October 2011

October is a very special month. On the 1st of October 2008 Abbeyview Equine was born. Two months earlier an outstandingly easy-to-use content management system called PagePlay was launched by two friends of mine, Harry and Chris. Abbeyview became PagePlay's exclusive equestrian partner and we've worked together to bring excellent web design and service to equestrians everywhere.

Three years on, Abbeyview is still going from strength to strength with customers across the UK, Ireland and the USA. The equestrian industry has embraced PagePlay and we're thrilled to say the majority of new sales are because of existing happy customers.

In 2009 PagePlay won its first award in the British Equestrian Trade Association Innovation Award when we exhibited at BETA International. Judges' commented: "PagePlay makes it affordable for every equestrian to have their own website. Useful to a wide range of people across all horse sports and businesses." One of the main features of PagePlay is that it's centrally hosted so it's constantly being improved with new features for everyone to play with and optimised for search to ensure every website meets current web standards. It's evolved a lot since then, but its ease of use is still at it's heart.

With the economic woes we're all facing we're incredibly grateful that we have survived thus far. We've helped many equestrian businesses to take control of their online marketing, whilst at the same time saving money. Our customers tell us the level of service they receive makes a huge difference to them. After all, we do anything boring or complicated, then our customers look after their content and we look after them.

We've offered BHS members members a 25% discount on PagePlay subscriptions for a while. We're now really pleased to have been invited to join as trade members.

We are committed to supporting the grassroots growth in our sport. We plan to use the trade membership to support riding schools, with many already taking up the offer of one of our discounted packages.

Anyway, enough about us. This month we have a piece about our very first client, Lessans Riding Stables, a thriving riding school near Saintfield, Northern Ireland. Then, an interview with a recent convert to the world of equestrian - trying to find out how we can get more men into horse riding.

Finally, we have a piece on getting the most out of your graphic design team by one of our very talented graphic designers, Dr Joe Eastwood. Joe is creative director at TYPOCOM Visual Communication in Manchester. His longstanding interest in the fields of typographic communication and information design date back to his time studying at the University of Salford. The opportunity to undertake a PhD at Chelsea College of Art & Design allowed him to explore further his knowledge in the areas of typography and pedestrian wayfinding.

On the 1st of October 2008 Abbeyview Equine launched with one client, Lessans Riding Stables in Saintfield, Northern Ireland. This is their story.

Lessans Riding Stables, situated in the beautiful countryside of Northern Ireland began life as a cattle farm when Philippa Auret and her family moved onto the property. Mr and Mrs Auret ran the farm successfully, and with having some land to keep more animals on, their daughters all becoming heavily involved in the horsey world. At the age of fourteen Philippa was asked by her neighbours if she would teach their children how to ride ponies, to which she happily agreed. It was from this point that Lessans Riding Stables truly began. After word spread among a few people there became more demand for lessons, and therefore a need for more ponies. Slowly but surely the cattle sheds were converted into stables as Philippa bought more ponies for her lessons. The first long-term riding school ponies were found in Belfast City Centre, pulling carts, and we are glad to say they are still with us today. Star has retired but Gypsy is still going strong in the riding school, teaching young children the basics of horse riding.

Lessans is now one of the largest riding schools in County Down and has 28 riding school horses and ponies. It is also a successful livery and schooling yard with over 20 livery horses. The riding facilities include a large indoor school, 2 outdoor sand arenas, a cross country course, safe hacking around lanes and quiet country roads and two full show jumping sets. The yard regularly holds competitions which cater to all levels, from beginners up to those more ambitious competitors. It also offers a viewing gallery/entertainment area (great for birthday parties!), a cafe and a vending machine.

Lessans Riding Stables always proves to be a hive of activity in the summer months, with competitions and summer courses running regularly. On days that there aren’t any activities Lessans still seems the place to be with a variety of teenagers coming up to the yard to volunteer and learn more about being around horses. The summer courses always prove to be very popular with over 30 children attending each one. In these courses each child is assigned their own pony to look after for the week and are taught how to do so. They also get to ride twice a day, which is a big treat as most of the kids only get to ride once a week for the rest of the year! The course culminates in a fun competition so that the participants can show off all that they have learned to their family and friends. The summer courses are not only restricted to young people. In September, Lessans ran an adult course, at which there were about 15 adults who were extremely tired by the end of the week but left with a lot more knowledge about the activity that they love. It has to be said, that there were a lot more nerves floating around on competition day with the senior riders but all were happy that they got over their fears and participated in the competition!

There have been many new stables built over the last decade and Lessans will hopefully continue to go from strength to strength but for now it will not be getting any bigger. All of the stables are generously sized with most livery boxes being 10’ x 12’. Cattle have also been introduced back onto the farm, coming back full circle with Philippa’s son Nial picking up where his grandfather left off and getting into the cattle trade.

All design projects need a brief. A well thought out brief allows the client to communicate what they want from the project and also gives the designer the primary information they need to create your new identity. When appointing a designer to work with your brand there are some things you should consider before going any further. Hopefully this guide will provide the basis for building a long and fruitful relationship with your design team.

The benefits of using a designer?

A good designer will will work with you to develop an identity from which you can nurture and develop your new business. The consideration given in the earliest stages will set the tone for your business as it (hopefully) grows and grows. The colours chosen, the typography and illustrative elements that make up a logo will form the basis for the future of your brand and a good designer will give consideration for how later down the line this will work when applied to various media.

What do you get from using a designer?

You don’t just get a piece of clip art! The advantage of using a professional designer is they provide you with distinctive work that is personalised for your business, and not an off the shelf piece of design.
Background information to help your designer

Never assume your designer will know anything about you or your company. Explain what your company does and offers. Help your designer by clearly identifying what your goals are. They don’t have to know everything about your business but relevant information can help form the basis of a concept for the design of your identity. Give them guidance on the aspects which can help them to understand your brand such as:

• Who is your target market?
• What does you company or organisation do?
• What’s the history of the company?
• What are you trying to communicate?
• Confirm what information you want on your identity (strapline, web address etc.)
• Finally, what is the budget?

Clarifying these actions at this early stage is highly beneficial in providing your designer with the tools they require and is pivotal for both client and the designer.

Examples of competitors

It is always useful to provide your designer with examples of rival competitors and their brand identities. Also be clear what you like and often more importantly dislike about other identities. This helps lay down a marker for your designer to consider colours, styles and fonts.

What’s the budget?

A good designer will agree a price for the work to be carried out beforehand. So it is essential that you know how much money is available to spend on the project before you submit the brief. In this instance a ballpark figure will often give the designer scope of how long they can spend on the project, and for the agreed figure how many design options they might be able to provide you with.

What’s the timescale?

It is always useful to advise the designer if you have a timescale for the launch of your new brand. If you do have a tight deadline, let the designer know now! It might be you are attending an event or just need to promote your new venture as soon as possible to start drumming up business.

Amends, and more amends?

If a designer supplies you with a couple of options to ponder for your identity you may still have feedback on your preferred choice to fine-tune the design. Remember the designer will happily tweak this to give you the beautiful brand you are looking for but there isn’t a limitless timescale for design amends! A process of ‘design by committee’ can also lead to a disaster; therefore it is vital that who ever commissions the project has final say on the chosen design. A good designer will happily make amends to satisfy the client, but endless amends can lead to frustration on both parts.

The ongoing relationship with your designer…

The links you forge with your designer will go onto play a pivotal role in the development of your business. By building a good relationship with your designer in the early stages they will hopefully be there to guide and help you through the next stages of your journey into promotional material and the design of your website.

New Equine Wear’s Freedom S-T-R-E-T-C-H Turnout Socks and Vent-Tex Leg Wraps (above) provide horse owners worried about winter skin with a way to help keep legs in great condition during the winter months…a NEW way.

“We know that the winter and the muddy, wet conditions that this can bring can fill horse owners with dread,” says Richard Balfry of New Equine Wear, “but we feel our wraps and socks could really help. We launched Vent-Tex Wraps at Badminton this year, and whilst they have many applications, they are very effective when it comes to drying legs, so are ideal for use after washing legs after a day in the field. Whilst Vent-Tex Wraps work well on their own, they are perfect partners with our Freedom S-T-R-E-T-C-H Turnout Socks, which help provide a physical barrier between mud and the horse’s lower leg.”

Vent-Tex Wraps combine a cellular fabric outer with a low pile fur fabric lining. This combination is highly breathable and wicks moisture away from the leg. The fit has been designed to follow the contours of the horse’s leg, providing close cover around the fetlock and the pastern, with straps above and below the fetlock to prevent slipping. Vent-Tex Wraps also features reinforcement over the heel area. Richard explains how the boots work.

Freedom S-T-R-E-T-C-H Turnout Socks help protect the horse’s legs from the mud during turnout. They are supple, close fitting and shaped to allow the horse free movement. They feature a clever design that helps prevent slipping and spinning, and all seams are stitched with heavy duty rot proof thread to help them withstand demanding use.
Freedom S-T-R-E-T-C-H Turnout Socks and Vent-Tex Wraps are available in sizes small, medium, large and extra large in black, and retail at £35 per pair.

For more information on New Equine Wear, see www.newequinewear.co.uk or call 01172 303700.

One of the challenges the BEF and Sport England have identified during the last round of Hoof networking events is how we can attract more men into equestrianism.

I have given this much thought. As a male myself, I was thinking about my early childhood, what got me into horse riding and what barriers I had to overcome as a boy. None really! I grew up with horses in County Down, where there is a multitude of studs, racing and competition yards throughout the county. Horses are in the blood of Co. Down's inhabitants and so it's not such a leap - my Pony Club was 30% male, too.

I wanted to find out what it's like for for a guy from a 'non-horsey' family, who grew up without such positive reinforcement about the world of equestrian.

I heard from a friend that a good pal of his - Terry, a 30-something fireman from London - had recently learned to ride. I asked him to introduce me through the wonder of Facebook and I decided to ask him a few questions/interrogate him to try and find out first-hand what got him into horses and how he found it.

Before you started to learn to ride what were your perceptions of 'horsey people' and riding?

My perception was, and I feel a bit cliched in saying this, that only posh people rode horses. I also had the perception it was something people grew up with, fairly family orientated and in that respect a bit closed off to those who weren't born into that circuit.

What motivated you to start riding?

My motivation was that I just thought it looked quite cool someone being able to ride. I love animals and outdoorsy style elements with an edge of fitness and this totally falls into that category.

How did you go sourcing your chosen riding school?

I was lucky in that an ex of my flatmate ran some stables and gave lessons in riding so I arranged for him to teach me. Before that I had done some Internet searching, ringing some local schools getting ideas of cost involved.

What were you expecting to pay for a lesson, and what did you end up paying?

I'd expected to be paying up to about £50 for an hours lesson, though I was hoping for a lot less. I ended up paying
less due to the friendly nature of my relationship with my riding instructor which varied up to about £40 as I'd sometimes help out at the stables to compensate for the lessons.

In your opinion what could the industry do to attract more men into equestrian?

The equestrian world does seem to cater and be geared towards women and children, so I think to a man it does seem a bit closed off. I think a bit more direct marketing on websites etc saying lessons to adult males is offered would help. That along with a message of viewing horse riding as a sport and a way of getting fit would be a great selling point. Rest assured I've never had muscles ache as much after a lesson when compared to a session down the gym.

Was there a particular sport that appealed to you; polo, racing eventing etc, or wad it just the ability to ride a horse?

It was more about learning to ride a horse really that attracted more than a particular sport... Though I'll admit I'd love to be of a level to play polo..

If a riding school ran a men's riding lesson once a week would you go to it? If so, what do you feel would need to be different about it? Would you prefer a male instructor?

Yeah, a men's only lesson would work. I wouldn't mind either male or female instructor. I would say I've maybe a preference towards one to one tuition... Saves on the competition stuff that might arise from an all male class .. Though I can see it would appeal, especially given how predominantly female it is.

Don't think there's anything in particular you'd need to do to a weekly men's course to make it more appealing, just the fact its more specifically catered to an adult male would be enough.. Perhaps though a quite specific program, like today we're learning to do sitting trot to walk. Next week how to handle your horse over a ditch so we boys can feel quite a tangible development in our abilities.

Do you now find yourself seeking equestrian sports to watch and events to go to?

Yes, I've gone along to a few competitions to help out my instructor who competes. I'm certainly more into it than I was. Have a greater love of horses and interest in all things horsey related that bit more now.

Have an opinion, why not join in with the conversation on Twitter using #BumsInSaddles?

The second round of the BEF's regional Hoof networking events have begun. So far the following have been confirmed:

North West Hoof Network 17 October – Aintree Race course, Liverpool (10am-2pm)

West Midlands Hoof Network 31 October – Riding for the Disabled Head Office, Warwick (10am-2pm)

Yorkshire & The Humber Network 7 November - Brough Park, Richmond, North Yorks (time to follow)

The aim of the Hoof networks is to allow anyone involved with equestrian to engage and strengthen the idustry by working collaboratively to increase the amount of bums in saddles.

We'll be attending the north west event at Aintree, hope to see a few of you there. If you'd like to get involved with your local hoof network, contact your regional coordinator:

North West
E: sonia.birch@bef.co.uk
T: 07813 332362

Yorkshire & The Humber
E: emma.white@bef.co.uk
T: 07900 811377

West Midlands
E: sonia.birch@bef.co.uk
T: 07813 332362

East Midlands
E: gill.barham@bef.co.uk
T: 07818 252244

East
E: gill.barham@bef.co.uk
T: 07818 252244

South West
E: anne.clarke@bef.co.uk
T: 07912 387412

South East
E: anne.clarke@bef.co.uk
T: 07912 387412

North East
E: emma.white@bef.co.uk
T: 07900 811377

London
E: jodievm@aim.com
T: 07815670035

As ever, if you have any news you'd like to share, feel free to drop us a line: info@abbeyviewequine.com