Giddyup Gear® was founded to fix what gets in the way of active sports people, with well-made solutions that make our lifestyles easier and safer.

As with many great ideas, it was born on the back of a horse. Joanna Newton, MD, was finishing her fellowship in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at the Emory University School of Medicine, and in her “spare time” was training a three-year-old filly to be a future eventer. With a doctor’s crazy hours, she found herself riding alone after night check. Not the safest choice, but completely unavoidable if she wanted to ride. The next best thing was to have her smartphone on her person (not on her horse) so in case of a “mishap” she could call 911.

AND SO THE GOVELOPE® WAS BORN!

A WORD FROM OUR LEAD PRODUCT TESTER LAUREN ECKARDT

Lauren was the original tester for the GoVelope®, and when asked how she liked it, told the story of taking her favorite mare Bigtime Graffiti for a hack, “The GoVelope prototype had just been taken away from me for revisions, so I had my old smartphone carrier on my belt, which promptly went sailing into the bushes when my usually super mare threw in a buck while crossing a creek. The first – well maybe second! – thing I yelled was ‘I WANT MY GOVELOPE BACK!'”

Lauren is a successful eventing trainer in Milton, Georgia, just north of Atlanta and owner of Bigtime Eventing. She’s been long listed for the USET, and works with Buck Davidson and Betsy Steiner as often as possible. She and her students have won or placed multiple times at the American Eventing Championships.