Enjoy some of our favourite updates from equestrian social media channels during the past week. From a musical Shire to a possibly psychic toddler, it all happened on social media this week.

Don’t miss the exciting competition on this weekly page. Our favourite tweet each week will win either an Apatchy mini tablet case or an Apatchy cosmetic bag, personalised with your own initials. For more information about the competition and to find out who this week’s winner is, go to the bottom of this page.

Equestrian social media posts of the week

Joseph and Donnacha O’Brien aren’t competitive at all…

Would would you score?

Sarah Flick Sanderson

No Description

What a sewuence!

Yeehaa

We know we should’t laugh, but here’s a toddler riding a sheep dog under the watchful eye of National Hunt trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies

These are some very impressive baking skills

This horse has got the right idea

This is almost enough to make us cry, but hopefully we’ll see him back at Aintree next year

Impressive scope

Did Otis Price, son of five-star eventers Tim and Jonelle, know something we didn’t a few weeks ago?

Klassical Dream shows off his scope back in November

And congratulations to this week’s Social Media Post of the Week winner

Well this is one talented Shire

If you like this, why not follow @horseandhound on twitter today?

Tweet of the week competition

If you are the winner of the Horse & Hound tweet of the week competition, contact us to let us know if you would prefer to receive an Apatchy mini tablet case (pictured below left) or an Apatchy cosmetic bag (pictured below right), personalised with your initials.

Apatchy are designers and makers of bespoke lifestyle gifts. Their ranges include wash, cosmetic, travel and sports bags, which can be instantly personalised or customised without the need for sewing, gluing or ironing. To find out more about Apatchy’s unique personalised products and their wonderful gift wrapping service, visit www.apatchy.co.uk

Would you like to read Horse & Hound’s independent journalism without any adverts? Join Horse & Hound Plus today and you can read all articles on HorseandHound.co.uk completely ad-free.

I’m sharing a previous Feature Friday today, a fun event I took part in several years ago in Mobile, AL, the Southern Romance house. Enjoy it all over again, it’s a beautifully restored house! 

***************************************************
Today’s Feature Friday is really special. I shared the porch of this magnificent home yesterday, but the final reveal of the interior of this home is another big part of the Southern Romance story. Esther, the CEO of Phantom Screens, bought this house from the Ford family and after an 18 month journey of renovation, the house is finished. We were all wondering what she was going to do with the house and the last video of the series on videos, it was shared that she is keeping her beautiful home. I can’t blame her a bit! After working on a house like this for so many months and pouring her heart and soul into it, I’m so glad she is keeping it in her family and she will vacation in Mobile from Canada for years to come.

If you get the chance, you will LOVE watching all the videos of the progress of this house renovation. They did a fantastic job sharing and capturing it all.

The post Feature Friday: The Morgan-Ford House Mobile AL appeared first on Southern Hospitality.

The Lycett’s Festival of Hunting in July has been cancelled owing to the coronavirus pandemic.

The event, which incorporates the Peterborough Hound Show, attracts thousands of visitors and was due to be held on 22 July at the East of England Showground.

“Although this is an important day in the calendar for hunts and thousands of hunt supporters, as well as the Countryside Alliance (CA), the hunting community is united with the rest of the population in respecting the government’s wishes, to stay at home to protect the NHS and save lives, so realises that has to take priority,” said the CA’s head of hunting, Polly Portwin.

“These are clearly disappointing times for the organisers and the trade stand holders as well as those who were due to show their hounds, but we look forward to enjoying all of these events again in the future once the pandemic is under control.

“Those involved in hunting are, however, showing typical resilience in these difficult times by embracing the community spirit and turning their attention to helping out in their own local communities by supporting local businesses, helping farmers and offering assistance to those who are vulnerable or self-isolating.”

Article continues below…

You might also be interested in:

Horse & Hound special offer: 6 for £6 or a free digital issue

If you want to keep up with the latest from the equestrian world without leaving home, grab a H&H subscription

Goodnight – Tessa Waugh’s hunting diary: A roll-up on the go *H&H Plus*

Some people are just natural horsemen, says Tessa Waugh, as an old friend joins her for a day’s hunting and

Coronavirus Q&A: horse riders, businesses and employees — all you need to know

H&H has put together a Q&A to help with some of the questions those living and working in the equestrian

Alison Queenborough, secretary of the Peterborough Royal Foxhound Show Society, said the group is advising its members, sponsors, trade stand exhibitors, advertisers and contractors, thanking everyone who supports the annual event.

“Since 1878, the Peterborough Royal Foxhound Show has been cherished as the annual showcase for the world of hunting and has only ever stopped during wartime,” she said.

“This time it’s a global pandemic which is placing huge demands on our public health service.

“While ‘Peterborough’ exemplifies the history and tradition of hounds, celebrates rural life and is a great social gathering, we do not wish to place unnecessary burden on our public services which must be focused on the nation’s health and well-being.”

Other major hound shows that have also cancelled this year include the South of England Show (11 to 13 June) and the Great Yorkshire Show (14 to16 July).

Posted: 4/2/2020 | April 2nd, 2020

Travel hacking is one of the best ways to lower your travel costs. Flights, accommodation represent two of the biggest expenses travelers face so getting those to zero allows you to travel more for less. When money isn’t a worry, the world is your oyster.

While I have tons of travel hacking resources on this website for U.S. travelers, I get a lot of questions from Canadians about whether they can take advantage of travel hacking too. And the answer is always yes!

While the U.S. has the most deals and opportunities, Canada isn’t too far behind and is the second biggest points market in the world.

To help you understand the Canadian travel hacking world, I reached out to my friend and fellow travel blogger Ricky Zhang from Prince of Travel. In this interview, he shares his tips and tricks.

Nomadic Matt: Hey Ricky! Thanks for doing this! To begin, tell us about yourself.
Ricky: I’m based out of Montreal and Toronto, and I’ve always loved to travel and get the best bang for my buck when doing so. For the past few years, I’ve run the Prince of Travel website, which is dedicated to helping my fellow Canadians maximize their frequent flyer miles and credit card points to travel the world at a fraction of the price.

How did you get into travel hacking?
I first became interested in points and loyalty programs back in 2013. As a university student in Canada, I was making frequent trips back home to China to visit my family and I was trying to figure out how I could get airport lounge access.

It turns out that there was a little-known opportunity to earn top-tier Star Alliance Gold status very easily with the loyalty program of Aegean Airlines, the Greek national airline. I figured out that I could simply credit the miles from one or two of my round-trip flights to Aegean and I’d end up with Star Alliance Gold, which would get me the lounge access I wanted.

That led me to the online blogs and forums, where I quickly learned that credit card points — and specifically the signup bonuses — was the key to racking up the points and funding many trips around the world (often in business class or First Class) at a fraction of the price.

From there, I was hooked and I’ve just continued honing my craft over the years!

The U.S. is known for its awesome travel credit cards. How does Canada compare?
Many outside observers would probably guess that the Canadian travel credit card market is less lucrative than the US and, while that’s true in some ways, there are also ways in which Canada is the more favorable place to be.

The US has a wider range of travel credit cards, provides access to a greater number of airline and hotel programs, and also gives consumers larger quantities of signup bonuses (for example, 100,000-point bonuses are a regular occurrence whereas, in Canada, the single-highest signup bonus is 75,000 points).

However, the US credit card issuers are also stricter about limiting the number of signup bonuses that a single individual can obtain (or imposing limits on how often you can obtain them), whereas the Canadian issuers haven’t imposed such limits, making Canada much more favorable in terms of earning the signup bonuses repeatedly.

Almost all the cards in Canada let you double- or triple-dip on the bonus (although the terms and conditions may not always say so). It’s easy for issuers to update their terms and conditions to say that you’re only eligible for a once-in-a-lifetime bonus, but much more challenging for them to actually enforce that from an IT perspective.

In addition, there are ways for Canadians to apply for US credit cards as well, thus letting us play the game on both sides of the border!

Really? How can Canadians get a U.S. travel credit card?
Well, to do that, you need three things:

• A US address
• A US bank account
• A social security number (or something equivalent)

The address is easy. Just use a friend or family member’s address, or a mail-forwarding service. The bank account is also easy. Just use the cross-border banking service of your favorite Canadian bank to set up a US domiciled bank account with your US address listed on it.

The social security number part is tricky. You can’t just get one unless you actually study or work in the US. Instead, you can get an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN), which is an equivalent number that many issuers also accept in place of an SSN.

Any foreign resident can get apply for an ITIN from the IRS if they show that they’ve earned income in the US (for example, if you’ve earned $5 gambling in Vegas) but need to be exempt from withholding taxes on that income as a foreign resident. Once you have your ITIN, you can use that in place of the SSN on US credit card applications – and voilà!

What are some of the best credit cards in Canada right now?
The single-highest signup bonus one can obtain in Canada is the American Express Business Platinum Card, which gives you 75,000 Membership Rewards points upon spending $7,000 (CAD) in the first three months.

This card is also very valuable for its referral bonus of 25,000 Membership Rewards points, which you earn simply for referring a friend or family member to a card of their own, and can add up very quickly after just a handful of referrals. Then you’ve also got the unlimited Priority Pass lounge access and the Marriott Gold Elite status perks as well.

However, the Business Platinum does come with an annual fee of $499. For those who are more interested in First Year Free offers to minimize their out-of-pocket cost, I’d recommend the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite, which is offering 30,000 Aeroplan miles + First Year Free.

Moreover, RBC Avion points can be very valuable due to how flexible they are, so in that regard the RBC Visa Infinite Avion is another great card to pick up, offering 15,000 Avion points at signup.

In most cases, you don’t need to be a small business owner in the traditional sense to get a business card. Instead, you apply as a “sole proprietor”, which is a form of doing business in which you operate under your own name. Just enter your own name as the business name and apply, and most issuers are happy with it.

And what about debit cards? When it comes to avoiding ATM fees abroad?
The frontrunner in this regard is the Stack Prepaid MasterCard, which does not impose any foreign transaction fees on foreign ATM withdrawals. Stack is free to apply for and to load funds, and only charges you the fair currency exchange rate when you withdraw money at a foreign ATM (although the local ATM fee may still be charged). It’s my go-to method for withdrawing cash while I’m traveling.

Are there any ways to manufacture spending in Canada to earn more points?
At any given moment, there are always a handful of manufactured spending methods floating around in Canada, although they tend not to be discussed publicly out of a fear that they might end if they were too widely circulated.

The best way to learn about manufactured spending methods would be to attend in-person events with fellow Miles & Points enthusiasts. I host one or two of these events every year and there are always other informal meets going on in every Canadian city as well.

What tips do you have for new travel hackers in Canada?
There’s always a ton of reading and scouring online blogs and forums at the start of the learning curve, but the best way to actually get started would be to think about one or two places you’d like to go over the next year (which places, what time of year, how many passengers, what class of service, etc.), then research specifically the best ways to make that trip happen using points, and then put together a strategy for earning those points using credit card signup bonuses.

Having this strategy in place will allow you to learn the ropes and reap rewards much faster than if you simply opened credit cards left, right, and center without a clear goal in mind.

Besides that, try to make it out to an in-person event or meetup at some point so that you can get to know other members of the community — that’ll accelerate your learning process by leaps and bounds. You can learn about them from some of the following groups/websites:

• Prince of Travel Elites
• PointsNerd.ca
• FlyerTalk
• RedFlagDeals
• Churning Canada (Reddit)

I try to host in-person events for Prince of Travel readers about twice a year, and I’m also looking to host a larger-scale PointsCon event sometime later this year, so stay tuned for details on that one.

Otherwise, the Prince of Travel Elites community regularly hosts small informal gatherings, which are known as “Miles & Pints”, in cities all across Canada, so make sure to join the group and keep an eye out for the next event in your area!

Where can people find you online/on social media to learn more?
I can be found sharing Miles & Points knowledge, industry news and analysis, travel tips, and reviews from my own trips every day at princeoftravel.com and sharing weekly videos on my YouTube channel. Also follow me on Instagram, where I post the highlights from my travels, and get to know the rest of the community on my Prince of Travel Elites group on Facebook!

The post How to Be a Travel Hacker in Canada appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

Happy April Fools Day! I wish all of this was just a joke that is happening in our world right now, but we are living in unprecedented times. Regardless April is here and we must enjoy our Spring, so Happy Spring to you all! 

Keeping up with fashion during this time is going to be a little challenging, since I’m not really getting dressed and going anywhere right now. I have a couple of outfits to share today along with a pair of new white jeans I just ordered and got in from Banana Republic. White jeans are always a great choice for spring so here are a couple of ways I will wear these jeans when we can go out again. 

Going forward for the next few weeks, I will probably share some sale clothing that I see and like online and put some outfits together that way since my closet doesn’t have new things constantly. I know there will be some new spring things out there and I’ll look for eye catching things that you all might like too. 

The post Fashion over 50: White Jeans Again appeared first on Southern Hospitality.

Posted: 03/31/20 | March 21st, 2020

On a breezy fall morning, I was walking home from my university’s humanities department after trying to get out of my Spanish language requirement to no avail. On the way, I ran into one of my roommates. He mentioned he had heard that a small plane had crashed into the World Trade Center.

By the time I got home and turned on the TV, both towers were on fire and it was clear this was much more than a small plane gone off course.

In the days and weeks following September 11th, the world changed. Even to my young self, I could feel in my bones that nothing would ever be the same again. There was a pre-9/11 world and we were now forever in a post-9/11 world.

While the later 2008 financial crisis changed the economy and our views on money, 9/11 seemed to change who we fundamentally were as people. It created a shift in thinking and our sense of self. It changed how we Americans viewed the world. There was a “lost innocence.”

As the Coronavirus has rapidly unfolded in the last month, I feel that way again, except this time on a global scale. There was a pre-Coronavirus world and now we will forever be in a post-Coronavirus world.

From how we work, travel, view government, money, and conduct our day-to-day lives, everything is going to be different. And the longer the crisis lasts, the more different it will be. I can’t say just how yet (I’m a bad futurist) but, in my gut, I know change is coming.

But let’s talk about something I do know a bit about: the travel industry.

How is this going to change travel?

The travel industry relies on human movement to function. And, with countrywide lockdowns and most major airlines ceasing operations, no one is moving right now.

Overnight, an industry that employs 10% of the world has come to a near-complete stop.

This is worse than a recession. Because, even in a recession, some people still traveling.

Now no one is moving. The industry is in stasis.

And no one knows how long this is going to last.

Hubei province, the site of the outbreak in China, was in lockdown for over two months. Singapore has increased restrictions on foreigners and Hong Kong, reeling from a recent spike in infections, has relocked down the city.

And I think that the slow pace of such measures in many countries means most of the world will be in lockdown until May if not early June. Too many people are behind the curve and it will take longer to keep the virus under control than most people think.

So what does this mean for the industry I’ve spent the last twelve years in?

As a whole, I think we’re looking at a drastically smaller travel industry for the foreseeable future. WTTC states that they expect 75 million job loses (at a rate of up to 1 million jobs lost per day).

And it will take years for the industry – and the jobs – to return to pre-Coronavirus levels.

For starters, I don’t think many magazines and online publications will make it through. The 2008 financial crisis shuttered the doors of a lot of publications and those around today live off advertising, brand deals, and events. Ad rates are plummeting as traffic plummets and most brand deals are on hold for now.

With publications furloughing employees, giving pay cuts, and seeing lost revenue that will never come back, if this goes on longer, I think you’ll see around 25% of publications go under. I know four that closed last week. More will come. And those that survive will be smaller and be able to hire few writers.

Additionally, a lot of creators, YouTubers, freelance writers, and bloggers rely on brand partnerships for revenue. The freelance writing market is not a land of riches and, with the majority of writers and online content creators living on thin margins and paycheck to paycheck, the prospect of months of zero income is going to drive people out of the industry. I know a few already looking for the exit. I think 30-40% of people might end up leaving if the industry remains frozen to June.

Moreover, I think many hostels, travel start-ups, and small tour operators will go under too. Most small businesses operate with the tiniest of margins and don’t have a lot of liquidity. They keep enough cash on hand to get by without income for just a few weeks. A sustained shock to their business like this, even with government assistance, is going to bankrupt them. They have too much overhead and costs to sustain them. Many will fold and, when you travel again, you will see fewer hostels, food and walking tour companies, and small tour operators.

I expect it to take years for the travel industry to recover. People will slowly start booking travel again but, like the 2008 crisis, it is going to leave many unemployed. When you don’t have a job, travel is not a priority. It is luxury people will put off.

I think as the world opens up around the end of May/early June (provided there’s no second spike in infections), people will begin to start booking travel again for later in the summer. Business travel will pick up first but I think most of the tourism you’ll see initially will be local. People will travel around their region before they start taking big international trips again.

First, because it’s cheaper. This pandemic is going to cause a huge recession and massive job losses. Since travel is a luxury, big international trips won’t be on the agenda. Second, people will be wary of the risk of another potential outbreak. They will be concerned about picking up the virus as well as being stuck if something happens. Until everyone is 100% sure they are fine, people will be cautious.

And the cruise industry? Well, ships are floating petri dishes and, no matter how good the deals, most people won’t want to get on a ship for the foreseeable future. I believe this will permanently shrink the cruise industry. Images of cruise ships unable to dock in countries will scar our psyche for years to come.

Additionally, I think countries are going to be wary about fully opening up until they know they won’t be importing the virus and there’s some treatment or vaccine. No one wants to open their borders and have a second wave of infections that overloads their healthcare system. I wouldn’t be surprised if you start to see more temperature checks in airports and if countries start asking for proof you are COVID-19 negative.

While you will probably see a lot of travel deals as companies try to cover their costs and stay afloat, I think the whole “hop on the plane and travel” thing is going to be a lot harder until we reach a point where we have a treatment regime and vaccine for this virus.

But, maybe, the silver lining (and I always try to look for one) is that this will lead to more sustainable tourism as countries try to reduce crowds in hopes of keeping the virus in check.

Maybe this is the end of overtourism.

Whatever happens, travel is going to be a very different and smaller industry in the post-Coronavirus world.

P.S. – To keep this website community-focused and community-supported, we’ve launched a Patreon! While you can still access this website for free, Patreon members get access to private content and articles, monthly Q&As, bonus Instagram videos, free books, postcards, entry to our events, and more! Click here to learn more and became part of the club!

The post How the Coronavirus Will Change Travel appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

Hi, friends, it’s another week of being at home and we are all having to adjust to our new normal. I hope you are well and staying safe. We are doing the best we can and my parents are at home and not going out at all. We must keep them in and safe. We don’t know when this will all end, but I hope and pray that it doesn’t last as long as feared. 

In the meantime, I’ll continue to share here on the blog and hopefully inspire you and this is the time to get things done around the house. Enjoy this inspiration from me and my friends. I’m sharing my sister’s guest room makeover from a few years ago. It still looks pretty!

The post Style Showcase 23 appeared first on Southern Hospitality.

I’m sorry that I’ve been absent recently… it was this darn cold.  It was a bad one.  Not THE virus, but a virus and it tried to take me way down (no temp, no cough).

I took 6000mg of Vitamin C daily, plus quart after quart of warm, fresh lemon water.   I don’t know if it helped, but my version of this cold was not as strong as Hubby’s version, so I did feel good about that part.

However, I had about as much energy as a sloth – if that.

Today was the first day that I felt like going outside.  And, luckily for me, it has stopped raining – probably for the rest of the Spring and Summer,  until November.   Everything is very green.  Spring is springing and there are bees and hummingbirds everywhere.

The eerie part is the lack of cars.  No one is driving.  It is like Christmas morning or how Easter Sunday and Thanksgiving used to be.  Everyone is inside.

But, today was my time to go out, so I grabbed Dalton and did my best to groom him.  I didn’t realize that I was out of mane/tail detangler… can’t run down to the store so… we made due.

HERE WE GO

Dalton felt more comfortable looking towards the house instead of towards the wide open spaces.

When he did turn around, he made sure to look left…

And look right… he saw a horse way far away up on a hill. He started to run towards her, but then realized there were fences… so he came back. (I really want to fence in the front field.  Right now, the deer and rabbits use it, which is great, but they don’t eat all the grass down on the hill, which we need.)  You can maybe understand the pitch of our hill when you see how Dalton is standing, as well as the distance and angle of our driveway next to the main road.

He did not like being left alone in front of the house, so I didn’t leave him alone.

He was much more comfortable behind the house, were all the paddocks are set up. Here he is, making his way over to talk to Finn and Wrigley.  As you can see, he still has his winter coat, but I got a lot of it out today.  Mo has been taking hunks out of Dalton.  He has marks all over his sides.  This makes sense because they spar all the time.  I think Mo is jealous of Dalton being in with him and Missy Miss.

Yup, here he is, right in front of Finn and Wrigley – showing off.  I started to get tired, so I put him away and went in.  All in all, Dalton had two hours of grass and love.

The post ANOTHER quick report from lockdown Central California – with Dalton in the photos. appeared first on Horse and Man.

HORSE AND MAN is a blog in growth… if you like this, please pass it around!

Your purchase with R.W. through this link helps the Bucket Fund!

When you shop @AmazonSmile, Amazon will make a donation to Horse And Man Inc.



Supporting The Bucket Fund through Amazon Smile is HUGE for the horses. Please choose HORSE AND MAN when you make your Amazon purchase through this link. THANK YOU!

Here’s a fun Chinoiserie style Easter egg craft that I hope will inspire you today! Decoupage faux Easter eggs with blue and white napkins for a beautiful effect that will last for years. I was inspired to do this project by my friend, Yvonne, at StoneGable who blogged about it and I’ve seen many other bloggers do a similar decoupage project as well. We will all still be celebrating Easter this year, it just might look different than it normally does. I think these eggs are a fun way to celebrate the season.

Years ago, I got into decoupage but haven’t done anything in many years so it was fun to get crafty again. These will be fun to pull out year after year and the blue and white colors go so well in our home. Let’s get to crafting these Easter beauties!

The post How to Decoupage Easter Eggs appeared first on Southern Hospitality.

I hope you all continue to enjoy these inspirational Home Style Saturday posts with my friends. We want to add a little sunshine and creativity to these hard days we are all living at the moment. Hang in there, this too shall pass! 

The post Home Style Saturday 184 appeared first on Southern Hospitality.