Five Star sponsored riders are getting the year off to a great start!
Kristin Schmolze and Doug Payne are in Aiken, SC for the winter and have had strong showings on the eventing winter circuit. They have both won and placed with all of their horses so far. At last weekend's Pine Top horse trials Doug was fifth in an Open Intermediate section riding Happy Valley and Kristin was third in an Advanced section on her Cavaldi. Cavaldi is a horse who truly loves his job and he is lovely to watch!
I got a chance to meet Willie Tynan in Ocala and he has some very impressive horses this year. In Victoriano's first show this year he was first and third in the Level 5 and Level 6 jumpers. This horse had a number of wins in the young jumpers last year and it's great to see that carry over into the new year. Willie is riding two new horses, Flintstone and Cartier van Shuttershot, and both horses have gotten high ribbons including a third in the Open Welcome on Cartier. They will be moving up to the Friday Grand Prix next. It will be exciting to see how the year proceeds as Willie feels these horses are top notch!
Amanda Flint is down at the Gulf Coast Winter Circuit and has had high placings with all of her horses ranging from the five year old jumper classes up to the grand prix. Last week she was fifth in the Nutrena Grand Prix and won classes in the five year old and 7 & 8 year old jumpers. Amanda has a number of horses she has started from a young age and carefully brought along.
Shannon Slyfield's horse Sacramento N crossed over into hunter land at the recent Great Southwest Winter Series and was sixth in the $10,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby. Rumor has it Shannon may be trading in her grand prix coat for a shadbelly!
One of the things I really admire in all of these riders is their partnership with the horses they ride. They take great care to do right by their horses. While there are many people out there complaining that riders today have no horse management skills I can say with certainty that is not the case with these riders. They know every detail of what is going on with their horses and carefully plan out what competitions they are going to and what level to ride at. They don't leave the job to others to do. While others complain that horse sports have become too much of a business and that money has taken importance over the horse's well being, these riders do what's best for the horse first.
If you are at a show or event and get to see Kristin, Doug, Amanda, Shannon or Willie ride be sure to give them an extra loud cheer as they deserve it for all of their hard work! While it takes years to make it to the top levels of eventing and show jumping I think all of these riders are destined to make it and Five Star Tack is proud to be associated with them!
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Monday, February 1, 2010
If you could have the perfect bridle........
This is the question I am posing to anyone that follows Five Star Tack. Whether you've been a customer or follow us on Facebook your opinion counts! One of the advantages of being a small company is the ability to change and evolve in order to respond to customer requests and changing market trends. Sort of like being the nimble thoroughbred as opposed to the big heavy Clydesdale (I am a sucker for TB's and I really need to stay off the CANTER site)! Anyway, we have been reworking some of our products as sometimes a design that looks good on paper isn't quite what you want when you actually hold it. I purposely did not order large quantities of anything for this very reason. Hence, we had a limited product roll out for our first year so that we could "tweak" each product until it was truly something special and met customer needs.
In that vein, I started thinking it would be great to get YOUR input regarding products. Is there a perfect bridle you can think of? Are there things you don't like about tack you've had? Is there anything you don't like about Five Star's products OR would like to see us make? While our website is a bit of a hodge podge at the moment since we are low in inventory in many items, are there things about the website you think we should change? What do you think of the bridles with benefits program? Let me know!
Consider yourself part of a focus group and feel free to post what you think. We have already responded to requests for additional leather colors and different nose bands. Your thoughts will definitely be considered and listened to and if it's a good idea it will be incorporated into our product line and/or website.
Thanks for your help in making Five Star Tack an even better company!
Jamie
In that vein, I started thinking it would be great to get YOUR input regarding products. Is there a perfect bridle you can think of? Are there things you don't like about tack you've had? Is there anything you don't like about Five Star's products OR would like to see us make? While our website is a bit of a hodge podge at the moment since we are low in inventory in many items, are there things about the website you think we should change? What do you think of the bridles with benefits program? Let me know!
Consider yourself part of a focus group and feel free to post what you think. We have already responded to requests for additional leather colors and different nose bands. Your thoughts will definitely be considered and listened to and if it's a good idea it will be incorporated into our product line and/or website.
Thanks for your help in making Five Star Tack an even better company!
Jamie
Thursday, January 21, 2010
New Designs
One of the reasons for starting Five Star Tack was to develop a recognizable brand of bridles. So often the bridles look like copies of each other with each having an identical stitch pattern. When you go to your local tack shop there are sometimes rows of bridles with not much of a way to tell the difference between one brand or another except for the price tag. So my goal was and is to have a bridle that buyers will recognize for it's distinctive look, top quality and a company that actively supports equestrian sport and charity.
Quality is always in the back of my mind and I've lost a lot of sleep over it in the last year! There have been many times when I have felt like the new unknown fashion designer putting together their first line. You have to make a great impression on a demanding and knowledgeable audience and there is no way of knowing whether your designs will receive a "thumbs up" until you present them. You can do all your design sketches and then see the finished product and realize you have to start all over again or the person making your designs doesn't do the right job. You have to constantly make adjustments based on what your goals are while keeping an eye on what the market is doing.
While it used to be that the majority of bridles were made in England, the high cost of labor and top quality hides has brought about change. In bridle design the trend is moving towards brands being made in developing countries by large manufacturers assembling bridles for different companies. Much of the work is done by computerized machines with the labor mostly unskilled. They are merely following orders and have no knowledge of horses. The leather may be from England or the leather comes from another country and is tanned using "english methods". What this does is it makes it possible to produce tack at a lower cost but as is often the case, the quality is not the same. Maybe this doesn't matter to you and the most important criteria for you in buying a bridle is price but for me it does matter.
If you are going to differentiate yourself from the competition then you can't be like the competition. In light of this Five Star has switched to a new production company. Located in Dorset, England it is a small shop who makes bridles the "old fashion" way; by hand. They are also a shop who has received awards for their bridle work from the UK's Society of Master Saddlers of which they are a member. We have switched all the buckles from regular stainless steel to Sprenger german silver and will continue to use Sedgwick's best leather. It has taken longer to rework some of the styles than I anticipated but sometimes it can be tricky to integrate functionality and style. You have to be patient and think long term which is sometimes difficult. I am hopeful that these designs will be even more successful than our current ones and I look forward to your feedback!
If you have any comments on the tack market or questions please post them here!
Quality is always in the back of my mind and I've lost a lot of sleep over it in the last year! There have been many times when I have felt like the new unknown fashion designer putting together their first line. You have to make a great impression on a demanding and knowledgeable audience and there is no way of knowing whether your designs will receive a "thumbs up" until you present them. You can do all your design sketches and then see the finished product and realize you have to start all over again or the person making your designs doesn't do the right job. You have to constantly make adjustments based on what your goals are while keeping an eye on what the market is doing.
While it used to be that the majority of bridles were made in England, the high cost of labor and top quality hides has brought about change. In bridle design the trend is moving towards brands being made in developing countries by large manufacturers assembling bridles for different companies. Much of the work is done by computerized machines with the labor mostly unskilled. They are merely following orders and have no knowledge of horses. The leather may be from England or the leather comes from another country and is tanned using "english methods". What this does is it makes it possible to produce tack at a lower cost but as is often the case, the quality is not the same. Maybe this doesn't matter to you and the most important criteria for you in buying a bridle is price but for me it does matter.
If you are going to differentiate yourself from the competition then you can't be like the competition. In light of this Five Star has switched to a new production company. Located in Dorset, England it is a small shop who makes bridles the "old fashion" way; by hand. They are also a shop who has received awards for their bridle work from the UK's Society of Master Saddlers of which they are a member. We have switched all the buckles from regular stainless steel to Sprenger german silver and will continue to use Sedgwick's best leather. It has taken longer to rework some of the styles than I anticipated but sometimes it can be tricky to integrate functionality and style. You have to be patient and think long term which is sometimes difficult. I am hopeful that these designs will be even more successful than our current ones and I look forward to your feedback!
If you have any comments on the tack market or questions please post them here!
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Welcome to Five Star Tack!
So how do you begin your first blog post? That's a very good question as I've never had a blog and I wasn't the kid who chronicled her life in the pages of her diary but boy I've got some great stories in my head! While the main thrust of this blog is to update followers on what Five Star Tack is doing I also welcome those of you that follow us to post as well.
Five Star Tack is not just about selling tack. Obviously that's why I started the company but it encompasses a lot more. It's about the trials and tribulations of starting and running a new business along with having a family. It's about connecting with other riders whether it's working with our customers or the several riders the company sponsors. It's also about giving back. My late father was a big believer in helping those less fortunate than himself. He grew up a poor kid during the depression, went to college on the GI bill and through hard work became President of three shipping companies. He never forgot his roots and to that end donated to charities that helped the poor and those who did not have the good fortune he had. He took great pride in having a good year at work because it enabled him to give more. Well the apple did not fall far from the tree and he blessed me with that trait.
We are a small company and still in our first year, but one with a big heart. Five Star sponsors several up and coming eventing and jumper riders. I will be featuring each one in upcoming blog posts. Five Star is also a product sponsor at major horse shows and three day events. We will also post "live" from some of these competitions! Through our bridles with benefits program Five Star donates twenty percent of it's profits to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Lance Armstrong Foundation, Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation and The Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation. I will post more about these charities and bridles with benefits in a future post.
As both a tack manufacturer and retailer I have had the opportunity to learn what goes into making tack and the different manufacturing methods that go into making bridles. I will post about this also as there is so much more to purchasing tack than just what is on the price tag!
If you've made it this far down the page then thank you for sticking with me! Feel free to post your comments and questions about Five Star Tack or anything related to horses and riding. I promise I will do my best to keep my posts interesting and relevant!
Best,
Jamie
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