Category: Reviews

I was originally going to break all of these up into separate posts but given that a) I have so much stuff in the queue to review and b) it’s prime buying season before the holidays, I lumped them all into one for the sake of expedience. Noble Outfitters contacted me a while back asking if I’d like to review some products – I picked the Radius Vest and the Bits n’ Pieces Bridle Bag, and they sent a Lauren quarter zip shirt as well. Two out of the three items I absolutely love, the third I’m just kinda meh about.

Radius Vest

The winter weather in Texas is really prime for a vest and long sleeve shirt combination. Most of our days are in the 50’s and 60’s, which means that if you’re wearing a jacket you get hot about halfway through your warm-up. I had two vests already, both Land’s End down vests. They’re nice, but every once in a while I’ll look down and see a feather poking out, plus they’re a bit boxy. The Noble Outfitters vest is a perfect fit – slightly contoured to your shape, enough fill (poly, not down) to be warm, but not too puffy or hot. There are little details that make this vest especially appealing to me, like the cute bit pattern inner lining, the fact that the top zipper keeper is covered with fleece to prevent the zipper from scratching your neck, and the zippered pockets. I’ve washed it a few times now and it comes out of the wash looking great each time. Henry even entertained himself during a vet visit one day by trying to pull off the Noble Outfitters emblem near the pocket, but was unsuccessful. I can vouch for the fact that it’s well made!

Pros:

• perfect thickness for chilly temps
• well made
• soft fleece lining at the neck and in the pockets
• 2 way zipper
• zipped pockets

Cons:

I haven’t found any yet, but when ordering keep in mind the brand runs a little bit big. I’m a 36″ bust and wear a small.

Overall Rating

 

Bits n’ Pieces Bridle Bag

I asked for this bag specifically because of my AEC experience. We were in tent stalls, which were on top of a dirt/gravel surface, so the dust was INSANE. All of my tack got coated in dust within just a few hours every single day. Add that to the fact that the crowns on my PS of Sweden bridles are too wide to hang well on a regular portable tack hook – they were constantly filthy from dust and/or falling on the ground. When I saw this bag (which conveniently accommodates two bridles, exactly the number I take to shows) I had to have it. It’s nicely padded, zips open nice and wide, has pockets for bits or whatever else you want to put in there, and hangs on just about anything. Best of all – the two bridle holders on the inside are adjustable nylon straps that snap back onto themselves. This means I can adjust them wide enough to fit my PS bridles in there perfectly, or adjust them tighter for a normal width crown. No more dirty bridles at shows!

Pros:

• heavy duty and well padded
• pockets for storage
• adjustable bridle straps
• carrying handle
• top hook for hanging over stall wall or fence (or hang it by the handle on a rack)

Cons:

Same sentiment I had with the ringside backpack – I don’t love the black and tan color scheme, it feels a little western to me. There are prettier bridle bags out there, although IMO they don’t have nearly as many good features as this one. My old custom Dover one, while prettier, seems like a sad joke in comparison.

Overall Rating

 

Lauren 1/4 zip

This is your basic winter weight tech fabric type of shirt. The one I was sent is periwinkle and charcoal heather (I’ll be honest, I hate everything heather), which is kind of a hard color to match with any of my breeches. They do come in a solid navy and solid black also though. I like the thumbholes a lot, I like having the option of covering my hands a bit in the winter without having to put gloves on, and I am always a fan of a quarter zip. The fabric is a bit heavy (ie winter weight) but not too thick or hot, and the shirt is cut well. I like it and don’t have any major complaints, but I’m not as in love with it as I am with the other two items. It’s got a little pocket on the sleeve, which makes me actually want to put this in with all my winter cycling clothes instead, since I could put my ID and some cash in there easily. For me personally this shirt is more appealing for other things besides riding, so in that way it’s a good all-around item, but nothing that I haven’t seen at Target or sporting goods stores before. It lacks that extra hint of luxury and/or ingenuity that I’m always looking for. It’s a comfortable, basic, all-around piece, but as far as cold weather riding shirts go, I just prefer my merino wool Kastels. Granted they are twice as expensive as this shirt!

Pros:

• nice fabric, good winter weight tech shirt
• nicely fitted
• thumbholes
• small pocket on sleeve

Pros:

• kind of a generic piece of clothing
• don’t love the color combos

Overall Rating

I have to admit, when I was contacted by Teddy’s Tack Trunk about reviewing a Leistner brush, I almost just flat out said no. Of all the things I’m super particular about, grooming equipment generally doesn’t rank high up on my list. But Peony is a big lover of the brand and convinced me to give it a try, so I emailed TTT back and told them that I would review it, giving them the usual warning about how if I didn’t like the brush I would say so in the review. Luckily they were confident enough to chance it, because – and I never thought I would ever in my life utter this sentence – THIS BRUSH IS REALLY REALLY NICE. I know, it sounds crazy, but stay with me here.

I read up a little bit on the Leistner brand on TTT’s website… “100% pure goat and horse hair bristles and fine quality beech and pear wood bodies carefully processed from sustained, European forests. This guarantees the best cleaning results with gentle, skin-friendly care, as well as a high durability and longevity of their grooming brushes.“. Honestly, it was greek to me, but it all sounds fancy right? ‘European forests’… that’s prime unicorn territory.

TTT sent me the Prinz brush, which is described as “a medium bristle texture, made of 100% pure horse hair and a lifted double edge of natural bristles”. Medium. Got it. When I first opened the box I could tell it was a nice brush… the wood is obviously nice quality, the handle is leather, the size is perfect, and the bristles felt amazing. If nothing else, it was pretty. No fake wood or plastic bristles here. I tugged on the bristles a bit to see if I could pull any of them out, but they all stayed put despite my attempted destruction.

Then I used it. And used it more. And used it more. My other brushes mostly just move the dirt around, especially with Henry’s clipped and staticy winter coat, hence why I always finish up grooming by wiping him down with a microfiber rag. This brush actually pulled the dust out, visibly laid the hairs back down into place (someone gets major bed head when he sleeps in his pee), and left him super shiny. There is no need to follow up behind it with a rag. The outer bristles are a smidge longer than the inner bristles, so it almost works like a medium brush and a finishing brush combined.

Thinking that this was some kind of magical voodoo, I went to a couple other horses in the barn with different coat lengths and textures and it worked just as well on them too. So here I am, yet again, having been proven wrong about a product. Is it possible for a brush to be amazing? I would have laughed at the idea before, but now I say yes. I’ve never even given so much as a second thought to my grooming tools (except my beloved Ultimate Hoof Pick, which someone will have to pry out of my cold dead hands) but the difference is undeniable.

I thought Princess Henry might try to kick my face off with a medium brush but this one is quite soft and he didn’t seem to mind it. Henry not trying to kick my face off is basically the same thing as an official Henry seal of approval. I also noticed that this brush with it’s natural fibers seems to generate less static than my synthetic one does. Apparently natural bristles also help spread the oils of the skin a lot better too, which could be why I see a difference in shine.

Price wise, the Leistner’s aren’t too expensive. At $19.50 retail, the Prinz is obviously more expensive than my $12.99 generic brush that I’ve been using, but the difference in quality is pretty obvious, and the performance isn’t even comparable. The Leistner Prinz wins that one by a long shot. There are a ton of different Leistner brushes on the TTT website, ranging anywhere from $9.50 to $32.50, plus some grooming sets. They’d be great presents… hint hint. This might be my first nice brush, but it won’t be my last.

In the spirit of holiday sales, of which I am a seasoned sucker veteran, right now Teddy’s Tack Trunk has a special going on – $5 off orders of $50 or more (code HOLIDAY5) and $10 off orders of $100 or more (code MERRY10), with $2 flat rate shipping to the mainland US. If you think you can’t make it to $50 just buying brushes, they have EQyss, Espana Silk, Mrs Conn’s (psst the Mrs Conn’s sponges are buy one get one free), and several other product lines as well. Stock up, and as usual, support another great small business (with all natural products!) in the process.

I love showdowns. Especially when it’s about helmets. Remember the days when everyone had a velvet helmet and that was pretty much all there was to choose from? I’m so happy those days are gone and now there are tons of different styles and options. Bling, color, lace, rhinestones… you want it, someone’s got it.

I’ve had my GPA Speed Air for years now, but as the time grew near for a replacement, I wanted to look at all my options a bit more. At AETA in January I was able to see, try on, and learn about tons of different helmets and really liked the Samshield. It had a lot of features I liked, it fit me well, and the fun part – it was fully customizable. I’m taking full advantage of the fact that I’m an eventer now and can buy whatever I want without caring about how “different” it looks. So now that I’ve had and worn the Samshield enough to form some opinions, I can draw some comparisons between the two. Don’t get me wrong, I like both of these helmets, but I’m gonna take the gloves off and get down to the nitty-gritty for the sake of comparison. Obviously this is all my opinion from my own personal experience and your mileage may vary.

Ventilation

GPA: Good ventilation is HUGE for me, being a Texan. Especially a Texan that sweats profusely. I had an AYR8 for a few years and never did feel like it had very good ventilation, which is why I went to the GPA after that. The Speed Air certainly has excellent ventilation, with those big mesh vents all over. It’s really my favorite part of that helmet.

Samshield: The Samshield seems to have good ventilation as well, and in a bit of a prettier picture. The small vent hole in the front gives it a more streamlined look than the GPA, although I don’t feel as much of a breeze through it. I do feel the air coming in through the vent in the front of the Samshield, just not the full force all over breeze that I get through the Speed Air’s giant mesh vents.

Liner

GPA: The foam lining in the GPA is nothing special, just your regular foam. While you can buy a replacement liner, and there are little Velcro dots inside the GPA that technically make the liner “removeable”, the Velcro loses its stickiness quickly and the liner itself consists of many seperate pieces. It’s not easy to remove on a regular basis to wash it, which makes for a funky stank that only a good odor spray can eliminate. The lining is comfortable enough, but nothing different from what 95% of helmets out there have.

Samshield: The liner of the Samshield is probably my favorite feature. I love being able to not only un-snap the entire liner to wash it, but also change the liner out for a different size. Another cool thing is that there are two types of Samshield liners – a regular Shadow Matt liner that has padding all the way around your head, and a Premium liner that leaves a gap on your forehead to help alleviate the pressure there. I love that my Shadow Matt can also accommodate the liner from a Premium, so I have two options for liners. I can easily change not only the size of my liner, but also the style of my liner, PLUS take it out and throw it in the wash when it gets gross. This is brilliant. I also like that it’s made from memory foam, which has a nicer feel to it than the standard cheap foam in the GPA.

Harness

GPA: I hate the harness on the GPA. Hate. I don’t throw that word out here a lot, but it’s true. The exposed nylon looks cheap and the flimsy little velcroed-on pad under the chin never went back together correctly after the first time I unvelcroed it to adjust the chin strap. The little plastic things that are supposed to keep the straps properly arranged under your ears broke within weeks of me buying the helmet and do nothing to contain the straps. I also don’t like the big floppy piece on the back of the helmet, mostly because I think it makes kind of an ugly silhouette. Another thing I noticed is that it seems like the chin strap loosens itself as I wear it, and every couple of months I have to shorten it back up. Maybe my fat chins are just really strong, but that sure didn’t make me feel like it was the most secure thing in the world. The harness is the worst feature of what is otherwise a nice helmet.

Samshield: The Samshield harness on the other hand is pretty nice. It’s a solid covered piece and padded with memory foam, which IMO looks a lot more attractive than a nylon strap. It’s cut to sit more forward under your chin, which feels a little odd at first, but I stopped noticing it after the first couple days. I think that this cut and positioning make it much more secure on my head, and thus makes it feel safer. Granted, since the harness is bigger and thicker it does cover more of your face. I’m ok with that because I don’t notice it, but some people don’t like it.

Customization

GPA: GPA has started to offer cool things like bling and a few colors of piping, but a fully customizable helmet is not happening for the average person. Granted, most people (especially our h/j friends) just wear a “plain” or “normal” helmet anyway.

Samshield: With tons of color and material options, I don’t think any other helmet manufacturer on the market offers more customization options than Samshield. You can go pretty much as plain or as crazy as you want.

Price

GPA: I was able to nab my Speed Air on closeout for under $300, but regular retail price from Dover is $599.

Samshield: Along with all those custom options comes a wide range of prices for a Samshield. The basic Shadow Matt starts at $420 from Dover… mine with the custom yellow trim is right around $550 retail.

Fit

GPA: I bought my GPA with a pretty snug fit, because everyone swore they compress a lot as you wear them. I wish mine had done that but it never really did, so it’s always been tight and leaves a red spot on my forehead with my hair tucked under it. I have a definite long oval head shape and the Speed Air, while being the most long oval GPA model I’ve ever put on my head, still isn’t quite long oval enough to be perfect for me. Not the helmet’s fault, just a matter of head shape and shell shape.

Samshield: The shape of the Samshield definitely suits my head better. I bought this one fitting a bit snug too, and it has molded to my head shape pretty well. It’s still just a touch tight across the forehead when my hair is up, so if it doesn’t compress more within the next month I’ll either buy the next liner size up or get the Premium liner that doesn’t have padding along that part of my head. Pretty nice to have the option to play with the fit a little!

 

Quality

GPA: Aside from the much-hated harness, I’ve been happy with the quality of my GPA. It’s managed to survive years of living and horse showing with me, so it must be pretty durable. I was worried that the mesh vents might dent or come apart over time but they’re still holding up well.

Samshield: Everything about the Samshield just oozes quality. The construction is beautiful and the lines are elegant, although I do think that it’s very smooth finish will be more prone to scratches. For that reason, it’ll live in it’s little Samshield bag. My only real concern is for the chrome air vent – there were issues in the past with the finish flaking off, which Samshield says they have since fixed, so we’ll see as time goes on. Fingers crossed.

*** please excuse Bobby snickering when I say I have a long oval head. He’s so immature. ***

Overall, there are pros and cons to each helmet. I love how light and airy the GPA Speed Air is, but that harness is a huge detractor for me. Putting aside all the superficial things, the harness makes me nervous as a possible safety issue. I don’t like that it loosens itself or that the plastic pieces broke right off the bat. Because of that, and the customization options and snap-in liners, Samshield takes the win for me. Thanks Luxe EQ for the beautiful helmet!

This is everyone’s favorite kind of post – one where I get to admit I was really wrong and have to eat a little crow. Oh, and there’s some Bobby involved… I still don’t get his appeal but you people seem to like him for some reason. I have to assume it’s because you don’t know him or have to spend time with him on a regular basis. Alas, I digress…

I never really understood the ringside backpack craze. If you’re a catchrider or a trainer, I could see how it would be useful. But the rest of us? I just didn’t see it, and I sure didn’t see it enough to pay $100+ for one (or in the case of this particular one, $89 from Riding Warehouse). Then our team won the Noble Outfitters ringside backpack as part of our prizes from the Adult Team Championship, and I was proven wrong.

My first impression of the backpack was just how much stuff it could hold. When we got back to our hotel room that first night after winning the ATC and started going through our backpacks, it was like a magic hat. It seemed like the more stuff I pulled out, the more I found hidden within. I didn’t even realize we’d won coolers until I got to the big zippered compartment and went “Oh my god, there’s a cooler in here!”. You know you’ve got serious storage capacity when you can have a giant cooler in your backpack and not even know it.

There are lots of different compartments in this bag. The first and most obvious one is the front pocket, designed to hold a helmet. I think Noble Outfitters has a superior design to some other companies here because their helmet compartment also has mesh fabric along the sides. If you don’t want to use it as a helmet compartment, it’s still useful for holding other things. Many of the other brands don’t have any fabric on the sides of the helmet compartment, rendering it useless for pretty much anything besides a helmet (or not very secure if you’re like me and keep your hairnets and gloves in your helmet).

On the sides of the outside of the bag there are two mesh pockets on each side – the front ones are a good size for water (or alcohol, for the eventers in the audience) and the smaller ones are perfect for a whip. There’s even a cool little whip holder thingy further up the side of the pack to keep a whip in place so it doesn’t fall out of it’s pocket. Very smart detail.

Behind the helmet compartment there’s a mid-size zippered pocket. I tend to have a rag and/or extra socks in there (or Pop-Tarts) plus it has a little clip to hold your keys in the pocket.

Then there’s the big zippered compartment. The cooler, folded (or wadded, if you’re me) up inside of it only takes up half of the compartment. I can still fit a change of clothes and shoes in there with the cooler. There are also two smaller zippered mesh pockets inside of that big pocket, a good size for a wallet, phone, checkbook, extra hairnets… things like that.

Behind the big zippered compartment is a thinner padded compartment, perfect for a laptop, e-reader, tablet, or anything that’s a bit more delicate.

Finally there’s a small, fleece lined compartment at the very top of the back part of the backpack, meant for sunglasses or a phone. My phone won’t fit in there in it’s giant brick-sized Otterbox case, so I usually just have chapstick and/or sunglasses in there.

Even though the backpack holds a lot, I don’t find it to be overly large or heavy. The straps are well padded and wide, so it’s comfortable to carry, and everything stays put very well. The construction is very good, with quality materials and nice tight, even stitching. I’ve been carrying the backpack with me a lot, both at shows and for every day. The fact that I can walk out of my house in the morning with everything I need for the work day and riding after work, all in one bag, is pretty great.

There are only 2 things I’d change about the backpack if I could:

1) The color scheme. I don’t really love the black and tan. Navy would be awesome, or minimizing/replacing the tan. Of course, that’s just me being really really superficial, because it really doesn’t matter what color it is and it makes the most sense for something like this to be neutral colored (but still, my life needs more navy and less tan).

2) I’d like for the outside helmet pocket to have buckles (thinking a basic plastic side release buckle?) as well as the adjustable straps. I love being able to make the pocket looser or tighter depending on what I have in it, but it’d be just a little bit more convenient if there was a buckle on that strap as well so that if I tighten the straps to hold something in, I could very quickly and easily unbuckle the strap to get the item out, without having to loosen the strap. Just a minor detail, if I’m being really picky.

Overall I’d give the Noble Outfitters Ringside Backpack 4.5 out of 5 stars. For an item that I never thought I wanted, I use it all the time and really love it.  I think a lot of riders, not just catchriders or trainers, would get good use out of an item like this.

 

When I found myself in need of a new bonnet but my regular bonnet maker was on hiatus, I wasn’t really sure where to turn. I’m too cheap (ie poor) for DLC or Talisman but at the same time I’m really picky about materials, fit, and execution. Most of them just miss the mark for me in some way or another. I had a bonnet from If The Bonnet Fits last year and liked the execution and fit, but it wasn’t made from mercerized cotton, which I really prefer. So when I saw on facebook that she was starting to offer mercerized cotton, I jumped at the chance to be one of the first to try it.

She was also offering a new shape – a more contoured side edge to reduce the amount of extra fabric under the sides of the bridle and around the eye. I decided to try that option too, and because I’m always super difficult (sorry world), I also asked for ear embroidery. Although she isn’t quite set up to do embroidery yet on her own (I hear it’s coming soon!) she moved heaven and earth to get it done for me and make sure it was done well. Excellent customer service.

The price was extremely economical – mercerized cotton bonnets start at only $45, which includes 2 rows of trim (cord, crystals, or pearls). Acrylic bonnets start at $35. Additional embellishments are $5 per row, lined ears for sound sensitive horses are $10, hand made tassels are $10, and custom bead strands start at $10. She can also sew patches on to the front. Her prices are much cheaper than most bonnet makers out there, with almost all the same options. The real question was – how would it look?

Answer: lovely. Really lovely. The fit is perfect – it comes to just the right spot above his eye, the squared edge is just the right width, the ears fit perfectly, and there’s enough fabric behind the poll to accommodate my wide PS of Sweden crownpiece. I really like the tapered edge, especially since my bridles don’t have throatlatches – the regular more square sides end up with a lot of extra fabric hanging out.

I searched the bonnet from top to bottom and back again, looking for something that I could grumble about and honestly I found nothing. The stitch ITBF uses is tighter than a lot of my other bonnets, which I have come to prefer. It doesn’t stretch out or snag on things so easily, and it lays much flatter to the horse’s head when in motion. No flipped up bonnet edge whipping around the ears, since it’s got a little more structure and weight to it.

Obviously I didn’t opt for crystals or beads or anything like that, just two rows of good old fashioned cord. Everything is securely attached and survived it’s first wash in pristine condition. Overall I would definitely recommend If The Bonnet Fits… the price you pay for the quality you get just can’t be beat.