Current High Performance Chilla Users
Equestrian
Eventing:
Kate Lambie (5th Badminton 2002, top 10 at WEG 2002,)
Blyth Tait, Mathew Grayling, Kate Hewlet.
Dressage: Kalista Field. Jody Hartstone. Louisa Hill. Joanna York.
Show jumping: Katie McVean, Moly Bennett, Philip Steiner, Sally Steiner, Vaughn Jefferis.
Endurance: Madonna Harris. Paul Jeffries. John Stevenson. Don Sagar.
Racing: Trainers Graham Rogerson and Roger James
Anthony and Tim Butt: drivers and trainers of Standard Bred horses.

NZ Academy of Sport: The regional headquarters hold Chilla Vests to loan to high performers.
Wind surfing: Jon Paul Tobin. - vest
Hockey: NZ Black Sticks - vests
Athletics: April Brough. NZ under 21 100meters champ - vest
NZ Rowers to Athens: All used customised Chilla Vests including our Gold medal winning Evers-Swindel sisters.
Basketball: Kirk Penny - Vest and knee wraps.
NZ Kayakers including Ben Fouhy - Vest
Squash NZ: Vests and wraps
Waikato Chiefs Super 14 Rugby Team - 22 vests

Overseas
British Canoe Union (Their Olympic squad): Vests
British Triathlon Team (Olympic squad): Vests
British Weight lifters: Vests
Irish Triathletes: Vests
British International Rowing Association: 55 Chilla Vests in preparation for the 06 Commonwealth Games
Wade Cunningham: 2003 World Karting Champion, 2005 Indy Pro Series Champion


Mathew Grayling
Mathew Grayling is currently:

  • The 2006 3 Star Bell Tea Open National Champion.
  • Top of the Ideal Garages Eventing NZ Leaderboard.
  • Has won the Eventing World Cup Qualifier for the last 3 Years.


We have been using Chilla Boots for the last 5 years and have found them both useful and practical. They fit well around the horses legs and can be applied straight away while the horse is being walked to cool down. We find this immediate use of the Chilla Boots helps the legs recover quickly and must help any bruising that has occurred. I have even applied them to my own forearms at Taupo after a strong cross country ride. They helped my arms recover in time for my second ride. They are totally convenient and easy to use, a must for all riders.

Shelley Kitchen

New Zealand squash players at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne needed cool heads on court, but also needed to keep themselves cool off court.

To help them do this the New Zealand players used the Chilla cooling equipment that they found so successful at the World Doubles Championships in Melbourne, where they brought home 4 medals, including a gold medal to Shelley Kitchen (pictured in a cooling vest with her gold medal) and Tamsyn Leevey in the Women's Doubles. The players at the World Doubles Champs reported that the cooling effect of the Chilla equipment helped them recover after matches. Over the course of the championships, optimizing day-to-day recovery was critical, they said, as they looked to peak for key matches at the end of the tournament. The Chilla equipment, including vests, sleeves, and orbs, is a quick and easy means of cooling the body down after practice and matches, especially in hot environments. Aside from keeping the body temperature down, the equipment can also be applied to specific areas, such as shoulders - for squash players, to reduce inflammation, prevent injury, and promote recovery.

Louisa Hill
Level 3 dressage coach.
Winner of the Advanced and Open Medium Dressage Competition, Horse of the Year , 2002.

CHILLA Boots
I have used the Chilla boots for two seasons now and find them an exellent way of keeping the horses legs cool. They are very easy to use only taking a couple of minutes to expand with cold water and are quick to put on the horses legs with the velcro straps. I find them especially useful when competing on hard ground. They stay cold for a long time and take the heat out of the horses legs effectively.

The Chilla jacket
One wear of this jacket after doing a test on a hot day with your riding gear on and you will be sold. As with the Chilla boots, it is very easy to use. It cools in cold water in a couple of minutes and you can make it even colder by then placing in the fridge or freezer. It cools you down and helps prevent exhaustion.

May 2002

 

Showjumpers Jeff and Katie McVean use Chilla Boots extensively on all their jumpers.

Katie McVean - show jumper
Katie McVean is:

  • NZ's Young Rider of the year 2001
  • Pony of the year 1999, 2002
  • World Children's FEI champion 1999
  • Pony Show jumping points series with Tonka 1999 and 2000
  • Young Rider Series 2001,2002
  • National Championship 2000 and 2001
  • Dunstan Grand Prix series 2002
  • Bomac Grand Prix HOY 2002
  • North Island Championship 2002 Wild Thing
  • Youngest ever member of the NZ Senior Team 2002
  • Winner 8 Senior Grand Prixs 2001 - 2002



Jeff McVean

We use Chilla Boots extensively on all our jumpers and race horses.. They are invaluable when the ground is hard during summer after competition, to cool the legs before poultice.
We rely on the Chilla Boots to aid recovery after competition and use the boots every day as a precaution after exercise.
They are quick and easy to apply, a no fuss excellent product.



INDEPENDENT CHILLA VEST TRIAL
Carried out by Wendy Felton and published in the ‘Tried and Tested’ section of the January 2003 edition of the NZ Horse and Pony.

There are so many products available for the benefit of our horses, but riders often forget to consider their own well-being. Thankfully there are companies out there who want to look after us as well. The latest product from Chilla is a sleeveless ‘cool vest’, of the same design as Chilla boots for horses.

Although the weather at most events this year - for me anyway – has not been conducive to needing a cooling aid (wet), the vest has hardly been sitting in the cupboard.

As it takes virtually no time to put on, it is easy to throw on after interval training, cross country, or even a hard dressage session on a hot day, so you are cooling down while seeing to the needs of your horse. As riders, I think we tend to deal with the conditions without thinking of the consequences, but after using the Chilla vest, I can tell you it is much easier to function when you are not battling with the effects of overheating. The instant you put the vest on, you can literally feel your body temperature lowering, allowing you to get on with the job at hand and still feel fresh enough to ride the next horse, drive home, or whatever you have to do next. How many times do you finish cross- country on a hot day and just want to collapse in a heap once the adrenaline has worn off?

Contrary to what you might think, the vest doesn’t weigh a tonne, even though it is saturated with water, and neither does it leave you damp. Once it is on, you hardly notice it is there, and with adjustable elastic sides and velcro closure, there is a size for every-one. Like the Chilla boots, once soaked, it holds the moisture for weeks and, as long as it is stored in a fairly cool place, is ready to use the next time. A quick soak in water will ‘reinflate’ the vest or cool it down further.

International event rider Kate Lambie already endorses the product, and I am certainly looking forward to having it on hand at my next three-day event.

If we are the only two wearing them – you don’t know what you are missing!