Category: Reviews

As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, I’ve spent the past few months testing out a few items from Lund Saddlery, a new tack brand. The owner of Lund contacted me a while back and was very clear in his mission for the brand: to produce quality tack at reasonable prices.

He had an obvious vision, for sure, and his enthusiasm about his products is undeniable. But we’ve all heard schpeils like that before, haven’t we? I was skeptical and decided to reserve judgment until I could get my hands on the items myself. He asked me to review some things, and I agreed, but warned him that I would be 100% honest in my reviews. He (and his team of riders that have helped develop the line) seemed undeterred.

The main leather Lund uses is Sedgwick, with Italian leather padding and backing. The hardware is stainless steel, and everything is made in the same factories as some other well known brands. I’ve had some Sedgwick tack before… for those who haven’t: it’s good quality, rugged, strong English leather. It takes a little longer to really get it nicely broken in and soft, but that’s because it lasts FOREVER. It’s the kind of stuff that seems to just get better with age and use. It’s not as thin and butter soft as French leather, but it’s obviously a lot more hardy. So if you’re looking for something durable (like something you could use for everyday and for showing), Sedgwick is a good choice. You definitely do not have to baby it.

One of the first items I received was the Lund 5 point breastplate. The retail price on this is $210 Canadian, or around $158 USD. My first impressions out of the box were 1) navy elastic, hell yeah. (#teamnavy) 2) the details were very well done. Maybe it’s my h/j background but I’m a sucker for fancy stitching and padding, they make things look so much, well… fancier. I immediately inspected the edges, the backing, the stitching, and the seams, looking for quality issues. Just because it’s relatively inexpensive doesn’t mean it should look cheap – I don’t want to see any loose, crooked, or uneven stitching, rough edges, leaking glue, uneven straps, fake sheepskin, thin elastic, or cheap hardware. Luckily I found none. Nary a stitch was out of place, the sheepskin was gorgeous, and the elastic was thick and multi-layered. So far, so good.

The Lund breastplates come with dee savers, which are really nice to have since I don’t like clipping things directly to my saddle dees. It also came with a clip on running martingale attachment, another nice “extra”, and gives you the feeling that they didn’t cut corners to save a few bucks in production. It drives me nuts when I get a breastplate (or any tack item) and it doesn’t have all the snaps or attachments that I want. Extra points for Lund for providing appropriate snaps and accessories.

Despite the popularity of the 5 point design among eventers, I’ve never actually used this style of breastplate before. It took a little bit of finagling to get it adjusted exactly how I wanted it, but once it was done, it was done, and I haven’t messed with the fit since then.

In application, the breastplate does it’s job admirably. As one would expect, it’s quite stable, and gives a nice feeling of security. I can see why people like this design for cross country… your saddle isn’t going anywhere, and even if something happened and one strap broke mid-round, you’d still have several more to keep things steady. The only thing I didn’t like was that for the first few rides (until it broke in and softened a bit) I could feel the leather strap under my boot. Mildly annoying, so I attacked it for a few days with Belvoir and that seemed to do the trick.

My only minor whine is the color of the leather – I am not Australian Nut’s #1 fan. I prefer a darker Havana, but I know that most of the h/j world (and probably many eventers as well) prefer the slightly lighter, redder tone. I’ve had a little luck darkening it so far, and having owned a Sedgwick bridle in this exact color before, I know that it will darken more with age. The color is fine as-is, I’m just a bigger fan of darker tack. Personal choice.

Overall I think this breastplate is a great piece of tack in it’s own right, and especially at the well below $200 price point. It’s light years better quality than the HDR 5 point, and I like it more than the Ovation, Nunn Finer, or Prestige 5 points (which are all more expensive) that I have seen, too. In the end it comes down to the details, and Lund really nails it in that respect. The fancy stitching, padding, and quality workmanship on the Lund put it solidly ahead of it’s competition.

Lund Saddlery is also doing a monthly giveaway to go with their brand launch, and October’s item is the 5 point! Go here to enter, and follow Lund on Instagram here.

This is probably not the first time that many of you are reading about this brand. Some other bloggers have already reviewed a couple of items, mostly because they’re more timely and on top of things than I am. That and I have this strong desire to try my best to absolutely beat the crap out of something before I review it. I used to work in Quality Assurance, after all, where I literally got paid to try to break things (ironic twist: now I get paid to fix things…).

I’ve had my Vantage Equestrian Cross Country t-shirt since June, and have worn it quite a bit. I’ve ridden in it, worn it to work, worn it out and about in the real world, and washed/dried it a bunch.

Even though it’s “just” a t-shirt, I’m still as picky about it as I am about anything else. I want a good fit (not too tight but not too baggy), I want it to be comfortable, soft, wash well, and I want the graphics to be long-lasting. I don’t want it to fade or have threads coming out after just a few washes, and I definitely won’t buy a shirt that is boxy or feels cheap. Plus we’ve all seen the gross after effects of cheap screen printing – no one wants cracked, peeling graphics . Vantage uses American Apparel women’s cut shirts for the shirt I picked (some other designs offer the unisex cut, if you prefer that) so I’ve been quite happy with it. It’s soft and fits nicely and the lettering is still holding up perfectly despite my abuse. So far, so good!

Design wise, I think the Cross Country shirt is pretty cute, and they also offer hunter and dressage versions of it as well. I like watching non-horse people try to figure out why the hell I like ditches and coffins and banks so much, and what the hell they could all possibly have in common. For this reason, wearing it to work is my favorite, because confusing people is fun.

Aside from t-shirts, Vantage also has pillows, mugs, and some Lainey Ashker merch. Their stuff would make cute, inexpensive gifts, or a fun little Treat Yo’self item if you’re looking to meet your retail therapy quota without spending a lot of money. Everyone needs more horse stuff.

I also happened to notice that when you access their homepage there’s an opportunity for 15% off if you follow them on facebook or Insta. Just sayin…

This is another one of those items that I get to publicly admit to being totally wrong about. It’s always fun when I’m wrong.

A while back, my friend Michelle called me from a tack shop in Florida (what up, TackNRider), telling me about all the cool stuff they had. We are both fans of cool stuff. She sent me pics of a few things, and was gushing about these breeches, the Julie Grip from an Italian brand called For Horses. Well, really, they were tights. As soon as she said the T word, my hackles went up. I dunno about y’all, but when someone says “riding tights”, I picture some kind of hideous, elastic waistband, stretch cotton monstrosity that shows every dimple of my backside and only looks cute on 10 year olds.

Michelle had a pair sent to me anyway, as a birthday present. I opened the package and my eyebrow went up… “what in the hell are these?”. I held them up and they looked child sized. I really thought there was no way they’d fit, or be at all attractive. I set them aside for a couple days before trying them on – that’s how optimistic I was. But when I finally pulled them on I was pleasantly surprised to find that they actually fit perfectly. And they were pretty flattering. And really, really ridiculously comfortable. I wore them around my house for a few hours that evening, not really wanting to take them off, and needing some time to process my feelings.

These things are like no other riding tight I’ve ever met. There is no elastic in the waistband, it’s just the same fabric that the tights themselves are made of. The cut is very good – it’s slightly higher than normal breeches so that they don’t slide down or bunch up, and the waistband is stupid comfortable. They have silicone dots on the knee area for grip, and a sock bottom. The fabric itself is a sleek, stretchy tech fabric, so that the end result is kinda like a pair of breeches and a pair of leggings had a really nice Italian baby.

The first time I wore them to the barn I kept looking down to make sure I was actually wearing pants. They’re SO light and comfortable and breathable… by far the best breeches I’ve ever found for hot weather. If it’s balls-hot, these things are awesome. Not only are they way cooler, they also dry really quickly. I like them so much, I now have two pairs. I’ve been reaching for those breeches by default pretty much all summer, wearing and washing the heck out of them. So far they’re holding up really well.

The only thing I don’t really like about them is the little faux pockets on the butt. Well really I like the faux pockets because it gives them more of a breeches look, but IMO the little “flap” needs to be tacked down. I ended up tacking mine down with a couple stitches, just because the flapping kind of made me nuts. Maybe other people aren’t as crazy as I am about things flapping on their butt?

Full retail price for them is about $150, which admittedly maybe seems a little pricey at first glance for, uh… tights (that word still makes me cringe). But I’ve been so impressed by the fit, comfort, durability, and performance of these things that I have to say – if you live in a hot climate, they are an absolute godsend in the summer. Worth every penny, for sure. I’d love to have a pair in every color. Thanks Michelle for knowing that I would like them, despite my initial misgivings!

Finding the perfect saddle pad seems to be ridiculously more difficult than it should be. The right shape, the right thickness, the right colors, the right features, the right materials… it seems like most of them fall short somewhere.

I’ve had a lot of baby pads over the years, and while I’ve had a lot of luck with the very thin BobbiGees baby pads for schooling, I want something a little more substantial, a little sturdier, and a little more beautiful for showing or lessons. Since I’ve been a long-time fan of my Ogilvy half pads I decided to give their baby pads a try, too.

I’ve had the dressage pad for quite a while, about a year and a half (with heavy use), and the jump pad for about 6 months. While they were originally purchased for showing, I find myself reaching for them pretty regularly. The construction is exactly what you’d expect from a brand like Ogilvy – very high quality. The materials are top notch, with a soft anti-fungal, quick dry bottom layer and a sturdy, stain-resistant polycotton top layer. They aren’t as thin as a traditional baby pad, but not as thick as a normal saddle pad, more like right in the middle. For me it’s the perfect thickness. It holds it’s shape, but it doesn’t add a lot of bulk under the saddle.

My favorite feature of the pads is the very high cut wither profile. Biggest pet peeve ever is a saddle pad that binds down on the withers, and these offer several inches of clearance. I’ve also managed to keep these pads pretty stain-free, considering how much I use them and the fact that they’re white. It’s definitely easier to keep them clean than my other white pads, they seem to not absorb so much dirt.

My only suggestion would be to add girth loops (you can do that!) when ordering. My dressage pad has them and it never moves an inch, but my jump pad can sometimes bunch up a little bit, especially on XC. Girth loops definitely would solve that problem, and make everything just a little more stable in general.

Considering the quality of materials and the fact that you can customize them (so many colors), the starting prices of $37 for the jump pad and $47 for the dressage pad seem more than fair. I’m seeing almost no wear on either of my pads at all, despite heavy use. I’ll definitely be purchasing more of these! Pretty sure I need the eventing profile pad. And a new color coordinating cover for my dressage half pad. And then a new dressage baby pad to match it. And, and, and…