Welcome to the Tackshop Blog.

Well, I can't say I am much of a blogger, so this is all new to me. I am hoping a few of you, Our friends, customers, suppliers, and sponsored riders will all join in and contribute something to this. So if you can think of something interesting to write about, or something that will benefit others, please let me know. I am happy to offer Reward Points in return for any published blog.

I'll start with a bit of history... for anyone interested.

It started for me in the late 1990s when I moved to Hawkes Bay after grooming in the UK for several years in Eventing yards. I had been to all the big 3-day events over there, and came home with great plans of becoming a top 3-day event rider myself! Something that never eventuated.. I guess I just wasn't the great rider I thought I was!

I used to call in regularly to my local saddlery shop "Lodge Equestrian" which already had a 20+ year history with the current owner at the time Kevin Hansen, and previous to him Reg Robson. Lodge Equestrian was renowned for making the best canvas rugs in the country, and the design has since been copied many times and is still used today under the brand "Lodge Covers".

Lodge Equestrian was a great little shop, but I had plans to make it big, so offered to buy the business, and eventually a deal was struck. On the 3rd December 2003 I became the proud owner of a Saddlery Shop! Of course the next step was I had to learn to sew, so I could make these famous rugs... something I still do some times.

About a year after this, I was contacted by an Auckland company who built websites. They had this new thing, where people could go on to a website and actually buy products online. They wanted to know if I would be interested in giving it a go.. and I said YES! A few months later we were ready to launch what I think was probably the very first online saddlery in NZ.

It was decided that www.lodgeequestrian.co.nz was a bit of a mouthful, so I had a chat to a few friends, and we came up with www.tackshop.co.nz. And so Tackshop.co.nz was born.

We quickly built a good following, and some regular customers, and within a short period of time we decided to upgrade our website to a new system, which allowed a bit more functionality. This was built by a local company using the Joomla platform. This website, along with regular social media activity allowed us to quickly become one of the most recognised equestrian brands in NZ.

It didn't take long for other saddleries to start up their own online shops, and within a few years everyone seemed to be selling online, and the market became very competitive. From a consumer point of view, there were plenty of really great deals to be had, as everyone tried to beat everyone else on price. In 2010 we decided it was time to change the plan.. we needed to build a bigger and better website than all the others, with more functionality than you could dream of.. and so we did.

In 2010 our first Magento based website went live, and sales skyrocketed. We had the lead again, and everyone was coming to us to shop. It's amazing what difference a good website can make. That along with several years of super successful Horse of the Year Shows, and other events left us feeling on top of the world.

We have always tried to stay focused, bringing you new products, great service, and good prices. We have possibly lost the way a little over the last few years, with Covid disrupting everything we know, but we are ready to take control again.

Today we launch Tackshop.co.nz version 4, And we hope you love it as much as we do.

Here's to the future!

Nick.