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Author: Amanda C
Review: PS of Sweden quarter sheet
When I first found PS of Sweden‘s website and began perusing all the cool stuff, their quarter sheet was one of the things that really caught my eye. It hit all my favorite criteria: it was fancy, it was navy, and it was unique.
Alas, when I made my first purchase from PS my budget was tight so I resisted adding it to my cart. Instead I just stared at it a time or two a week on their website and thought “one of these days”. Then, as if by fate, a couple months later they put it on sale for a few days – into the cart it went and I had it in my grubby little hands a week later (hats off for fast shipping).
I have had many a quarter sheet before. I will forewarn: I’m very very picky about them. I hate fleece and refuse to put it on a horse in any form. I only do wool – and not cheap acrylics, but real wool. And since I live in a climate where it’s rarely cold enough to need a quarter sheet for the whole ride, I need one that is easy to take on and off. That nixes the ones that go under the saddle, and the ones that either go under the flap or over the rider’s leg. They bug me when it’s over my leg and they’re hard to take off when they’re under the flap. So the fact that the PS quarter sheet had an attachment method that I had never seen before is really what drew me to it the most.
Of course I love how it looks – who doesn’t love a fancy braided hip ornament? It’s just as pretty in person as it is in pictures and I love the double cord piping. But the best part about it, IMO, is how easy it is to get on and off. On cold days I usually warm up with the sheet on and then reach down and simply unbuckle both sides (which is very very easy to do from the saddle with one hand – no contortionist skills required) and pull it off. I’ve also put it back on for the cool down and found it pretty easy to do from the saddle as well. Not quite as easy as taking it off, but pretty easy. It stays in place well while you’re riding, and the buckle is far enough back to not interfere with your leg.
Weight wise I would call it a lighter to mid weight wool. For my climate it’s plenty warm. It seems well made, I’ve used it many times now and there are no signs of premature wear or anything like that. I know some people don’t like the big branded logo on the side but I personally don’t mind it, so that’s more of an individual preference thing. I struggle to find anything negative to say about it really… I guess maybe if you have a fully clipped horse in a really cold climate it might not be thick enough? Or if you have a super giant elephant horse (like blanket size 84+) it might not be big enough.
I’ve searched for a nice wool quarter sheet for a reasonable price for years and never found one. Regular price is around $100, which IMO is a good deal. Similar quality wool quarter sheets run from around $75-200 so that puts it solidly on the lower end of that range, and none of them have this kind of (IMO ingenious) attachment design.
Bottom line? Two thumbs up. I gave my old wool quarter sheet away, and good riddance. This one has now taken up residence in my “winter riding staples” collection.
TOA Blog Hop: History of the Horse
Good news first: guess who’s going to Belgium?
Moving on…
Beka of The Owls Approve has started a cool new blog hop series centered around our ponies. I can’t resist that, because there’s nothing I like talking about more than my ponies. My non-horse friends and SO are painfully aware of this given that I struggle to come up with more than 5 words to say about anything non-horse related.
Before you met, where was your horse? Who bred him/her? What do you know about his sire and his dam? What do you know where he came from? Tell me about the time before he had a trainer.
I guess I’ll answer for both of my horses…
Sadie: I bred her. I leased her dam, picked the stallion, paid for the semen, had it shipped in from Canada, paid the vet, waited a year, and voila – baby horse. I knew her dam very well and felt like I had a good sense of the stallion from his owner and some friends of mine that knew him (Westporte). I was the first person to put my hands on her and there is zero mystery for me to Sadie, which is really nice. I know her as well as anyone could possibly know a horse… everything she’s ever done and everything that’s ever happened to her. There is no “before me” time.
Henry is obviously more of a mystery but I still know quite a bit about him compared to most of the other horses I’ve bought. He’s a 2007 Arkansas born and bred TB by the stallion Skeet out of a mare named Lona Thump. I have never been able to find anything on Skeet other than the farm he used to stand at and some old racing photos. Not a clue where he is now, and I don’t know anything about his dam. I was able to trace Henry back to his breeder though, found her phone number online and called her. She was a very nice older lady who just had him and one other young horse at the time, and she remembered him but didn’t seem that interested in staying updated on him so I haven’t called her back. She bred him and owned him until he was 4 but never raced him… she said he was always more interested in eating than running. “The only thing he ran to was the feed bucket”, exact quote.
Her vet found him a non-racing home, although I’m not totally sure who it was with – this is the only gap in his timeline that I wasn’t able to fill. From there he went to an eventing/jumper trainer who showed him in the hunters a couple times and had him for sale (for quite a bit more than what I ended up paying), then started doing some other stuff with him. She said he got kinda fried so she turned him out to decompress, and almost a year later I bought him out of the field sight unseen.
Hard to believe it’s been almost a year now!
Photo shoot outtakes. So much derp.
This past weekend I had a little photo shoot in an attempt to get some good pics of Henry’s PS of Sweden bridle and quarter sheet for upcoming review posts. Because we all know the outtakes are the best part anyway, I will waste no more words and leave you with only captions.
We’re special.
Stuff for Sale! aka I need Belgium money.
Remember, this is why this is happening. Here. I have to go here, and see this.
Boy this was a tough list to make. I like all of these things, and some of them (like the Ovation bridle and the Chetak boots) are really difficult to replace, so I’ve been holding on to them for years even though I almost never use them. So make it quick, buy this stuff, and put me out of misery. Belgium better happen and it better be worth it. If you’re interested in anything shoot me an email at charliebrowntb (at) hotmail (dot) com. I prefer Paypal and shipping is not included in prices. Please keep in mind that between my work schedule and my horse and my real life, it can sometimes take me a few days to get things shipped out. If you need it ASAP just let me know and I’ll see what I can do to make it happen.
RJ Classics size 8R black hunter shadbelly. Comes with the original yellow points and reversible custom points, blue diamond pattern on one side and burgundy tone on tone floral pattern on the other. Only worn a few times. – $100
Horse size raised fancy stitched Ovation bridle with matching raised fancy laced reins. – SOLD
Dressage bridle parts. These are a mixture of Dover’s Crown line, Bobby’s, and Delfina but I don’t remember anymore which is what. There is a black browband with clear rhinestones (never used), horse size black crank flash noseband (never used), black leather reins with buckle ends (never used), black crown piece (guessing cob – looks smaller), and a used black flash strap. – $50
blue Medium Horseware washable technical jacket. SOLD
Black Tipperary XC vest SOLD
Horse size Chetak open front boots and hind ankle boots. SOLD
Tory premium leather draw reins with snaps, 108″ per side. Comes with girth loop attachment. – $25
OTTB baby pad, I had this custom made with a jumping horse OTTB logo. White with black trim. Measures 21″ down the spine. Good condition, some staining under the bottom edge of the flap. $20
Bag o’ Crap – A bunch of odds and ends that come as a lot. One Gel Eze leg wrap/anti slip, used but no holes brown Ariat Heritage gloves, navy lycra tail bag never used, one fillis iron with cheesegrater pad (other was lost when package was damaged so it has no mate), two navy standing wraps, one neoprene hock boot, a pair of dee savers, and a pair of never used elastic and nylon side reins. It’s all tossed in a Dover tote and ready to live at your house instead of mine. – $50
And for local Austin area people, I have a nice small wooden tack trunk with bandage lid, measures 28″ long, 20″ tall, 16″ wide. Perfect for shows, not very heavy, is easy to move around, and will fit in a car. Asking $200. Yes I’ll clean my crap out before you come get it.
