2018 in review

I love looking back on the past year and seeing how much has changed as it's easy to simply forget what has happened months ago. For me, 2018 has definitely been a year for the record books as simply SO much has happened last year. Although throughout last year there were some weeks when I simply had to take a break from blogging and social media (Master's thesis I'm looking at you 👀) and some days I thought about giving up on the blog, but looking back at the year I've never felt more convinced that I want to carry on 💪🏻At the end of this month, I will have had this blog for six years, so I think it's about time that my new aim with the blog is to keep at it until we reach the big ten! 🎉

Rather than doing a recap of the whole year month by month, I've looked back at the big moments of 2018:

In January my oldest brother held his first clinic in a long time in Finland which I went to with my mother and one of our best family friends.

In February my mother was amazing and lovely when she decided that instead of selling Erik to give him to me so that I have the chance to finally get back into competing again.

In May we got a new horse for mum, our #teambay increased again and now we have 5 horses! Funny how the OG gang of just Nelli and Basse has increased to such a big group. At the end of May/beginning of June I travelled with the horses to Germany where we spent 6 weeks (all of June and half of July) at my brother's yard waiting for our new house in the UK to be emptied and ready for us.

We finally made it to the UK and I arrived home with all the horses at 1am on 13th July! We arrived just as the worst heatwave was hitting the country, and we had several weeks of +30C... I lost all motivation to ride and instead I painted and organised my new room.

Christmas wish list 2018

Is it a sign of getting older that your Christmas wish list includes more non-horsey stuff that horsey stuff? Things like some very snazzy pyjamas and bed sheets... I've been feeling very Christmassy since mid-November when my room has become the official Christmas wrapping station - I have a corner of the room that is full of wrapping paper, Christmas cards, glitter and more but for some reason this blog post has taken forever to be finished! Anyway, here is my Christmas wish list 2018 (just in case a certain brother of mine still would like some gift ideas...) 🎁🎄🎅🏼

A padded waterproof rain coat because my god does this country do rain properly! ☔️ None of my coats are coping with the three consecutive days of torrential rain... The Harcour Lupi coat is a long padded jacket 100% waterproof but it's also breathable, with polar fleece on the inside, keeping the warm in! With a very handy opening on the back side and with two pockets on the front and faux fur on the hood, it's perfect!! The Catago grey exercise quarter sheet is another one of my top wishes! I own a woollen HV Polo exercise sheet in the same style which is perfect for cold AND dry winter days, but in the last few weeks I've learnt that those days seem to be quite rare over here in Wiltshire 🌧 The quilted fleece material quickly wicks away moisture (yes pleaaaaseeee 👏🏻) and any excess heat, and a grey one with black lining means that it would go with literally all the matchy sets that I own.

Walker & Hawkes ladies pink stripe tweed coat - Equestrian Co.

I was contacted by a company called Equestrian Co. back in the spring and asked if I would be interested in reviewing a product from their site, and after having a look at their website we agreed to do a collaboration once I'd moved back to the UK 🇬🇧 Since having moved to the countryside in the most beautiful part of Wiltshire, I have totally fallen in love with country clothing, but with being busy with the horses and trying to get the house and stables sorted out, to find an online store that sells everything I could want in this style is such a bonus!

I ended up choosing the Walker & Hawkes ladies pink stripe tweed shooting coat simply because from the moment I saw it it on the website, it looked like it was "mine". 💞 The Walker and Hawkes coat is £69.95 from Equestrian Co. and no surprise, it is one of their best sellers. I can’t believe I had never thought about investing in a thick winter coat that you can wear both at the yard and going out, because this coat is very practical but also stylish at the same time. I know I will be very warm now in winter when that bitterly cold wind, rain and maybe even snow returns!! Being made from from a combination of the best quality wool (60%) polyester (25%) and acrylic (11%), there's a reason why this coat is SO WARM. When I tried the coat when it arrived during the middle of the day when it was +25C and thought I was going to melt - which guarantees that when we are facing winter temperatures again, I will be nice and toasty! I've been wearing it this autumn, and can highly recommend that if you often cold, then this is the coat for you!

With it's heavy-duty brass zipper together with the woollen cuffs inside the jacket this coat will keep you warm even in the worst possible weather, like today when the wind is bitterly cold, I was incredibly warm. So, if you're looking for a thin transition coat from summer to autumn then this coat will simply be too warm for you. But, if you're looking for the perfect autumn and winter coat then this is it! 🙌🏻 I am genuinely looking forward to going on long walks and spending time outside in winter for the first time in many many years thanks to this coat. One the best features of this coat is the fact that there are FIVE pockets - two hand warmer pockets (best thing ever!!) , two front pockets (treats for the dogs 🐶) and an extra inside pocket where you can keep your phone dry and your keys safe!

Trends to watch out for: Eskadron Young Star

Well hello there brand new collection from Eskadron! ⭐️ What a brilliantly fun collection to replace the Nici range - which personally for me is a good thing as I was never a big fan of the Nici collections, mainly because of the big logo that just ruined the look of the saddle pads and bandages. Although the Young Star collection is clearly aimed at kids, I have never seen a certain saddle pad become out of stock so quickly just on pre-orders!!! Not only has it been sold out all over the world, it's also not just sold out in DL which always the first to go, but also in VS (jump cut) and PD (pony size) too! Nothing but respect for Eskadron for managing such a feat 👏🏻

I mean just HOW CUTE is the starry design?! It reminds me of the unicorn poop rare Eskadron graffiti design and personally, I love it! 🌌 I know it's only the first collection so Eskadron are being cautious but imagine another colour in this collection, that would be so fun! If only it wasn't this time of the year (CHRISTMAS YAY!) and if only I wasn't on a ban, I would be getting the navy cotton pad and navy over reach boots *goes into storage room to figure out which old sets to sell*

Here's the promo video for the new collection  ⤵️

And such cute accessories! I really want to buy the dog coat for our new dog 🌟

Updating our arena surface

What a busy few weeks it's been! Who knew that doing work to the house and the barn and the arena would take so much time and energy, especially since we've had friends over from Finland over the previous weekend and had the carpets changed upstairs a couple of days before that. Busy busy busy!!! Two weeks ago and again on this Friday morning at 6.37am a lorry with 10 tons of rubber chippings arrived and I've never been so happy to be up and out before 7am 🌅 Definition of a horsey girl: will be happily out of bed at sunrise for anything to do with horses.