Author: Amanda C

Last week on my post about the Dover tent sale, someone commented about how they preferred to shop at Dover because of their open-ended return policy. The main example the commenter used was returning a 10 year old pair of $400 boots that had been outgrown and using that money to “upgrade” to Parlantis. This person noted that they hadn’t minded paying full price for the Parlantis because they knew that when the boots inevitably wore out they could be returned for a full refund and new boots could be obtained in their place, on and on down the line. They also mentioned doing the same thing when breeches get stained–return the old ones, buy a new pair. In their mind, since they are a loyal Dover customer for the majority of their purchases (namely non-returnable items such as fly spray and the like) the company is still profiting from them in the long run.

I’ve heard of people using Dover’s generous return policy this way, but I’ve never really known anyone that came out and said it so candidly. For that, props to the commenter for their honesty. It definitely provided a good talking point amongst friends and brought to light some things I hadn’t considered, which is why I’m bringing it up in it’s own post. But I have to admit, I personally had a hard time with it–moreso than I would have expected, especially considering I really don’t like Dover and have zero interest in their overall success. I know that their return policy technically does allow things like this: “At Dover Saddlery, we stand behind the quality of our products. If you find you are not satisfied with your purchase, simply return it at any time and we will refund, replace or exchange it for you. We guarantee your satisfaction.” so it’s within the scope of their policy.

But I guess to me personally, the difference is in the ethics. It’s not really about Dover, it’s about the principle of the thing. I think if I had a pair of boots for 10 years, obviously they were a satisfactory purchase. I would feel like I got my money’s worth, probably sell them for cheap on ETT or give them to a friend, and buy some new boots. To be honest it would never even occur to me to try to return something like that. Same thing if I bought a pair of boots that I knew were well-known for wearing out within a year or two, or stained a pair of my breeches. I’d have a hard time going back to the shop at that point and asking for my money back so I could buy another pair–at least not without feeling like a huge jerk. Then again, maybe I’m being overly sensitive about it.

On the flip side of the coin, there are definitely other things that would fall within a long-term return policy that I do understand. A blanket that gets totally destroyed in the first season. A show shirt that comes un-stitched after just a few washes. A tall boot zipper that breaks within one show season. Those, I totally agree with, and it could easily be many months before any of them come to light. In those situations a longer term, satisfaction guaranteed return policy like Dover’s is really fantastic.

I have a few friends that work at different Dover stores around the country, so I asked them for their input on this issue. All of them agreed that they definitely see people who take the return policy to an extreme, and that these people end up being well-known (not in a good way) in their stores. One of them also pointed at that Dover counter-acts the money lost through the generous return policy by having higher prices, offering fewer sales, and having more expensive shipping rates. After all, the impact on the bottom line of the company has to be balanced somehow. They end up losing money on the people who use the return policy to it’s extreme, and the rest of the customers are the ones that make up that gap in the end.

What are your thoughts on open-ended return policies like this? Do you see it as a good opportunity to stay loyal to one company and keep trading up your equipment as it wears out? Or do you think such actions are abusing what the return policy is really meant for? Do you think that the return policy iteslf is what gets the company so much loyal business in the first place, therefore it’s ok to use it to it’s fullest extent? Where do you draw the line on what is or is not a returnable item?

When Michelle texted me this weekend to tell me that the mares were getting bred on Monday and asked if I wanted to come watch, that was a no brainer. Repro stuff has always been my thing, and this time I actually have some personal involvement. Plus the vet they were using is a really successful repro specialist and I’m a giant nerd about anything breeding related… this was a kid-on-Christmas-morning situation for me.

I made the 2 hour trip down to the breeding farm and arrived just as Sadie was being inseminated. Sadie was quite displeased with these proceedings and not shy about making her opinion known, but it got done. They do P&E protocol when breeding with frozen so that they can pinpoint exactly when the mare will ovulate, and time the insemination just right. I won’t bore you with details but if you want to know more, click here.

After the vet bred Sadie and Lissa, he also had some other stuff to do, so I hung around with Michelle and watched/learned. He did a 16 day pregnancy check on another mare and she had not one but THREE embryos, so he had to pinch two of them. It was really cool to watch him find them, compare them, and then pinch the two less viable ones.

Then he checked out a foal that had just been born the night before (by Quaterback), telling us what exactly he looks for with a newborn check. He said that cracked or broken ribs on newborn foals are one of the most undiagnosed issues that he sees, which I thought was interesting but makes sense. After he cleared the foal he laid out and examined the placenta. He pointed out some issues with the placenta itself and a couple of tears, which means that the mare could have retained some and therefore needed treatment.

Then we went in and looked at all the cool lab equipment: the frozen semen storage tank, the microscope, etc. They had the scope hooked up to a monitor, so we could easily see the sperm swimming around.

Then we went out and saw more BABIES! The chestnut colt is about a month old, by Fursten Look out of a Donnerhall mare.

The filly is less than a week old, a Holsteiner by Cancara out of a Cacique mare. She was super cute, but more shy than the colt.

Then we wandered out into the big mare pasture to give out cookies (a dangerous thing in a herd full of hormonal mares) and so I could say bye to Sadie. She gobbled up everything I had, then followed me all the way back to the gate. Sweet little Sadiebug, she’s a turd but I love her. I told her to do a few headstands to help those swimmers along but she just looked at me like I was stupid. Granted, both of my horses look at me like that all the time.

In 16 days the vet will check to see if she’s pregnant. She had two good follicles in there, so hopefully we at least get one viable embryo!

 

 

Yeah I know… Bobby on the blog on Friday, Bobby on the blog on Monday… gross. Way too much Bobby. Don’t worry, after this we’ll go back to trying to pretend like he doesn’t exist. This story is important, though.

Bobby’s birthday was Saturday and he chose to celebrate it by entering his first USEA recognized Training horse trial. I can’t remember how old he is, so I’ll just go with a safe guess and say 75… something in that ballpark anyway. I had to sit this show out for budget reasons, but since I’m such a good friend I drove out there to cheer him on and bring him his birthday present.

Most of you probably remember that his big birthday present was his custom saddle from his BF Dustin. The black and red looks really good, I have to admit, especially with his fancy helmet. So I decided he needed one more really nice coordinating accessory and bought him black and red Roeckl gloves. Light years better than the cheap fabric ones he had before. As usual, I’m doing my best to make him more fabulous.

As for the show, it went really well and Bobby finished 2nd. He had a solid dressage and Halo hopped around the XC like a champ, although I think he gave everyone a heart attack in stadium. Pretty sure they hit almost every jump but somehow didn’t actually knock any down. One even popped up out of the cups and then settled right back in them. I’ve never seen a luckier person in my life.

But the best part was what the announcer said when he finished his round… “He polished all the poles!”.

I mean…

Is there any comment more fitting for Bobby? I immediately fired off with “Those aren’t the only poles he polishes!” and Dustin said “How do you think he got that saddle?”. The crowd was delighted, but no one more than me. Bobby shall henceforth officially be known as The Pole Polisher.

I’ve tried a few different supplements with Henry throughout our 2 years together. When I first bought him and was bringing him back into work after having sat in the pasture for a year, I put him on DMG and MSM, since he had a lot of muscle soreness in the beginning. Eventually I tapered him off that and he remained supplement free until the magnesium experiment. Eventually I let him run out of that too, and since I didn’t notice an obvious difference, I never ordered more. Henry gets really good food, good hay, and pasture, so I don’t feel the need to give him extra stuff that he doesn’t really need. I’d rather not insert money into the horse’s mouth so that he can literally shit it out, at least not any more than I already am.

But I did just order him a new supplement, which he started last week. Anyone who has read this blog for any period of time knows that Henry has a hard time breathing in really hot/humid weather. We’ve run a million tests and he’s been looked at by 2 vets… the most we’ve found is scar tissue in his lungs that can inhibit his ability to take in enough air when he’s truly taxed. One vet thought it might be worthwhile to try putting him on Tri-Hist, thinking part of his problem might be allergy-related, but since that stuff is notorious for causing anhidrosis (and the one thing that keeps Henry from dying in the summer is the fact that he’s an excellent sweater) I’m terrified to get anywhere near it. If he stopped sweating we’d be in major trouble.

So after a lot of internet scouring and research to find something that might work similarly, I opted to try Lung EQ from Uckele. It came down to: had to be show legal, had to have a lot of good reviews, had to be fairly affordable. There’s really not much to it: spirulina (blue-green algae), vitamin C, MSM, Flaxseed, and jiaogulan. Will it help? No idea. The allergens thing is really just as guess as to what might be exacerbating his problem, since we never could find a really clear-cut answer.

Uckele recommends starting the supplement about a month before the horse typically starts experiencing symptoms, so I started it a week ago. Usually Henry starts getting bad in May. So far he hasn’t had any issues, but it’s only been around 80 degrees with 40-50% humidity… not that hot yet, compared to what’s coming, so not that taxing on his respiratory system. Even after our long conditioning ride on Tuesday he was cooled out and back to a normal respiratory rate by the time we had walked back to the barn.

So as reluctant as I am to hop back into the supplement game, I figured it’s worth a try. I’m always hopeful that something will work, because I do have to be really careful about what we do in the summer. It’s really the whole reason we’re going to spend 2 weeks in the high desert, where the average high temp in July is 75 and there’s really low humidity. I didn’t think any of the other 3 Days would work for him.

I will say, he really hated the supplement the first time he had it. He would take a bite, toss his head around, glare at me, paw at his bucket, etc. By the next day he had come to accept his fate, though, and now eats it just fine. I’m trying to help you Henny, I promise!