Sharing the success of our new Elite Breastplate.

We’ve had a fantastic first six months of the year (although they have absolutely flown by), but our director Jo never rests on her laurels. She’s often found brainstorming new ideas to help horses and riders find their peak performance through equipment carefully designed to offer maximum comfort. It was once of her brainstorming sessions, which happened when she was out riding and her mind wandered a little bit, that she first came up with the most recent addition to our range, the Elevator Elite Breast Plate.

As we mention occasionally on social media, there have been plenty of studies into the impact of poor saddle fit on horses (though many riders would confirm you don’t need lab or field-based scientists to tell us that!) and more latterly the impact of bridle fit has gained more attention. But as Jo rode along, she wondered about some of the other tack we used, and her mind settled on the breastplate. Given that many riders fit a breastplate to ensure their saddle can’t slip back, a breastplate can come under quite a lot of pressure. It also sits near or above the horse’s shoulder, an area which is very dynamic at all paces. Jo decided that an Elevator breastplate should be next on her list of products, designed to be supremely comfortable for the horse to wear just like the rest of the range.

Jo spent many months working on a design, ensuring it was FEI-legal as well as offering a comfortable fit, and then tested her first prototype. The result of all her hard work is a breastplate and neck strap in one, the latter just perfect for the ‘oh sh*t’ moments experienced by many a rider over cross-country fences, out hacking or in the hunting field. Crafted from the finest supple English Sedgwick leather, it features a padded chest pad and elastic inserts for comfort and freedom of shoulder movement. An adjustable running martingale attachment is included too, which can be removed if it’s not needed.

The Elite Breast Plate was launched last month to coincide with Badminton and the response has been amazing. Event rider Fred Powell rides Jo’s horse Grafiba in one and is very impressed with the freedom of movement he demonstrates in it. We’ve had heaps of lovely messages from people who have found their horses work beautifully in our new breastplate and wanted to pass on their message of thanks to Jo.

You can take a closer look at the Elevator Elite Breastplate here, and please drop us a line if you have any questions. It won’t surprise you to hear that while the launch of it was being planned and executed, Jo was busy working on the next new products for Elevator. We have a new Elevator Performance bridle design being launched this month which we can’t wait to share with the world. Make sure you keep a beady eye on our social media for more information so that you can view it as soon as possible.