The end of summer means many things to many people. To me it means, Pony Finals, Derby/Green Hunter Finals and the semi annual equestrian trade show.
If you follow us on social media, last week you got a taste of what going to the trade show is like, 15 floors of eye candy furniture, home goods, bedding, jewelry, shoes, kids toys and so much more! Two entire floors of the venue are solely dedicated to equestrian tack and apparel. How can you possibly see it all in 2 days!? – You can’t!!
The store owner, Noreen brought 5 of us this year including herself, so the we could do some of our scheduled agenda together and other times we dispersed to divide and conquer. When I say we took the trade show by storm, I’m not kidding. There were a few places where we quite possibly descended upon them like a tornado, unable to get enough of the products they had to show us.
One new distributor we found was Belle and Bow Equestrian, Stacie, the owner, has the most innovative gear for ponies and children that we have seen in a long time! Specializing in pony tack and rider apparel for the little ones, we could not get enough of her collection. The pony collection includes beautiful bridle work, leather equitation boots, girths, bonnets, saddle pads and more. Her entire collection offers pieces perfectly sized for small, medium and large ponies. If you have a pony on the smaller size or with a petite head, you know how hard it is to find a bridle that fits just right.
Stacie also has an array of apparel for the littles. Sure finding clothing for the 7-12 year old equestrian isn’t too hard but shopping for the 6 and under, or petite child set can be tough. Belle and Bow brought their A game to the challenge and presented us with ADORABLE well sized jods, breeches, half chaps, show shirts and show coats for this age group. As anyone with a kiddo this age knows, these kids are on their way to independence and want to do everything themselves without help. Their fine motor skills aren’t always ready for the challenge equestrian gear presents when getting ready to ride. For these kiddos, they offer the most precious pair of VELCRO paddock boots. ( insert grabby hands, squee!!)
Belle and Bow also offers a perfectly executed mini shadbelly for these little riders as well as a huge selection of matching belts, bows, garters and more that are sized for these pony jockeys. We are very excited bring this line on board later this year and show you everything you didn’t know you needed for ponies and their riders in your barn!
Another new product whose booth we stormed into last week was Equiparent, Abbi and Stephen Bentz distribute In The Loop, a super fun collection of ribbon belts for all shapes and sizes in just about any theme you can imagine and they have gear for the pups too!
Team Equiparent also brought the biggest jaw dropper of the trade show. Some of you may remember the Tingly rubber over shoes we would wear on our boots to keep them clean around the show grounds. Several years ago Tingly discontinued the style used by equestrians. Equiparent brings us The Original Boot Jacket! It’s not the over shoes we have used in the past, it’s even better! It’s an easy to use slip on zip up water resistant jacket for your boots.
Abbi saw the need for The Original Boot Jacket when she realized her daughters boots always needed a quick cleaning after a leg up before she went in the show ring. Abbi invented, designed, created and sourced manufacturing for this must have accessory for your tall boots. The Boot Jacket is easy to get on and off ( no struggling!), it slips on easily over your tall boot and covers the sole, foot and about half of the calf of your tall boot. The Boot Jacket even has a tiny hole for your spurs!
In addition to their display and products, they also brought a demo area where you could see the Boot Jacket in action. I can’t imagine the logistics of getting the demo area up 10 floors, but they did it. Abbi’s niece and daughter took turns throughout the show demonstrating getting the boots muddy and then hosing them off, as well as showing the simplicity of getting the Boot Jacket on and off. All 5 of us agree this is a MUST HAVE for your tack trunk and horse shows! You can order yours on our website HERE!
Staying on the topic of apparel, Tailored Sportsman had a huge display of up and coming apparel for next season. We did a little poll on IG choosing new breech colors, Tailored Sportsman has 5 new colors being offered for next season Toasted, Yam, Vicuña, Rosewood and Dirt Road. We did a little poll on our Instagram story, the results showed Dirt Road and Rosewood were clear favorites and blew all the other breech colors out of the water. You will definitely be seeing those two colors next year in addition to a small runs of Yam and Vicuña.
The Tailored Sportsman has some new styles coming on board for Summer 2024! The Icefil shirt collection we know and love is expanding! 2024 will bring us racerback tank tops with an embeded shelf bra as well as t-shirts all made with our favorite Icefil fabric. We can’t wait to show you the whole line!
Trust is now offering beautiful bridle work our jumper riders are going to flip for along with a collection of brand new bits and mouth pieces from Trust. Just take a look at these beautiful bridles! The leather work is impecable! We can’t wait to get these in stock for you early next season!
Tucker Tweed is expanding their line of cellphone pockets with a new ostrich leather in black, as well as a few newly designed bags we could not get enough of! The new shetland bag is perfect for an evening out, weddings, formal occasions, or just around town. This elegant bag holds everything you need with just a touch of equestrian flair packaged nicely into the soft leather design. In addition to the shetland, Tucker Tweed adds to their collection of “Stablemate” cellphone pockets and is also introducing a new line of bags using reclaimed leather appropriately named the “Barn Bag”. These roomy canvas tote bags are perfect when you need a little more room for things like, riding clothes, treats, rain coat, you know just the essentials. 🙂
Another fun line we are bringing on board later this year will be Equine & Design. This brand is very special to us because the owner and designer Erika Conklin, used to manage the counter at our Landrum location. You can also occasionally spot her on our social media stories when I can convince her to help me with video spots and challenges at my barn.
Equine & Design offers an elegant and classy collection of casual wear for schooling, riding and around town. Her witty and relatable quips on her offerings make her pieces a huge hit with equestrians of every discipline. Who can’t relate to “Vet Bills & Bar Tabs” or her series of Amatuer Confession gear ” We don’t Vacation, We Horse Show And Drink Wine”. By far I think our favorite part of her collection was her Team gear: Team Grey, Team Bay, Team Chestnut. No matter what team you’re on her home grown collection from here in South Carolina is expected to be a huge hit!
The newest in helmet technology to hit the floor at the trade show, without a doubt, had to be the Free Jump Voronoï ( Pronounced Voar Oh Noy, named for the unique pattern on the front of the helmet, discovered in nature by mathematician Gregory Voronoï.
This helmet offers one-of-a-kind protection to the thinnest part of your skull, the temporal region. This area of the skull is incredibly vulnerable due to the fragility of the bone and the meningeal artery lying just beneath this area. The risk of a hematoma from a fall is greater here than any other part of your head. Even a low-energy shock, such as a low impact, uncomplicated fall from a horse, can cause serious head trauma or even death.
The protection offered by this helmet hit a little close to home for us, late this past spring a local junior rider had an uncomplicated fall when she parted company with a green horse. In the process of the fall, the horse threw its head back and hit her in this exact location. Although she was awake and seemingly uninjured with the exception of a small laceration, a trip to the emergency room showed otherwise.
She had a slight fracture at her temporal region and the area had already begun to swell. She won a night at the hospital and a small procedure to relieve the swelling as well as 12 weeks of no jumping for her troubles. After several weeks, her Neurosurgeon cleared her to flat, with a motorcycle helmet, for the remaining weeks until he was sure the area was 100% healed.
The Free Jump Voronoï helmet, although unconventional to look at, very well could have saved her from the injury and kept her from missing her summer break in the irons.
We all took a turn trying it on, and were surprised at how lightweight the helmet is for its size. It was also very easy to put on and comfortable to wear. Hunter hair was a bit of a challenge, but with some practice it can be done. We are hoping to receive these as soon as they are released, anticipating spring of 2024.
Another new line we look forward to introducting next season is the Scandanavian brand Yaga. Yagya was founded by equestrians Matilde Urdinola and Emelie Jinhee Johnnson, drive from a shared passion to redefine equestrian apparel through conscious production and timeless design. Together, they crafted Yagya’s ethos to be centered around quality, prioritizing responsibly sourced fabrics and advanced tailoring techniques to create apparel that merges the essence of Scandinavian minimalism and equestrianism.
This was the brands first trip across the pond to an equestrian trade show here in the United States. The line of breeches, tops and outerware has a very elegant, couture look and feel to the pieces. You will be able to start seeing pieces from this brand on our website and at our WEC and TIEC locations in 2024.
The last vendor with vasts amounts of new products coming out would be R.J. Classics. The team at R.J. have been working diligently over the last few years on new competition apparel for men and curvy women.
The mens equestrian apparel was well received at the show with riders remarking on the fit and style. We think the guys are really going to like the breeches, shirts and show coats by way of price point and fit!
Curvy women are also getting more options. R.J. Classics has released a line of stylish breeches, shirts and show coats that are flattering and fashionable. We love how they are embracing making riding apparel for every body type!
This is just a small glimpse of the things we got to see, there was so much more, this post would go on for DAYS. We covered so much ground in such a short period of time. If you want to be the first to know when they arrive, sign up for our emails!
