Look, there are plenty of bloggers and companies that put together extensive gift guides full of beautiful equestrian-themed gifts, all of which were posted like a month ago.

Surely you don’t come to this blog for stuff like that? I’m here for those of you who are like “Oh shit, WHAT DAY IS IT?” or “OMG I forgot that person existed!”. Y’all are my people. That is my life.

By this point I think most of my friends understand that with me you may get your gift any time between Thanksgiving and the middle of January, depending on how badly my brain farted. But sometimes I do really TRY to look like an adult that has my shit together, I swear.

So if you’re looking for gift ideas that can arrive quickly and are kinda fun or different, or at least maybe something a bit more outside the box: I got you. You’ve come to the right hot mess. Snuggie in.

The Quick and Easy

The first and most obvious answer is gift certificates/gift cards… they’re the ultimate solution for the last-minute shopper. I have utilized many a gift card in my day, and it’s one of those things where you can’t really go wrong, they’re useful and basically like getting free money. Unless it’s a gift card to a place the person doesn’t like… then whoops. But in general they’re easy and quick to buy and require very little mental energy. Which also makes it feel a little mindless to me, or boring, or predictable. But if you need quick and easy, here’s ideas for gift cards for things that feel a little more personal or exciting or different.

Etalon Equine Genetics gift certificate

Between the genetic testing I’ve had done on my own personal horses and the articles I’ve written for EN, I’ve been all up in the Etalon business lately. You gotta admit though, learning about the genetics of your horse is fun. There’s a reason why Ancestry and 23andme are such popular muggle gifts, so gifting someone the equine version of that is – IMO anyway – really cool and unique. This ain’t your standard Dover gift card. Granted, genetic testing is not super cheap, so if you’re looking for a lower-budget gift this probably wouldn’t be it. But as something special? Definitely. I’d be delighted with a gift cert from Etalon, and I feel like a lot of other people would be too.

Breed.Ride.Compete. gift certificate

Yes I’m putting my own business on here, sue me. There’s a reason though, hear me out. We tracked our numbers this year for time investment, the cost of our tools and databases, Etsy fees, taxes, etc and came to the swift and glaring conclusion that the $100 price point for a pedigree report is not sustainable. We LOVE doing them, and they’re always really well-received, but they take a lot of time and all the research tools we utilize aren’t free. Someone who is better at math than me advised a price increase, so reports have now gone up to $125. HOWEVER – as a last minute before Christmas special, we’re selling 5 gift certificates at the old $100 price. Buy one as a gift or hold onto it for yourself (you have a year to redeem), either one is fine, those will just be the last 5 we have available at that price!

If both of those things are out of budget or just not quite right, I feel like when in doubt – Riding Warehouse gift card. Can’t go wrong.

Practical Horse Girl Shit

So, these are things I’ve either already given someone or that I’ve given myself. Sometimes I buy me the best presents, ya know? The twist: all of these are available through Amazon Prime. The best version of myself tries to avoid buying from Amazon in favor of supporting small businesses, but the worst version of myself that waits until the last minute sometimes doesn’t have a choice. Whether or not these things would make it to you in time for Christmas depends on where you live, but it might be worth a shot… I ordered a bunch of stuff that said “by 12/22” and it all came within two days. In my area Amazon is keeping up, but your experience may definitely vary.

Retractable Ratchet Straps

Y’all I got these for Hillary and she’s still gushing about them a week later. Truth is, if you’re a horse girl or you have a farm or you own a trailer or you have to haul hay/feed or whatever else goes along with this horsey lifestyle of ours, you probably need ratchet straps. And lets be real, traditional ratchet straps absolutely suck. Threading them, rolling them back up, storing them neatly… who’s got the patience for that (it’s not me, I can tell you that much)? Hillary is one of those people that loves a good useful practical item, and she hates regular ratchet straps as much as I do. This particular design has a lot of really nice features, so when I saw these I knew they were a shoo-in. And I was correct, she’s obsessed and has already used them. Honestly I could see these being a really useful gift for a lot of people, they’ve been a big hit in our friend group.

Calendar white board

This is something I bought for myself, and it’s proving to be mega-useful. At first I wanted it just to keep track of what horses had worked, when, and what they’d done. Then I realized it was also great to remember lessons, farrier appointments, vet stuff, chiro, bodyworker, any medications, or special things happening. I keep a lot of that stuff in my phone calendar but being able to walk into the tack room and actually see it all in one place makes it so much easier for my brain (which is basically a sieve) to keep up with everything and be able to make a plan. I love this thing, 10/10. It would also be really easy to personalize with vinyl logos or lettering or painting the frame, if you’re crafty.

CAT hands-free flashlight

I got this for the SO because he’s freakin obsessed with always having a flashlight (Is this a man thing? I think it’s a man thing.) but he also tends to need both hands when he also apparently needs a flashlight. This one was economical, bright, and I like that you can move each side independently to aim the light where you need it. As a plus, it comes with batteries! Even as a non-flashlight aficionado I gotta give it a 10/10 will probably be stealing for blanketing at night check (I can admit it would be nice to be able to see things in the dark sometimes).

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If you’ve got any other quick/easy gift suggestions, feel free to drop them in the comments!