Christmas present for my wife - Help!

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DuneTrekker

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Good evening everybody.

I am stuck on the main present to buy my wife for Christmas. Love her and want to give her something special.

It is a long time since I have posted here and I sincerely apologise for not contributing in the meantime.
My only defence is I left the equine world a long time ago and have been busy building a business. I would like your wise and immensely practical help please..... A couple of things bought already, which she will like, but would love to find that 'Equine Thing' with the WOW! factor. Achieved it for the last 19 years, but struggling this year.....:(

Background : She has many rugs (those Rambos from 2003 last so well!) clippers, hats, 10 coats from short jackets to oil-rig-style waterproofs, tweed jackets, boots galore, head-collars with brass name-plates, kit boxes, and even a raised-bed carrot garden which I built and maintain for her and Ross**. Of our three sons, the youngest aged 10 took to riding straight away and is now happy when wet, cold, away from phones, computer games. He has that 'lead rope smell' on his clothes. I bought them both a riding weekend in the Brecon Beacons last year. I do not want to do the same again. Unless there is something better (needs to be environment friendly though).

I want to think out of the box. Riding holidays are OK, but she would not go now, as she loves her animals (she is a veterinary nurse also) and has done it before.

Smart performance watch? Possible, but which one?
Something that recognises her equine bond with son - whatever that is...??

Just stuck for killer present. Just know it needs to be equine though. Hope this makes sense. Had a glass of wine, apologies for the ramble.

** Ross is her Irish Cob's name. He is perfect, lovely boy for her. He is not a Scottish man with an affinity for orange tubular vegetables. Just to be clear. :)

Thank you. Joe.
 
A carriage ride and picnic for the whole family? Not sure where you are but we use Collingbourne Carriages in Wiltshire.
A sculpture made from her horse's shoes. I have some from BL SCULPTURES. They are all unique and Ben will listen carefully to your ideas.
A picture made from her horse's tail. I have one from All Plaited Up.

(They're are all on Facebook).
 
I have had a few good birthday treats, a top schoolmaster lesson was one, hacking in Hyde park was another (loved them both).
Might be a little late for a painting to be done in time but a photo shoot as others mentioned is a great idea!
Tickets to the Spanish riding school in Vienna would be amazing if she likes that (on a lot of horse peoples bucket list) and if in budget?
I did get an equilibrium massage pad for the horse one year which I loved and have used loads (on the horse and myself ;))
 
Automatic hay horse feeder with timer...they’re so wonderful! They deliver flakes of hay at set times!
Automatic trickle feeding...fill it in the morning and it feeds the horse for 24hrs...making it possible to own a horse and have a day off from having to keep refilling slow-nets...heck, you could even go out for the whole day and evening with one of these beauties ;)

Your wife would want to marry you all over again!

They can be installed to launch hay into a stable or have them outside.

Google for suppliers of these if there’s any in uk or Europe, ones I’ve found are mostly in the USA ....there’s a fair few manufacturers of these now...here’s an example:

http://www.highnoonproducts.com/
 
Goldenstar said:
Stable graze is a British hay trickle feeder
Click to expand...
It only has 3 feed compartments and I’m not sure it’s horse-proof with just 3 turn levers that the horse can mouth open to raid the whole supply.
If a horse can fiddle with a small zip on your jacket, it’ll figure out this design. Having the feed bins in the stable will make them smell what’s in there and encourage them to find a way to raid it.
It’s ok as an overnight trickle supply, depending on the horse and their greediness/curiosity!
 
Thank you all so much!
Another horse would be good, but with new business, other kids and everything we are doing her that is not for Christmas. It also took four years for her to find her current carrot-guzzler.
A photo session is perfect for their birthdays next summer. Thank you. Not for now though. Would need an underwater camera this Autumn.
Wagtails painting - noted. Not much time though at this point. Maybe for her birthday next year. Wagtail...please PM me.
Twin brother? - sorry to apparently disappoint, but there is only me and God thought best not to replicate.
Wildfire Forge - looks good. Time is not on my side. Noted in diary.
The Arctic skirt thingy looks interesting - thing that's on the list. The hay feeder, probably not for her, but it did get me looking at hay-soaker and that's a possibility now.
Thank you for all these ideas, some I will use for birthday too.
 
My husband bought me an air jacket one year ( Hi viz Hit Air). Also one year my sister got me another wheelbarrow which is used just for hay, rugs, etc. - brilliant!
 
Might be a bit too late for this year but what about music?

If you've got some video of Ross's walk/trot/canter theres a few companies that will do a mix for you - either as a proper 'dressage to music' track if you have a floor plan and she enjoys schooling or just a training CD
Maybe get your son involved in working out a floor plan so you could then present her with her music?
 
You mention a watch, if she goes riding alone a lot and budget dependant, then I’d recommend the Apple Watch series 4/5. It’s what I’ve asked for for Christmas mainly because it has “hard fall detection” so if you have a fall and you don’t respond it will send a text to your ICE contact and also contact the emergency services with your location.

It will certainly put my mind at rest as I’ve been knocked out whilst riding a few years ago and it would have been quit scary if I was on my own!
 
Aw how lovely. What about new tack? I am forever lusting after various things as all my tack is 2nd hand and nothing matches. A nice smart bridle? A set of high end (ie very comfy and safe) stirrups? What kind of riding does she do with Ross. Whatever area she is into will probablty have gear that is designed for that area.

What I want most of all though is a warm horse shower with a roof. My horses might actually be clean if I had one of them!
 
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