This page is dedicated to providing feedback on products and services available to equestrian consumers in Australia.
If you would like to submit your product for review, or if you are interested in being a secret shopper for us, please contact us at goldcoasthorse@me.com.
NIKWAX makes a range of cleaning and waterproofing products including products designed specifically for horse rugs.
The first thing that impressed us about this company is it’s strong environmental ethos in keeping with our own at GOLD COAST HORSE. Nikwax's commitment to water based emulsions shows their dedication to helping reduce global warming and ozone depletion. Not to mention the wash being better for the horse having no petro-chemicals.
But the question is do the products work? So far we have only had a chance to try the Rug Wash and the results speak for themselves. Below are some before and after shots showing a horse rug hand washed in NIKWAX Rug Wash. We just threw it in the laundry sink and followed the directions. We did have to use a bit of elbow grease, but judging by how dirty the rug was you can see why.
It was an easy product to use and we had great results with a particularly dirty rug. We would recommend NIKWAX rug wash to anyone who likes to keep their horses happy and healthy in clean rugs.
Rug before NIKWAX
Rug after NIKWAX
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Further details available at: www.premiumequine.com.au
POPPINS PET-SITTERS provide pet care for Gold Coasters when they go on holidays or for any reason that you can’t look after your pet for yourself.
GOLD COAST HORSE had the pleasure of using Poppins PS over our Christmas Holidays. We have 1 dog, 1 cat and 2 guinea pigs which were all treated as if they were Kylie Bennets own animals and that is very well indeed. Any worries we had about leaving them were quickly waylaid when we received plenty of text and photo updates of what the animals had been up to each day...lots of walks and cuddles.
When we got home the animals were very happy to see us, but it was clear that they had also been very well cared for. They were not stressed at all, particularly our dog who does not fair well emotionally in kennels.
We would recommend Poppins to anyone who needs peace of mind when they use a pet sitter. There is no point going on a holiday if you care going to have it ruined by worry.
Poppins Pet Sitters are VERY professional being run by Veterinary Nurses. Don’t hesitate to use them. And enjoy your holiday!
Further details available at: www.poppinspetsitters.com.au
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EquiSketch Records Iphone App. is a great little app to keep your important horse records together in one place where you can retrieve them easily.
Whether you have one horse or several and especially if you own an agistment services business, this is an ideal App for keeping yourself and the horses in your care organized.
The benefits are that you can create a profile for each horse. The profile can include all the basic details of the horse like its DOB, Name, Breed, Sex, Height and Weight and even include a photo. But then you can also include important dates to remember such as farrier visits and dental visits and the App will keep track of when the next visit is due and give you a reminder. Not only that but it will also store the Farrier/Vet/Dentist phone number and has the capacity to import them from your contacts. Farrier/Vet/Dentist history can be recorded also.
You can include the horses breeding lineage and history as well as details on health and feeding. You can also keep track of which shows you are attending and when, what events you are entering and what your results were.
This is a great App. The amount of information you can load into it is really comprehensive. It is very easy to use and fun too. It is designed for both Iphone, Ipad and Ipod touch which is a bonus. The only thing I would have liked to see is the ability to export appointments to your calendar with a click, but maybe I’m just lazy. Thank you EquiSketch for the best horse related App. I have seen so far. I won’t be able to live without this one now!
Highly recommended. At $4.99 a bargain! More info: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/equisketch-records/id392095278?mt=8#
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Filthy Beast Rug Wash is the brain child of Fiona Wallis a local eventing rider who recognized a great opportunity in this niche market providing a rug washing service with free pick up and delivery.
After all the rain we have been having lately and being very tired of washing rugs, it seemed an appropriate time to try out Fionas’ service.
How easy it was to drop our dirty rugs off at Horseland in the collection bin provided and for them to miraculously re-appear a few days later, freshly laundered. Our rugs were so well laundered in fact that I would have been quite happy to put what were previously filthy, smelly, muddy rugs, on our bed as a blanket. No kidding! That is how clean they came back.
Fiona uses industrial washing machines and our favourite NIKWAX Rug Wash as an added bonus. The procedure is very simple: Drop your rugs off at one of the many convenient drop off locations, Fiona will pick them up, take them away and wash them for you and then bring them back to your drop off point for collection. It’s easy, it’s quick and the rugs come back VERY clean. Due to our concern for our environment we would like to see a little less packaging in the returned items, but could not fault either the process or the rug wash.
We were delighted with the results and so were our ponies.
Give yourself a break from the drudgery of washing rugs and give it a go!. Visit the website for more info on drop off points etc: http://www.filthybeast.com.au
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Applied Posture Riding is a concept developed by Annette Willson
Physiotherapist, Competitor and Pilate’s trainer from the Clare Valley in South Australia.
Annette has a wealth of experience in the horse world and with the in depth knowledge she has of the human body and how it works, she has devised a set of exercises to train the human body into better posture, position and balance on horseback.
Anne identifies as the number one prerequisite for good riding- the need for core stability. To address this the exercises come in a 2 DVD set. The first DVD explains general Pilates and core stability for horse riding using in part a Pilates ball to help put you in a position more akin to being on a horse (a great idea). In the second DVD we are shown how to apply these exercises while actually riding.
Watching these DVD’s will be a real eye opener to anyone interested in improving their position and balance. You are even taken through a thorough set of exercises to identify which parts of your body are letting you down (which , I imagine, in many cases will be a real eye opener).
Got problems with unstable lower leg?...sitting trot?...balance at canter? These and many more questions are addressed in the Applied Posture Riding DVD set.
Highly recommended for riders of any discipline. More information can be found on Annettes website : http://www.applied-posture-riding.com/index.html
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The Horsekeepers Handbook has been developed by Lyn Hoffman of See Horse Enterprises as an Equine Organizer. Many of you know Lyn, an accredited Show Judge with the HSAA, she is now also an Associate Judge with the AQHA, and writes feature and training articles for Australian national equine publications. It’s this depth of experience that Lyn has brought to the development of the organizer and what makes it stand out from others.
No matter what discipline you follow or what breed of horses you have, this comprehensive organizer caters to your every need.
Containing a Month to Month Planner, through to your Horse records, Saddlery, Feed and Stable Supplies, Horse Health and Maintenance, Vehicle and Float Records, and much much more. This organizer has has got the lot. It’s a decent size too, being A4 so you can be sure you won’t run out of room.
We like this organizer, especially as it is an alternative for those people who don’t want to be bound to keeping records on computer. And even if you do, its still a great way to update your records anywhere anytime and transfer them to computer later.
The best thing is you can start the organizer at any time as it is not printed with dates. You enter your own. So no more excuses for being disorganized in the stable!
Recommended to any Horsekeeper who needs to keep comprehensive records. More information can be found on Lyns website : http://www.seehorse.com.au/
