I have a GPA....and didnt even realise it!

[Erehwemos]

Bizarre post I know, but I recently realised that my current riding hat (brand is International, never seen another one since I bought it) is on its last legs. It is 9 years old, so hardly surprising that the innards are falling out

Anyway, I remembered that I had another hat that I used to use for shows only hidden away somewhere, but couldnt for the life of me remember where it might be; we have moved house twice since I last used it (and gone from having our own yard + tack room to.....not having them!) and I had given it up as a lost cause

I have since been searching for a new hat, without luck

I love the lightweight showjumper style hats (which both mine are) but as I no longer SJ and only do sponsored rides, I figured I had better get a skull cap than another SJ hat, so that I could compete XC if I ever wanted to. But I have not been able to find one to fit me anywhere! Certainly not one that I could see myself hacking out in comfortably for 6+ hours

Anyway, the other day I was bugging out the old feed bin which we have used as horse-stuff storage....and I found my old show hat!!! I wouldnt have had a clue what make it was if anyone had asked me to try to remember...I hence discovered with some element of shock that it is a GPA Pikeur!!! I cannot believe I didnt realise - I must have taken a lot of things for granted when I was younger

Needless to say, the hat is still pristine - I think I only ever fell off once whilst wearing it and it probably only got used twenty or so times - and so it is about to be upgraded to Everyday Hat

Which means I can now just buy a cheap skull hat if I need to, just to use for XC! Problem solved

 

[JoBo]

Oh don’t you just love it when that kind of thing happens! It’s like finding a tenner in the bottom of your bag, you didn’t even know you had!

So look at you all posh with your GPA!

 

[Erehwemos]

[ QUOTE ]
Oh don’t you just love it when that kind of thing happens! It’s like finding a tenner in the bottom of your bag, you didn’t even know you had!

So look at you all posh with your GPA!

[/ QUOTE ]

I know, I cannot believe I didnt know

Mum actually said to me the other day 'I bought you a GPA once' and I said no, you'd never have spent that sort of money on a hat

Oops! (sorry, Mum!!!

)

I was in my local saddlery the other day having a good old bitching session about GPAs with the shop assistant, saying how stupidly expensive they are, how they surely arent worth the money. Now I find myself caressing my lovely GPA, and mentally taking every word back....

 

[Liesel]

Isnt it a great feeling when you find something you werent expecting too and a GPA Pikeur to boot

 

[Patches]

Oh lucky you! Enjoy!

The fences in your signature....are they portable/mobile XC fences?

I'm liking the idea of them for my fields.

 

[Erehwemos]

[ QUOTE ]
Oh lucky you! Enjoy!

The fences in your signature....are they portable/mobile XC fences?

I'm liking the idea of them for my fields.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yep they are mobile fences! The pics were taken on a sponsored ride up on Salisbury Plain - the Hunt who run the ride use these jumps at all their events!

 

[Weezy]

Did you hit your head when you fell off in it? I hope not, otherwise really it should go in the bin!

Great find though

 

[Erehwemos]

[ QUOTE ]
Did you hit your head when you fell off in it? I hope not, otherwise really it should go in the bin!

Great find though

[/ QUOTE ]

Nope, if the occasion I recall is indeed the only one, I landed on my feet - it was in the collecting ring at Blewbury

My current hat - the one I am about to discard - has been fallen onto countless times

I'm not really one for throwing hats in the bin after a fall, rightly or wrongly

 

[Patches]

I was recently told you should swap an every day hat every two years, otherwise they lose their effectiveness to protect you in a fall. Something to do with sweaty hat hair affecting the structure/material of a hat.

How old is it?

 

[Erehwemos]

[ QUOTE ]
I was recently told you should swap an every day hat every two years, otherwise they lose their effectiveness to protect you in a fall. Something to do with sweaty hat hair affecting the structure/material of a hat.

How old is it?

[/ QUOTE ]

About 6/7 years old I think! But very lightly used - I was given it not long before I gave up jumping

It still looks and smells like new - compared to my current one, which the sweaty hat hair argument would definitely apply to

 

[Wigglypigs]

I was almost as chuffed as yo when i won my Titanium GPA for a measley £81! It is completley perfect and was brand new with tags and box etc. Im friend who had not long parted with £249.99 for her identical one was less chuffed :O
It is my every day hat tho as I dont go enough places to warrant it sitting waiting for a show in a box AND its just too comfy for words!