Let’s face it, your amazon cart is already bursting at the seams for the holidays. You may be looking for some last minute small items to stuff in a stocking, or leave for your lesson buddy. This time of year I try to donate clothes I didn’t use all year, finally clean out the bottom of my work bag, and yes RESTOCK my ring side/horse show back pack.
These days I pack just for myself, but I usually throw in some miscellaneous items that could come in handy. I like to be the horse show version of Mary Poppins and pull everything we may need out of my bottomless backpack.
1. First Aid Kit
I’m probably biased because I am a medical professional – but a small first aid kit will never not be handy. I tend to buy a pre-made kit and customize it to my needs. Definitely stocking it full with ibuprofen and Tylenol for EVERYONE who didn’t sleep well at the hotel and had to lunge horses at 5 AM. Bandaids for new boot blisters and blistered hands. And the one time you get stung by a bee at Hunter 2, you’re going to wish you had some Benadryl.
These little medicine boxes are adorable and you can custom pick how you organize the sections. I think this great to keep in your back pack, suitcase, car, trailer, and trunk – and they are cheap enough you can probably do all of the above.
2. Sunscreen
The horse show motto is hurry up and wait. A lot of the time we go out to the rings to ride for our class, we end up up spending more time waiting up there than doing our trips. I have made the cardinal mistake of not-reapplying sunscreen at horse shows and was faced with the consequences of buying horse show photos a la tomatoe. Keeping a small bottle in your bag is perfect for a quick application. There’s a lot of brands out there – so do your research.
Spoiler: The two products below are NOT available on amazon, but they are really cool horse girl products that I just had to include.
3.Portable Chargers
This is probably the accessory that I try not to leave home without. Horse shows are notorious bad for service, which causes your phone to constantly scan for bars and drain your battery. That last thing you want is for your phone to die and you miss the text from your trainer to go back to the barn and tack up for your flat class. I tend to gravitate towards chargers that are either wireless or have a built in cord. I know myself well enough that I barely remember to charge the portable power bank – let alone remember to also pack the cord. Even better, some of the new backpacks these days even have a built in port for a power back to “live” in the back pack.
4. Stain Remover
I will never forget trying how angry my mom was one year at HITS when I sat on a ketchup packet and running my brand new tailoreds. I really don’t understand why this sport thought putting teenagers in white shirts, light pants, and suit jackets was a great idea. These days, a lot of our new equestrian fabrics and stain resistant – but I still find myself leaving each horse show with mysterious stains. Ever since the ketchup incident, I keep stain removers in my bag. To me, it’s like having an umbrella – if you have one, it won’t rain. That goes double for keeping a small bottle of horse stain remover in my bag for a quick touch up!
5. Spur organization
I am the Goldilocks of spurs. Depending on the day and what I’m riding in, usually determines what spurs I’m wearing. The weather, how tired I am, how tired my horse is – it all goes into the decision making process. I used to have to dig to the bottom of my bag to find spurs that matched. Then I tried to buckle them all to the outside of my bag, and lot many along the way. At a show years ago I saw a groom have what looked like a janitor ring of bits and spurs hanging from his bag. I honestly was made I didn’t think of that before I lost at least a dozen spurs. These rings are perfect to keep everything together for quick swaps at the ring, or even just general organization at home.
6. Miscellaneous Junk
Let’s face it, the rest of the stuff that falls to the bottom of the bag is junk that you just threw in there and forgot about. I have a few things I have collected over the years and frankly I don’t know if I would call them essentials – but I think they are handy to have.
- Chapstick
- Mini hair brush
- Wet wipes/hand sanitizer/baby wipes
- Small pack of tissues
- Small wallet with cash
There’s a lot I pack in my backpack in general – half of which I probably have never used. I think depending on what horse show venue you’re at makes a difference for what you pack. Do you have a groom? Is your entourage close behind with a golf cart? Is your ring within eye sight of your stalls?
Regardless, it’s always better to be over-prepared than not.
Follow these links below for more of my personal list of my Horse Show Back Pack Amazon Essentials!
Three Ring Eq 
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