The Best 2019 Equestrian Black Friday Sales

HELLO it is that time of year again! I'll keep things very simple. So below you'll find a list of all my favourite retailers who are offering Black Friday deals (or Cyber Week deals or whatever you want to call it as it basically starts earlier and earlier each year 😳). I'll be updating this list every day with all of the latest deals and discounts from across the web. In the spirit of shopping more consciously, remember to not buy what you don't actually need or won't be giving away this Christmas, and try t buy wrapping paper which be recycled (e.g. brown paper or then use old equestrian magazines!)

I'll update this post with the latest deals over the next few days, so I guess all that's left for me to say is HAPPY BARGAIN HUNTING! 🎉 These shops have everything from rugs, bridles and boots to lotions and potions - I've got you covered no matter what you're looking for!  ⤵️

Aztec Diamond Equestrian:

THE main for me for my riding clothing, with everything on the website reduced! Starting at 9pm on Thursday 28th until Sunday, Aztec Diamond Equestrian will have a discount on every single product on their website, even their latest products - lucky us! 🙌🏻 I've already done my order having missed out on this sale last year - I bought another pair of leggings to add to my collection as well as a base layer and sport bra, but you HAVE to be quick because they sell so quickly and there's no restock coming for a few months! With this sale, if you snooze you lose. So GO GO GO!⏰

Feather Dressage:

Discounts across our the store with Pikeur, Kingsland, Spooks, selected Eskadron, Harcour, selected Roeckl, HV Polo, Imperial Riding, Anky, Catago, selected PS of Sweden and Equestrian Stockholm, with discounts ranging from 10-30%. There is free UK postage for orders over £50 📦 and free gift worth up to £14.99 when you spend over £150! No code needed, just add to basket and the rest will be taken care of! My Christmas present from my parents is coming from here with the BF discounts, I'm very excited 😍 Shop here

Foster Equestrian:

Starting at 7am on Friday 29th until midnight Sunday 1st December, Foster Equestrian has 20% off Pikeur, Eskadron (will not include the latest Heritage collection), Roeckl, Anky, and 25-40% off selected Equestrian Stockholm with FREE UK postage (discounted international postage). For Equestrian Stockholm prices will be visibly reduced on each individual item but for all other participating brands 20% will automatically be removed at checkout! 👏 Shop here 

Aztec Diamond Equestrian Black Friday 2019

Just a quick reminder for you guys that the lovely gals and guys at Aztec Diamond Equestrian have just started their 2019 Black Friday sale! You have to be quick as last time some sizes and products were sold out in minutes, which is insane yet at the same time totally understandable as this company is one of the truly great British equestrian brands.

In case you didn't know, Aztec Diamond has been one of my long time favourite brands. I've owned a pair of their leggings which are several years old and are still going strong, and honestly and truly they are my favourite ones to wear throughout the year. This year I spent the afternoon in London for a Behind The Scenes press day in the amazing Core Clapton building and after meeting Jordan this brand became a firm favourite. Jordan is so awe inspiring and just so lovely that you can't help but slightly fall in love with her products, because so much time, dedication and love go into the design of every single item. 

So now that Black Friday sales are here, I wanted to highlight to you the Aztec Diamond Equestrian sale, which is THE main for me for my riding clothing. Everything on the website is reduced! Starting at 9pm today on Thursday 28th until Sunday, Aztec Diamond Equestrian will have a discount on every single product on their website, even their latest products - lucky us! 🙌🏻 Leggings are -10%, base layers are -20%, sports bras are -50%, breeches are between -30 to -50%. The latest pull on hoodies are -10% as is their brilliant new rain jacket too. Don't forget that the Young Rider collection is also included in this sale, so if you've got a young member of the family AD have got you covered too, with -20% to -50%!

I'm going for another pair of leggings to add to my collection as well as a base layer and sports bra, but you HAVE to be quick because they sell so quickly and there's no restock coming for a few months! I LOVE my leggings, but honestly I'm super excited to find out what the sports bra and base layer will be like too.

With this sale, if you snooze you lose. So GO GO GO!⏰

HAPPY BARGAIN HUNTING! 🎉

 * This is a sponsored blog post with Aztec Diamond Equestrian, but all of my views and thoughts are honest and I do truly love the brand *

Riding exercise of the month: trot-halt-rein back-trot

Every winter when the clocks go back and it gets darker earlier and earlier, I always go through a few weeks of experiencing a persistent grumpy mood, a loss of interest in just about everything and constantly feeling lethargic and sleepy during the day - I wouldn't say that it's seasonal affective disorder since it only lasts for a few weeks but I do think it's the winter blues hitting me hard. But now that a few weeks have passed and I've started feeling better and more like myself again - it's time for one of my favourite riding exercises, the trot-halt-rein back-trot!

The trot-halt-rein back-trot is a fabulous exercise for creating a quick burst of engagement in your horse’s movement. I was taught this in one of my lessons with Andrew Fletcher years ago with Vallu and it's one of those exercises that I always go back to whenever I need a little bit more oomph from the horses. It's a great chance to practice getting sharp responses from your horse, especially for getting them to think more quickly. Obviously first do your normal warm up, and then once you're ready find a nice rhythmical trot. When you feel like your horse is ready, ask for a prompt halt. Make sure you are not pulling back on the reins to halt. When the horse stands still, ask for  3-4 steps rein back and then go forward into a trot from the rein back. And repeat again, again and again until it feels good. The repetitions that you do within this exercise allows the horse to naturally improve each time, because they can start to anticipate what comes next. 

Blog Hop: Playing Favourites

This was a great rainy & stormy day diversion for me! Although it's a beautiful November Sunday here in Wiltshire today, we've had relentless rain and gusts of wind for the last 24 hours and I felt like I was starting to go crazy, so a big thank you Raincoast Rider for such fabulous questions.

1. Favorite show venue:

The best ones that I've actually been to is both the Royal Windsor Horse Show as well as London Olympia Horse Show. I've just booked our tickets to go to Olympia this year, we're off on Monday 16th to see the Grand Prix dressage class and I'm SO excited 🎉 My favourite to watch or livestream is always Badminton Horse Trials, although next year I am determined to actually go there since I only live about 45 minutes away.

2. Favorite discipline:

It's not going to surprise anyone that my favourite discipline is dressage. I like the training, the dedication and the complete focus required. That being said, whenever I get stuck or bored I go out for a long hack or do some pole work and suddenly everything goes better again!

3. Favorite horse colour:

Bay, but grey has an incredibly special place in my heart 🦄💕

4. Favorite tack store:

Feather Dressage and Foster Equestrian are my favourite tack shops - amazing products, they're always happy to hold items for you, it's never any bother if you'd like order in any special items that aren't in stock and they have SO many different brands in stock. My favourite local shop is Equiboodle, which is less than 10 minutes down the road from me!

Christmas gift guide 2019

So now that it’s November we can officially start to talk about Christmas!! 🎄 So I've put together a list of gift ideas, from companies that I love. Hopefully this will help with presents - we've still got several weeks left AND with Black Friday coming it's the perfect time to get shopping! There's everything here from affordable stocking fillers to big gifts for your significant other/parent/sibling/best friend/yard buddy/yourself 🎁

1. EquiXtreme UK Show Kit (£15)

I've seen this fantastic EquiXtreme UK show kit mentioned a lot over the last year on social media so I thought I ought to also include it! This little pack is perfect for keeping with your competition gear the trailer or your tack room, as it has everything you could possibly need. It has little containers of their tack cleaner & conditioner, fly spray, hair polish, mane & tail detangler and their coat whitener to remove those last minute stains.

2. Bespoke & Personal brushes (starting from £18)
I won a collection of different Bespoke & Personal products from an Instagram competition and I absolutely adore my brushes, especially the goat hair body brush which is a great addition to a grooming kit for anyone AND no more losing brushes as you can have their name engraved on it! The dandy brush, mane comb and hoof pick are also some of my favourites pieces in my grooming kit.

3. Kingsland Walters set of socks (£22)

Socks are always a trusty present to give at Christmas! These Kingsland ones come as a pack of 3 pairs of socks that have a super thin feel with a thicker footbed, and I guarantee they will be a success! 👣My oldest pair are over 5 years old and they still feel incredible under my boots.

10 tips for getting ready for winter

1. Get a head torch. You don't have to use the light on your phone and risk losing your phone in a puddle or worry about the battery running out AND you'll have both hands free for whatever tasks you need to do! 🔦

2. Always wear a hat — you lose most of your body heat through your head. Or if you're not the biggest fan of hats, then wear a wooly headband so that at least you feel a little bit warmer and your ears don't freeze.

3. Buy thermal liners for your wellies and fingerless gloves so you can still do fiddly jobs. Always wear a t-shirt or a vest that you can tuck in to your breeches/leggings/jeans and keep the warmth in. I know several friends who used to suffer from chilblains down their legs, but now they combat this with thermal breeches and waterproof over-trousers whenever its raining. 👖

4. Put hard surfacing or rubber matting around the field gates to prevent sinking into mud - this has made such a big difference already to us and it's only early November! No more muddy pathways to the paddocks where you have to do badly executed gymnastics moves in order to get your welly out of the mud!

5. A radiator for the tack room will prevent tack getting damp and mouldy which means you have to spend less time cleaning tack over the winter.