September Equestrian blog hop - Why do I blog?

One day during August as I was scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed, I saw that Heather from Bridle & Bone had posted a question about the idea of a blog hop to the Equestrian Bloggers Facebook group and yes, I was very excited to join in. I've long taken part in lots and lots of equestrian blog hops simply because it is a great way of finding new blogs to read and providing content that is different to my usual blog posts, which is why I'm am really pleased to be taking part in the first ever Equestrian Bloggers one! 🎉🎊

September's topic is "Why did you start blogging? How did it all begin?" 

Trends to watch out for: Equestrian Stocholm AW17

Following on from my 'Trends to watch out for' series with Eskadron and HV Polo's autumn/winter collections, here is the third one featuring Equestrian Stockholm! Everyone knows that I have been a BIG fan of Equestrian Stockholm ever since they started, especially since they are a Scandinavian company and I will always support companies from 'my' area. I've honestly loved every single colour from each collection so far, and this season is the same. Deep plum, steel grey and golden brass are such autumnal colours, it's perfect🍁🍂

For those of you who may be put off by the prices (I did have the same reservations at the beginning) these pads have lasted even better than my Eskadron sets... My midnight blue pad is a year old and apart from a few scratches on the logo from the washing machine, you wouldn't be able to tell that it's had a year of being my most used saddle pad! 👌🏻If you are looking for a really smart matchy set, I'd recommend ES.

An interview with the DressMyHorse app creators

A couple a days ago as I was scrolling through my Facebook feed I saw that someone had shared the link to this new app, where you can upload a photo of your horse and try on different matchy sets, instead of having to ask on different Facebook groups for photos of other people's horses wearing a certain set. This app was definitely built for people like myself who have a matchy addiction, so naturally I was very curious so I immediately downloaded the app and got to work. After a few days of playing with different sets on Basse, I knew this had been a fantastic idea which is why I went to their website to read more about the people behind the app. According to their about page, Sonja and Neil are "horse owners and self-confessed horsewear and tack shopaholics" who decided to build the app "because of an awkwardly red chestnut and its indecisive owner." I love this, because finally someone has understood the matchy problems we face (can't decide what colour to buy...)  and done something about it.

Ride more, worry less

It's been well over 6 weeks now that Basse has been off work. He's not been lame or anything like that, but the muscles in his back and around his pelvis were inflamed and sore so I've just been waiting and praying for him to get better. There's always something that we can worry about our horses isn't there? He's had lots of days off and lots of turn out, as well going hacking and a little bit of lunging work, and I think I've ridden him 'properly' a maximum of 5 times during this time.

Last weekend our chiropractor came to treat all the horses once again and I was incredibly nervous! I didn't think I would be, but I could feel myself shaking a bit before she started to work on Basse. I was very pleased to be told that his back was much better and that now I just need to get him moving a lot. I have 2 to 3 weeks of riding him mainly in trot and always long and low, which is something that he loves to do, but only once he has actually figured out where he his head and neck are meant to go - before these pictures he mainly resembled a giraffe.

My typical day

Inspired by Haynet's #horsebloggers blogging tips that were shared throughout August on twitter, tip #8 was to write about your typical day which is something that I have actually never done before on this blog! I've always enjoyed reading about other people's daily lives because I'm a very nosy person  🙈 so I thought I would share what my typical day looks like. 

As most of you will know, I am fortunate enough to have the horses at home. My parents have owned this place for 7+ years, which means our yard jobs are almost second nature by now and our routine is pretty much the same every day! I feed the horses their breakfast feed and hay at 6am, the horses are turned out before 9am, the morning yard is done by 11am at the latest and after 1pm they come in for lunch. Those who are ridden/exercised that day will be done so at some point in the afternoon and those who have a day off are turned out again for the afternoon until dinner time. The evening yard chores and dinner are done around 8-9pm.

Trends to watch out for: Eskadron Classic AW17

I presume most people following this blog know that I am an avid Eskadron fan. For me, there is no other brand that has guaranteed great quality products which are stunning and Eskadron are always the one I look out for when new season collections start appearing! So for part 2 of my autumn/winter trends to watch out for, here's a quick look at Eskadron's classic sport AW17 collection:

The colours for this collection are dark taupe (brown), navy, orchid mauve (pinky colour), aqua marine and the lovely anthra melange (grey). I am a big big big fan of pinks and blues, so this collection is a huge success for me and scores 10/10 for sure! There is always going to be some shade of brown in every Eskadron collection, and once again this is a lovely shade. I also think the dark navy will be popular too, but from seeing everyone's preorders orchid mauve has already nearly sold out - how crazy is that?! The collection isn't even in shops yet but they're already nearly impossible to get hold of.

Dressage training with Ville Vaurio: “trust me, nothing bad will happen”

There aren’t that many scenarios that make me nervous when riding Vallu anymore (excluding hacking), but I have to say that the building works, galloping horses on side of the arena, people riding their horses on the canter track on the other side of the arena, gale force wind as well as people coming and going to the patio next to the arena as a combination did freak me out to begin with… 🙄 Talk about being thrown into the deep end! Especially when you are used to riding alone on your quiet arena with no interruptions apart from tractors and other traffic on the road near your arena. There was even one girl who was rude enough to jump over the poles that had been put in the middle of the arena to create separate spaces for those riding in the clinic and those who weren’t, and several times she jumped them right as I rode past and nearly rode into me! #mannersplease But after this slightly heart attack inducing warm up, I have to say I’m so happy that we went to have a lesson and that it was so busy there because now I have a new tactic on how to deal with a Vallu who has crept into his shell, is spooky but also behind the leg (talented horse right here…)

I’ve always been told to kick and ride forwards to make the horse busy when they are being spooky and that’s what I’ve always tried to do, but on the rare occasion that Vallu has been spooky as well as being behind the leg, I have always struggled with what to actually do to get him working normally. Asking him to go forwards has tended to result in more spooks (during this lesson I had 2 ‘leap into the air and then take off with me’) or then a canter that doesn’t actually go anywhere and his neck so tense that nothing you do can get it to move… But today Ville managed to get me to ride Vallu in a such a way that in the end despite everything that was going on around us I managed to get some of the best canter work out of Vallu AND some of the best working pirouettes ever!!

Top 5 equestrian products I can't live without

Inspired by Haynet's #horsebloggers blogging tips that were shared throughout August on twitter, tip #21 was to write about the top 5 equestrian products I can't live without, so here goes:

1. Pikeur breeches - I'm the first one to always recommend Pikeur when someone asks for recommendations for breeches because they just last and last and last! My oldest pair were 7+ years old before they were done and I essentially live in my newest ones. I know they have a hefty price tag on them, but in my opinion they are worth it and a top product that I could not live without.

2. My Shires Highlander Lite Combo turnout rug - it gets used so much from early spring to the end of autumn, it's the one rug that I feel like I would struggle with rugging if I didn't have it. Also considering it's price, it has done really well with staying waterproof! Even after 2 winters I haven't had to reproof it yet.