At G&G, we’re always excited to see our products out in the field, and we love learning more about the people who choose G&G. That’s why we’re thrilled to introduce our new Meet the G&G Customer series on the Countryside Conversations Blog. In this series, we’ll be sharing inspiring stories from our customers and the reasons they love the G&G brand.
In our inaugural feature, we had the pleasure of sitting down with the lovely Louise Rey, whom we first connected with when she entered a photo in our annual competition to select images for the 2024 G&G Charity Calendar. We were delighted to feature Louise’s stunning photo, where she’s wearing a Ginger & Jardine Cosy Roll Neck (one of the G&G brands) alongside a reindeer from the Tsaatan Tribe, taken while trekking in the Taiga Mountains of Mongolia. It’s a shot unlike anything we’ve ever featured before – or since! This is just one of Louise’s many unique and incredible adventures, which we explore further in our interview.
Louise grew up in Sweden, where a love for country pursuits and the great outdoors played a central role in her life. Horses have always been a part of Louise’s life, but it wasn’t until 2020 that she discovered her passion for trail hunting. Since then, she’s made up for lost time, spending much of the autumn and winter seasons riding behind the ears of her trusty steed, Caesar. Like all our customers and followers, we’ve thoroughly enjoyed following Louise’s adventures on social media, and we’re thrilled to share more of her journey with you all.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your stunning grey horse Caesar. Where did your passion for horses, the countryside and adventure begin?
I’m originally Swedish but have spent over a decade in the UK, predominantly in London but moved to Rutland in August last year. I grew up by the sea in Sweden and our family have always been rather outdoorsy and engaged in a variety of sports and country pursuits which set the tone early on for spending time in nature and the outdoors.
I’ve ridden since I was little, starting on a grey Shetland pony named Carl, nicknamed Carl the Chaos, whose party trick was to trot quicker and quicker until he would slam the brakes and I would somersault over his head whilst he would laugh at me from a distance. Although bruised at times, I do credit him for teaching me resilience and stubbornness, which as my friends would attest, not only showcases around horses but sometimes in my civilian life. I continued on with ponies competing in showjumping, until university and later work created a 17-year hiatus from riding. It’s funny to think that not until I lived in central London in late 2019, would I pick riding back up. I started riding at the Household Cavalry, where the spirited steeds quickly exercised my long-forgotten riding muscles back into shape .
Through them and the London Riding Club in 2020 I came into contact with renowned horsewoman Diana Pritchard Jack who runs her hunting and teamchasing yard in Warwickshire. I did my first day’s hunting in March 2020 and was immediately hooked, there is simply nothing like it. The interaction between nature, horse and hound mixed with copious amount of adrenaline speaks to something primal and probably more than slightly feral in me which I cannot replicate anywhere else. The warm welcome and camaraderie I have experienced in the hunting field is absolutely second to none and has made me feel welcome wherever I’ve been going out or lucky enough to visit. My first season 20/21 was sadly curtailed by Covid but over the following seasons I’ve rapidly increased my hunting days as well as visited various packs to the point where I now find myself spending many an autumn and winter day in the saddle, covered in mud grinning from ear to ear.
When I started hunting, I rode various horses from Diana but Caesar cantered straight into my heart the first time I was aboard. He was a hireling at the time and she kindly let me ride this gentle giant even though he at 17’3 and me at 5’5 sometimes makes for a source of amusement. He had come from Ireland in 2019 where Diana bought him from a field and gave him his name because of his Roman nose. I bought him in 2022 and still keep him with her where Diana's excellent yard manager Sally Webb makes sure he wants for nothing. He has more personality than most people and will always let you know exactly what he thinks. He can be a bit of a primadonna at home if he’s not fed or taken into the field exactly when he thinks it’s time and the farrier has learned to move quickly from his snappy back legs. However, he is mellowing with age and what used to be a rather ferocious horse is rapidly softening into a big friendly giant prone to cuddles with a penchant for polos.
Photo Credit: Lottie-Elizabeth Photography @lottieelizabethsphotography
On the hunting field there are no ears I’d rather be behind. He has carried me over some rural country, some giant hedges as well as always sorting us out with trappy rails and muddy ditches. He loves nothing more than sitting right in the field master’s pocket and there has been more than one indulgent but exasperated smile at my “So sorry master/ very sorry master/ Deeply apologise master”. Where I have very limited knowledge on what is actually happening, he always knows exactly what’s going on and will move out or prick his ears way before I notice anything. He is certainly my horse of a lifetime and I look forward to many more seasons aboard.
Photo Credit: Laura Jones
What inspired you to get a sculpture made of Caesar by Zoë Carmichael? Where do you now keep such a prized possession?
My mother has always loved art and together we love to visit art galleries and museums where the sculptures are always my favourites. I lived in Paris after finishing school where I would spend long hours at the Louvre watching the Marly horses, at Musee de Rodin for the Rodin sculptures and at Musee d’Orsay for the Degas ballerinas and a visit to Florence is not complete without marvelling at Davide, the sculptures at the Uffizi and the marble tables at Palazzo Pitti. I was recently in the US and lucky enough to see a wide variety of Remington sculptures which showcases the interaction between horse and rider magnificently.
I find the process of shaping a living material such as marble, bronze or iron into various forms, where the object is amplified by the material, which will go on to live for hundreds and sometimes thousands of years simply awe inspiring. Zoë is a close friend and it’s been a privilege and pleasure watching her turn her incredible talent into a runaway (galloping?) success. She knows Caesar intimately and seeing her convey his spirit into the sculpture as it grew from a lump of wax into a fully formed bronze was simply magical.
We started discussing making a sculpture of Caesar around three years ago. The first idea was to make a full body, not full size, hunt horse version (might still come, we have plans). We settled on making a horse head with him looking like he does at his happiest, pricked ears listening to the sounds of hounds. As he sadly won’t live forever, I wanted an everlasting memory of him in my favourite art genre. Zoë created all of this and more for the sculpture and it now has a prime position at home where I stroke it on the nose every time I pass. Not only me, the sculpture is so like him that almost everyone who walks past it cannot resist doing the same!
Photo Credit: John Nassari @johnnassari
What is your most treasured memory during a day on horseback?
There has been so many I cannot pick just one, as Churchill said; No hour of life is wasted that is spent in the saddle never rings more true. The sheer happiness, camaraderie and support when spending time with your horse and friends, the gasp of fear and whoop of joy, adrenaline and exhilaration when you clear an impossible jump or come home from a red letter day, the sense of adventure trekking horses through deep bog or deserts to arrive to remote places or the simple moments in the stable with the horses chewing on hay or snorting quietly. All of it makes up for an incredible tapestry of memories and I’m grateful to my parents for putting me on that pony that allowed me to live a lifetime close to these magnificent beasts.
We have loved seeing photos of you in your Glaze & Gordon gear, there are some fantastic photos including the one of you with a reindeer in our 2024 Charity Calendar. Where did you first hear about us, what is your favourite G&G goodie so far and do you have your eye on any others?!?
Haha, yes Dasher was not too happy to have been rein-ed in (sorry, couldn’t resist) as a model and took me through a pine tree on the way back to articulate how he felt. I was first recommended the hunting breeches from a friend and they are so comfortable and the pockets are super practical for Caesars polos – not to mention easy to wash, crucial after a day in the mud! I really want the green version ahead of my next adventure and I have my eyes on some new shirts and rollernecks. I live in the G&J rollernecks and my mother has finally got her own after she kept “borrowing” mine when she visits. Caesar keeps telling me not to be selfish and he should also get some things seeing as he’s of the opinion “that he does all the work”. We’ll see if there is something coming his way such as the hunting bridle and a new headcollar?
Photo credit: Kathy Gabriel Photography @kathy_gabriel_
It has been fantastic seeing you flying around the hunting field on the lovely Caesar - can you describe your top moment in your G&G Classic Hunting Breeches?
One of many many top hunting moment/s in the breeches was Pytchley opening meet 2022. Caesar was on flying form and I had just bought him so it was a very special day riding my first opening meet on my horse. As we geared up for a run of hedges, I noticed Will Spencer, the field master taking a slightly different route to get to the last hedge. Caesar had parked us in the master’s pocket and without any time to think through if this was a sensible idea, C took matters in his own hooves and accelerated as my heart went into my mouth and I’m pretty sure I closed my eyes and then we were up and over. It was a good deal more substantial than it had looked from a distance with a ditch underneath it. I’m very glad my hat covers my face as I think my eyes popped out and at landing, I found my mouth shouting something unprintable within earshot of the master and then immediately apologising for my less than ladylike language. He assured me that it was all ok and it had been a good sized hedge, which I’m sure was just out of politeness. Since then, there has been many more moments kitted out in these stylish and comfortable breeches but this was the time I truly realised I can trust C with anything.
Photo Credit: Mick Smith @micksmithphoto
Do you have any more exciting outdoor adventures coming up or planned for the future?
Where to begin?! I just came back from the US where we went hunting on a plantation in South Carolina and rode western in Texas. Having been to Montana riding in the Rockies, encountering an 8” black bear a few years back, I would love to do a cattle drive in Wyoming. I am hoping to head to Namibia next year for a desert ride and have the Gaucho derby on the horizon but that won’t happen until Caesar has hung up his hunting boots.
My trip of a lifetime, well at least one of them, would be to drive or ride the Silk Road from Turkey to China. The Silk Road is the old west to east trading route and takes you through a plethora of countries all steeped in rich history and thankfully still not overrun by tourism such as Iran, Iraq, the old Soviet -stan countries, northern India and Mongolia which I went to in 2023 crossing the outback close to the Russian border in search of the last Reindeer riding tribe in the world. I did a hike and ride across the mountains in Kyrgyzstan in 2022 as soon as I could post Covid as it had been on my dream list for years and it did not disappoint. I’m desperate to go back and see more of the -stan countries with their rich equestrian history, where horses are a natural and necessary part of life in countries like Tajikistan and Turkmenistan where the beautiful Akhal-teke horses can be found. Current mode of transportation considered is either a Royal Enfield or a Landy but why not on a horse? I have promised my mother I won’t do it alone so need to find some poor sod to join in who can put up with my chat and preferably comes with mechanical skills.
If horses are not enough a friend wants me to come Ostrich riding in South Africa so I guess that will need to find it’s place onto the adventure schedule as well. Seeing as I am Swedish, I should probably find a way to get on a moose but we’ll leave that for later.
What a captivating story! A huge thank you to Louise for taking the time to share her incredible equestrian adventures with us. Are you a G&G customer with your own inspiring tale to tell? We'd love to hear from you! If you'd like to be featured in our next blog, please reach out and share your story with us hello@glazeandgordon.com.
Cover photo credit: Mick Smith @micksmithphoto
