Trends to watch out for: Equestrian Stockholm SS20 collection

Well hello second spring summer collection release of 2020! My goodness these companies are starting earlier and earlier each year, I think there might be a competition to get customers' attentions and get the customer to stick with them rather than going for other equestrian companies 🤗 Which is good for us, because we need something to distract us from the miserable weather we've been having recently! So, let's have a closer look at Equestrian Stockholm's spring summer 2020 collection...

So the first colours that they've released are the lovely steel blue and the fantastic amazonite - which I renamed as denim and peacock when I was trying to explain them 🦚 It's brilliant to see that both colours have clothing that matches, but also boots as well as over reach boots so that those who don't like to bandage have something else - much more fair! Although I was initially worried that steel blue would be very similar to ES's ice blue colour, having now seen the comparison photos it is indeed different, it's a deeper and darker shade of blue - there is a definitely a big enough difference to warrant you getting both. I had the same worry for amazonite that it would be close to emerald, and although it is closer to emerald than steel blue is to ice blue, it is still a shade or two different. And before you go, oh they're doing just two colours? ES have a naughty habit of releasing more colours later on, and from the sneak peaks that they shared online whilst they were shooting these photos I spotted at least two other colours - a pale green reminiscent of pistage with a cream binding, as well as a grey pad with Bordeaux binding to match their new competition jacket in bordeaux. So more than likely, these will be released in a few months time!

Introducing Feather & Fell

Well 2020 has started off very well! 🎉 With all three horses in work, the days starting to get longer and the competition season starting to get closer, it really does feel like 2020 will be a lot nicer to me than last year was. On top of all of that, I have some very very exciting news to share with you - which you already know if you follow me on Instagram or my blog's Facebook page (and if not, then you've probably guessed for the title of this blog post) but I am SO delighted to share with you that I'm officially a brand ambassador for Feather & Fell! 💚✨ This is a company that suits me down to the ground - country lifestyle gift boxes as well as products for both dogs and horses, and I know you'll love them too! Let me introduce them to you a little bit more.

So Feather & Fell is a small business run by a country couple who saw a gap in the country life market of subscription boxes.  Their aim is to deliver a touch of the country side within a luxury gift style box on a quarterly basis and for the box to be an ideal indulgence for all lovers of the country whether you're a full time farmer, happy hacker, a game keeper or an occasional dog walker. Their products range from practical to very very pretty, also there's something for everyone! You can find out what's inside these boxes by clicking here. And it's not just subscription boxes, there are also gift boxes for us equestrians which I think will be perfect for birthdays or Christmas, or whenever you're in need of a lovely gift! 🎁

Trends to watch out for: Le Mieux SS20 collection

Wow! We're only half way through the first month of 2020 and already we have our first spring/summer collection being released! I for one am very very excited to start seeing more and more collections, I adore the brighter colours that companies bring out and it makes me feel like we are on the home straight towards spring. 💐 But first of all, let's have a closer look at this year's first collection which is by the fabulous British company Horse Health who produce all the Le Mieux products.

The beautiful new spring/summer collection from Le Mieux includes four new colours: champagne, french rose, mint and citron. Whilst champagne looks rather similar to caramel/beige, the other other colours are rather exciting! 🍋💚Citron and mint are also in the new Mini collection which is aimed at 5-12 year olds. I mean how cute is it that if you have kids you could do the ultimate matchy and have everyone dressed in the same colour?! I also really appreciate the fact that a company is being inclusive enough to create products for kids too. French rose, mint and citron have got matching hat silk, base layer and t shirts, but champagne doesn't so you'll have to hunt down matching rider clothing from somewhere else!

The trouble with travers

Travers (also known as haunches-in) is one of those movements that I hardly ever ride, and I know I really should ride it more often but for some reason I've never really liked the movement. I first learnt about it with Basse when I was having lessons to try to help him to learn half pass, as this movement is often used in schooling as a way to prep the horse for teaching them half-pass but it's never been one of my favourites to ride.

 So let's just recap what travers really is - when riding this movement the horse is asked to bring their hindquarters to the inside of the line they're being ridden on, whilst maintaining bend through the poll, neck and body in the direction of travel. So essentially, if you're riding this on the long side of the arena the horses bum is 'in' and the rest of their body is still on the long side. You can ride it on any line and it is particularly useful for communicating to the horse the meaning of your inside and outside legs. If you really want to challenge yourself and your horse, ride travers on the 3/4 line and if you can get it perfect you know your travers is in fine shape! 🐴