Saturday 11 January 2014

New Year/New Stuff - Sales Shopping Wishlist

Image borrowed from Google Images - no copyright infringement intended
New GPA Speedair helmet - Kika & I broke the peak a year and a half - two years ago...I need to find helmet on sale again to condone the splurge as my helmet itself is fine just aesthetically odd. Makes me feel like a mushroom head!



New Rugs - preferably Horseware as I ♥ them. I want a new light-, medium- and heavy-weight stable rug for each girl and Nancy needs a new turnout rug. I love Kika's so much I want to splurge on one for Nancy.
Ideally I want two of each stable rug weight for each girl so that they can wear one while the other is being cleaned. At the moment their rugs are minging *blush*

Again Image borrowed from Google Images

Turnout rugs needn't be multi-weighted in my book as I put them on over stable rugs pending the weather (eg: the last two weeks it has been so mild that the girls haven't had their stable rugs under the turnouts and have been grand). I do prefer neck covers as it means I can still ride in the evening after a downpour & love Kika's as it is easily detachable and is another reason I want to upgrade N's turnout (on top of the fact that hers is now third-hand and not as 100% waterproof anymore *LeSadTimes*)
I will continue to layer these with the liners I already have (2-3?!) as needs be - so that the little dears don't get cold.

Google Images
Plus a Newmarket fleece or two wouldn't go astray as I've always coveted them! ;-)
Now to find a way to place such an order without breaking in the bank & perhaps convincing the retailer to throw in something free to sweeten the deal...unlikely sadly as this will not be a bulk-buy purchase. Purse strings won't allow it! :-/ It'll have to be a slow & steady collection through sales bargain buys - just like I built up Kika's initial rug collection which is now being shared with Nancy...thankfully I'd stupidly thought Kika needed larger rugs at one stage and bought some the next size up which now fit N perfectly ;-)
If I manage to pull these purchases pff - I think I'll need to start a Rug-Hoggers Anonymous support group if I can pull this off ;-)

New boots & gaiters + long boots (well this is a semi-fantasy/long-term wishlist post)
I love my Tredstep Pro G2 gaiters and Mackey jodh boots. Which after a couple breaking in sessions with bruised knees are now a dream to use & maintain - especially considering the abuse they get! Although one of the zips may go within the next 6-months to a year and there are leather bits on the side that have come unstuck and flap when I walk *sniggers*
Yes I hang-my-head-in-shame / hold-my-hand up and admit I do not clean my gear anywhere near as often as I should...think warm months & only when the mood takes me. *beetroot-blush / LeShame*

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I used to clean my stuff every week when I was in Ireland & jumping at weekends, sadly my standards have slipped since moving out here and buying a second horse - but in all honesty it's the weather in the winter that deters me most as I find tack cleaning itself theraputic - but the thought of my hands in cold water when it's freezing outside...brrrr, no thanks!

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If the long boot dream were to become a real possibility I would need advice as this would be my first pair! *EXCITEMENT - even though I've no plans to immediately splurge...can't beat the pull of new stuff*
I am so in love with my Tredstep gaiters & love promoting Irish brands *Green Pride*; my friend has a pair of deNiros that she splurged on at Equitana last March which are also fab. I think this will be a back-burner goal and I'll see if I can browbeat *ahem* convince Tredstep Ireland to have a stand at the Equitana in 2015 (2014 edition is open air) - I can try all the different options under one roof and go with my favs!
Aesthetically I've haven't been overly fond of the Field Boots with laces, always tending more towards the cleaner all-in-one look of other (more-dressage?) boots. However, methinks that the laces option offered by the Field Boots make them easier to walk in and ride in generally seeing as they are aimed at jumpers (more moveability of ankles) - please correct me if I am way off the mark here!!!

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Now for two slightly more immediate & attainable purchases - LOL!

Ornella Prosperi - RIP
Riding Jacket - I need one badly!  It NEEDS to be warm, waterproof and without a hood or one that conveniently rolls up & tucks away or comes off. My trusty Ornella Prosperi's zipper bust and I now have to climb in and out of it + it no longer closes...not really ideal for winter wear!

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UPDATE I drafted this post when I woke at silly o'clock this morning not knowing the day would end up taking me to a tack shop this afternoon! While I'd still LOVE a Horseware and/or Spooks jackets with the lovely big collars I ended up splurging on a Eurostar Carlotta jacket in Navy @ 40% off with a further €40 off as the winter boots my mam got me for Christmas didn't fit and had to be returned. *SadTimes*
I also snapped up a pair of sadly-not-on-sale-but-oh-so-fab Horze grey check jodhpurs!

Sorry for the state of me - I was just in the door from the barn
I've also just remembered that I'm also sorely in need of some new waterproof trousers as my trusty Rambo pair that I got at the same time as my Ornella Prosperi jacket ripped (embarrassingly the crotch area) just before I left Ireland (ahem - in 2010) and I still haven't gotten around to replacing them! *oh-for-shame* And yes, in heavy rain & snow I do still wear them ripped or not they keep me dry & warm! *nod*



Mane & Tail detangler/conditioner - easily the most attainable purchase on this list!
I have always used Canter Mane & Tail Spray,  but would love to hear your recommendations - please tell me all about the other options out there!
(Another update since drafting post this amEquestrianTrend last night posted about a really cool sounding product line which I am hoping to learn more about & try out. It's called Ecolicious, is made from natural products & all packaging is recyclable - love the sound of that and really hope to source some and try it out asap!

Platimun Royale - Image Link
Penultimate wishlist/dream purchase is another big'un - New saddles for the girls!
Nancy has earned one fitted for her & it has been well documented how finnickety Kika can be about her back - she deff lets me know when she's ouchy and/or if her saddle is no longer snug for her princess-and-the-pea sensitive back. Not that I'm complaining really - I am secretly delighted that she won't play the martyr and let me think her tack fits when it doesn't!
In dream-land scenario I'd love a GP & Dressage saddle for each - aesthetically I drool over the Albion. Sadly the Albion rep/retailer for our neck of the woods is the douchebag saddler who sold me the saddle that almost ruined Kika - so unless we get another rep in the area (sadly unlikely) I won't be getting one as I will never work with that saddle fitter again!



As for GPs, I love my Stubben Genesis for Kika, so will keep that so long as it fits & can be kept that way. It has already twice been sent to Switzerland for amendments and is prob due another trip when I have the €€€s saved to have my saddle fitter come check the girls over & finally buy Nancy her own saddle!
Much as I love my Stubben on Kika it isn't the best saddle for me and this is extreemly noticeable when I ride Nancy as my leg swings forward. It's not just my saddle as I tried another Stubben a friend was selling shortly after N arrived last year and my position was awful in it.
So it'll be a blank slate / the possibilities are endless as to what my dream saddle with Nancy will be!

Equitrek - Google Images
As I'm listing dreamland purchases - I'm also seriously hankering after a 2-horse little truck, like an equitrek or something to ferry my girls around in. I've this pathetic dream of bringing them "home" back to my mothers family place & yard I used to keep Kika on when we lived in Ireland and where Nancy was born & bred.

As for actual blogging news, I did ride both girls this evening, and even snuck in an in between spin in a new livery's new young Irish Draft gelding - who was being a right donkey and refusing to move for her. Kika was an angelic superstar, despite only having being lunged this week - eep, long-time readers of this blog did you think we'd get to this day when our blogging adventure started?! Exactly a week since Miss Kika had a saddle on and not a squeak out of her as I hopped up without any pre-lunging etc, we walked once around the arena on foot & off we went to work!
Nancy was great initially for trot & canter work, I still have issues with walk (how one might ask - yet somehow I manage, she keeps wanting to trot) and our trot work after cantering is an awful mess...I sometimes can't get her to settle back to me and relax. Here's hoping L & I can coordinate for our first lesson tomorrow with Miss Nancy as I want to stop these issues - as make no mistake, they are my issues I am somehow sending mixed signals or tensing or something - basically I need eyes on the ground help.

Right, as usual this has gotten monsterously long and wordy. Hopefully the photos help break up the waffle!
Please leave comments/tips/advice/suggestions on brands options I haven't come across and as always

THANKS FOR READING

24 comments:

  1. The Dover customer service rep in me wants to get all up in this but I'll refrain ;) I will mention that GPA is having some major production issues right now so if you can find a Speed Air, grab it and don't let go!

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    1. By all means - please unleash the Dover customer service rep - although if I'm somehow doing something illegal with this post please break it to me gently! And bear in mind that I am Euro-based and I am not sure if Dover deliver to Europe & dread to think of taxes & charges if they do...sorry!

      Can you tell me more about GPA? Is there a fault in production, should I stay away? Or are there somehow other issues that might threaten further production? If you're more comfortable discussing privately by e-mail, please do drop me a line @ aoife (dot) smada (at) gmail (dot) com

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  2. Lovely list, I love Horseware stuff, sadly its just out of the budget for a bit (ahem while someone needs full training). My helmet also gives me mushroom head so I have much sympathy! And that van/trailer combo vehicle is crazy looking, but kinda awesome :)

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    1. Full price Horseware is out of budget for me too at the moment, especially as I'm budgeting like mad for apartment related stuffs.
      I have bought all my horseware rugs on offer. Equestrianism is so expensive that the majority of my purchases are after bargain hunting!

      I LOVE those mini 2-horse trucks, best bit is they can be driven off a normal licence (I think) - so no need to do a trailer test or learn to reverse those complicated suckers!
      Yes I am a chicken & rubbish at visualisation and angles required for such things!

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  3. Thanks one more time :D
    The GPA helmets are so cheap now! You can get them on their website, their price is the best one...you can get it with -60% so you only pay 173€ instead of 437€! The prices are dropping because their technology isn't the most innovative/safe anymore and they are loosing their helmet customers to other brands like Samshield!
    You have a huge wishlist, I hope you can get everything! :D

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    1. Eeep! I hadn't realised their technology isn't the safest anymore...Not good!
      I must do some research - I this case cheaper isn't better! Can't put a price on the value of my head - technically that's the money-maker ;-)

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  4. And if you decide to get some EcoLicious products join their newsletter, they will give you a 15% off coupon! :D

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    1. I emailed them to ask about European delivery fees *fingers crossed* I get a reply!

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    2. Fingers crossed, shall have to remember to check in case response comes into junk mailbox :-/

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    3. http://equestriantrend.blogspot.pt/2014/01/top-5-helmets.html :D

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    4. Thanks so much! Plenty info there to do more research from & find what fits head and more importantly budget ;-)

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  5. Oh I'd love an equitrek van too. Other than that, I have to say I've become quite anti-capitalist and don't buy much gear at all any more. I'll get another few years out of my tatty Rambo overtrousers and I'm going to start repairing stuff rather than replacing. That said, I inherited a lot of kit that liveries had left behind in my place in Cork and also all the gear I'd bought for my daughter(s) over the years so I'm pretty well stocked.
    Except for this riding fly sheets you have. Gotta get me some of them.

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    1. 2-horse vans are just the handiest IMO - pricey though! I'm talking Euromillions win needed for such a splurge. Considering I don't buy tickets that's a real pipe dream.

      Liveries are great for that aren't they?! I've rescued a pair of overreach boots & a pair of foamy tendon protectors from bin at my livery recently. The OR boots are a little damaged in that one has only 1 velcro fastener left but other is perfect & they still work grand and there was absolutely nothing wrong with tendon boot things - still can't fathom why they were thrown out!
      I don't make a habit of going through the bins or anything like that! These were sitting on top when I went to throw something legitematly out ;-)

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  6. I wish the US had something like these equitrek vans, not that I could afford one, but it sure seems like the easiest way to transport.

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    1. I'd love one, they're dead handy and have tack compartments and maybe a teeny tiny living space - prob not in the 2-horse ones but deff I the 4-horse +

      Don't you have horse trucks/van type things to transport in the USA? What do hauling/transport companies use?

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    2. I know this is an old post, but we don't use vans in the USA. The transport companies use huge eighteen wheeler trucks. If you look at the homepage on this website http://www.bobhubbardhorsetrans.com/ that first picture is one of them. It's the same thing we ship all freight in the USA, except obviously it has stalls on the inside instead of being open for pallets. I wish we had those horse vans like you guys have though because they are soooo cool and look like they would be so much easier to learn to pull than a trailer. :)

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    3. Shall check out that site for a nosy, thanks a1d
      :-D

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  7. Great list, glad you picked up a jackt :D

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    1. Thanks, I ♥ my jacket. Makes me smile every time I put it on...so cozy & the jodhs are fab too. I'd forgotten how much I love the fit of the Horze ones

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  8. I have most of those horse rugs! lol...want the speed air too...so badly.

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    1. Have any you don't use in 6ft3 or 6ft6?! ;-)

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  9. Once again I know this is an old post and I'm so behind on commenting, but I'm pretty sure there are great exercises for helping with horses who want to trot instead of walk, but I can't remember what they are. Have you tried just doing lots and lots and lots of transitions between halt, walk and trot? Or maybe lateral work? Sorry I can't be more help. You might try looking at some horse forums because I know I've heard of exercises that work, but I just don't remember them. You may have already fixed the problem though since this was a couple of months ago, if that's the case just ignore this hehe. I just can't help commenting. I love tossing ideas back and forth. :D

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    1. I love hearing from readers & tossing ideas back & forth as well! :-D
      Thanks for the tips, shall do some research. We are actually doing better when I remenber to keep my leg off and move her forward from my seat.

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I love to hear from readers, thank you for your comment :-)