First don't forget about the Olympic Contest! There are still more prizes than entries, so enter away!
Secondly, I have been struggling to find breeches that I like. I have several fit problems. One I am super tall, but I also have hips and a butt. Apparently most companies assume if you are tall you are also super skinny (ok maybe not super skinny but they stop making longs before they hit my size). I have a few that I like and a few that failed, so if you have any suggestions fire away.
I have some Kerrits tights that I love and wear all the time, but they only come in black and tan. I am ok with wearing them in the black, but a girl can only have so many pairs of black tights. I tried a pair of their full seats and while I liked them they didn't last.
Stinker thinks that I shouldn't be allowed to dress anyone.
I tried the Aztech Diamond breeches, but they aren't wide enough in the hips for me. I also tried Smartpak Pipers and those were terrible. I had to size up to a 36 to even get them on and then the waist was so large I can easily fit a fist in them. I also tried some Goode Rider and they were big fat nopes.
The FITS Free Flex Full Seats are good, but they are a little snugger and leave things more visible than I would prefer. They are typically the ones that I wear for the video lessons and clinics because they are my only light grey pair.
FITS. Look fine in the saddle, but a touch snug for my taste.
I recently tried ROMF St. Tropez Full Seats and they are nice, but a little heavy for summer season. They are also a little snugger in the hips that I like. I have to do some squats when I first put them on so they stretch and aren't weird when I get in the saddle. They are also too short for me, but I mostly ignore that.
ROMF St. Tropez. A bit to heavy for the humidity.
If you are hippier, what are your favorite breeches (full seats or knee patch)? If you aren't what breeches didn't you like because they were too big in the hips?
Sorry for the plethora of tack posts. Work is crazy and I wrote these ahead of time, and I can't predict how the riding goes. Therefore you get tack posts instead. The majority of these items have been bought at the recommendation of other bloggers, so this will be short and sweet.
1) Wow saddle. That had its own post, so enough said.
2) PS of Sweden Chameleon Revolution and Rubber Reins. I still love this bridle and the reins. It is always a bonus that Stinker looks adorable in it. I also emailed the USEF about the elastic pieces and as of right now they are legal.
Love these so much.
3) Dark Jewel Designs Browband. Still obsessed. Want to buy more and already have several planned out.
4) Higher Standards Leather Care. Love it. Cleans well (I let things get grimy which I am sure will make people twitch, but riding >>>than cleaning).
5) Tredstep Donatello Field Boots. They are my first pair of tall boots, so I don't have a lot to compare them too. They fit me extremely well, but I do have a couple of complaints. One the damn things did not drop, so I still can't zip them all the way up. Also the zipper is coming loose at the bottom (it happened within the first month and hasn't gotten worse in the last ten).
6) One K Helmet. The removable liner is the best thing ever during the summer. It also fits me really well (no pressure points that give me headaches).
7) Kastel Denmark Shirts. Sun protection and don't make me die from heat stroke.
8) Equifuse gleam. Keeps Stinker's tail manageable and in all of its glory.
9) Wahl KM2 Clippers. I have been sitting on these for awhile now. I haven't used them for anything besides cleaning up feathers and the bridle path, but I think I will be able to body clip him with them this fall without too much trouble.
I first talked about my saddle (a WOW saddle) way back in January after I had first gotten it and it was basically an OMG I love this saddle post. Which I am still totally in love with it. It is my magical unicorn. But I thought I would be able to go into a little more detail, because I have actually used it for awhile not and also because the company has also updated their website. It has tons of information if you are curious. I am mainly doing this because I really like this brand and it isn't very popular in the US, plus the concept is pretty magical.
His second favorite thing (Timothy is number one!)
My favorite part about this saddle is that it is totally modular. If I got a few screw drivers I could take my saddle totally apart (I am not ever going to do this because I would end up with that one extra bolt...). The company has been using the exact same layout since they started. That doesn't mean that they haven't made changes, it just means that you can still have parts swapped on the old saddles with new parts. For example, I think that Stinker has put on enough weight/muscle that he needs to go up a size in the head plate. I don't need to have the saddle put on a tree press or order a new saddle while trying sell my old one. I contact the rep, she is sending me an equiform, I will make a model of his back, and send it back to her. She will look at the model of his back and say yes you are right here is the piece you need to change or not you aren't right you need to do X. This makes me supremely happy.
Love this thing!
The next thing I like about this saddle are the flaps. I have long legs, like should have been a super model long legs (too bad I like food). They have a special flap that is cut for long legs and it is perfect. My knee finally has a place to go that isn't over the block. This is the first saddle that I have been in that I haven't had to fight and it is an amazing thing. I am pretty sure they have short people flaps too for those of you that aren't giant, but I am a giant and love my flaps.
My third favorite thing (who am I kidding this is probably my true favorite because it is Stinker's favorite and he controls my life) are the panels. I have the flair panels and I was initially nervous about this because they aren't wool. I know the ones that love French saddles are laughing at me and the ones that love English made saddle are probably having the same thoughts as I did. I actually made the vet check his back multiple times after I got this saddle because I was so paranoid (he was already seeing Stinker so if I was paying a bill I was getting his back checked). Stinker loves these panels. He seriously hates any wool flocked saddle and all half pads now. That made me a believer.
They are so soft and squishy!
Finally, the change in Stinker's behavior under saddle was astounding. Pre EPM, his Albion fit him fairly well and he still didn't like to walk. Post EPM it was a hot mess, so I will ignore that for now. He was so so in the various County saddles that I tried, but as soon as we started with the WOWs he was more than happy to walk. Sure he would still get tense and jig, but we at least had a walk.
If you are looking for a saddle (mine was $4000 but with some swapping I should be able to continue for my lifetime and you can find them used in the UK if you know what you are looking for) and want adjustability I highly recommend looking into these saddles.
I finally got the girth that came with my saddle. It is designed to provide stability for the saddle and rider. In addition the center pad provides pressure relief for the the pectoral muscles and helps to elevate the fore limbs and shoulders. Also, it helps with horses that have a forward girth groove. (This is all paraphrased from WOW's website).
H-girth in all its glory.
So far, I have really liked it. I started to say that I hadn't seen any changes, but then I realized as I was typing that my balance issue at the trot resolved right around the time I got the girth. This may or may not be related to the girth I don't know. But I do know another person that got this girth and it helped to stabilize her saddle so it wasn't sliding up her horse's shoulders.
All apart for that easy cleaning I was talking about
Well padded center piece
I think the quality is excellent (it is made in England) and I haven't had it long enough to know how it will hold up. So far it has not shown any signs of wearing or stretching. The center piece is well padded and my pretty pretty princess has not had any rubbing issues. The two leather straps are completely removable (easy cleaning). The biggest drawback is the price. It is 185 pounds (~$260 US). I will say if you have a common girth size you might be able to find one used on eBay (UK not US). I almost bought one when I got impatient trying to wait for my free one, but the lady found a UK buyer and decided to go that route.
As some of you may have noticed from the pictures on here and Instagram, I have some new sparkles for my bridle. Ever since I saw my first Dark Jewel Designs Browband I have wanted one. I was initially holding off because I knew I wanted a PS of Sweden bridle, so when I saw the browband Amelia made for Emma I was totally sold.
So pretty (sorry for the craptastic picture, I was too excited to judge the quality).
Amelia was fantastic to work with. She didn't even blink at my total lack of direction, she just pointed me to her album of past designs so I could get an idea of what I wanted. I settled on a black/grey and purple/grey.
Love it (ignore his dinky forelock...he has an itchy face).
The final product was exactly what I was expecting and I love them. I am not going into all the nitty gritty details because other bloggers have done that, but the bottom line is I love it. I have been showing it to everyone that appears at the barn. Poor Stinker is so ashamed that I put him in sparkles, but I love them.
I've been toying with the idea of getting Stinker a bonnet because we have been really buggy lately. I hadn't done much about it because I didn't know if he would tolerate it or if wearing something would annoy him more. I finally remembered to borrow one and he was really happy in it.
My favorite face.
Considering I really want to get him out on the trails more this summer, I am going to get a couple. I know how much you guys like to help me spend money so what brands do you recommend? I am interested in both custom and also more mainstream.
There is something fowl in the water jump! (Punny I know)
Finally color suggestions for the custom are also welcome. I want something nice for clinics and eventually shows so nothing too wild. In general I am fairly conservative in my colors. Pretty much everything I have is black, white, grey, or purple. I was leaning towards black which I love on bays but I wasn't sure about it on the chestnut. So please help the color challenged so I don't make Stinker any more embarrassed.
I have been feeling a little frustrated lately, because I don't feel especially effective with my leg when I am riding Stinker. We seem to have two modes, ignoring and OMG it TOUCHED ME!!!! Not exactly ideal. I was trying to figure out how to make my aids more precise and subtle. If it isn't precise he ignores it, if it isn't subtle he panics. I was toying with the idea of spurs, but didn't really think that they would help.
Then I was looking through Austin's old blog posts and found one about swan necked spurs. After pondering, and questioning her (thanks by the way), and running my scheme pasts S and D, I bought the spurs. I figured that a $25 experiment wouldn't be the worst waste of money, because it would either work or it would be such a hot mess I would get $25 of entertainment out of it. Either way I was ok with the money spent.
Ready for use.
The first day I rode in them, it was in a lesson with S, because I wanted help figuring out when I was touching him with them and maybe some help if there was a melt down. He was super tense at first, but didn't over react which was a win to start off with. Throughout the ride, he did settle and while it wasn't our best work it wasn't bad either. I did think it was easier to straighten him and I can actually keep my leg long and use something besides my calf (I am not sure if that falls under tall people problems or short horse problems).
I also really liked the weight of the spur. Like Austin said, I felt like the weight helped keep my heels down. I haven't seen video of myself, so I might be delusional. But for now I will believe it helps me with my heels. As far as showing goes, I can't wear them for eventing, but they are dressage legal. I figure that if I ever get to where I am showing eventing (that is a pretty big if for us at this point), I can survive one warm up and dressage test without them. Or I could wear another style if I get that paranoid.
I have some stuff that I am not using and want to clear out. Ok, the truth is I have clinics I want to go to, so I am selling stuff to pay for them. If you are interested in anything or have questions, you can either comment or email me at eventing.saddlebred.style {at} gmail
The List: All prices or best offer 18" Medium Albion Legend Dressage Saddle: $1300
Black 1.25" Memory Foam Ogilvy Dressage Pad: $180
Black VenTECH SMB Boots (Medium) 2 front sets 1 hind (see more details): $100
-Hind New (name in silver sharpie): $60
-2 Front Sets Used (See Pictures): $40
Aztec Diamond 2014 White Technical Breeches size 16 (NWT): $90
The Details: Ogilvy Dressage Pad: $180
It is 1.25" memory foam, regular size, and black. It does have my initials on the binding (saddle will cover them) in silver sharpie.
Black VenTECH SMB Boots (Medium) 2 front sets 1 hind: $100
-Hind New (name in silver sharpie): $60
-2 Front Sets Used (See Pictures): $40
The hind set is brand new and has never been on a horse. The one front set is missing the middle tab of velcro. I think they are still functional if your horse isn't an asshole with velcro.
Brand new hind (medium)
Top has small tear on the third velcro, and bottom missing middle velcro
Inside of well used pair
Used, but fully functional and all velcro still intact.
Inside of velcro still intact pair.
Aztec Diamond 2014 White Technical Breeches size 16 (NWT): $90
According to the sizing chart UK size 16 is 34" waist and US size 12. Here is the link to the website for pictures.
My problem is I can't decide which one I like the best, since I haven't been able to find one used on Facebook at a good enough discount (if you know of a used cob for sale please let me know). My policy is if it isn't at least 20% off retail, I would rather buy from the source rather than risk getting screwed. I had initially decided on the Elegance Revolution, but I was too slow on the Christmas sale and they are still out of stock of the combination I want (black cob). I emailed PS of Sweden and they said it is discontinued, but if I am patient there will be "a beautiful newcomer soon."
Elegance Revolution
Since then I regularly go to their site and drool. I can find pros and cons for nearly all the bridles. I want something with a removable flash, so that eliminated the jump off and high jump. I am curious to see what the blogger world thinks would look good on Stinker. Because I quite frankly have zero sense of style.
Flying Change Revolution
Flying Change Deluxe Revolution
Flat Out Revolution
Winning Round Revolution (Bling on noseband)
Top Notch Revolution
Olympic Revolution (Stitching on noseband)
All In Revolution (Extra wide noseband ~5cm)
Get Set Revolution (Crocoprint and buckles on both sides of noseband)
You may need to view the page in web form in order to see the poll. I couldn't figure out how to fix that one (I am seriously on the struggle bus with this poll).
So...I bought a saddle while I was in Florida. Say hello to this beautiful piece of leather! It is a WOW Saddle, and so far it is pretty awesome.
It is a very interesting concept. It is completely modular, so any piece on the saddle can be taken off and switched for another. I adore the flaps, the block is made for long legged people (YAY!) and it has a shallow area that makes a place for my knee to rest without riding over the block like it does in so many other saddles.
Another interesting feature is it has two stirrup bars. It is kind of hard to see in the picture, but there is the low one (below my finger) then above it is a second longer one (to the right of my finger0. This allows you to have two options for stirrup placement.
This is a picture of the underside of the saddle and you can see where the panel, flaps, and seat attach. All of these can be changed. The new panels can be put on the 1996 saddles (when they first started making them). So, they don't force you to upgrade because they change where the attachments are, which is pretty awesome.
Another cool feature is you can have wool or air panels and apparently the Stinker has a strong preference for air. We tried air and then switched to wool and he was very unhappy. So air it was. There are two places where air can be added or removed from the panels.
There are also a million different places to attach the billets. You can get point billets, fore billets, Y billets, and probably some others that I forgot. This is the front billet, the second one is passed through the panel.
The fitting for this saddle was extensive. Partially because my horse is weird and breaks all the rules and partially because there are so many different ways to try things. The saddle fitter built this saddle for me on the spot through lots and lots of trial and error. By the time everything was said and done we had about a seven hour fitting session. I couldn't believe Stinker cooperated for the whole thing. He was such a little trooper. The best part about it, was he was willing to walk (truly walk, not jig, not asking to trot) for over thirty minutes. I think the saddle has his stamp of approval.
I have gotten some questions about how I film my rides. I use the SoloShot 2, which I have a love hate relationship. When it works correctly I absolutely love it, but I have had some massive technology fails which is really frustrating.
My set up: Bag, Tripod, Base (orange), Camera, Cords, Armband, and Tag (white)
I will start with an overview of how I use it. This may or may not be the best way, so if there is a better combination of settings please let me know. I am not going to go over the entire set up, because it will take awhile and there are other video/instructions online so JFGI.
There are three basic settings that have options within each one and I use green green orange. The first green (Tilt Settings) means it is in "Surf & Turf" mode. I chose this, because it can still move up and down, but also allows for a relatively tight frame. The second green (Trajectory Settings) means it has a one second trajectory. I haven't ever changed this one, because in the dressage ring I shouldn't ever lose signal. If I try this for cross country I would probably switch it for one of the others. The final setting is set to orange (Camera Settings), which means the zoom is as tight as it goes.
The camera I use with the system is a Sony HDR-CX 405. I absolutely adore this video camera. It is small, lightweight, and works really well. If you have ever watched my youtube videos, they were done with this camera. There may be a few cell phone videos mixed in there, but anything from a clinic or a show they are with this camera. I have also pulled quite a few pictures from videos and they have been excellent. Camera=Love
Now for the more interesting stuff. Things I love about this system. I can film myself with it. I can do it on my own time and I don't have to beg/bribe people to film me. This is huge for me. Also, because it tracks, I am able to get better video that with fence posts. I think this has played a huge part in the progress I have made with Stinker. The video quality has allowed D to be able to see what is going on and give me fixes.
Stinker waiting....and waiting...
The drawbacks to the system. The set up time (which this has actually been beneficial for teaching Stinker patience) is a pain in the butt. I turn on the tag as soon as I leave the barn, because it needs a 8 minute warm up time that must be outside. I then walk up to the dressage arena which takes a few minutes. I set the tag on a fence post, set up the tripod with the soloshot and the camera. I then usually go make sure all of the boards are set up around the arena, because the horses are assholes and knock them out. Sometimes, I play on Facebook while I wait. When the tag is warmed up, you have to walk it around which typically takes 1-2 minutes. I tend to be generous with this step, because I think it helps to walk farther (no actual evidence to support that theory). You still aren't totally set up. There are two more steps which take 3ish minutes. All of this set up makes it impossible to do this in a rush. Because of this, I am pretty much limited to using it on the weekends. I have done a few mornings, but asshole horses knocked it over and I really don't want a draft horse to walk on said system (it isn't cheap).
Screenshot from a SoloShot Video
Next up, is the system is limited. You can't set it up too close to the ring otherwise your tag gets too close to the base and that makes things act squirrely. You also can not use in indoors. This is not a big deal for me, because our winter is a joke. While the tag is waterproof, the base is not, so you can't use it when it is raining or super damp. Additionally, I have had a few problems with the link up either not working correctly the first time (I follow the instructions to the letter) or the link up losing in the middle of the ride. There is nothing more frustrating than going to watch your ride and all you have is a view of the sky or the ground.
With all of that being said they are coming out with a SoloShot3 that seems to be fixing the biggest drawbacks. It has an adapter that lets you use in indoors and it also is suppose to eliminate the wacko set up steps that drive me insane. While, there are things I don't love about this system, I would buy it again because I do think it is a good product. If I was made of money I would have gone ahead and upgraded to the SoloShot3. Sadly that is not the case. If you are wanting to get a system to film yourself while riding I would recommend you look at the SoloShot systems. There are others out there, but when I was buying I couldn't find enough information on them and went with the more well known company.
SoloShot Video (you can see the white tag on my left arm)
