charge is the above mentioned monthly fee.
I have two ( only need one) between my house and barn. It lights everything up really well so that I rarely turn on my outside lights in the back of the house. The horses sleep under it when they are out overnight.
If I had an intruder here my attack cats would be hiding under things and my horses would be screaming to be fed. The cats have an uncanny ability to discern what is not supposed to be here.
^^^^^There is a similar program here in TN.
A healthy fear of the unknown allowed our ancestors to survive and produce us. So fear of what we don’t know is normal.
Still, we all have to function when we are afraid. If you have horses at home then you have to deal with the fear of going to the barn at night.
The book suggested sounds interesting. I’m sure some Googling will give you lots of ideas, much of which will be dross. Be careful what you decide to try.
Perhaps light is your friend. You can buy small, solar powered “walkway lights” that you can use to line a path to your barn. Google “solar pathway lights” and you will see dozens of possible alternatives.
You can wear a “headlamp” as you walk. Hear are some alternatives https://www.cabelas.com/catalog/browse/headlamps/_/N-1100172/Ns-CATEGORY_SEQ_104379480?WT.srch=1&WT.tsrc=PPC&rid=20&WT.mc_id=GOOGLE|Lights|USA&WT.z_mc_id1=43700037796533270&gclid=Cj0KCQiA597fBRCzARIsAHWby0HYGaEXf5e9Nn0Ndf35X0vS9CZAL4PaaOzn-TuONYKWfTr6rZNA4YgaAs7zEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
Carry a flashlight. Get one of these https://www.maglite.com/shop/maglite-3-cell-d-led-3rd-gen-flashlight-1372.html They light up the night and if there ever IS a threat this is a pretty robust “threat buster.”
Keep a night light on in your barn. You don’t want to run into a snake, but neither do you want to run into a skunk. They don’t like lights. Indeed, most nocturnal creatures don’t like lights.
And, as you walk to the barn, sing loudly. Make like Julie Andrews in her prime in Austria. If your voice is as bad as mine you’ll scare off Old Scratch, himself! 
Seriously, this does work as a self-help aid. You can also use your smart phone to play tunes to sing to. Your horse will learn that this is a sign of you coming and you won’t ever startle them by inadvertently sneaking up on them. Ask me how I know this!!!
Fear is normal. Courage is overcoming fear. The person without fear can never be brave.
You’ve had lots of suggestions. Pick stuff that fits your personality. Good luck going forward!
G.
Omgod you are totally not alone. I HATED night check when I worked at a small farm as a working student. About a 200 yards 'from the house in the middle of nowhere, pitch dark, no neighbors for miles and miles located near civil war battlefields. Was terrified of civil war ghosts… Which I don’t believe in during the day.
Finding responses interesting. Headlamps are awesome, I enjoy the hands-free aspect.
From a slightly different angle, how about challenging yourself to spend more time in the dark & learn about a new perspective? There’s definitely nothing wrong with being scared, but I think people are most often afraid because it’s unfamiliar & have become sadly accustomed to a world lit up like an alien landing strip. There are a lot of beautiful experiences to be had away from the glare of artificial lights. (Safety is of course important, use what is appropriate for your situation)
I won’t have any light on the farm that I can’t turn off, except 2 soft solar lights on the hay shed (not near the horses). This is both because I moved here to get away from human-wrecked landscapes & bc animals need full dark for healthy sleep. And I love my sky & stars & moon. I also try to deal with fear as a personal challenge - all new things are scary, can I accept my fear as a useful companion who keeps me alert instead of an obstacle to a richer life?
Again, totally nothing wrong with fear, EVERYONE feels it, it’s part instinct - I’m a long-time wildlife biologist, I know what’s there, what’s a threat (nothing) & my “cave brain” still tries to convince me a dinosaur predator is going to ambush me in the dark. I still have to tell it that it won’t. Then my eyes begin to adjust & I really enjoy stopping to just listen. Every time it feels like a discovery, who’s out foraging, who’s calling (love hearing counter points between my barred owls & coyotes). Maybe give it a try for a few minutes here & there, then go longer. Can still have a light in your pocket (I do).
I am lucky in that my driveway is 0.3 mi long & no one knows my house is back here (since the only real threat for me is humans). While there is definitely crime in the general area, they’d have to work WAY too hard to get here (side bonus of being too poor to fix driveway properly). I do have a big handheld spotlight, which is great for stormy nights & weird noises I don’t want to get close to (stray dogs are the other thing I don’t trust, esp when they pack up), I can shine it across 10 acres. And even though I rarely use the outdoor house lights, I put high powered bulbs in them so they are super useful when I do.
Everyone is different & that’s ok, do what you feel safe with, but I’d encourage you to also ponder trying something new. Life has no guarantees, but I’m fairly certain that 30 seconds standing still will not be fatal (wait, did you say FL? Ok, maybe 30 seconds encased in mosquito netting…) And it could lead to unexpected beauty.
Enjoy the farm!
I agree. I’ve always been more comfortable in the dark in a rural area than in other areas. It has never worried me.
If you are worried, and OP obviously you are, motion lights are fine, however they will turn on with every pass of a critter, which can be distracting if you are in an area with wildlife.
A really powerful flashlight is your friend, I mean a big torch.:yes: It makes quite a difference, and they are most often heavy and thus can be used as a weapon as well as a guiding light.
An alert dog is priceless.
I’ve learned not to watch horror or scary movies. If you watch these or read Stephen King type books you are setting yourself up for the willies. If you must watch or read that sort of thing then you must have a Cujo of your own to defend you.
Now, so, I peronally am not a “therapy person.” But, sometimes for some people, mindfulness can give you back control. So, at the risk of sounding weird (or, charging you $180 an hour), try this:
Maybe try thinking of the darkness as protection, peace, and comfort – remember, the safest times in your life have been in the dark (ie, the womb, lying in a comfortable bed at night, closing your eyes as you rest your head on your horse or as your true love kisses you, etc.) Think of the darkness as something familiar, supportive, or like a down comforter wrapping lightly around you, “having your back.” The night is your friend, and you can move through it as easily as you would move through a group of congenial colleagues on your way to your desk at work every day.
I would skip the lighting completely, because it ruins your night vision and you might be surprised at how well your eyes adjust and let you see in the dark, if you give them a few minutes.
I will repeat, at least until you decide walking over in the dark is ok, just drive over.
What would that take, maybe a gallon of extra gas every two months?
Worth not being on edge walking over.
I have those little pocket LED flashlights that I can also hold in my mouth if I need both hands.
They are the kind that can also clip on your visor.
The kind we have is out of production, but there are many others like that out there today.
Work well to read combination locks in the dark also.
They are super handy and worth having several of those around.
I will disagree that your eyes will adjust to the dark, if it is really dark out there, enough to see clearly or where you are stepping.
Human eyes just didn’t evolve to see well enough to function in the dark.
Put a dusk to dawn light in that you can turn on and off as you need. If left on your house will be lit up 24/7 ( although you may like that). They do light up a huge area.
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