Year of the Horse - Giddyup Hermès!

Gong hei fat choi!

2026 The Year of the Horse. Full disclosure, I was born the Year of the Horse and I’m a horse rider, so I’m biased towards all things horsey.

Over the past couple of years I’ve been watching the renaissance of riding. I started riding when I was seven years old, and in Australia the sport was small (still successful though, AU has won its fair share of Olympic medals), but back then, all the action came out of Europe.

It’s a global game now and equestrian has shifted from a quiet and reserved sub-culture, out into the mainstream, with show jumping leading the charge. World tours with international sponsors are offering big prize money. Competitor line-ups include a bevvy of celebrities and their kids, bringing the paparazzi ringside.

No part of horse riding is cheap and the more into you get, the more it costs. This is why horse riding has always sat neatly beside its prestigious stable mates, car racing and yachting. All three sports are affiliated with the lifestyles of the rich and famous.

The common factor that makes these three sports particularly expensive is the gear. You can’t race without a car, you can’t sail without a boat, and you can’t ride without a horse. None of these things, or their accessories, come cheap.

Enter luxury brands, and when it comes to horses, enter Hermès.

Founded in 1837, making saddles and bridles for European nobility, Hermès is a renowned luxury brand, sitting squarely at the top of the luxury label ladder. The Birkin is jewel of its crown, eye-wateringly expensive, both new and second-hand, culturally it’s eclipsed icon level and reached legend status around the world.

Hermès has always given off a cheeky, charming, ‘money is no object’ vibe. Anything from scarves, notebooks or paperweights can easily start at four figures. Except weirdly, when it comes to their equestrian range.

On one of my recent, procrastination-fuelled trips around the internet, I was playing ‘if I had a horse, what would I buy for it?’ and I found myself at Hermès looking at saddles. I was shocked at what I found.

Hermès saddles aren’t expensive. In fact, they’re bordering on well-priced. Qeh?

Well-priced only has meaning with context, so for a quick comparison a good equestrian saddle from Australian brand Bates is around $6K AUD. Shifting up to perennial classics like Stubben and Kieffer, their saddles go for around $7K-10K AUD. Premo brands like Amerigo start at $8K AUD and top-out somewhere north of $11K AUD. Then we have Hermès – their entry level saddle sits around $12K AUD.

More expensive than the others, but not by much.

Why though?

For a brand that unapologetically charges $2K AUD for a tissue box cover, why would they take a dip on the saddle price? It’s not like customers are unaccustomed to spending money, they have a horse, they’re down with spending. It can’t be that the saddle quality is less either; say what you want about Hermès, their quality is good.

I suspect it’s more to do with keeping their equestrian legacy alive and vital. If they drift away from their historic and unique equestrian roots, they risk floating out to sea and bobbing around with all the other nice-but-not-memorable brands.

Even if Hermès have to take a financial hit on their saddles, their competitive pricing ensures their gear has the best chance of getting into the arena. Strengthening their connection with the equestrian world helps them bask in its reflected glory. Judging by the galloping prices of the almighty Birkin, I think the tactic is working out just fine.

The Year of the Horse is touted to be a prosperous one. We’re wishing you all the best luck, rarest Birkins and finest horses 2026 can deliver, giddyup!