As part of my recent blogging opportunity with Horseworldeu.com I was invited to pick some products to try out and review. Along with the Horseware Riding Tights, I also chose the Eskadron Competition number set. My reasoning for this was this was I felt another new innovative product.
I am not a huge fan of bridle numbers as I find some have awful fiddly elastic straps and they can move or irritate the horse. When you are my height and dealing with tall horses they are also annoying to adjust. I have seen saddle cloth numbers before but my issue with those was the fact that they were incorporated into the saddle pad itself and realistically in bad weather I might go through more than one saddle pad in a day and it would also restrict me as to what saddle pad I could use. The appeal of the Eskadron set was the fact that it could be used with any saddle cloth.
The pack, pictured above comes in a zipped case.
I love the presentation of this kit – if James Bond did dressage he would definitely have something as professional looking as this. In fairness Eskadron in my opinion rarely get things wrong in terms of finish and detail and this is no different. The kit includes two number holders which comprise of two magnetic pieces and a plastic panel, a full set of numbers including spares and fastening pins.
Attaching the numbers to any saddle cloth is pretty easy – push the pin through from the back, Add the magnetic disk and pop the lid on the pin. The numbers are very secure and the back of the pins which sits against the horse is completely flat.
I used these on two horses and in both cases I was really impressed. The kit is easy to use, doesn’t move and looks really smart. Its easy to add or remove the discs and its easy to change numbers if need be with the pad still attached. I’d find this particularly useful for horses that are fussy around the head instead of bridle numbers. I also personally found that these numbers looked nicer than bridle numbers.
My only critique of this product is the number of pins provided. I’m terrified that I will lose one of these and unfortunately if I do it will mean the product cannot be used. I thought this was a pity given that plenty of extra numbers are included – having six pins to allow for one or two to get lost would be a valuable addition.
This product is on my recommend list. It goes with me every time I head to dressage. I love the design and practicality of being able to use these numbers with any saddle cloth. I am also thinking the discs could in theory be used for attaching a showing number to the back of a jacket but don’t quote me on that as I haven’t tried it yet!
This product costs €39.99 and can be purchased at the link below. Thank you to horseworldeu.com for the invite to take part in your equestrian blogger program.
https://www.horseworldeu.com/products/eskadron-magnetic-saddlecloth-numbers
Equestrian Reality 