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Harry Hall Ambassador Liz Langford competes in showing and dressage around a busy career. We caught up with her to find out how she balances work, life and riding!
Before I crack on, let me introduce myself, I’m Liz, am a farmer’s daughter from Herefordshire. I’ve been riding for over 40 years, having started when I was three. I guess you would class me as a keen amateur rider which is funded through my job as Equestrian Property Consultant at an Fox Grant Estate Agents.
I have been known to arrive at work in my jodhpurs and with straw in my hair, but a quick shower and change means I’m then ready to crack on for the day. Without this job, like so many, I would not be able to afford horses. I’m lucky to have three, Chance Cove is 26 years old and we are aiming at veteran dressage. Then there is her daughter Daisy, now 13 years old.
Finally, there is Martha, who’s 9 and is competing County Level showing and British Dressage. Our main focus this year had been to compete at the Royal International Horse Show in the Open Small Hunter—a lifetime’s ambition which I’m happy to say has been achieved —and the Petplan Area Festival – we’re through the first round of this! Keep your fingers crossed for us!
Working full time with three horses is hard work, the key is time management, planning and commitment. Each week is carefully planned, I plan training and competing accordingly. Each evening I prepare my clothes and bag for the next morning, and the horses’ feeds are made up, so that in the morning it isn’t such a rush. I’m finding the Mastacare feed bucket covers super handy for this, especially when I’m not quite with it – the names on the covers help me remember which feed is which! I’m sure you can all relate with the difficulties of getting your brain to click into gear early in the morning…!
How Protechmasta saves me time
A great piece of equipment sold by Harry Hall that saves time is the Protechmasta range. The Protechmasta full combo rug, which each horse wears for an hour or more pre-exercise, assists in warming the muscles, hence cutting down on the warming up time meaning more positive work. Daisy, is slightly nervous by nature so not only benefits from wearing the Protechmasta rug pre-exercise but also wears the Protechmasta poll guard when being ridden. She no longer stresses when a sheep runs, or a leaf drops off a tree. Plus, to ensure that the girls are safe when travelling we have Protechmasta travel boots. The travel boots provide good cover over the hock and stay firmly in place. I could waffle on for a while about Protechmasta, the whole range is durable, washable and would recommend it to anybody without hesitation.
When I am not riding or working I enjoy judging on several judges’panels, and am also a British Dressage steward and this year I started dressage judge training. Somehow I fit it all in! I am basically future proofing myself for when I am no longer able to ride at the weekends!