The National Equine Show 2024 is an equestrian event that takes place once a year at the NEC in Birmingham, where 100s of brands, activities and educational theatres are under one roof.
This is the second year it has run and the second time I have attended.
Last year I was just a visitor, but this year, as a member of the Society of Master Saddlers Executive Committee, I was honoured to be asked to help on the stand as well as demonstrate traditional hand stitching of leather.
Setting Up
Our weekend started early Friday morning (1st March), when I picked up the hire van, we had hired for the weekend, and went over to Walsall to collect all the equipment and merchandise we needed to set up our stand. Then I drove to the NEC to set up with Lizzy and Bea.
By 6pm we had set up the stand and was ready to go grab some dinner. We were so tired.
Day One
Saturday morning was an early start for me as I commuted to NEC from home, rather than stay in the hotel, So, once I had picked Lizzy and Bea up we got to the NEC at 8am, ready for day one.
It was a steady start in the morning, with the event opening at 9am. By 10am, I was in full demo mode of traditionally hand stitching leatherwork whilst Bea and Lizzy were promoting the Society’s new Exclusive #fit4welfare Members Club, aimed at Horse Owners.
We we’re also doing a free prize draw to win Two handmade leather headcollars (one for each day).
At 11am, we had the lovely Suzie Fletcher, from The Repair Shop, come to our stand to demonstrate making a belt, talk with visitors and have photos with whoever wanted them.
I have to admit, I was a little starstruck, as Suzie is not just a celeb that the public love she is extremely admired and a huge inspiration to us saddlers in the trade also. I had a wonderful conversation with Suzie and we swapped stories and talked of some future plans. She’s such a wonderful and easy going person to talk to and I hope in the future we get to meet again, and even possibly work together in some form or another.
Also at 11am we had Catherine join us on the stand who would stay till Sunday and was promoting our updated Saddlery fitting courses which have just had an overhaul and are now the crème de la crème of qualifications with a City and Guilds Assured certificate.
We had a great day. We picked out the winner of the headcollar and contacted them too. It turned out to be a very busy day indeed. At 5pm we had a free drink at the Gin Bar, courtesy of the National Equine Show organisers, then finally left for home at 6pm.
Day Two
Sunday 3rd March, was another early start for me, and one which threatened snow all the way to the NEC.
We all got to the stand for 8am and had coffee. We also met this little one from Lunar Eclipse EFL. How CUTE!?!
Today was pretty much going to be the same thing as yesterday but with an addition of a talk by some of our Members about ‘Rider Fitness for the welfare of the Horse’.
Catherine would team up with Dr Jenni Douglas from ‘Event Fit‘, Gillian Higgins from ‘Horses Inside Out‘ and Poppy Webber from ‘A Day in the Life of a Saddle Fitter‘.
The talk went well and by the time the speakers arrived back at our stand we had a rush of visitors all keen to learn about the new Exclusive #fit4welfare Members Club or Saddlery Fitting. It was all hands on deck but I still managed a photo or two with a couple of amazing business owners: Jenni Bush from The Equestrian Business Network, Lucy Seeley from Equihandee and Gillian Higgins from Horses Inside Out.
At 3.00pm we drew the last prize draw winner and contacted them. I then quickly went off to get the van and take it round to the lorry park to sit in the queue where we would be allowed round the back of the halls to load everything back into the van. At 4pm Lizzy and Catherine started to break down the stand and pack it away as best they could until I got to them.
2.5hrs later I was finally back in the hall, collecting boxes and bags and putting it in the van.
Finally rolled in at 8pm. What a weekend!
Not completely over, as I have to take the exhibition stand and equipment back to Walsall for storage and then return the hire van to Stourbridge tomorrow but then I can relax for about 3 hours before having to pick the kids up from school. lol.
My Take Away from the National Equine Show Weekend…
My take away from this weekend is that it’s a lot of hard work, and as I was there with the Society and not my own business it was all unpaid but the people we’ve met, the businesses we’ve seen has all added some richness to our lives and if nothing else we have all passed on some inspiration, learning and advise to those who came to enquire about us.
Not to mention, we had quite a lot of people sign up for the exclusive club aimed at Horse Owners so that in itself is beneficial to both the society and the horse owners who are going to have access to some wonderful content.
If you are interested in joining the club then just scan the image below or click HERE to be directed to the sign up page.
Click the link below to view a video round up from The National Equine Show website. Can’t wait to attend the next one scheduled for 1st – 2nd March 2025:
2024 Gallery – National Equine Show
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