Close
Our Products
All Products
Pleasure
Performance
Conditioning
Fibre
Breeding & Stud
Racing
Specialty
Quick Feed finder
Free Diet Analysis
The Complete Range
Nutrition Centre
Articles
All About Fibre
Feeding for Condition
Competition Season
Laminitis
Breeding
Foal care
Building Topline
Gut Health
Senior horses
Racing & Breeding
Tools & Calculators
Competitions / Offers
Our Riders
Brand ambassadors
Junior squad
About Barastoc
Why Barastoc
Our commitment
Barastoc's People
Our communities
Partnering with KER
Sustainability
Contact Us
Luke Harmer
Profile
Who supported you in the early days?
My family played a huge roll in the early days; grooming, feeding and travelling to and from competitions locally and nationally. I am very fortunate to have had this support.
What are some of the memories you look back on and smile about?
Riding my top mare; ‘My Foxy Lady’, and taking her 3* (new 4*). I’ve had Mia since around 13 years of age, I grew up riding her and now I am enjoying riding her offspring.
How did you get into the industry and who inspired you?
Growing up on the farm my mum had horses. Her passion for horses was passed on to me at a young age. I started riding at Pony Club, Dressage Squads before switching to Eventing. The likes of watching Boyd Martin, Heath Ryan, Chris Burton and Shane Rose as a young rider inspired me to commit to the sport and progress up to the levels.
Who do you look up to in the Equestrian World and why?
Heath Ryan, because of all his riding success and to this day he is still going.
What Barastoc feeds are you currently using?
We use a variety of Barastoc feeds, depending on the level of work and age:
Workhorse
Calm Performer
Steam Flaked Barley
Supreme Performance
Breed and Grow
What are some approaches to troubleshooting some common training and horse problems within your chosen Equine Discipline?
When training a horse regardless of the level, whether it is a breaker or 4* horse, you should be training your horse to do exercises with ease. Nothing should be hard, and nothing should be constant fight. Getting your horses exposed to as much as possible; different Events, shows and XC courses is always good.
What do you look back on and wish you could have done differently - and what advice do you have for other riders?
As a young rider I wished I had concentrated on my own skills as a rider to bring out the best in every horse, rather than focusing on the horses abilities and blaming the horse when things didn’t go right.