Trends to watch out for: Eskadron Classic SS18

I can totally get why some people think I'm a bit crazy, especially when someone asks me a question about anything that is equestrian style/brand related as I could easily talk for hours and hours and hours... Especially if the topic was Eskadron's collections! I'm always very impressed with each one of Eskadron's collections, and honestly out of all the years I've been following equestrian trends the only one that I didn't like was Eskadron Heritage 2016. But I think this collection is fantastic and deserves 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

For this SS18 collection, Eskadron has once again gone for the classic navy and grey that they tend to have for each collection so these colours are no surprise BUT what was quite unexpected (at least for me) was the colour choices for this collection! There is a lovely light mint green (jade) and what looks like a nice strong but soft shade of yellow (sunrise). I'm not a big fan of yellow but this particular shade is really pretty! And I think it was a nice touch was to add a floral pattern in, which for this collection is the 'deep blue flower' which I honestly actually liked already when I first saw it in some leaked photos. I know it's gonna be a love/hate reaction to this floral pattern, but I believe a lot of people will actually like it rather than hate it... Eskadron have already done a floral pattern in their Next Generation SS17 collection, but I do think this one is a lot prettier? 💐 But anyway, the official colours are: white, jade, deep blue, sunrise and steel grey. 

Le Mieux's integrated girth product review

Since last October, I've been using Le Mieux's integrated dressage girth (black wool) on Basse and I thought I could do a product review on it now that it's been used for several months. It's been very throgouhtly tested, and overall I love it. 

Basse has a sarcoid on the back of his right front leg, and when I tried using Vallu's Prolite girth on him last autumn it rubbed it open but luckily this girth doesn't which automatically gives the girth extra points - I am all for anything that makes my horses feel more comfortable! I am actually truly really pleased about this with this girth, as the only reason that the sarcoid isn't being rubbed open every time that I ride Basse is because this girth is just so lovely and soft. It also helps that the shape is the exact same as the Prolite girth which I love. Before I got the Le Mieux's intergrated girth I had been riding Basse in the basic neoprene soft girth, and whilst I did expect him to react to suddenly wearing a different type of girth, I didn't expect him to change so much... Our warming-up trot feels a lot looser and the elbow freedom that the design of the girth gives the horse makes a big difference. His canter has a lot more forward and upward reach, rather than being a bit sticky and hoppy!

So much space!

#HorseBloggers challenge #5Photos1Day

Those of you who follow me on Instagram might have noticed that I suddenly posted 5 photos yesterday with the hashtag #5Photos1Day. This was another fantastic challenge set by Haynet for equestrian bloggers to show viewers a typical day in your life and since I haven't done one of these types of blog posts in a while I thought it would be fun to join in - my last blog post of something related to this was last September, which too was inspired by #HorseBloggers. This really was a fab challenge set by Haynet and you too can join! You have until the end of February to take part, so simply by pick any day you want to share with us, take 5 photos that show your typical day and then share them with everyone by using the hashtag #5Photos1Day on Instagram 📸 It's been so much fun following what other bloggers have shared and to have seen a snippet of everyone's life!

HayGrazer E-Rider January competition, part 2

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about entering my very first online dressage test with the HayGrazer E-Riders, but I certainly was not expecting my results to turn in up in Finland SO quickly. We got the results on February 2nd and on the 9th I had the score sheet and rosette in my hands! Whilst I was really nervous to open up the scoresheet to see the comments, I shouldn't have been because the judge had written such lovely and encouraging remarks both in the comments for the movements as well as the final comments.

 (This blog post includes a free entry for a dressage test that was obtained in cooperation with HayGrazer E-Rider)

Like I've said before on numerous occasions, the reason why I stopped competing when we moved to Finland was that I was suddenly found the thought of going to a competition nearly panic inducing as I had made it into such a big thing in my head. Also, once my parents gave the ride on Vallu to me, there was no way that I could ride a very hot and spooky Vallu anywhere else than at home - even that was a terrifying experience some days! And once Vallu and I had moved to the U.K for my bachelor's degree at Nottingham University, the first year I was too nervous and then the following two years I had no transport. So the years accumulated up and then coupled with both boys' injuries it has taken me a while to feel like I wanted to compete again. So the opportunity to get back into the swing of things with an online competition was too good a chance to miss.

Trends to watch out for: PS of Sweden SS18

I can still remember the morning when I opened up Facebook and randomly saw a post on one of the matchy chat groups that PS of Sweden was bringing back pale pink into their SS18 collection and for some reason unbeknownst to me I clicked on the photo, after which I saw the all of the other colours that they were also bringing out for their SS18 collection. My heart rate spiked and honestly... it was a much better way to wake up at 7 in the morning than normally with my extra large cup of coffee! PS of Sweden scores 5 stars for this collection ⭐️

Although I've not covered PS of Sweden on this blog before, I have been a long time fan - we already have the pale pink monogram set, two sets of boots and two pairs of over reach boots! I'm a big supporter of all the Scandinavian/Nordic brands because I do believe they are something special, but the reason why I've not included PSOS in my trends to watch out for series before this is because they've taken their time carefully moving on from selling just bridles and accessories towards becoming a true 'equestrian brand' that also produces saddle pads, bandages and boots. I should have blogged about the AW17 collection because this is when I think they achieved this - but hey better late than never! 😜

Riding exercise of the month: 10 meter circles with transitions

It's really not difficult for me to admit that I really struggle with motivation for riding and training in January, which has always been the worst month of the year for me. Although some people find January to be a very motivational month, for me I just go into a slump and my riding becomes more 'just exercise the horse' rather than having a systematic training session each time but as soon as we hit February, I always bounce back. It's bizarre but now it's happened again and I have this fantastic riding exercise for you all which I have been LOVING riding for the last week!

So this month's riding exercise of the month is to ride 10 meter circles with 'a simple change' (canter-walk-canter transition) at the end of each one. What I tend to do is ride a walk to canter transition at A or C, and then down the long side ride THREE 10 meter circles with a transition to walk at the end of each circle - and then obviously pick up canter again after 4 or 5 steps of walk. Note - make sure you space out your circles well enough, the first few times I tried this out my circles were all next to each other rather than being several meters apart.