If there’s one thing that can be said about the equine community... it’s that in times of need we band together to help. And the COVID-19 pandemic is definitely no exception. Here’s how a few of our vendors stepped up to the plate to help those serving the front lines as well as members of our community!
Equifit
While continuing to fulfill normal orders, our friends over at Equifit have also added a new “product” to their repertoire! The Product and Development Team collaborated with medical professionals and created a special “Essential 3-Ply Face Mask” that is now available for purchase on the company’s website. CEO and President of Equifit, Alexandra Cherubini, stated in her letter to the public, “The 3-ply masks are designed with two layers of 100% cotton and a layer of fabric that includes AgSilver™, known to help guard against microbial growth.” And it doesn’t stop there, Equifit is continuing to explore and develop new solutions to better protect our healthcare professionals, first responders and members of the community!
Perri’s Leather
Perri’s Leather known for their beautiful leather halters and equine equipment has also jumped in to help those in need during this time. They teamed up with their Amish families and started SEWING, SEWING, SEWING… face masks that is! Perri’s Leather is offering a set of three face masks for free (just pay shipping) if you are a healthcare or other essential worker! They are also selling personal face masks on their website for the public, and all proceeds from those sales go right back into purchasing more materials for more masks! If you want to help, Perri’s will gladly accept fabric donations.
Frederique Poulain Designs
And it’s not just our large vendors that are putting their normal production on hold to help out! You may know Frederique Poulain through her amazing pottery, perhaps you won a custom year-end award piece she has done for many organizations. Did you also know she has a love of fabric? Frederique resides in Massachusetts where she creates custom hand-painted pottery pieces as well as hand-painted apparel, including beautiful scarves and jackets. In light of the current crisis, Frederique has put a temporary hold on her pottery and donating her time towards the sewing of free face masks for local hospitals and nursing homes. Additionally, she is selling some equestrian & pet themed masks to the community as requested. In her words
"If you are awaiting painted ceramic pieces, please be patient as I am now busy sewing medical face masks. Local hospital and nursing homes in desperate need. I will get ceramics out this week... I promise. I’ve never thought about this until now but, fortunately, there has truly never been such a thing as a CERAMICS EMERGENCY!’.
If you are interested in purchasing a mask from Frederique, simply message her on Facebook.
Ariat
Announced this past weekend that in addition to donating needed supplies to health care providers, essential workers & distribution centers, they have donated $100,000.00 to Team Rubicon's COVID19 relief efforts. The funds will assist Rubicion in their disaster relief efforts. Currently Team Rubicon is assisting at food distribution centers, providing transportation logistics for affected individuals, & staffing corona virus testing facilities.
Team Rubicon is a non profit organization disaster response organization that serves communities by mobilizing veterans to continue their service, leveraging their skills and experience to help people prepare, respond, and recover from disasters and humanitarian crises. Team Rubicon currently maintains a roster of 110,000+ volunteers able to deploy throughout the United States and world.
Tory Leather
We carry some pretty amazing quality leather goods from Tory. Fox hunting bridles, side reins, draw reins & much more. Based in Pennsylvania, Tory has been shut down as non essential. That said, Ben Mecklback was encouraged by the response from the equestrian community. Which prompted him to switch from stitching leather, to stitching masks. Using a variety of prints, these double layer masks use a pattern given to Tory by a non profit corporate partner. These 100% cotton masks are double layered with a pocket for an interchangeable filter of the users choice. Originally given away to locals in need, there has been such a demand Tory is now offering them for sale to the public.
These are just a few examples of the incredible efforts being made from members of the equestrian community! We’re all doing our parts in some way, from staying home - to actually working on those front lines! And if we all do our part… we’ll hopefully reach our goal of getting back to horse showing this summer!
