Equestrian Trade News November 2024 | Volume 48, No 9
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ETN | BENCH SADDLER OF THE MONTH
Celebrating the best bench saddlers…
This award, presented in conjunction with the Society of Master Saddlers (SMS), recognises those who uphold the highest standard of leathercraft skills.
This month’s winner is TAMSIN RAYMOND About Tamsin Raymond
Tamsin’s prizewinning dragon bag was made from more than 1,000 handstitched pieces.
Tamsin is a Master Saddler who runs TCR Saddlery in the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales. She was awarded second place in the SMS pre-made competition at BETA International 2024 for her dragon bag. The piece, inspired by a new season of the TV series House of the Dragon, showcases her incredible leathercraft skills. The dragon, named Cobalt, is entirely handstitched from almost 1,000 individually stamped and stitched leather ‘scales’. Tasmin had kept the pieces of Italian leather since her college days back in 2010-2012 – and had been waiting for the right project to come along. Tamsin started the dragon bag in June ahead of BETA International in September, making the head first, followed by the body. “I was working on Cobalt seven days a week for the last two weeks to make sure it was done in time,” she says. “I was really happy with how it turned out and to get a second prize placing was the icing on the cake.”
Hitting the right notes
Before training to be a saddler, Tamsin was studying music. However, she quickly realised that being at university wasn’t right for her and dropped out of the course. So what to do next? Tamsin had always enjoyed horses as a hobby, and didn’t want a career that would impact on this. “I was quite crafty, so I thought why not do saddlery - not fitting but making and creating things out of leather,” she explains.
16 | Equestrian Trade News November 2024
Working with leather
Tamsin did five short courses at the Cumbria School of Saddlery in Penrith with David May. She then completed the two-year Cordwainer’s Diploma at Capel Manor College. This was followed by a series of courses with Mark Romain at The Saddlery Training Centre in Salisbury where she undertook further training and assessments leading to full qualification as a saddler and, ultimately, Master Saddler. On successful completion of her courses, Tamsin started her own business making bespoke bridles, general repairs and creating other leather items. “It’s a 50:50 split between equestrian and nonequestrian bench work,” she says. “I don’t have a sewing machine, so everything I make is hand stitched, which is time-consuming but also very rewarding. “Last month, I made a coachman’s watch case, which is a little satchel with a pocket in the back to hold a watch. The customer borrowed one and I copied it. It was such an interesting project to do and the finished article looked great.”
Bespoke bridles
Bridles are Tamsin’s favourite item to make. Indeed, she finds it very satisfying making something by hand completely from scratch – and takes great joy from seeing a customer’s reaction as their imagination becomes a reality. Tamsin is currently working towards gaining the SMS bridle fitter qualification. “I feel strongly about making high-quality, welldesigned bridles and other items for the horse with the aim of maximising comfort,” she says. “From an ethical point of view, this is so important to me. The welfare of the horse must come first.”
Item in high demand
Tamsin is often asked for bespoke bling browbands, but says it’s taken her a while to hone her skills in this department. “I couldn’t get my head around the way I was taught, so I found a different way of doing it,” she says. “That’s the great thing about bench work; if you make little tweaks and work out how to do it yourself, there’s no reason why you can’t develop your own techniques.”
www.equestriantradenews.com
Master Saddler Tamsin Raymond at the bench where she likes to develop her own techniques. Bepoke browbands are in high demand from Tamsin’s business, TCR Saddlery. Everything Tamsin makes, like this coachman’s watch case, is handstitched.
Horse time
Tamsin has been around horses most of her life, and is on the lookout for a new one having lost her old mare a couple of years ago. To get her horsey fix, she helps look after an American miniature Shetland called Jamaican Me Proud. Tamsin says she loves being around the 9hh pony.
Ideal for horses in work or promoting condition
Ideal for good doers or those in light work
FOR ULTIMATE DIGESTIVE SUPPORT WHATEVER THEIR ENERGY REQUIREMENTS Contain ADM Protexin In-Feed Formula Both naturally low in sugar & starch Support digestive health Independently approved
How to nominate a bench saddler:
Everyone is invited to nominate bench saddlers they feel deserve to be named ETN/SMS Bench Saddler of the Month. Candidates for the award must be a member of the SMS and can be based in the UK or overseas. To nominate a bench saddler (or more than one), email editor@equestriantradenews.com and tell us why this person deserves to be put in the spotlight. Please include the bench saddler’s name and business name too.
www.equestriantradenews.com
Contact your Dengie Area Sales Manager or the Feedline for further information
01621 841188 Discover more at dengie.com
ETN | PEOPLE
People AB Agri has appointed Richard Moore as the new managing director for its Global Supplements business – home of the NAF, Natural Vetcare and Nutrilabs brands, Richard previously led ADM Protexin’s global animal and human supplements divisions. In the past, he has held leadership roles at Glanbia Performance Nutrition and Procter & Gamble. “I am thrilled to join AB Agri as managing director for Global Supplements,” Richard said. “With our innovative and market leading brands, this will be a key growth area for AB Agri.” AB Agri employs more than 3,000 people around the world and sells products into more than 100 countries. In 2022, AB Agri acquired Greencoat Limited in a deal which included the NAF, NutriLabs, Natural VetCare and Greencoat Farm brands.
Celebrity farmer and BBC TV Countryfile presenter Adam Henson, hosted a charity fundraiser – the Agria Ride – at his Cotswold Farm Park last month. The event, promoted by the insurance company, was in aid of Redwings Horse Sanctuary, Riding for the Disabled and Retraining of Racehorses.
18 | Equestrian Trade News November 2024
Emma Warren and Andrew Ransford, whose Hiho Silver tradestand is a familiar sight at shows and events across the UK, notched up three decades in business this year. They’re marking the 30th anniversary of their jewellery company by collaborating with Stevenson Brothers to give customers the chance to win a grey rocking horse inspired by Andrew’s own horse, Brian. As well as trading at many events, Hiho Silver often sponsors the Best Dressed award at the trot-up.
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Saddle fitter and retailer Steph Bradley of Freedom Saddlery has previously run horse-related fund-raisers for Macmillan Cancer Support. But the 2024 edition had added poignancy. Earlier this year, Steph underwent surgery for melanoma. She’s since made a full recovery and returned to work and competitive dressage riding. This year’s Macmillan Coffee Morning at Freedom Saddlery’s base near Chester saw dozens of visitors from local villages enjoy hot drinks and cake. The day raised more than £2,000 for the charity. Equestrian entertainment included an eight-rider quadrille, with cancer survivors Max Cookson-Johnson (13) and Sioned Roberts (64) among them. Paris Paralympics silver medallist Georgia Wilson, who is sponsored by Freedom Saddlery, was the special guest. Steph and her daughter Francesca Bradley performed a dressage pas de deux; and there was hobby horse showjumping. “The whole day was brilliant. It was a pleasure to invite local people to share the joy we have in our horses,” said Steph. “But what made it totally emotional was that my Macmillan nurse Jeni Jones (pictured with Steph) came along too.”
Equine anatomy guru Gillian Higgins has been commended for her equine head model which, with an accompanying multimedia book, shows how internal structures relate to bridle fit and design. The founder of Horses Inside Out won the open competition at the Institute of Anatomical Sciences’ Autumn Scientific Meeting at the Royal Veterinary College. www.equestriantradenews.com
PEOPLE | ETN ETN CELEBRATES DAVID BOOTH, WINNER OF THE 2024 BETA LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD David Booth is the co-founder of Westgate Labs. His idea to develop a business around postal worm egg counts for horses has changed the landscape of equine parasite control. While his foresight of the problems surrounding wormer drug resistance has done much to unite the equine health sector. David and his wife Gillian founded Westgate Labs 25 years ago. Today, the Northumberland based company has 15 members of staff while David and Gillian remain very much involved as non-executive directors. In 2015, their daughter Claire Shand joined Westgate Labs as marketing director.
Finding a better way…
David originally developed the business idea for postal worm egg counts for horses in the late 1990s, at a time when regular chemical worming was the accepted way of doing things. Living in rural Northumberland, he was aware of the wormer resistance problems in sheep and was questioning the way we were treating our own horses with regular chemicals. However, when worm egg counts sent through the vet took more than three weeks to return results and there was no clear way to interpret them, he thought there must be a better way. David used his lab experience to research the Modified MacMaster technique methodology and begun to conduct the tests himself. Not seeing many worm eggs in our own horses, he took random samples out at shows and was shocked to find counts of many thousands in these horses.
The findings both affirming the test technique and that the wider horse population had problems with parasites.
Creating a market
This experience sparked his interest and he set out to develop a business model that would help to improve the parasite control for horses in the UK. Westgate Labs was launched in 1999 with David’s wife, Gillian, as co-founding director. At every step of the way, the objective was to create a service that was as easy as possible for the horse owner to use; simple collection kits with postage paid return, rapid results backed up by best practice advice. The challenge was not only promoting the service but also the concept; educating horse owners to a new way of approaching parasite control and changing behaviour around a complex subject – no mean feat especially over a grizzly subject matter! In doing so, David created the market for commercial worm egg count companies.
He completed his SQP qualification to enable him to advise customers on their results. Westgate Labs remains the only worm egg count service provider with a free telephone helpline staffed by qualified advisors.
Pan industry group
It was not until 2009, ten years after David started his business, that the British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA) began to promote targeted worm control with a modest campaign. In 2021, Westgate Labs became an instrumental part in the founding and launching of the CANTER initiative (Controlling ANTiparasitic resistance in Equines Responsibly), a new pan industry group set up to tackle wormer resistance in horses. In 2005, the company launched its first retail kits to incentivise shop based SQPs to profit from best practice.
“The bean counter”
Now in his 70s and affectionately known as the bean counter, David insists that part of running a successful business is the responsibility to do the right thing and give back. Through 2019, he undertook a comprehensive review of packaging to help minimise waste and eliminate unnecessary plastic, launching compostable packaging for retail packs and upgrading packaging for the direct lab services to reusable and compostable envelopes, reducing waste to landfill by around 75%.
Wildlife haven
In 2018, David purchased 130 acres of restored open cast land that he is rewilding to create a space for nature and carbon sequestration. The space is becoming a haven for wildlife as well as being enjoyed by staff who walk and ride over the nature reserve at lunchtimes and after work.
www.equestriantradenews.com
Equestrian Trade News November 2024 | 19
ETN | FIBRE, FORAGE AND HAY ALTERNATIVES
Forage replacers: what are the options? Owners are increasingly looking beyond grass and hay to products with a defined energy level and additional benefits for a range of equine needs. Horse & Rider magazine’s Assistant Editor Sarah Burgess explains.
F
orage is the catch-all term used to describe the main fibre sources in a horse’s diet. For horses that live out, this will be made up mostly of grass, although possibly with supplementation using hay in winter. However, for many owners, stabling their horses for at least part of the day for part of the year – usually the winter – is the norm. This might be due to medical need, a lack of grazing, poor ground, or even convenience when daylight is reduced. In these instances, replacing the fibre provided by grazing is crucial to their horses’ wellbeing. In the past, choices were limited to wrapped hay products and chaff, but today there is a wide range of options available, aimed at every different equine need.
DID YOU KNOW?
A lack of food can result in increased stress levels, leading to unwanted behaviours.
Why a forage replacer?
There’s a number of reasons why an owner might want or need to feed a forage replacer. • To support weight loss – a low-calorie product can provide the fibre needed to maintain good gut health • Environmental enrichment – for horses who are stabled for periods, providing a variety of forage sources helps mimic natural browsing behaviours • On box rest/no access to grazing – either due to
34 | Equestrian Trade News November 2024
injury or medical need, or even when fields are flooded or frozen • Poor dentition – generally seen in older horses, damage to the incisors or molars affects a horse’s ability to bite off grass and chew up stalky forage such as hay and haylage. In these situations, a soakable product can be an excellent solution to provide fibre that requires minimal chewing • EMS/Cushing’s/laminitis prone – for some horses, a medical condition means access to grass must be avoided, either all the time or at certain times of day or year. Equine Metabolic Syndrome and Cushing’s are two conditions that make sufferers more susceptible to laminitis, and any equine with a history or likelihood of developing laminitis will benefit from a low sugar diet, but still needs plenty of fibre
DID YOU KNOW?
Horses have evolved to graze for 16–18 hours per day. As a result, their stomach and gut need a pretty constant trickle of food over a 24-hour period in order to maintain a healthy microbiome.
So, what should you stock?
• High fibre nuts: these can be fed alone as a bucket feed or added to a treat ball to top up fibre levels in the diet. • Mashes: these are either forage or beet-pulp based. Soaking times vary, which is an important
www.equestriantradenews.com
FIBRE, FORAGE AND HAY ALTERNATIVES | ETN
consideration, as products with a longer soaking time may not suit certain owners’ routines. • Chop: chaff style products have long been added to a bucket feed to increase eating time, but they can be fed alone as an easy way to increase fibre intake. There is a wide range of products on the market, for every type of horse – from those on a calorie-controlled diet to horses needing to put on condition. Added flavourings increase palatability for fussy eaters, too. • Specialist wrapped hay/haylage: for many owners, the lack of nutritional analysis of hay and bigger bale haylage is a concern, making it hard to understand how much water it contains, as well as its energy level. Choosing small bales that are analysed and packed for different needs helps take the guesswork out of the process, and can be particularly effective for horses who don’t need a large amount of forage each day, or when travelling or competing.
A complete solution
A forage-based diet is deficient in some essential vitamins and minerals needed for wellbeing. Many manufacturers pre-empt this by adding nutrients to their product – however, there are some important considerations for owners. Firstly, a product can only provide a balanced diet if it’s fed to the horse at the recommended feeding rate. Secondly, if the horse is fed a bucket feed containing a pellet or mix feed, this may also contain vitamins and minerals (and if fed at the recommended amount will provide all the horse needs). The key is that, unless an owner feeds the recommended amount of a nutritionally balanced product, their horse’s diet will need supplementing either with a broad-spectrum vitamin and mineral product or a feed balancer.
DID YOU KNOW?
Mashes have the added benefit of increasing water intake, which can be particularly beneficial in winter, as horses prefer not to drink extremely cold water, which can easily lead to dehydration.
www.equestriantradenews.com
DID YOU KNOW?
Horses need to eat around 2–2.5% of their bodyweight per day (no less than 1.5% for overweight horses). So, when time at grass is restricted, this means providing a relatively substantial amount of forage.
DID YOU KNOW?
There are many slow feeders and stable toys designed to further prolong eating time that can be used in conjunction with forage replacer products.
Equestrian Trade News November 2024 | 35
ETN | WATERPROOF CLOTHING 12
10
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10 Whatever the weather
This season’s new and improved Gateley country boots from Gallop come in cowhide waterproof leather. And with waterproof, breathable linings, the wearer’s feet stay fresh and dry all day long. These smart boots come in a choice of standard or wide fittings, while laceup sides allow for further adjustment. The RRP is £79.99, with trade prices as low as £35.99 when you buy nine units. 11
Flattering A-line shape
The WeatherBeeta Kyla II Waterproof Jacket is waterproof, windproof and
breathable with sealed seams and a lined inner quilting. Designed with an A-line shape for a modern, flattering look, it has a back hem saddle gusset with magnets for closure out of the saddle. A centre front storm guard hides a two-way zip. There are two zipped hand pockets and one internal zip pocket for valuables. The high funnel neck with tuck-away lined hood and internal elasticated cuffs provide protection from the elements. In a range of ladies’ sizes, the RRP is £159.99.
Classifieds
12 In tune with the weather
The smart Hy Equestrian Synergy Guard Waterproof Coat provides waterproof and windproof protection in all weathers. Shaped with a lower back, zipped riding vents and a two-way front zip, it’s stylish in the saddle too. A hood can be unzipped and removed. The adjustable waist creates a flattering fit, while the cosy fleece lining offers extra warmth alongside storm and thumb hole cuffs. Silver zips add a classy finish. There are two zipped front pockets.
Coming soon in SADDLERY CLEARANCE
FINAL £25K DISCOUNTED STOCK SALE Includes 69 rugs, leatherwork, 7 saddles, brushes, 33 girths, 45 pairs horse boots, 3500 carrier bags. 01890 880208 / 07719 584820 gordonstirrat@btinternet.com
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Marketing PR and advertisers including media listing directory
Please send editorial submissions for the galleries to editor@ equestriantradenews.com by 25 November.
To get involved with the features, contact: Abi Cannon on tel 01428 601028 Evie Edgar on tel 01428 601031 email etn@djmurphy.co.uk
www.equestriantradenews.com
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