Last week while chatting with one of the Riding Warehouse ladies (shoutout to my peeps!), she asked if I’d ever thought of making a wish list on Pinterest for things that I want/need. My answer was no… it had never crossed my mind. To be honest Pinterest scared me a little and all I had ever done with it to that point was collect a bunch of super nerdy Narnia/Harry Potter/Doctor Who quotes. I don’t want to put salad in a mason jar, or put glitter on my keys, or make a myriad of cupcakes that in no way will end up looking like Pinterest promises they will. Crafting is my own personal version of hell.
But then I put my irrational Pinterest fears aside and thought about the wish list, and realized that it was actually a really good idea. Some websites have their own wish list capabilities, but on Pinterest you can pin items from several different sites all in one place. Plus when you pin something, Pinterest adds the direct link, and you can edit a little note field to put whatever size/color you want. This could be super helpful for friends and family when it comes to buying gifts. I know that I’m a super difficult person to buy for, but I always have things that I either perpetually need, or want but can’t justify splurging on (yet). So I pulled up the Riding Warehouse website in one window, Pinterest in the other, and got to work.
The resulting list is kind of amusing… I’ve got everything from horse treats to an equine heart rate monitor and a whole lot of stuff in between.
Weird? Absolutely. Useful? I think it will be. It’s a hell of a lot easier than trying to remember all the little things I want, and it’s easy for people to peruse it at their own leisure and pick from just about any price point. Plus it was super fun to make, so there’s that…
Does anyone else have a wish list type of thing like this?
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.
My “par-want-ies” were a satisfactory Dover purchase.
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.
this is bad
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.
Hi there
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.
OMG mom it was so humiliating
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.
Good embryo on the right side of the screen, pinched embryo on the left side of the screen
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.
new bebe!Sorry if you’re squeamish, I thought it was awesome. He’s pointing to a tear.
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.
This tank holds a lot of really $$$ sementhe lab equipment
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.
pretty girl ❤
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.
Pretty princess bag!
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.
Ba-BAM
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.
Yep, our first joint review. Why? Because I thought getting more than one opinion on a product would be more valuable, and because for some reason y’all like Bobby, and because I’m really super nice and let Bobby use my stuff.
It’s been warm and fairly humid in Texas for a couple months now already, and warm + humid = fungus. I started seeing that old familiar Funk start showing up on Henry’s cannons and above his hocks before we even got to the end of February. So I emailed the all-knowing grooming product queen Toi, at Teddy’s Tack Shop, and asked for her recommendation for a good overall anti-microbial spray. She hasn’t steered me wrong yet, so I’m just gonna default to her judgement. Her recommendation was Zephyr’s Garden, which has a line of anti-fungal products including a salve, a shampoo, and a spray.
Because these products contain all natural ingredients that can help with a variety of skin maladies, the line is more than “just” an anti-fungal. To borrow from the Teddy’s Tack Shop website, “This anti-microbial spray contains 11 herbs and three essential oils, in an aloe vera base that is gentle on the skin but tough on infections. Excellent for topical dermatitis, mane & tail crud/dandruff, elbow crud, girth itch, and pastern scald. Can also be used for mild cases of scratches and rain rot.”
My Review:
I’ve mostly used Microtek in the past, with a few other random things here and there, and while using the Microtek religiously was able to keep The Funk at bay, it didn’t always get rid of it completely. When I first received the ZG products, Henry had a pretty solid case of cannon dermatitis and a couple of greasy, flaky spots on his haunches. First I gave him a bath with the shampoo (which is spray-on, loooove that, so easy to use), then put some salve on the spots, then sprayed around the affected areas with the spray. I did that a few times over the first couple weeks, and all of the spots pretty much disappeared.
Funk-free!
After that, I backed off from the full regimen to just the shampoo and the spray on his most typically afflicted areas (above his hocks and on his cannons) 2-3 times a week. If I see a flaky or suspicious looking area, I hit it with some spray. So far, it’s worked like a charm. Henry is totally Funk-free despite daily sweating and getting hosed off several times a week.
Between a generally good grooming routine, making sure to always rinse all the sweat off of him, and the Zephyr’s Garden products, Henry’s skin and coat are looking great. Definitely would recommend. If you have a particularly nasty case, get all 3 products – salve, shampoo, spray. If you’re looking for more of a preventative, get the spray at bare minimum, and preferably the spray plus the shampoo. Both are big bottles and should last quite a while even with regular use.
Bobby’s Review:
So Amanda was nice enough to share the Zephyr’s Garden anti-fungal spray with me (I know, ‘Amanda’ and ‘nice’ in the same sentence…). Halo, like most horses, tends to get a little bit of fungus from Spring-Fall in Texas.
He traditionally gets fungus on the front/inside/back of his hind cannon and also on his gaskin. I always thoroughly clean him before and after riding and towel dry his legs which does help to minimize the fungus on the lower body but it isn’t enough to eliminate it. He is also prone to “funk” on the tips of his ears and just above his facial crest on both sides, but if I rinse his face after exercise and give him a good solid towel-dry we can keep that at bay… and that’s the exciting history of Halo’s fungal encounters.
About 10 days ago the fungus appeared on Halo’s gaskins completely out of the blue, being the sneaky little bastard that fungus is, so I took Amanda up on her offer and tried out Zephyr’s Garden anti-fungal spray on his gaskins. I scrubbed the area thoroughly, hosed it off, toweled dry, and then applied the ZG spray. It comes in a spray bottle and has two options for level of stream. I applied a thorough misting to his affected area as well as to the areas where he is prone to grow fungus. I used it probably 5-6 times over a 10 day period and much to my surprise, the fungus is completely gone!! I’ve used all sorts of anti-fungal sprays, creams, ointments and shampoos for months and none have ever made the fungus go away completely; they’ve all done a good job of minimizing the fungus but it’s always still there. But 5-6 uses in ten days of the ZG and it’s totally gone?? This stuff is magic! Hmm…. I wonder what would happen if I spray Amanda with it…
** Spoiler alert: in the video review, he did just that. What a jerk. **
breedrideevent.com 