visual diary – equestrienne.co

Thunderbird Show Park // Visual Diary

This past August, we were lucky enough to visit the wildly popular Thunderbird Show Park in British Columbia for just one of their six major Hunter and Jumper tournaments held annually. The popularity of “Tbird” borders on cult following; known for their combination of a friendly, relaxed atmosphere, a gorgeous venue, and quality classes, Tbird’s show rings routinely draw everyone from the local weekend warrior to the seasoned Olympian.

Who: Thunderbird Show Park

What: CSI 3* & WCHR Summer Fort Festival, Aug 24-28, 2015

Where: Langley, British Columbia, Canada.

Claim(s) to fame: Voted 2nd best venue in North America by NARG (North American Rider’s Group), which is a big deal on it’s own, but pretty extra-impressive considering 1st place is held down by Spruce Meadows. Also, they do a pretty killer pancake breakfast. Tell your friends.

Vibe: Chill, yet outgoing. Friendly, but also ambitious. Plenty chic, but west-coasty. Sportsluxe reigns supreme. You can mix your Arcteryx and your Hermes here, and you will have to. It rains. Like woah.

Royal Windsor: The Takeaway

What: The Royal Windsor Horse Show, from the flip side.

Highlights: Strawberries and cream in adorably tiny cups. Carl Hester ribbing Charlotte Dujardin during her exhibition ride (watch it here). Champagne. Holland Cooper, generally. Frighteningly athletic children riding in the Gymkhana. Land Rover trials over a terrifyingly impressive mechanized obstacle course. Hermes.

Vibe: Country fair, heavily Londonized. White denim. All the champagne. Men in brogues.

Have: A driver, or appropriate footwear (there is a healthy foot-jaunt from the parking). One fantastic, well-fitting tweed item. Cheeky caps and floppy sunhats ok; baseball hats not ok. Access to chic layers should it rain, which it will. Oversize sunnies recommended, aviators at a minimum. A vigorous credit card for falling down the retail rabbit hole.

Never ever ever: Unfitted outerwear. E-cigarettes. Backpacks not containing a helmet. Sport sunglasses. Fussy hair. Apparel emblazoned with competitions you have participated in or won (exceptions: The Olympics; WEG; GCT). The sales rack vendors; this will only dishearten you, or lead you astray. Do not wear your actual riding boots, this reads dreadfully Pony Club (exception: short boots, but only if Italian). If you absolutely must wear your breeches, at least wear your most pristine whites (sock-bottomed), and have the remainder of your look purely civilian. For the love of god, do not wear your cotton jods. Actually, why do you own cotton jods? Toss those yesterday and never speak of it again.

Visual diary:

// more on instagram