Hello & Happy Spring!

Your new SmartPak catalog will be arriving soon. With so many amazing products (designed and selected just for you and your horses) how do you know where to start shopping? Let me help get you started in the right direction with my must-haves for Spring.

Piper Breeches

Like a potato chip, you can’t have just one! Refresh your schooling wardrobe with one in every color. At this price, how could you resist?

2. Alexus Sweater Soft Shell Hoodie & Vest

Is it a soft shell or is it a sweater?! It looks and feels like a sweater but has the features of a soft shell. Waterproof, windproof and breathable…this triple threat will protect you from the elements all while helping you look like a million bucks.

3. RJ Classics Washington Xtreme Soft Shell Hunt Coat

Perfect for any discipline! All the features and technologies you would expect to find in coats that are 3x this price.

4. Samshield Helmet

The comfort is unparalleled and the styling is impeccable – I’m obsessed.

5. Tredstep Raphael Tall Boots

Why have we cleaned and polished around laces for all these years? The Dressage crowd had it right, lace free is the way to go! Appropriate for either jumping or dancing between the letters, these boots are sure to become your new favorites.

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A Peek in Melissa’s Tack Trunk

These are the little things that make life in the barn easier. I absolutely can not live without them.

1. SmartWorks Lavendar Utility Balm

This stuff has become my go to solution for all kinds of problems like blanket rubs, dry skin, and scrapes. And…it smells absolutely DIVINE.

2. Moser Mini Arco Clippers

My personal solution to giant, loud horse eating clippers, these little beauties plow through even the toughtest trim job quietly without complaining.

3. Roeckl Chester Gloves

My go to glove for showing in all seasons. Long lasting, easy care, looks great. Couldn’t ask for more.

4. & 5. Effax Boot Polish and Speedy Leather Shine

These tools absolutely changed my life. The polish comes in an amazing applicator that prevents me from getting black polish all over myself and everything in my general vicinity. The Speedy Leather Shine puts that “military” shine on my boots even between polishes. It is like my own personal secret weapon.

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Melissa fills us in…

Some of us call her Melissa, others, “MH,” and a select few affectionately refer to her as “Hammie.” She’s Melissa Hamlet, our VP of Merchandising. She oversees the fabulous team of riders and SmartPakers that works hard every day to source, select and even design the latest and greatest gear. Here’s a little more about Melissa…

When and where did you start riding? “I started riding when I was 7 in Leesburg, VA at Maintree Farm.”

What is the most exciting thing you’ve ever done on horseback? “Fox hunting in VA, in a snowstorm, jumping over a coop literally into a river during a snowstorm while my helmet was falling in my eyes is a close tie for the weekend I spent riding cutting horses in Oklahoma with Bill Riddle.”

How many animals do you currently own? “3 cats (Oliver, Stoli and Vincent), 1 dog (Gimli) and 1 horse (Drago).”