Five things equestrians love about the bank holiday weekend

With a four-day weekend ahead of us, and potential for almost 100 hours of unlimited you (read: horse) time, what are some of your favourite things to get up to?

It’s the Easter Bank Holiday weekend, but not as we know it. In normal times, a usual Easter might mean juggling family get-togethers, Easter egg hunts and meals with the in-laws while resisting the allure of (non-essential) shopping trips or, if you’re lucky enough, a long weekend away. To your colleagues, this might sound a great way to while away the days but before you know it you’ve barely shoehorned into your weekend any more hours with your horse than you’d usually manage on an average weeknight!

However, there’s a national lockdown going on and, while some restrictions have been eased slightly, it’s still the perfect get-out-of-jail-free-card to shun any activity you’re not amenable to and prioritise quality time with your equine bestie. Here are some of our favourites…

1. The great outdoors

A quiet, countryside walk with nothing but a friend (or two) and a canine for company? Even though we should, under the rule of six, still be able to enjoy endeavours such as this, in reality this is becoming less and less enjoyable if a quiet outing’s what you’re after. Thanks to the general public’s new-found love of the great outdoors and ticking off every right of way in the local area, there’s barely a pathway left unturned for you to enjoy in peace! Not to mention that every man and his dog will be spending their weekend dawdling – and you’ll be damned if another terrier tries to pick a fight with yours AGAIN.

But this is where equestrians can be lucky. Generally tucked a little more out of the way and sometimes near-enough impassable on foot, the general public might not know about your favourite bridleways just yet. If you can convince your horse to brave a bit of extra mud, you’ll be reunited with your favourite canter stretch and minimise the risk of rogue pedestrians.

2. Work hard, play harder

Four days off work? That’s four bonus days for learning! Your horse knows a Bank Holiday’s approaching because he’s nervously overheard you nattering to your trainer over the phone after your rides about a ‘lack of straightness’, something that’s ‘not on the bit’ and someone else that ‘just doesn’t have the right attitude!’. While he’s not sure what you’re on about, he’s certainly hoping that last one doesn’t apply to him!

3. Model-standard makeover

Let’s be honest, we’re all looking a little worse for wear coming to the end of 12 months away from our favourite stylists – although hats off to you if you were organised and stayed presentable by making the most of those pockets of freedom we all enjoyed before being returned to house arrest. If a salon visit still isn’t on the cards for the foreseeable future (don’t talk to us about the length of waiting lists), shift the spotlight off yourself and make sure nobody will be able to take their eyes of the gleaming beauty of a horse you’ve been hiding all these months.

Set aside some time to help him shed the remainder of his winter coat to make way for the silky, shiny stuff fighting to make its way through. If the weather gods are on side, you might even be able to treat him to a bath and, if not, a little tidy around the edges might be just the ticket to reveal the sleek sports model you knew was hiding underneath the fuzz.

4. Transport tidy-up

Your horse looks the part, now what about your transport? Make sure it’s fit for your newly uncovered king or queen and that it allows you to make your entrance to the showground (or the layby that’s situated perfectly for all the best hacking routes) a memorable one for all the right reasons. While we know deep down that it’s not about the look of the transport but more the athlete you’re unloading from it (at speed, most likely, for those of us who haven’t taken a trip out for a while), a deep clean on the outside to get it gleaming will having you beaming from ear to ear nonetheless. Better still, if the inside needs a tidy (and, let’s face it, whose doesn’t) now’s the perfect time to get it done.

And, if you don’t have your own transport? What about the one you cart yourself around in? It’s not just your horse who deserves to travel in luxury, you know. Isn’t it about time you threw away the cracked helmet you’re clearly never going to use again and that ball of baler twine that keeps inexplicably returning to your car even when you swore you’d already chucked it? And let’s not mention the mud-caked mats and seat covers that are currently sporting more of your horse’s winter coat than he is (see point three). 

5. Back on track

As of 29 March, amateur sport has been given the green light – this means that the Easter Bank Holiday is a go for competition! If you’re one of the dedicated ones whose unwavering faith in the restrictions easing has seen you creatively preparing for the competition season from your (limited) home facilities since it’d been rumoured it might pick up at the end of March, we salute you! Or perhaps you’re one of the eager ones feeling optimistic about an outing despite being relatively underprepared – every day’s a school day, after all, and there’s no reason you can’t treat your day as educational rather than competitive. We’re looking forward to running into waving at everyone in the queue for the chip van (socially distanced, of course) already!

So, there we have it – Horse&Rider’s favourite bank holiday activities that we can’t wait to dive into! What are you looking forward to this weekend?