WE ARE BACK AGAIN THIS YEAR, and super excited. We have a completely new designed trade stand which i am very excited about, and we have a completely new stock range. In fact everything on the stand is new to Windsor, and a lot of the items are new tot eh UK. We will have our amazing range of the Horse and Travel luggage bags and suitcases. These are the best designed storage bags ever. Every part has been cleverly thought through, and designed to provide a solution to issues involving storing and moving equestrian equipment. They are not only beautifully made, very cleaver and super practical, but the whole range is simply stunning and very hard wearing.

We will have the stylish Zilco luggage bags and harness bags. There is the Heritage Collection for the grey lovers out there, and the Bling collection for those who love to sparkle. Both ranges are stunning and very well made. With clever added touches such as the whip holder ont the outside of the bridle bag, and the fleece lining in the boots bags, that protects and shines your boots. The bridle and saddle bags are very roomy and will easily accommodate a full size double bridle and large dressage saddles. The holdalls are also very roomy and have lots of extra outside pockets – a real bonus for popping in last minute luggage additions. They are also stylish enough to use on weekends away t non horsey activities.

We will of course be bringing our own range of storage bags with us. In four colours – Black, Blue, Pink and Purple. We are also adding western pad bags to the collections as well. All the bags come as standard with the writing on and personalisation can be added too. Personalised bags ordered at Royal Windsor will be posted out after the completion of the show, as we are unable to do the personalisiation at the show. However you can pre order your bags, and collect at the show, we currently have 10% all personalised pre ordered bags, that are collected at the show. These bags are really, really great and every tack room should have a set. They are waterproof, and machine washable, and hold so much equipment. They are a really simple, easy way of getting your tack room super organised and super smart. They are also fabulous for on the lorry at away shows too.

We have recently added another new luggage range to our shop. It is from America and is BEAUTIFUL. the bags are all made from neoprene and are waterproof and machine washable, and they have been made in collaboration with artists. The artists paintings have been printed onto the neoprene and then made into the bags. There are a few different designs and we will have 2 to choose from. The collections include hat bags, bridle bags, jacket bags, stirrup covers, holdalls, boot bags and saddle covers. The saddle covers are reversible and are florescent colours on the underneath, so when hacking out you can turn the cover over and add some visibility whilst protecting your saddle. I am very excited about this new range.

We hope to see you at Royal Windsor, please pop by check out the ranges and say hello – stand A147 Tidy Tack Rooms.

To get your discount for collecting at the show simply pop RoyalWindsorCollection in the box at checkout, and 10% will be removed from all qualifying items.

IT IS THE FIRST DAY OF BRITISH SUMMER TIME!!!!!!!! Hooray we made it 🙂 now most ponies and horses are enjoying being naked and covering themselves in mud, which means its time to get those rugs sorted and stored for another year. We have put together a handy guide to help you get your rugs sorted .

1. Get all of your rugs out together in one big pile – and i mean EVERY SINGLE rug you own. Next go through the pile one rug at a time, rugs for cleaning put in one pile, damaged rugs put in another pile, rugs you will never use again in another pile, and finally clean rugs ready for use in a fourth pile. Be ruthless when doing this.
2. Go to the damaged rug pile and again go through each individual rug, assess the damage – is it worth keeping and repairing? If it is move it into the cleaning rug pile. If not place it in another (fifth pile) do this until all the damaged rugs have been sorted. Now with the ones you are not going to repair you can go through them again and cut off all the straps and buckles, keep these for spares, the rugs themselves you can cut the fabric up into squares to use for repairs, or ask your rug wash if they are any use to them. once you have finished put all the rugs in this pile into a bag ready for the tip.
3. The clean rugs being kept, put them away,
4. The rugs for wash and repair need to be folded and labelled ready for the rug wash. Remember to get the rug wash collection booked in. You could also pop a notice up at your yard and get everyone’s rugs taken together – some rug washes do discounts on bulk.
5. The final pile of rugs you will never use again, decided if you want to sell them, if you do then you can advertise them on FB, eBay, local tack sales etc. If you do not want the hassle of selling them then ask local charities, most of them are always in need of rugs.

When washing rugs it is best to send them away to a professional equine laundry. They have specialist equipment designed for the big heavy rugs and offer a quick turnaround and competitive pricing, they also do repairs the rugs come back looking so good. If you have small rugs you can do them in your washing machine at home, but this is not recommended as it can damage the machine, and will also leave it full of hair and dirt, and smelling of horse. If you are doing your rugs in your home machine it is best to invest in an equine laundry bag, to stop the dirt and hair getting into the machine. We have a selection here. Also make sure you are using a special rug wash detergent, and if you are reproofing it use a specific rug reproofer too. Make sure you have a good drying area, preferably out of direct sunlight (to avoid sun bleaching) you can creat a drying rail by placing a broom handle on the seats of garden chairs, and the drape the rug over the broom handle. If done on a hot day the rugs will dry fairly quickly.

Another way of washing your rugs is with a power hose, this way is quite time intensive but super fun and so rewarding to watch :). Make sure you have a large concrete area where you can lay the rug out flat, and again be sure to put a proper equine rug wash detergent in the power hose, and then give the rugs a good blast, you can literally see the dirt being blasted off – it is very therapeutic. Once the rug is clean, hang it over something to dry – the broom handle idea above will work for this too. Power hosed rugs need to be hung right up so they are not touching the floor, as they will be much wetter and need to allow the water to drip off. Power hosed rugs will also take longer to dry than than machine washed rugs, due to missing out on the spin cycle at the end of a machine wash. DO NOT be tempted to put the wet rugs in the machine on a spin cycle, the weight of them will probably break the drum.Power hosing is a great way if you do not have many rugs, however if you have a few rugs it is probably best to sent them away to be washed.

When your rugs come back from the rug wash you will need to store them in a safe place ready for next winter. There are many ways of doing this and your way will depend on space and budget. It is a good idea to look into metal feed bins or rug containers as these are rodent proof, if you have a few of you perhaps you could buy one together – them metal feed bins are good for this as they come with compartments, so you could have one compartment each. Shelving/racking is also a good way and means you can put the rugs on the top shelves and use the lower shelves for other equipment you use more often. Wooden cupboard/lockers with shelves are also a very good way of storing things.If you have limited space in the tack room, you may need to store them at home, again racking is good for this. If you are storing your rugs loose on shelves, be sure to check them every few weeks for mice/ rats nesting in them or chewing them.

If you have a lot of rugs you may wish to store them in their separate groups, for example field rugs together and stable rugs together . If you like this method then we have labelled bags that are waterproof, dust proof, dirt repellent and machine washable. These work really well if you have a metal bin you are storing them in, as you can put all they different types of rugs into their own bags, and easily find them next winter ready to use. These bags also cut down on the single use plastic. We can label the bags with anything, so if you prefer we can put sizes or weights of rug on instead. We can also put your name or your horses names on the bags too.

So most of the big brands bring out a new collection at least once, very often twice a year. PS of Sweden recently released new colours, they can be found at Philomena London .Along with matching bandages, ears and rider wear. It is a beautiful collection.. LeMieux have also put out the Loire collection which if very luxurious and sumptuous. Eskadron have also released a new collection which is very smart.

However I have done a bit of looking around and found some absolutely stunning new collections, that are a little bit different for you to have a look at. Disclaimer – I take no responsibility for the amount of money you may spend.

First up is the beautiful Sequin collection from Eclat Equestrian –

Why keep the glam for show days? This is the perfect saddle pad for both events and at home training. It features a breathable spine to allow for maximum comfort, a padded protective girth panel and is the perfect thickness for those close contact saddles.

Finished with rose gold sequin trim and the Eclat logo on the left side, you also have the option for personalisation on the right.

It comes in Navy/rose, black/rose, burgundy/rose, purple/rose and Sky blue/silver

Available in Full size £35

They also have a really good range of fur friendly numnahs and half pads

This numnah features a vented spine for maximum breath ability. Fully lined with premium quality friendly fur which washes and dries better than sheepskin and will keep heat and moisture levels to a minimum.

Cob/Full size,

Available in Black and White. The numnah is £29.50 and the half pad £19.50

Next up is Super X – Country – 

They have 2 ranges of saddlecloths, the high rise silicone saddlepad made from Breathable lining to draw away moisture and features:
High Rise cut to allow freedom around the withers
Silicone print to provide ultimate grip, keeping the saddle in place.
No need for extra bulky straps 
5 AMAZING COLOURS ALL WITH MATCHING HAT SILKS & BASE LAYERS
CAN BE CUSTOMISED – SEE MATCHING SADDLE CLOTH ITEM

£30

They also do saddlecloths to match your cross country colours, and can also provide a matching base layer and hat silk. They are beautiful, and you can get really creative and stand out in your own bespoke outfit:

Priced £25 – £40 (saddlecloth, matching items are a separate cost)

Bellissimo Bespoke Bridles have also released a Black Gp numnah. Which is a soft faux fur half lined with rolled edges at the wither and back of saddle, available in pony to extra full, with different colour cord options. You can browse the website here: www.bellissimobespokebridles.co.uk

I hope you enjoy looking at these beautiful new saddlecloths, and if you do purchase, don’t forget to get a storage bag to keep them pristine 🙂

Happy Browsing!!

If you look at the care instructions on saddlecloths there are actually quite a few that are hand wash only, please check the instruction before washing, as things like water temperature and how they are dried can cause problems to the shape of the saddlecloths.

When washing mine in the past i have found that the thicker, puffer ones such as Eskadron big squares and PS of Sweden have been fine going straight into the machine and washing well, they come out very clean. However with some of the thinner, stiffer ones like Le Mieux i have found that i have needed to give them a good scrub by hand first. I do this in the bath with a dandy brush, and then put them through the machine. I have also found they wash best if i only put one in at a time.

If you have a particularly dirty saddlecloth, or one that has gone mouldy pressure washing is a really effective, and satisfying way of washing them clean again, you can also pop through the washing machine with something like vanish or napisan afterwards to really get them sparkling.

In order to protect your machine and stop all the dust, dirt and hair getting into your washing machine you can buy wash bags to put the saddlecloths in whilst washing. These are a really good idea and they work really well, it also saves you having to wash out the machine and run it on a cleaning wash afterwards as well. We have a selection of washing bags here.

Most rug washes will also wash saddlecloths for you from as little as £2 per cloth. So if you have a large collection you can wait until a few need washing and then send them all off together.

When drying the saddlecloths it is best to hang them over a chair away from radiators and out of direct sunlight and let them dry naturally, most dry quite quickly and are ready to use in no time.

If you have a wool saddlecloth you are washing make sure you use the correct detergent for them, many of them come with a small bottle free, and you can buy bigger bottles from the tack shop or online. Wool saddlecloths should be laid out flat, wool side up to dry, and they given a brush over when fully dry to put the fluffiness back into the wool.

If you have a corrective saddlecloth with shims, be sure to remove the shims n=before washing.

Most gel pads can washed in a bucket of warm soapy water and rinsed off and left to dry, If you gel pad is loosing its stickiness then it is time for a wash, and it will become sticky again. Some gel pads are also suitable for machine washing.

Be sure to check your saddlecloth after each use to see if it needs washing, if it looks clean and your horse did not really sweat it should be good for another use before washing. However during summer month or if your horse has sweated then they will need washing before using again. Be sure to check the back hem of the saddlecloths to make sure these are getting clean int he wash, as dirt and scurf can build up here and go stiff, which in turn can lead to the saddlecloth rubbing your horse. Yo can also give your saddlecloths a good brush with a stiff brush in between uses to lift off dirt and dust etc.

Keep an eye on your horse to make sure they do not have a reaction to any of the washing products you are using. You can buy special saddlecloth wash from tack shops, or you can use baby washing detergent, however it really is trial and error to see if there is any reaction.