Blog Hop: Everyday Tack Set Up

Woo I love blog hops! Thanks to Hand Gallop for the excellent hop, which led me to yet another really awesome blog.

My tack is boring. It's all very old or very used (most of it is both), which is a really nice thing when you're riding a four year old who is still learning that he can't rub my bridle all over wood posts or chew on my reins or fling himself against a fence while my saddle is on (!!!). So for this reason and because I'm not a fun eventer and only have one setup, I'll tell you what I'll be replacing a few key pieces with eventually. Like once as this idiot grows up and stops trying to destroy all my tack.

All tacked up this winter- he was so much scrawnier back then

Snaffle Bride: My bridle is a Vespucci snaffle bridle that I bought brand new in 2003. It's nasty. I condition and clean it regularly but there's only so much pretty that a 12 year old bridle that has been used/chewed on babies for years can look. The reins were destroyed years ago so the reins that are on it now are reins that my former boss gave me, these are being destroyed now too because TC grabs them all the time. I have another pair waiting (former boss threw like three pairs at me one day and said "I hate these" so I kept them).

Snaffle Bit: The bit I'm using on TC is a KK knockoff (it's thicker than a normal KK but the material looks similar) that I bought for like 10 dollars about ten years ago.

Bonus- Double Bridle: Obviously TC isn't in the double. I bought the double, which is a Passier, in 2009 and it has remained in good condition because NO ONE touches it but Rico and Rico doesn't destroy things anymore. I did have to replace the noseband because the one it came with was too thin- I think the noseband is an Otto Schumacher.

Bonus- Wheymouth Bit: My wheymouth is a stainless steel mullen mouth curb that I bought for $45. I refuse to have horses that require fancy bits.

Bonus- Bradoon Bit: My bradoon is a stainless steel loose ring french link. I think it was $20-30. I can't find the link to it!

Rico's pretty double bridle

Dressage Saddle: I love my saddle, it's a very old Custom saddlery monoflap saddle (I think a Versailles). It has been repaired 4 times in the last two years that I've had it. It has what I can only describe as bite marks on the cantle. And I'm in a constant battle with it to keep it from turning green. I paid $650 for it (including tax) and am never getting rid of it. TC has run it into several posts, has smashed it against a fence, and continuously grabs the billets and tries to pull it off of him.

Stirrup Leathers: I have no idea what kind of stirrup leathers I have. They are old and turning green as well. But they're even... well, even-ish.

Stirrups: I ride in normal fillis stirrups that I bought probably fifteen years ago at a used tack sale. I've used other stirrups in the past, but I never felt a difference so I ended up selling my Sprengers to a client and my MDC stirrups are on my jumping saddle just because they've always been on that saddle.

Dressage Pad: I have a few- black, white, the black one with the daisies, the tan striped one (currently being used by my cat as a bed, woops), and the new blue and cream one. My favorite pads are the Classics II by Toklat. My saddle is a 17" and very small, so it looks ridiculous with huge pads. I find that those are small enough.

My newest saddle pad

Half Pad: I only have the one half pad since I sold my old one to a student. It's a cheap insert pad. It cost me under $100. I had to cut up yoga mats to put in it because the foam inserts it came with didn't do shit.

Girth: I have an old Albion girth that came with my old Albion saddle and I've been using that on TC because it's too small for Rico. For Rico I use one of those Smartpak neoprene ones.

Boots: On TC I use my old Dover dressage boots left over from Rico. Bought in 2005. They're all ripped up and nasty but when the baby horse goes back and forth between kicking them off and chewing them off, I'd rather not have nice boots for him just yet.

Bonus- Rico's Boots: Rico has Premier Equine Cross Country boots that I ride in every time I ride him. I love these things. They're breathable and have a strike guard. Because obviously dressage horses need that. But he fell a couple of years ago and cut up his legs so I decided that I can never be too careful when my horse is THAT injury prone.

Dressage horses obviously need intense cross country boots for
fancy prancing... 

Over the next several years, especially as the baby horse grows out of his destroy-all-the-things phase, I want to replace some of my old nasty stuff. Here is what I have on my list!

Snaffle Bridle: I really need a new snaffle bridle if I want to show in a rated show. I'm currently in love with the Passier Apollo bridle. I still can't decide if I like the shiny leather noseband, and that awful Salvador Dali browband would be replaced by something else, but I do like it. I love thick nosebands and I want a padded crownpiece. At this point, I'm not using a flash on TC so I will have to make a decision on my next bridle whether to either have the flash removed or find one without a flash. I'm not opposed to putting a flash on him just for the look of it. And maybe one day he will need one.

Half Pad: I'd really like a thinline fleece half pad. My saddle will always be a bit too wide for TC just based on his conformation- he's just not a very wide horse. And I'm not planning on replacing my saddle any time soon (well, see below). I used one a while ago while I was jumping and I really liked it. Whatever I get needs to be pretty thick to make up for the slightly-too-wide tree.

Saddle: Eventually I will replace my old dying saddle. If I had my choice (I won't since I will try to go used again), I would get a Custom again. The seat is just so comfortable, it's like sitting on a cloud. I'm not sure which one, probably one of the Icons, I like the monoflaps. Not for any normal reason, I like that there is less leather to clean. And my current saddle will be Rico's saddle once again, which will be convenient when the horses are not so close to each other.  I guess if I replace the saddle, I'll have to replace the leathers. I have another pair of fillis irons though so no worries there! Except that I'm kind of in love with SB's blue irons.