Riding Horses in the Dark

As bikehooligan mentioned, horses have pretty good natural night vision.  The high-intensity light from a flashlight is blinding and actually worsens their vision.   The serious endurance folks generally rely on their horses to take them through their courses at night. You can train the horse to stay on the trail; trouble arises when there is a split and you, the navigator misses it!  So.. most poeple let the horse's eyes do the work and turn on their headlamps when they need to make a navigation decision.  My recomendation though, is that hat if you go this route... wear kneepads!  You're bound to get your knee bonked!