Latest designer fashion for horses

Fashion forward miniature horses are in for a treat this Fieldays with a new range of unique coats and jewellery on offer.

Debbie Sloane is taking pet accessories to a new level with Superior Miniature Horse Wear, a brand of designer accessories imported from Australia.

Mrs Sloan and her husband Darren are the only people distributing the Superior Miniature Horse Wear collection, which includes a pink coat covered in hearts and a variety of diamante studded show halters, in New Zealand.

She said dressing the horses was just like dressing your children.

“You definitely have to colour co-ordinate what the horses wear.

“I have quite a collection of halters because they don’t all suit the same style.

“It’s just like people, they’re all different. The stallions suit the jewelled halters and the empires suit the ones with gold piping.”

She said she wouldn’t use anything else for her horses especially during competitions.

“You only have 30 seconds to impress a judge so the accessories definitely help you get the edge.”

She is also importing what appears to be horse makeup that claims to add a glossy highlight to the face and eyes that won’t run in hot weather.

And they don’t just look good – Mrs Sloan said they are also the best quality she’s found.

A bejewelled halter will cost an image conscious horse anywhere from $250 to $350 and the 900 denier coats start at $75.

Mrs Sloan first found the unique apparel while competing at an international miniature horse competition in Australia, where she and her horse It Must Be Magic were the first international competitors and winners of the supreme amateur award.

The collection first hit New Zealand late May this year and it has already reached the West Coast of the South Island.

Mrs Sloan has been around horses all her life and has been breeding them for the past 22 years.

She is at Fieldays with several of her miniature horses modelling the clothes, and starting from $650 people can also take home one of the miniature horses.