Month: June 2016

As I unpacked my most recent box from Riding Warehouse, I found myself holding Henny’s boring little white Flair strips in my hands, lamenting the fact that they don’t come in navy. Or rainbow. Or unicorn. They do have hot pink and aqua but ew no. Then it hit me… it’s not really a plain white Flair strip, it’s a blank canvas!

I mean… if he’s gonna wear a nasal strip at summer horse shows to help him breathe, he may as well own the hell out of it, right? Just picture it:

This is happening. The wheels are already in motion for a Flair DIY and no one can stop me.

It wouldn’t be the first fancy Flair strip in existence.

Henny is the biggest weirdo I know, he definitely deserves more than the standard plain white Flair strip on his nose.

Side note: hey Flair, how much bribery and sweet talk would it take to get a custom thing going for me? Because HENNY.

I think we can blame this one on my derriere’s love for French saddles combined with my wallet’s general state of emptiness. It all started back in 2011 when I desperately wanted to get my hands on a CWD but, with two horses to pay for, had a tiny budget. I combed the internet for the exact configuration I was looking for and, miraculously, one popped up on a French classified site. Many awkward half French/half English emails and $1050 later, I had my unicorn saddle and a new internet obsession.

Once you get a taste of victory it’s hard to stop. No surprise, French saddles are just a lot cheaper in Europe. My Devoucoux Makila came from Germany; also a really good deal. Now that I’m super obsessed with getting a Loreak I find myself wandering around French classifieds at least twice a week. Not that I have the funds to actually buy one right now, but ya know… details. Despite taking French for 2 years, I really don’t speak much of it. I know numbers, colors, days of the week, basic food items and, now, literally every single tack related word you can imagine. If you need a sangle, collier de chasse, or some guêtres, I’m all over it.

I can read enough to decipher the classified ads, but I’m not so great at forming coherent emails. I got a fluent friend to help me out, and now I have a generic inquiry email saved, just in case I need to ask about a saddle. I also have a wanted ad drafted, for when I’m ready to actively seek out that Loreak. I’m not crazy or anything. I prefer the word “prepared”. And hey, my obsession served me well in Paris last year… I could read all the tags on everything at the tack shop.

I’ve spent enough time on Le Bon Coin (sorta like their craigslist) to where the search bar already knows what I want before I get more than one letter typed. Attractive Saddle is set to email me any time one comes up that meets my criteria. Otherwise I filter through all of my main sites and do general searches… Selle Expert, Equirodi, Selles Occasions, Notabene, Du Cheval, and a few others. I go hit up a French horse message board every once a while and page through their classified forum. I may or may not be a member of a couple difference French used saddle facebook groups (side note: super annoying facebook sellers are universal).

The real question is why do I do this? Some people like to window shop for horses, I like to window shop for saddles. I can’t help it. Just seeing them gets me daydreaming. You never know… the day might come where I finally find my unicorn Loreak or, my secondary pipe dream, a monoflap version of my CWD. Gotta keep on believing.

I was really excited to write this post about how it finally stopped raining. How everything is still pretty wet and muddy and gross, but the arena is dry enough, the horses are back to turnout, and we can technically get back to a regular riding schedule that doesn’t exclusively feature trotting down the shoulder of the road. How we’re 6″ of rain over the average for the year so far and I’m quite done, thanks. Until I got to the barn yesterday and SOMEONE had pulled a shoe. Womp womp.

Luckily I randomly decided to buy an Easyboot several months ago when Riding Warehouse had them on sale. I’ve never been able to get any other boot to stay on him for more than 5 minutes and I wasn’t hopeful that this one would either, but last night we did a fairly intense dressage ride and it didn’t even budge. Score one point for the Easyboot Trail! If the farrier doesn’t make it out today I’ll slap the boot back on and jump him tonight.

In more exciting news, Trainer is moving a little bit closer to us. Hopefully soon she’ll be able to drive out to our place for lessons on at least a semi-regular basis. That could really be earth shattering for me… hauling 2 hours to meet her somewhere just doesn’t happen often between my schedule, her schedule, and the weather. Being able to take jump lessons more than once every couple months would be such a luxury at this point, especially if it didn’t require hauling out somewhere and paying an additional grounds fee. Maybe I could actually get my shit together? Hey, miracles happen. 

Tomorrow we’re hauling out for a lesson with Dressage Trainer, the first one in quite a while (oops). Hopefully it’s not too big of a mess. I’m just so happy to have some nice weather again! I would be even happier if Henry had all 4 shoes.

The first time I did this post was January 2015, and since then I’ve done a blog move in which I lost most of my old pictures (including all the ones in that post) plus I have a mostly different line up of breeches. I figured it was time for a Volume 2. Granted, I just sold 3 pairs a few weeks ago so this probably would have been better to do before that, but… uh… I didn’t think about it til now.

The only breeches that I still have from Volume 1 are the navy Animo and the two pairs of Aztec Diamond’s. Those are staples. Aside from those, the current wardrobe includes RJ Classics, Winston, Renard et Cheval, Tailored Sportsman, QHP, La Valencio, and two models of Devon-Aire. For the sake of being thorough I’m gonna re-post the Animo and Aztec Diamond at the bottom of this volume too.

As for me, I’m 5’6″ and about as averagely built as one person can get. I wear a 36″ show shirt and a 30 breech, pretty much across the board. The only real fit issue I usually run into is that I’m a bit small in the waist and bigger in the hip/thigh, so things can tend to be either a little gappy in the waist or a little tight in the thigh.

Strap yourself in, because here we go. Sorry about the pics… I did them last minute and SO was grumpy about me interrupting his show to take a million pictures. Also Quinn helped.

RJ Classics

 

1 pair of the Gulf model in merlot size 30, front zip, low rise, euro seat. Retail approx $145

Winston Equestrian

 

1 pair of white size 30, front zip, low rise, euro seat. Retail approx $300

Features:
sock bottom
euro seat
front pockets
silver piping at front pockets

Fair warning, I’ve only worn these around the house so far, to get a feel for them. I won’t really test them out until the next show, so if I couldn’t give an answer to the below questions I left it blank. I’ll review them in better detail after I’ve worn them some.

Tailored Sportsman

 

1 pair of white Professional model size 30, side zip, low rise. Retail approx $235

Renard et Cheval

 

1 pair of tan size 30, front zip, low rise. Can’t even find these online so I have no idea what retail is, I think I bought them on eBay.

Stain resistant (on a scale of 1 – 5, with 1 being least resistant and 5 being most resistant): 2
Do they stretch out with wear: Yes
Are they stiff or soft out of the wash: Soft
Do they dry quickly: Fairly
Are they thick or thin: Thin
# of wears (approx): maybe 10? Usually at shows.
Is there any fading? Yes
Is there any pilling? No
How well do they hide thigh cheese: Not very well
Any fit issues: These are actually a little big on me in general, and they stretch out pretty quickly through the day. If I had them in a smaller size the proportions would probably work for me. The most annoying thing about these is that the pockets are really deep/big and the fabric scrunches up, which looks a bit sloppy. They’re really comfortable though.

QHP

 

1 pair of white Rose model size EU-42, front zip, low rise. Retail approx 100 Euros from Divoza.

Stain resistant (on a scale of 1 – 5, with 1 being least resistant and 5 being most resistant):
Do they stretch out with wear: A little
Are they stiff or soft out of the wash:
Do they dry quickly:
Are they thick or thin: Average
# of wears (approx):
Is there any fading?
Is there any pilling?
How well do they hide thigh cheese: Not particularly well
Any fit issues: These fit well in the waist but are a bit tight in the thigh – more a straight cut than a curvy cut. Also just a touch long and big in the lower leg.

La Valencio

 

1 pair of whites size EU-42, don’t remember the model, front zip, low rise. Retail approx 90 Euros from Divoza.

Fabric: Cotton 62%, Nylon 32%, Spandex 6%

Measurements:
Waist: 15″
Hips: 18″
Rise: 10″
Inseam to bottom: 28″
Belt loop size – 1 7/8″

Features:

Stretch panel on lower leg

Front and back pockets
euro seat

silicone grips at knees

 

Stain resistant (on a scale of 1 – 5, with 1 being least resistant and 5 being most resistant): 2

Do they stretch out with wear: No
Are they stiff or soft out of the wash: A bit stiff
Do they dry quickly: Fairly
Are they thick or thin: Thicker
# of wears (approx): Around 15
Is there any fading? No
Is there any pilling? No
How well do they hide thigh cheese: Surprisingly well
Any fit issues: These are a teeny bit long on me too, but I like these breeches and wish I’d bought more than one pair. They’re starting to look a bit off-white after a year of showing.

Devon-Aire Signature

 

1 pair of navy with white piping size 30, front zip, low rise. Retail approx $90.

Devon-Aire Madrid

 

1 pair of navy size 30, front zip, low rise. Retail approx $100

We all have those random things that make us twitchy. Especially when it comes to horses… bunch of kinda weird, passionate, and opinionated people… it’s inevitable. There are plenty of things that get my eyes rolling, but for some reason there are a few things in particular that send me through the roof faster than anything else. In honor of breeding season we’ll call this one Pet Peeves: Breeding Edition.

RPSI vs Rhinelander

A horse that is registered RPSI (Rheinland Pfalz-Saar International) is not a Rhinelander (Rheinisches Pferdestammbuch). A little confusing to most, but they’re totally different registries. This would probably bother me a lot less if I didn’t have a horse – Sadie – that is registered RPSI. On her passport her breed says Zweibrucken, which is what RPSI horses used to be called. Now they’re Deutsches Sportferd (still not Rhinelander).

From RPSI:

As many of you have heard, in Germany the Rhineland Studbook, located in the state of Nordrhein-Westfalen, has merged with the Hanoverian verband there, and is also now represented in North America as a branch of the American Hanoverian Society. The Rhineland organization is separate from the Rheinland Pfalz-Saar International, and no, we have not merged with the Hanoverians! Our passports are still produced in Germany at our World Breeding Federation member verband the Pferdezuchtverband Rheinland-Pfalz- Saar, we still offer UELN (Unique Equine Life Numbers) and Permanent Identification (Microchip and Brand), follow German rules and regulations, and offer the same extensive North American keuring tour, as we have since 1995.

Not. The. Same.

 

“Out” of stallion

You see this one all the time… “I have a horse out of Popeye K!”. No you don’t. Horses are BY stallions and OUT of mares. Pretty sure Popeye K ain’t squeezing a foal OUT of his boy parts.

 

Stud

This is the other one you see all the time “I love this stud!”. A stud is a place where stallions are kept. A breeding stallion is a stallion. Maybe a sire. Not a stud.

Ahhh… that feels better. I’m not the only one with these kind of weird pet peeves, right?