December is here! Time to hit up those holiday closeout sales and shower your friends and families with meaningful gifts. Alas, being a horse person at any age can certainly complicate things! So here’s a handy guide of ideas for your horse loving adult family members and friends. There will be a second post all about gifts for kids.
Know before you buy:
What does your equestrian consider his or her “Color” everyone has one. Mine is electric blue. Find that out, because if you CAN buy horse stuff in their official color you ABSOLUTELY SHOULD.
What is their horse’s name, breed and what color is it? Again, if you’re going to go custom with something you may consider customizing with the horse’s name. Make sure you know how to spell it! Checkout their Facebook or Instagram pages for the correct spelling or barn name. I’ve got a horse named Diamante, I always call him “Bling.”
Five Solid Ideas:
1: Bags and organizers: Does your girlfriend’s car look like a tack trunk exploded? Does your wife often go from work directly to the barn? Organizers for the backseat or trunk of a car are a great gift for your equestrian! Your equestrian can easily store her riding gear neatly away from her jumper cables and grocery bags. Along the same line, a stylish equestrian backpack or customized canvas bags also make ideal gifts for dragging your horse equipment around. Little stylish zipper pouches are excellent gifts to go along with bags. They hold on to bits and bobs from work outfits or small things, like spurs.
2: Technology: Are you constantly being asked to video your horse loving friend when you come out to the barn? Have you really been a jerk lately and seriously need to make up for it with a wonderful Christmas gift? Look no further than self-tracking cameras. There are several companies out there who make a self-tracking Camera. The Pixo robot camera man ensures your horse person can video each ride all by themselves! This system works indoors as well as outdoors. For jumpers, eventers, barrel racers a Cambox under helmet camera is a lighter, safer and smaller option to the ever-popular GoPro.
3: Treats for the horse: You may not want to spend the time trying to track down actual equestrian items for your special person. You can however, add something into your gift giving plan just for the horse. Most all horses LOVE peppermints. Yup, peppermints, available at Walgreens for like $2.00. Simply thinking of the horse on the holidays can be enough to really make an equestrian’s holiday.
4: Music to their ears: One thing equestrians may or may not tell you is they 100% have a theme song for their horse. They certainly love to listen to music while they ride. Wireless bluetooth ear buds are a great idea for your horse lover. As are small, sturdy bluetooth speakers they can keep in a tack locker. Pair your wireless bluetooth speaker with some saddle soap, and new rags and your equestrian will swoon at how thoughtful you are.
5: Photos Horse people LOVE photos of their horses. Is their Instagram or Facebook profile photo of their horse? Print those photos off on a larger scale and gift it to your horse loving friend. Better yet, find a great local photographer and pay for a photoshoot for your loved one and their horse.
So where do you find this stuff?
Horse people buy “horse stuff” all over the place, not just specialized retailers.Believe it or not, Amazon has a wide assortment of equestrian items, be sure before you buy that you know what size you are looking for and what color. As with all things Amazon you sort of need to know what you are looking for. Reliable brands on amazon that sell some of these things are: Ariat, Noble Outfitters, Equine Couture, Classic Equine
In Lincoln you can find “Tack” or horse equipment at The Fort Western and Tractor Supply Company. In Omaha, there are two tack stores: Reg & Wally’s and The Paddock, both places will be more than happy to assist you in finding something horsey for your loved one.
