Author: Amanda C

I’m not sure there’s anyone in the world who has shopped for a saddle more than one time and been excited about literally any subsequent time. It should be exciting, theoretically, (the word “shopping” is in it, after all) but finding something that fits you and your horse seems to turn into a headache at the best of times and a nightmare at the worst. So when I realized that Presto’s old Custom Saddlery Wolfgang Solo did not fit him anymore in a way that no amount of re-flocking could fix, I truly felt nothing but dread.

My first instinct was to go back to Custom. I liked my previous saddle just fine, and they have lots of options. But cue headache number one when not a single rep I contacted ever got back to me. In a fit of frustration I reached out to my Arion rep, Kristin (who I got my jump saddle from and have remained in contact with), knowing that she had some used saddles of various brands and thinking one of them might work. Mostly I reached out to her because my experiences with her and my jump saddle have been so overwhelmingly positive… she’s great at fitting saddles, she communicates, and she actually cares very much about getting it right. Qualities that have proven over the years to be difficult to find.

Kristin came out and confirmed that my Custom really really truly did not fit, and asked if I wanted to sit in the Arion dressage saddle demo.

I’ll admit that despite loving my jump saddle, I originally wasn’t really interested. I’ve sat in something like seven different French dressage saddle models across 3 different brands and didn’t like any of them even a fraction as much as I’d liked my Custom. I truly thought I just did not like French dressage saddles, period. But then again, I figured since she was there already, so I might as well sit in it, confirm that it was a pass, and at least have more info to go off of for my shopping journey.

I was entirely shocked when I sat in it and loved it. And even more shocked when I cantered and found that I wasn’t actually struggling to keep my butt in the seat. I genuinely thought I just couldn’t sit my horse’s canter that well, y’all. You hear people say all the time that the right saddle can make such a big difference, but… it’s true. And if it can instantly manage to make me feel marginally more competent, even better. I felt so much closer and more connected to his back through my seat, and like I was sitting much more balanced overall.

I was like 2-3 strides into canter when I whipped my eyes over to Kristin and was like OH MY GOD. She chuckled. Evil woman knew exactly what she was doing to me when she had oh-so-nonchalantly asked if I wanted to sit in it. I can respect that.

So anyway, I ordered one. Mainly because I know Arion fits my horse well, I trust Kristin, and I trust the brand. I’ve had nothing but good experiences with them and so have the friends I’ve referred, so if I love the saddle, there’s not much more to discuss really. Why put myself through the torture that is saddle shopping if it could be as easy and beginning and ending there? The thought of trialing, shipping, returning, fitting, etc etc however many saddles it would take to find the right one… hard pass. That stuff adds up quickly cost-wise anyway, and I needed something sooner rather than later.

Was it more than I wanted to spend? Yes. Isn’t everything, at this point? (cue deranged perpetually horse-poor-girl laughter) But there’s a lot to be said for ease and peace of mind, and the fact that I really fell in love with the saddle.

Plus she has glitter on her butt. Did I mention that? I feel like it’s important.

Anyway, after the impulsive saddle ordering, I only had to wait about 5 weeks for it to arrive. Would have been sooner if not for UPS customs being backed up, but such is life at the holidays. Either way, it was still hella fast for a fully custom saddle from France. IMO Arion has done two key things that really set them apart from all the other French brands (aside from make great saddles, of course): 1) super customer service. 2) quick turnaround time. Some brands are operating at like 16+ weeks for a new saddle, which is just ABSURD to me.

I had it in time for the December POP show, as in it arrived to Kristin the night before. She drove out to the show to bring it to me, ensure the fit was good, and watch me ride in it so she could give it her seal of approval and make sure we liked it. We were all pleased. It was perfect.

The more I’ve ridden in it, the more I love it. The balance is just chef’s kiss, and several of the things I’ve been struggling with for years have magically improved. Which kinda just annoys me to know that a better saddle could have helped a long time ago, but ya know… here we are now. We live and we learn, right? Hopefully?

As far as the customer service aspect, I really can’t recommend Kristin and Arion enough. My experiences with other saddle companies have ranged from fine to horrific, but for me Arion just stands head and shoulders above the rest. Having a company that really cares about getting it right makes all the difference in the world. The horror stories you hear about other saddle companies are just absolutely insane (which is why I steered entirely clear of them for both of my more recent saddle purchases). If you find yourself in any of the territories Kristin covers (she was originally in the midwest, now in north Florida, but I think she still makes regular trips to the midwest? I dunno, just ask her… if not her, she can recommend someone), definitely give her a shout. She’s the best.

And for the record, I’m not the only one that loves it. Presto had a training ride on Monday with Ellie and one of the first things she said when she got off was how much she liked the saddle and how nicely it sat on him. It’s winning everyone over, one booty at a time.

I also feel like I need to give a quick shoutout to the accessories too, while we’re on the subject. The girth is one of my new favorite things, I’ve not seen one quite like it. It’s quite thin, soft, flexible leather that molds right to the horse, and is nicely padded in the middle. Even Presto, who is typically a sheepskin princess, seems to really like it.

I also nabbed some of the mono dressage leathers, which are just as stunning. I have so much Arion tack at this point and have yet to be disappointed by it, so why not add more? In for a penny, in for a whole bunch of pennies. (that’s totally how the saying goes)

Overall, I once again have no regrets in going with Arion again and I’m glad to be able to add a seemingly rare positive saddle shopping experience to the interwebs. Big thank you to Kristin and Arion. I didn’t even dare to imagine that I’d end up with such a nice, beautiful, high quality dressage saddle, but here we are. It’s perfect, I love it, Presto loves it, and I can’t wait to actually crack on with our training in a saddle that is helping us rather than hindering us. Magical.

Alright, finally a catch-up post to cover the past couple weeks! The holidays are well and truly over now, so I’m out of excuses. I’m gonna summarize the happenings as best I can, otherwise this’ll be a novel and ain’t nobody got time for that.

First and foremost, Presto and Rubes both got a nice long chiro session from my vet. This is the first time this vet (I have a couple, and both do chiro) has worked on Presto, and the difference was noticeable. He’d been feeling stuck on his right side, particularly noticeable in canter, and she found several places where he was out. When I rode him a couple days later it was like night and day… like she fixed it entirely. Rubes felt good too, but he didn’t have anything specific to address and wasn’t quite as “out” as Presto was. Still, great and productive chiro session for both, even if my wallet was weeping (what else is new).

Rubes also went on his first off-property adventure. I loaded him up with Henry and me and a friend headed over to Naked Horse. He loaded well, but definitely got worked up in the trailer despite it being less than a 15 minute ride, pawing and sweating, and he never really wound his way back down. I lunged him a little when we got there, and did ground work with him to get his focus.

Truthfully Rubes just got mega overwhelmed looking at everything in the distance (horses doing things that def weren’t his business but he thought it was) and I could never really get him to take a deep breath. He’s such an anticipatory creature, he was constantly trying to figure out what I was going to ask him to do, to the point where he really lost his ability to just “be”. As soon as he started to click his brain in, he’d explode with anxiety again. I ended up not getting on him at all, we just meandered around the field, he jumped some logs and a ditch on the line, did lots of groundwork, and eventually worked our way back up to the trailer. To his credit he loaded back up in the trailer fine (I was concerned he might not) and we all made it home in one piece.

I learned some things about him from that little adventure and will take a slightly different approach next time, but we’ve definitely got a lot of work to do with getting him comfortable off property before we can really DO anything away from home. Duly noted.

At home, though, he’s been really good. He’s figuring out the lateral movements and is getting pretty consistent in the contact. He’s even starting to think about maybe trying to stretch a little bit… hasn’t actually done it yet, but he’s considering it. If I can get some of that tension out of his back I think we’ll really be cooking. His canter and transitions are improving too, and he’s mostly mastered the concept of a half halt. Well… all of the above hinges on when he’s paying attention, of course. He does have some focus issues and thinks a lot of things are exciting even if he’s not part of it.

The horse is not short of character or quirks, I’ll give him that. Never a dull moment with Rubes. But he tries hard and I think the job itself will be easy for him. We’ve just gotta wrangle those brain hamsters.

Last week was also the first week of the winter h/j series at WEC, which means the beginning of retail season for me.

I’m trying to pick up as many hours as I can this year, to help fluff the coffers a bit since this is also generally the most expensive time of year for me. Particularly because I’ve amped up our lessons/training rides schedule. Mama gots to make the chedda to pay for that.

But we’re on our second week in our new busier program and it’s going well so far (knock on wood). We’ve logged a dressage lesson (our first in forever), a jump lesson, a dressage training ride, and today we’re gonna do a quick XC school.

It’s been so long since I’ve been in a real program like this, right now it feels like an incredible luxury. I mean… I haven’t maybe ever been in a program like this, really. Closest I came was when I was a working student literally forever ago. It just wasn’t feasible in Texas where my trainer was 2 hours away, and it was difficult to get into a regular schedule with my prior trainer. I appreciate that when I brought the idea to Ellie she immediately made the space for me and has outlined a program, followed through 100%, and been fantastic about scheduling. No chasing or reminding required. It’s basically like we’re in a full training program but I’m just trailering in for everything vs being onsite. My work schedule makes things a bit tricky but we’re figuring it out.

Presto of course has had some training rides here and there over the past few years whenever I could fit them in, but nothing super consistent since he was a 4yo in training with Megan in Texas. They’re so beneficial for him, I really wanted to make that a priority too. He’s such a fast learner, but like all horses, it’s easier for him to learn when he’s being taught as clearly and concisely as possible. A better, more experienced rider is going to be able to do that. He and Ellie get along great and he already has had a couple lightbulb moments. Watching her ride him is super educational for me, too.

At the end of the day my goal is to be a better rider and have a more well-trained, educated horse, and I’m dedicated to doing everything I can to help make that happen. We have some holes to fill in, but I think we’ve found our way to the right program, so we’ve committed 100% and we’ll see where that takes us. Here’s to hoping 2025 is the year of education and improvement.

We’ve got our first recognized event of the season this weekend, and it’s supposed to be cold and rainy. Superb. My favorite (inject heavy sarcasm). I fully expect it to be a bit wild and wooly, and Presto will probably be a hooligan, but we’ve gotta pull the bandaid off at some point and get cracking. If nothing else it’ll hopefully give us an idea of where we’re really at and what things we need to prioritize working on. Assuming I don’t freeze to death, of course.

Since I’ve managed to fit pics of 3 of the 4 horses into this post, why not make it 4 for 4 with a random pic of Fey.

She’s just hanging out waiting for breeding season to start… which is really just right around the corner. Guess I need to start getting my shit together for the 2025 Baby Bets contest.

Happy New Year, everyone!

It’s that time of year again where I pick my favorite gadget or equine item of the year! Usually it’s some kind of tech item or cool new innovation (except for the one year where it was my favorite hoof pick… I’ll still die on that hill…) but this year I was kind of stuck between two things, so I decided to do one of each rather than having to pick. I make the rules so I can do what I want.

First up: the techy item!

The title here goes to my $36 amazon waterproof bone conduction headphones. I originally got these so I can listen to music while I swim, but I find myself using them for other things too, particularly Ride iQ lessons or listening to music while I’m mowing. Can def attest to the waterproof part as they’ve been swimming with me for months now, and they’re super easy/basic to use.

They’re a lot more secure than airpods and they don’t actually go IN your ears (which I hate) so they’re great for anything active. And for $36, if you lose them you probably won’t cry about it. You can either listen via Bluetooth from your phone or you can upload music directly to them. I do both.

Moving on to the horsey item: it’s gotta be Bow Horse blankets. Not a gadget, but I feel like the design is innovative and leveled-up, therefore it totally counts. This company is newer to the US, but I have a fly sheet, blanket, and blanket liner from them so far and have been really impressed with the design and features. If you’re thinking “a blanket is a blanket”, nah fam… these are superior. If you like Rambos, you’ll love these.

Design features:

– every blanket is embroidered in multiple places with the model name and the weight. The neck cover AND the body. If you’re boarding or have staff (or if you’re me and need all the help you can get when it comes to making things idiotproof for yourself), it makes blanketing very straightforward and simple.

– the top of the neck cover is ruched so that it doesn’t bind across the mane/top of the neck.

– option to use the PVC-coated tail cord or regular leg straps

– every velcro strap has a little grip tab on the end for easy use even when you have gloves on

– lots of adjustability and plenty of shoulder room

– the liner has a split gusset at the shoulder so it won’t bind or rub

– you can fully remove the back clips/hardware on the liner to replace/customize or to wash the liner without the hardware banging around your machine.

These have been selling out fast every time they get a shipment, and for good reason. I’d say they run on the generous side – Presto is in an 81. Oh, and I do have a discount code – AMANDA15 bc I’m a lil obsessed with Bow Horse.

Here’s a little video tour of Presto’s blanket and liner if you want to see all the features.

Did you have a favorite gadget or item of the year? Drop it in the comments!

Happy Holidays everybody! I’ll be back to our regular updates next week, but until then, here are some pics from the last few days that I think really sum it all up. 👌🏼

Wasn’t it August like 2 days ago? How is it almost Christmas? I’m shooketh. I don’t understand how time just keeps moving faster and faster. Pause. Slow down. 2020 was like two years ago, how is it almost 2025? Is it just me??

This week snuck right on by me too, I truly thought it was Wednesday but turns out it’s Friday. My bad. Is time a social construct? Is it even real? As Billie Eilish said, when we all fall asleep where do we go? I have questions.

But anyway, it’s been more of the usual around here really. More rides on Rubes, who is so smart and catching on to this sporthorse thing more and more every day. I posted a vlog of him on the Patreon dashboard with w/t/c video and his first time cantering a jump, and for less than 3 weeks of re-training I’m super happy with how he’s improving. Literally from one ride to the next, and you can feel his gears constantly turning. It’s no small thing to go from 10 years as a racehorse to an entirely new life and new style of riding, but you have to love the heart and willingness of a Thoroughbred. He just tries his best to figure out what I’m asking.

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I love this stage of training too, where they’re just like little sponges in the beginning and there are so many small “aha” moments. It’s really fun. And now that I’m riding him pretty much every day, more and more of his personality is starting to come out, too. He’s such a quirky little weirdo, I love it. Wouldn’t be a horse of mine if he was normal, right?

I had a lesson this week but have zero media from it. Your standard jump lesson, working on nailing down the same concepts we’ve been working on. There’s incrimental improvement, and Presto was considerably less spooky this week than last week despite the presence of the pig, so we’ll mark that as a win. We’re signed up for a schooling show this weekend (I’m so not in the mood to horse show but we need to go knock some rust off, so we’re gonna), and then next week Ellie is out of town, and then it’s January. You know what January is? The beginning of season in Ocala. ALREADY! What was once on the horizon is now suddenly staring us directly in the face.

We did make a plan for a more amped-up training schedule starting in January, adding in more lessons and probably some training rides. I’m mega tired of feeling a bit stagnant, so I’m going as all-in on the education aspect as I can afford. Now if we could make it through a whole season without one of us hurting ourselves, THAT WOULD BE GREAT (knocking on every speck of wood in my house). I also need to start drafting my RRP application stuff for Rubes in the next couple weeks, but my brain can’t even cope with that yet. One thing at a time.

In other fun news, this is the time of year where the mail gets exciting, both with things I knew were coming and things I didn’t. One such surprise:

Natalie came out to the farm to film social media content during the summer, and Presto got to be the background horse. We love Natalie, she’s the coolest. If you haven’t read any of her books, you should… it’s so rare that horse books are written well, and hers are among the best. It was super fun to get this package and find books inside. Always a win.

The FLAIR ambassador jackets came and I’m also obsessed.

The FLAIR strip on the back is just chef’s kiss, and it’s actually a really nice lightweight jacket. I needed one, so it’s an exceptional score. We love our FLAIR strips.

And then one thing I knew was coming: the Correct Connect thumb grip reins. I got these for Rubes’ bridle because he had some old half-melted rubber reins on his, and I really like them so far. There’s something about the weight and shape of them that sits really nicely in my hand.

I also need to write a separate review post for the shop I got them from, because they were so helpful and above-and-beyond, they deserve a proper shout.

My saddle is stuck in customs at the moment thanks to UPS so I’m having some sads about that, but I can’t do anything about it so I’m trying to forget. Thus, I ordered myself some frozen jizzlets for Christmas. From this dude, who I am obsessed with:

He was only 3 in that video

He’s sooooo my type. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about him since I saw him, and the deadline for ordering the frozen from Germany was quickly approaching, so I filled out my paperwork and sent the deposit yesterday. I just love him, must have. He’s fairly young and the oldest offspring are only 5, but I went down a rabbit hole looking at videos of them and quite like them all. Lots of praise for temperament and rideability. Plus his pedigree is super. Done deal. Sign me up. Merry Christmas to me, bc what better gift is there than frozen horse jizzlets?