The Good
TuffRider Outer Armor High Neck TurnoutI have both the heavy and medium version of the blankets and I LOVE them. They fit my pony perfectly since they aren't made particularly deep (Katai looks like she's wearing her mom's dress in some other blankets) plus they make her look badass! I love the colors and details and the reflective strips make her easy to see in the dark :-) I've had the medium one (in navy) since 2013 and it still looks just like new. I got the black one more recently, 2015 maybe?, but that one has been holding up just as well so far.
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| Old, old picture but here is the blanket on my pretty girl |
Another one that I don't think I've talked about much but had for awhile. In fact my container is almost gone so I'm going to need to order some more soon!
Like everyone else that I've ever read a review from about this stuff I LOVE it. It works so well and smells fabulous, I've got the Rosemary Mint version. I'm weird and actually enjoy cleaning my tack but this soap makes me look forward to it even more since it just smells so nice and leaves my tack so clean and soft. I would highly recommend this over any other saddle soap that I've used.
Neue Schule Eggbutt
This one I know that I've talked about before but I haven't really done a review. I LOVE this bit. It's the only bit that I could find that actually sized the diameter of their mouth piece specifically for a pony's lower pallet. Otherwise I was looking at bridoons and hoping that I could find one in a narrow enough mouthpiece which was tough since Katai wears a 4.5" bit.
When I found the Neue Schule bits they were exactly what I was looking for, basically a pony friendly Sprenger so even though the price was pretty high I went ahead and decided to try them. I'm so glad that I did! Katai instantly was quiet and happy in this bit and it's never changed. I've never had the feeling that it would make sense to try a different bit and normally if she's having any type of evasion it's because I'm doing something funky with my hands and not because of anything I can actually attribute to the bit. She always has a nice, appropriately foamy mouth and normally just softly mouths the bit. Sometimes when we're asking her for something that's a little tougher she'll chomp a little but I'm not blaming that on the bit at all, just normal for my pony who can be a tough little nugget sometimes.
The only thing I can ever imagine doing to change out this bit is buying another of the same once this gets a bit more chewed up. Otherwise I think it's perfect!
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| My bit on Katai's old bridle |
The Bad
Rambo Rain Sheet (no link since this is an older version that I can't find online)
I have nothing bad to say at all about Rambo blankets and sheets in general but this thing just doesn't fit my pony at all. It's a 66" (her normal blanket size) that I got second hand on Facebook. Unfortunately it's just too deep and gaps and binds at the chest. She's wearing it for now since my favorite plaid rainsheet, pictured here;
Ovation White Breeches
I have a pair of this same exact style of breeches in a dark brown that I love so when I saw them on Riding Warehouse in white I decided to get these for my show breeches. I honestly don't absolutely love the ones I have but they're made of a fairly thick material that I felt good about having in white since I didn't feel like they'd show every little thing, plus I already knew that they fit decently.
However, unfortunately they showed up with an unstitched hole in the crotch (not a good surprise when I tried them on) and I think the sizing was off. Every single pair of breeches that I have is a 26 which is what I ordered these in. However, when I tried them on the waistband felt like it was going to break my hips when I was trying to get it closed. All I can imagine is that they're actually a mislabeled 24. I even went and tried on the exact same breeches that I have in a 26 wondering if I'd suddenly gained a whole bunch of weight or something, those fit perfectly so it wasn't that.
Riding Warehouse was awesome, of course, and immediately took them back and sent me a refund but when I was thinking about it I realized that I like the way that Dover breeches fit better and they have a cheaper white pair that I'm going to try instead.
The Ugly
F.O.A.L. Show ShirtI've seriously never found a show shirt that I think is the least attractive so when I saw this one on someone's Youtube I was excited and put it on my wishlist. Then when I saw that Riding Warehouse was carrying them I decided to go ahead and get one.
I struggle a little with shirts in general since I have a large chest which most show shirts seem to not accommodate well. Because of that I ordered this shirt a little large but when I tried it on I wanted to barf. It added lumps and bumps where there weren't any to begin with and just was not at all flattering. I tried it on a few times and then finally decided to return it. If you are flatter chested or have fewer curves than I do this shirt might work. My only real negative for this shirt in general is that it has a zipper up the front under the buttons and because of the thin, silky fabric, the rather heavy duty zipper tended to create bulges.
I'm going to find some time to go to a tack store and try on more show shirts (I haven't tried some on in the past but never very seriously) to see if there's a brand that's better for someone with some curves but for now I'm just going to plan on wearing polo shirts since I've only got schooling shows coming up anyway.
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| Cute right? Oh well... |
