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Slight Detour

Published on June 2, 2016June 2, 2016 by Amanda C11 Comments

I’ve been pretty nose-to-the-grindstone since we got back from Holly Hill. Coconino is the big bright neon sign on our radar this year, and I have a one track mind (as I’m sure everyone has noticed). But then I got some reminder emails about schooling shows between now and then, and that one track mind went on a slight detour. Normally I wouldn’t enter anything in Texas after the beginning of June, it’s just way too damn hot/humid/miserable.

Henry has been doing fairly well with our extraordinarily awful humidity so far though; definitely much better than the past two summers. I don’t know if it’s the Lung EQ or just the fact that he’s much fitter than he’s ever been, or both. He still huffs and puffs on really humid days but it takes him much longer to get to that point and his respiratory rate returns to normal much faster. He doesn’t feel dull or lethargic at all (well… not when he’s pointed at a jump anyway) and he’s still sweating like a champ. At this point it seems more like something to be aware of rather than a reason to coddle him.

We had two schooling HT options: Pine Hill on July 3, or MeadowCreek on June 18. They’re both about the same distance, close to the same price, and they both use the same courses for schooling shows as they do for recognized. He’s jumped around about half of each venue’s Training course already.

Basically, they’re equal on paper. But considering we’re hitting the road for Coconino on July 6, I didn’t feel right about having him run a full HT in the heat just a few days before we leave for 2 weeks of showing. MeadowCreek it is.

So he’s entered at Training level with Trainer on board to give him a run around the level and let them get better acquainted (since she’s only sat on him twice) before we get to Coconino. Plus MeadowCreek has this giant ledge of a down bank with a downhill landing that I’m not particularly eager to jump Henny the Rocket Launcher off of. She can do the honors of being the first one to experience that particular over-exuberance.

It’s a legit T course, probably harder than Coco’s, so if he can jump around there he’ll be extra ready for the recognized at Coco. Hopefully between keeping the warm-ups minimal and me following him around with a bucket of ice water and a sweatscraper, he’ll be able to manage the heat just fine for the day. If not, we can withdraw without really caring. Yay for schooling shows!

There’s the Rub

Published on June 1, 2016June 1, 2016 by Amanda C68 Comments

No, literally… THE RUB. Fair warning, this is probably way TMI, but the struggle is real.

Ever since I’ve been upping the length of Henry’s conditioning rides, I’ve been having a problem. Not with the horse, he’s a gem. Not with my tack, that’s all fine. Not with my ability to trot for 45mins straight without losing my mind, although it’s been close a few times. No… my issue is, ahem… chafing. Of the… er… lady bits. Especially now that it’s hot/humid and I’m sweating like a faucet.

I’ve tried just about everything in my arsenal. Being a cylist, I have a drawer full of creams and powders meant to reduce chafing. None of those really helped. Being a lover of a sale, I have a drawer full of underwear in different styles and fabrics. Some are better than others (oh god, the time I didn’t plan ahead and wore lace for conditioning day there was so much screaming in the shower it sounded like a remake of Psycho) but still none of them really help either. I even tried raising and lowering my stirrups and dressage saddle vs jump saddle. There has been no magic bullet.

So, endurance riders and fellow eventers, what’s the secret? I think the elderly lady is tired of watching me fidget with my underwear while I trot around her hay field.

The Electric Death Stick

Published on May 31, 2016May 31, 2016 by Amanda C18 Comments

A couple years ago when Henry was re-learning how to be ridden in a bit, I tried carrying a whip. That was well before we started eventing, so it was just a short little jumping bat, but after almost a month of carrying it every ride he still wouldn’t relax about it, so I gave up. Later on I started carrying one on XC but really he’s so pumped to be running XC that you could carry a grenade launcher and he wouldn’t notice.

HHProwater — WHEEEEE!!!! Whip? What whip?

Last year when we really started delving into dressage, I tried carrying a dressage whip a few times to help me a bit with those trailing haunches in the lateral work, but he was unfocused and way over-reactive (borderline belligerent, really) whenever I carried it, so I opted not to push the issue.

But over the last 6 months he’s really started to calm down and settle into the dressage work a lot more. As soon as it started getting hot and humid I found myself working WAY too hard to get him forward and engaged, so instead of surgically embedding my spurs into his ribs I thought I’d try the dressage whip again. Or as Henry calls it, the Electric Death Stick.

Dass scurry, I’mma hide behind dis lead rope

The first ride with it was borderline. He was rideable, but he was still tense and worried about what I might do with that thing. Because I beat him so much, apparently? Henny logic. I ended up dropping the whip after we cantered that day, since by that point he was plenty forward and I didn’t want it to turn into a meltdown. Then I carried it again the next dressage ride, which was on a very very humid and hot day. I ended up having to tap him with the whip FOUR times that ride, to really get him forward off my leg. The first time he was a little shocked, but I immediately let him go into stretchy circle (aka Henny Brain Recovery Zone) and he settled. He respected the whip after that, but didn’t get upset if I used it.

Then yesterday, another dressage ride, another few taps with the whip. Now instead of getting the very offended “OMG DEATH STICK” response, I get a “Yes ma’am” response. It took two years, but finally, finally I can carry a dressage whip, use it when I need to, and Henry won’t have a come-apart. Weird milestone, but a milestone none the less.

Memorial Day sales

Published on May 28, 2016May 28, 2016 by Amanda C5 Comments

Surely you’ve come to expect these posts from me by now.

Riding Warehouse – 15% storewide

Teddy’s Tack Trunk – 10% off bath supplies with coupon code BATH

Uckele Equine – 10% off with coupon code MEMORIAL16

The Herbal Horse – 16% off all orders with coupon code MEM16

PS of Sweden – 20% off S/S 2016 collection

Bit of Britain – 15% off with coupon code MEMSALE6

C4 Belts – 25% off with coupon code #FINALLYSUMMER

Horse.com – 25% off, or 30% off orders over $129

Jeffers – 10% off with MD1

One Horse Designs – 20% off everything with coupon code weekend

Spur of the Moment – 20% off with coupon code MMD20

Phyllis Stein – 20% off with coupon code TWENTY

Beval – 30-75% storewide

Emily’s Equine Creations – 15% off grooming collection with SUMMER 15, 25% off rider collection with SUMMER25

Personally Preppy – 20% off with coupon code MemorialDay

O’Shaughnessey – 25% off with coupon code MEMDAY16

Horze – additional 20% off sale items with coupon code MD2016

SmartPak – 15% with MEM16

Mini Reviews: Back on Track, Ice Horse, Camelot

Published on May 27, 2016May 27, 2016 by Amanda C14 Comments

Yep, more mini-reviews. It’s the only way to fit everything in without doing a review every day for a month. Just go with it.

Back on Track

I was a hold out on the Back on Track voodoo for a long time. It’s pricey, and I wasn’t blown away by the science enough to shell out that kind of dough. Then last fall we found some arthritis and remodeling in Henry’s hind ankles, so I figured “what the heck” and asked the SO for a pair of the Quick Wraps for Christmas.

I used those a few times and thought I noticed some difference (windpuffs were smaller, and he seemed a little more limber from the beginning of the ride) so when the Mesh Sheet showed up on TackDealz one day for $145, I couldn’t pass it up.

BackonTrack

I started putting the sheet on before lessons, or in the trailer on the way to shows. Can’t be 100% certain that it did anything, but again he seemed more limber through his back and his hind end when he had worn it vs when he hadn’t.

Then I found myself needing a new dressage pad, and when Riding Warehouse had their Back on Track sale (I’m sensing a theme here) I decided to bite the bullet. I’ve only used the pad a few times, but Henry was good each time. Coincidence, yeah maybe. Tough to say.

All three products are really nicely constructed with good materials. I won’t let Henry wear the sheet unsupervised, just because I really don’t want him to destroy it, but it fits him well. I’m still not unequivocally sold on the idea of Back on Track being magical, but I’ve seen enough to believe that it can definitely help. If you get a good deal or come across a sale, or if you have an arthritic horse or one with a tight back, their stuff is definitely worth trying.

Ice Horse tendon wraps

I honestly had a hard time coming up with a lot to say about these. I feel very “meh”. Don’t love them, don’t hate them.

fronts are Ice Horse, rears are Finn Tack (haven’t used those enough to review them yet)

I only paid $35 for the pair, secondhand. I don’t love the design in general, I think the little strap meant to hold the ice packs in place is a pretty goofy. Also the gel in the ice packs tends to settle toward the bottom of the leg as it warms up, so there isn’t even coverage of the tendon.

No gel pack ice boot will ever be as good as ones that use real ice. Those are quite impractical for me though, so being able to toss these in the freezer or ice chest then pull them out and put them directly on the horse definitely has it’s advantages. They’re convenient.

Either SO has not noticed this yet, or he noticed and chose not to protest. Either way, yes we have an ice boots shelf in our freezer.

I use them after hard gallops or XC schools and they seem sufficient enough for that. If my horse was doing harder gallops or higher level fences, I would want the cooling power of real ice. Overall, for what I paid I’m satisfied with them. If I’d paid the $100 retail price I probably wouldn’t be super thrilled.

Camelot contact anatomic girth

It’s much easier to come up with my feelings about this thing: it’s legit heinous.

normal girth on the left, Camelot on the right

The leather finish is pretty bad, it looks like it was dipped in colored plastic. The “leather” over the padding on the inside has the same yucky plastic look, except it looks thin and wrinkled and sad. Edges are cut unevenly and the stitching is crooked in spots. The color, which they call Oakbark, is kind of a sickly grayish brown and there’s no way that will change short of a deglaze and a re-dye. Honestly, I’m not even sure that would work.

I’m going to assume the person that cut this piece of leather did so with their teeth

To it’s credit, the elastic is thick and sturdy, the anatomic shape is good, it has 3 dee rings that are nylon reinforced, and it has roller buckles. Technically it has all the things a girth should have. So… yay?

Functionally it’s fine, if you can get past how it looks and feels and how questionable the workmanship is. I used it once and just couldn’t do it. It’s cheap, in every sense of the word. But good news – I have a 54″ I’ll sell you for $40.