PS of Sweden Flying Change Bridle Review

I've been doing my seasonal "favorites" posts but haven't had much to review recently since I haven't been purchasing much. Thanks to saving up some money I was able to spend a bit more on presents (for everyone including myself) this Christmas and finally got the PS of Sweden bridle that's been on my list for over a year.

Based on the information I had I decided to order the pony sized bridle. I had messaged asking for the bridle size but never heard back. I really should have messaged again before ordering as you're about to see.

Unfortunately when the bridle arrived and I compared it with a bridle I had at home that fit Katai I was pretty sure it was going to be too small. I brought it out to the barn, tried it on her and sure enough it was way too small. Not even close enough to be able to punch extra holes. So, I brought it back home and got it packaged up to return.

In the meantime I spent a lot of time admiring the pretty sparkly broadband

After a couple of emails back and forth and many days later (I shipped it back on 12/5 and it didn't arrive until 12/19) I finally received confirmation that it had arrived and they would be sending me the exchange. They were incredibly helpful and kind throughout the whole thing and I completely take all responsibility for any issues since it's on me that I both ordered the wrong size and was trying to ship back during the Christmas season.

With everything else going on this really wasn't at the top of mind and I've been more worried about figuring out my car. Once I heard that the bridle arrived safely I put it out of mind. It was a bit of a rough week since my car went into the shop mid week last week and I spent a week without being able to get to the barn.

That made it that much more wonderful that through some Christmas gift from the universe the package was waiting for me when I got back from my parent's house on Christmas Day :)

It was more fun and less stressful to open up the package this time since I knew it would fit. I took my time checking every inch and I have to say that I'm completely in love. I should mention that I've only ever owned cheap bridles (under $100) so I don't exactly have much to compare this with but after some of the comments about the leather I was curious what it would be like. Although I may not have an educated opinion I will say that I'm really happy with it and feel like it's completely worth the price.

Perfect for my princess ladybug

I went back and forth on what to order but my total order from PS of Sweden was the Flying Change bridle in cob size, a sparkly broadband, and the throat latch. I was tempted by the reins but in the end I just couldn't justify getting them for $80 when my favorite reins (so far) from Horze were $23 for Black Friday. I may be a bit of a tack hoe but I'm also a cheap tack hoe for the most part ;)

I really like the shape on her face!

I was able to bring it with me to the barn on Tuesday for my lesson and get it fitted to her. As the leather softens and everything starts to mold to her I'll need to adjust again but for now it's, amazingly, right in the middle hole on both sides. So, yeah, my 13.2 hand pony has the same size head as some 16 hand thoroughbreds ;) The only thing that was way too big was the flash but that's easy enough to punch holes in. I haven't used the throatlatch yet as I really got that just so that I can legally show in this bridle. 

She's so tough to get pictures of because
she just wants to follow me around

Sorry for the wonky flash in these pictures. I took these after I rode and I always take the flash off right away. I had it in a loop on top of her nose, like a lot of people do, but she had a mini "Bobby" tantrum and kept running her nose into the walls of the arena so I adjusted it for the princess.

My only complaint is the crank noseband. I've never had a crank noseband before and while I love the extra padding for Katai's face I'm a huge believer in leaving everything really loose so I'll never use it as a crank. Plus, it's just so fiddly to get fastened up! It does make us look very official though so that's pretty cool.

I'm sure that this will end up on one of my seasonal favorites posts in the future after I've had more of a chance to use it!

Christmas Shopping List 2016

I've discovered/realized over the years that however amazing the intentions of my family are, they just don't like to get horse stuff for me (at least not any form of tack) and it's just better if I get that stuff for myself and let them get me things that they enjoy shopping for more.

With that being said, most years I get myself something for my birthday (December 11th) and something for Christmas, usually after Christmas with any money I got for Christmas.

This year though, thanks to aggressively paying off debt and putting some money in savings I've got a nice little chunk of money to spend so I'm having a great time shopping! There are so many options and since I don't have an limited budget I'm having fun picking out what I can put together that's fun and purely gifts for myself.

The Item(s) I'm Getting for Sure:

PS of Sweden Flying Change bridle - 

I've been talking about this one for a long time and I finally get to purchase it!! 

Broadband

Throat latch

Then, since I'm ordering the bridle and having it shipped I"m going to also get the throat latch so that I know I can show with it and of course I need a sparkly broadband. They're out of stock on the one I really want so I'm hoping it will be back in stock when it's time for me to get it.

My plan is to try to get it during their Black Friday sale so that maybe my money will go a little further!

The Tentative List:

Total Saddle Fit Girth:

I've already got a TSF girth but it's brown and it's always gapped at the front. Katai has never been girthy with it so I haven't worried much but now I'd like to fix that, plus to get a black girth that matches my saddle. Also, my current girth is a 24" because of how short the billets on my brown saddle were but my Prestige has normal dressage length billets so I want to get a shorter girth as well.

White Breeches:

I'm slowly putting together a show outfit. My goal is to do a rated show by the end of the year so I'm trying to pick up the things that I'll need as I go rather than waiting until I need it this summer. I'm planning to get a decent but not extremely expensive pair of white breeches I just have to figure out which ones!

Show Shirt:

I'd also like to get some sort of show shirt. The one in the picture is only $35 from Horze which is about what I'd like to spend on a show shirt at this point so I may just go with this one. I'm also going to pick up a couple more cheap ($10ish) polos from Old Navy for schooling shows but that's not what I'm getting myself for Christmas.

Other Stuff:

I'm also shopping for other non-horse stuff but most of that will probably end up on my christmas list for my family since they'll appreciate having some stuff to shop for.

Tack Room Tour: OCD Much?

As mentioned before I watch a lot of YouTube. In fact at this point it’s almost completely replaced any other form of tv such as Hulu or Netflix (I don’t have cable). I LOVE watching vlogs, it’s totally a guilty pleasure for me and I love seeing people doing mundane things. I’m a very visual person so seeing how other people do things is interesting to me and it makes me feel like we’re ultimately all so similar. We all have our own strengths and our own struggles. It’s easy to read something and add meaning that wasn’t ever meant to be there or to write something with a positive or negative spin on it that someone else might not have felt but with videos you can see more of the real truth.

  I watch a lot of vegan videos, tiny house building videos, and recently have started watching Casey Neistat’s vlogs which are spectacular. However, some of my favorite videos to watch are done by other riders. I enjoy watching barn vlogs because, as mentioned previously, it’s fun to see how other people interact with their horses, seeing their successes and being able to cheer them on, and how they struggle the same way I do sometimes. Last night one of the people I’m subscribed to (an eventer in Australia) did a tack room tour and it made me think of doing this post. I know that people blog about this as well but her set up specifically made me curious about what others do and I decided to share mine.

Part of my space, saddle with tack cleaning rag hanging, helmet hanging in the back over a container that holds Katai's boots. Coat spray and grooming tote in front.

I tend to be very neat at the barn however, that's not the case at home. My space at home ranges from slightly messy to nuclear disaster and although I clean it every week or two I have no issue with tossing stuff on the floor to be dealt with later. I’m the same way in the kitchen and thankfully I have patient roommates because I tend to pile dishes until I have a chance to clean them and then I clean and scrub the whole kitchen. My car is also normally a disaster and I regularly leave dirty horse blankets in there with the windows closed in spring (speaking of that I had an interesting day where I offered someone a ride and I thought they were going to pass out from dirty horse blanket smell while I was so used to it that I didn’t even notice) However, with my horse(s) I’ve always been extremely neat. I bring all of my leather tack home every month and do a thorough cleaning. I enjoy tack cleaning so much that I’d probably have it home every week if I didn’t know that was bad for the leather. I also wipe it down with a damp cloth after every ride, which is a fairly recent addition to my process.

Mine's on the left with the pink polkadot tote, Bridle is lower row with the bundled up cream colored lunge line hanging. All the way to the right is a refrigerator specifically for the horses with is amazing :-)

I just LOVE the feeling of soft, buttery, clean tack and really dislike that stiff, caky, cracked leather feel that bridles in particular get if they aren’t cleaned on a regular basis. I also wash saddle pads every few rides during the summer when they get nasty and sweaty quickly and at least every couple of weeks during the winter when they just don’t get as dirty. I’ve got a “horse laundry” bin in my basement at home that fills up pretty quickly with tack rags, sweaty saddle pads, coolers, grooming rags, polos or boots, and I wash my saddle cover every few months. I love all of it, it’s like therapy for me and bringing a neat clean pile of folded horse laundry back to the barn feels amazing. My fellow boarders don't seem to feel the same way though and I'd say that most of the leather goods at my barn are not treated the same as mine.

This YouTube vlogger had a similar setup to my fellow boarders’ with a packed cabinet in complete disarray. She had gloves in two separate places, blankets piled on the ground (which was dirt), strap goods in tangled piles etc. I guess it just made me wonder if I’m an OCD horse person or if other’s are bothered as much as I am by dirty tack and yet couldn’t care less about a messy house?

Youtube Playlist Favorites:

Hannah Lucy - Australian Eventer
equine.emma1996 - Another Australian Eventer
Carter Sulivan - Canadian Dressage rider
Hot for Food - My favorite vegan food blog - GREAT recipes!

Big Girl

Today it was windy enough that I wasn't comfortable working outside so I brought both girls in the barn for a second time to groom and have them practice standing tied. Neither one of them has a problem with the wind but I do and days like today make me want to curl up inside with a blanket and watch a movie.

I did have Katai wear her bridle with the new bit for the first time since I got the NS bit and it was a success. She was much less fussy and much more relaxed. I spent a bunch of time grooming both her and Myshla including brushing out tails and clipping manes so they look like neat English horses again rather than fuzzy ponies.

Katai did way better at standing tied today and actually figured out how to eat around her bit which was a huge thing since it means she is starting to relax her jaw a little. It's not something I would normally encourage a horse to do with a bit in their mouth but in my opinion its not bad for them to know they can either.

I did get a couple of pictures of her today so this blog finally isn't as boring. Doesn't she look like a big girl?