I have been a lazy, lazy person about this blog. I just haven't had much to say but I think I'm going to try to revive it.
I have a TON of new products to review that I've been collecting. I have a decent camera now to take pictures.
Chester has had a lot of drama lately but I am hopeful that a final vet visit on Thursday will be the end of it. Famous last words, I know.
I have tons of blogging material. The saddle fit drama of 2015/2016. A winter with no snow and three body clips. Leaving a trainer who wasn't doing my horse any good. My trailer killed my truck.
It's been a long year so far. But I do plan to revive this!
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Sunday, June 28, 2015
On sunshirts and looking stupid in 95 degree heat
I love sunshirts. I am a pale, pasty white girl, and I'm also chubby, so becoming tan does not magically turn me into a sleek teenager. Also, I really don't want skin cancer and it's suddenly cool to not want skin cancer, so for once in my life I am onto something cool at the right time.
Meanwhile, riders figured out there was even more overpriced apparel that they were not purchasing, and so begins THE SUNSHIRT TREND!
Except at my barn, which exists in its own little corner of the world (that's a rant for another post). Every single time I wear one of these, a parent asks me "Aren't you hot?!?" No, I'm not wearing a goddamn sweatshirt. It is TECHNICAL APPAREL that is PROTECTING MY SKIN. Moving on...
Let me start off by saying that I am actually not nuts about IceFil. It seems like a nice idea, but I don't feel any cooler wearing it. I bought the icefil Kerrits tights thinking that I was going to be so much cooler, when actually I felt like I was wearing fleece lined leggings in August (not a good idea.) So I popped those suckers on ebay and decided to give the shirts a go.
I apologize for the lack of pictures, I will try to get some to fill in this post.
1. Bette and Court Cool Elements
This one is probably my favorite sunshirt. The price is unfortunately kind of gagworthy at $76 per. However, these are lightweight, come in awesome colors, the fit is good and not skintight, and they wash great and are very durable. I wore mine in 98 degree heat in Orlando at Disney World for an entire day and was noticeably cooler and suffered less feeling of sun overexposure. I would like to have more, but I seem to have trouble finding the colors I want - these can be hard to find. The local tack shop here does sell them (for full price, plus absurd CT tax...) so if I get desperate I go there, EquusNow also sells these and so does Dicks Sporting Goods (where I usually buy from). I wear a Large and it is a little loose, but that seems to help the cooling factor.
2. Riding Sport CoolBlast
This one is okay. It's pretty similar to the Bette and Court, the fit is maybe a little closer to the body. Color selection is kind of limited in my opinion (I have the Pomegranate color, which is a hot reddish pink color) and it's not as well finished as the Bette and Court. If these were like $49, I'd buy more of them, but the sale price is now $59, which is just kind of high. I'd rather spend $16 more and get the Bette and Court, personally. For those of you tall folks, this one seems to run short in the body. I'm super short so they're all long on me, this one is the shortest which might be its redeeming property. I don't feel as cool on really hot days wearing this as I do wearing the Bette and Court, possibly due to the slightly looser fit in the B&C. I have this in a Large.
3. Tailored Sportsman IceFil
I wasn't that impressed with these. Price is good, so if you're choosing between the Riding Sport and the TS I'd just spend the money and upgrade, but the mesh under the arms is flimsy and the colors are kind of strange. The apricot color is NOT a good look for pasty white girl with dark hair, just FYI. I returned the one I bought because I couldn't see keeping it when the B&C is $9 more. If you can find a miracle unicorn sale when TS is actually discounted, buy them then. I tried the Large and it fit okay.
4. Smartpak Sunshirt (whatever these are called, I'm too lazy to look them up)
These are okay. These are also overpriced (see my next post below). Color selection is limited and bizarre. These don't have mesh under the sleeves and they aren't the same "perforated" fabric that the B&C, RS, and TS are. I am 99% convinced these are made by NoZone so...
5. NoZone Tuscany Sun Protective Shirt
These are $34 on amazon and as best I can tell are identical to the Smartpak shirts. No mesh under the arms, but the fabric is light and pretty cool, and they have a nice short mock neck that doesn't look like a turtleneck on me. It's not breeze-right-through-it thin but I think it does a good job of keeping me dry and I never feel sun-scorched. The sleeves run absurdly long, for those of you with monkey arms - I have T-Rex arms so for me, I need to cuff these. However, the price is good and the Amazon color selection is better (though still nada compared to B&C) and sizing is randomly available. I bought the L and XL and the XL was huge - I wear a street size 12 (I'm busty) and the XL was probably a 20. The L was more like a 14, but was still bigger than my B&C and RS in the L size. The light gray color is really nice and would make a nice clinic type shirt or even shirt for under a show coat if you were into that type of thing.
6. Vapor Apparel Sun Protective Long Sleeve T
These shirts are the shit. I'm not even making this up. They are $21, lightweight, stretchable, breatheable, FLATTERING, and did I mention they're $21? These fit much closer to the body than the RS and B&C shirts do, but in an athletic sort of way that you have room to move. The colors are nice, they wash super well, and the sizing is much more normal (I wear a L here as well). I own the light pink, light gray, light blue, and white and think they need to make a dozen more colors so I can wear these all summer. They are really breezy to wear, a really nice super lightweight microfiber, and the neck is properly finished so they don't rub anywhere. I LOVE THESE STUPID SHIRTS! If you want a looser fit, the mens ones are also available and they come in a lot more colors. These are $21 with free shipping and free returns from Amazon. Can't beat it with a stick.
A note for those of you this matters to: The NoZone shirts are made in Canada. I do like to support brands that don't manufacture in third world countries, so this is another reason to buy these especially since they're 1/2 the price of other sunshirts. Vapor Apparel is USA made.
Meanwhile, riders figured out there was even more overpriced apparel that they were not purchasing, and so begins THE SUNSHIRT TREND!
Except at my barn, which exists in its own little corner of the world (that's a rant for another post). Every single time I wear one of these, a parent asks me "Aren't you hot?!?" No, I'm not wearing a goddamn sweatshirt. It is TECHNICAL APPAREL that is PROTECTING MY SKIN. Moving on...
Let me start off by saying that I am actually not nuts about IceFil. It seems like a nice idea, but I don't feel any cooler wearing it. I bought the icefil Kerrits tights thinking that I was going to be so much cooler, when actually I felt like I was wearing fleece lined leggings in August (not a good idea.) So I popped those suckers on ebay and decided to give the shirts a go.
I apologize for the lack of pictures, I will try to get some to fill in this post.
1. Bette and Court Cool Elements
This one is probably my favorite sunshirt. The price is unfortunately kind of gagworthy at $76 per. However, these are lightweight, come in awesome colors, the fit is good and not skintight, and they wash great and are very durable. I wore mine in 98 degree heat in Orlando at Disney World for an entire day and was noticeably cooler and suffered less feeling of sun overexposure. I would like to have more, but I seem to have trouble finding the colors I want - these can be hard to find. The local tack shop here does sell them (for full price, plus absurd CT tax...) so if I get desperate I go there, EquusNow also sells these and so does Dicks Sporting Goods (where I usually buy from). I wear a Large and it is a little loose, but that seems to help the cooling factor.
2. Riding Sport CoolBlast
This one is okay. It's pretty similar to the Bette and Court, the fit is maybe a little closer to the body. Color selection is kind of limited in my opinion (I have the Pomegranate color, which is a hot reddish pink color) and it's not as well finished as the Bette and Court. If these were like $49, I'd buy more of them, but the sale price is now $59, which is just kind of high. I'd rather spend $16 more and get the Bette and Court, personally. For those of you tall folks, this one seems to run short in the body. I'm super short so they're all long on me, this one is the shortest which might be its redeeming property. I don't feel as cool on really hot days wearing this as I do wearing the Bette and Court, possibly due to the slightly looser fit in the B&C. I have this in a Large.
3. Tailored Sportsman IceFil
I wasn't that impressed with these. Price is good, so if you're choosing between the Riding Sport and the TS I'd just spend the money and upgrade, but the mesh under the arms is flimsy and the colors are kind of strange. The apricot color is NOT a good look for pasty white girl with dark hair, just FYI. I returned the one I bought because I couldn't see keeping it when the B&C is $9 more. If you can find a miracle unicorn sale when TS is actually discounted, buy them then. I tried the Large and it fit okay.
4. Smartpak Sunshirt (whatever these are called, I'm too lazy to look them up)
These are okay. These are also overpriced (see my next post below). Color selection is limited and bizarre. These don't have mesh under the sleeves and they aren't the same "perforated" fabric that the B&C, RS, and TS are. I am 99% convinced these are made by NoZone so...
5. NoZone Tuscany Sun Protective Shirt
These are $34 on amazon and as best I can tell are identical to the Smartpak shirts. No mesh under the arms, but the fabric is light and pretty cool, and they have a nice short mock neck that doesn't look like a turtleneck on me. It's not breeze-right-through-it thin but I think it does a good job of keeping me dry and I never feel sun-scorched. The sleeves run absurdly long, for those of you with monkey arms - I have T-Rex arms so for me, I need to cuff these. However, the price is good and the Amazon color selection is better (though still nada compared to B&C) and sizing is randomly available. I bought the L and XL and the XL was huge - I wear a street size 12 (I'm busty) and the XL was probably a 20. The L was more like a 14, but was still bigger than my B&C and RS in the L size. The light gray color is really nice and would make a nice clinic type shirt or even shirt for under a show coat if you were into that type of thing.
6. Vapor Apparel Sun Protective Long Sleeve T
These shirts are the shit. I'm not even making this up. They are $21, lightweight, stretchable, breatheable, FLATTERING, and did I mention they're $21? These fit much closer to the body than the RS and B&C shirts do, but in an athletic sort of way that you have room to move. The colors are nice, they wash super well, and the sizing is much more normal (I wear a L here as well). I own the light pink, light gray, light blue, and white and think they need to make a dozen more colors so I can wear these all summer. They are really breezy to wear, a really nice super lightweight microfiber, and the neck is properly finished so they don't rub anywhere. I LOVE THESE STUPID SHIRTS! If you want a looser fit, the mens ones are also available and they come in a lot more colors. These are $21 with free shipping and free returns from Amazon. Can't beat it with a stick.
A note for those of you this matters to: The NoZone shirts are made in Canada. I do like to support brands that don't manufacture in third world countries, so this is another reason to buy these especially since they're 1/2 the price of other sunshirts. Vapor Apparel is USA made.
Sunday, June 14, 2015
On Tack Hauls
So, if any of you know me from my forum posts, you know that I may have a shopping problem.
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| My entryway in the aftermath of Black Friday 2014 |
Some of you also know that since I work on a contract basis, there are times of the year when I have recently gotten several months worth of pay, with no more in sight for as many as 3 months after. Because it's now show season, and I just got paid, I have been buying a lot of stuff that I want/need for the upcoming months because if something came up that I really needed/would like to have, in 3 months I may not have the spare funds to buy it.
So, without further ado - all the things I've bought in the past two weeks.
Majyk Equipe Stadium Boots, front and hind. I have the front XC boots and have liked them, but these might be going back as I saw a pair of Acavallos at Dover for less money that I also really liked. I feel these were kind of expensive for what they are - I saw the BR Ultimo boots in Europe and they're basically identical but almost half the price, even with shipping.
MDC Stirrups. I bought the S Flex for my jumping saddle and the Sport Classic for my dressage saddle. I have had the older black Ultimates on my dressage saddle for awhile, but my foot goes numb and I really need a wider footbed. I tried the cheaper wide footbed nylon irons but I really can't deal with the light weight and decided to spring for what I really wanted. I had to back away slowly from the blue Lorenzinis, though. Trainer would make fun of me.
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| what I bought |
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| what I wanted to buy |
A new Harry's Horse show coat. I've been wearing a Horseware one, but the thin fabric just tends to bunch and look stupid on me, and the three button hunt coat with a stock tie and dressage boots is just not doing it for me. This one is a much thicker material that drapes better. Unfortunately the shoulders are a tiny bit big, but that's the story of my life - I have to buy big to fit my boobs and it's really hard to alter these types of show coats. So I just deal with it...
I bought an actual metric ton of saddle pads, but most of them are boring and uninteresting, but I did get this great one from Waldhausen:
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| Also purchased in an amazing raspberry with navy binding, which naturally I cannot find a picture of. |
Returning to the boot realm, I bought the Woof Smart XC boots with the funky orange d3o goop that supposedly gets more protective the harder you hit it. These are pretty neat. Review coming in the future. I picked these up for 25% off retail at the smartpak attic:
I also bought a TON of breeches. I am in "boot camp" so to speak and see a personal trainer 3 times a week who also looks at my food journal and then gives me the mom glare so I eat more salads. I pay her a lot of money to do this. But that also means that since I am not eating pizza every day (if only I were 16 again...) I do not fit into my now-too-big breeches collection. So naturally I bought two pairs, told myself to be content, and then bought four more pairs because I lack self control. I will just post pictures with captions rather than describe what I bought, since you're growing old reading this:
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| TuffRider Element. Purchased in Anthracite and White |
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| Cavallino Marino Verona in Navy with pink detail. I <3 HKM products. |
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| Cavallino Marino Atlantis w/ crystals. Color is "Gray Blue" a really nice light smoke blue. |
Moving on.
I also bought an overpriced bit, the Neue Schule Verbindend loose ring. Review will be upcoming on this one.
AND drumroll please, I bought a new saddle!
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| Does this look like it should cost $132? |
AND drumroll please, I bought a new saddle!
Review is also forthcoming on this since I know there is not very much information about these saddles available.
I bought lots of little things like brushes and hoofpicks and shampoo that I'm sure absolutely nobody is interested in.
I also ordered some custom stock ties, but I will post about those when I get them, since there aren't any pictures yet and they are coming from New Zealand. Plus I need more future content.
Happy shopping everyone!
Sunday, June 7, 2015
On boot camp and shopping
I was at Home Depot today buying plants for my front garden. In an effort to get my adult life together, I decided that my home's landscaping was the outer beacon of my success and I "landscaped" by putting some actual flowers where flowers were meant to go (but previously had been home to the recycling bins.) I think this is a great first step to convincing my neighbors that we're actually adults because I'm pretty sure they're convinced we're broke 20 year olds renting this house, since we can't even manage to keep the lawn from dying in the 3 years since we bought the place.
This is great and all, but I realized that maybe I should have gotten proper soil first because my plants are really struggling. So I skipped off to Home Depot on a Sunday (mistake #1) to acquire replacement plants for the ones that totally died and to get potting soil.
I bought about 5 too many plants, because I have poor spatial relations skills. I resolved this by ripping out the plants I don't like and replacing them with prettier ones.
Anyway, while I was waiting in line to check out (in the sun, without sunscreen on, see mistake #1) an ad came across my Facebook feed:
"Need help with your eating habits and burning some fat for the summer months?"
Mentally I nodded. Sounds great! Sounds like work, though, and the classes are always at like, 2pm. Which actually would work for me, but I'm lazy.
"Mondays and Wednesdays 7:00pm!"
Shoot, that's an evening, I could totally do that.
"6 weeks, 2x a week, $240"
Hm, that's really not that bad.
The cashier took this opportunity to interrupt me and separate me from $67 of my money.
I drove home and mused on whether I could make bootcamp happen.
And then I saw pictures from last weekend's clinic. Bootcamp HAS to happen.
Now, I am okay with my weight. I know I'm overweight, and I don't like to make excuses, but I drive two hours EACH WAY to my office, plus I ride. I really don't have a lot of time for anything, but especially not the four hours a day of exercise that really fit people seem to do. Also, I REALLY hate salads, which is how I got this fat in the first place.
But I saw this picture and I started to really hate the way I look. I'm a perfectly fine rider, or at least I think so (would be better if I could learn to f--king sit up!!) but this photo just really highlights how unattractive my weight is. Now, this is MY OPINION. I realize that if I were posting photos of someone else and calling them fat, that would be no bueno. But I promise you, this is a photo of me, and if you look like me and are cool with it, then more power to you. You do you! Me, I do not want to look like this anymore.
So before I could change my mind, I paid my monies and registered for six weeks of having my ass kicked by a cute, perky personal trainer who will read my food journal and judge me. I really think it's something I needed to do.
As an aside, this has helped my shopping habit. I have a selfish motivation - a lot of the clothes I really want to buy, like Pikeur jackets and Equiline breeches, don't come in my size, which I think is really embarassing. I just bought a new softshell coat, and I had to buy the XXL. I was on calevo.com this morning and had two pairs of Pikeurs in my cart - but I don't want to buy them because I really don't want to spend more money on clothes in the largest size they make. The breeches I'm wearing in the above picture are a 34, and I'm 5' tall. When I rode in college, I wore a 28. I would like to at least get down to a 30.
I have the grave misfortune to ride at a barn that is full of tiny pony riding teenagers who wander around in their sports bras, trim midriffs exposed. I can confirm that I NEVER had a body like that - even when I was their age. I was always 'the chubby one' and I'd be fine with being the chubby one - but it needs to be 20 pounds less chubby than I am right now. And I really hate being the "fat one" in all the barn photos, especially since I'm the only adult, too.
Also, this picture showed me that I need a new saddle. Stay tuned for that post.
This is great and all, but I realized that maybe I should have gotten proper soil first because my plants are really struggling. So I skipped off to Home Depot on a Sunday (mistake #1) to acquire replacement plants for the ones that totally died and to get potting soil.
I bought about 5 too many plants, because I have poor spatial relations skills. I resolved this by ripping out the plants I don't like and replacing them with prettier ones.
Anyway, while I was waiting in line to check out (in the sun, without sunscreen on, see mistake #1) an ad came across my Facebook feed:
"Need help with your eating habits and burning some fat for the summer months?"
Mentally I nodded. Sounds great! Sounds like work, though, and the classes are always at like, 2pm. Which actually would work for me, but I'm lazy.
"Mondays and Wednesdays 7:00pm!"
Shoot, that's an evening, I could totally do that.
"6 weeks, 2x a week, $240"
Hm, that's really not that bad.
The cashier took this opportunity to interrupt me and separate me from $67 of my money.
I drove home and mused on whether I could make bootcamp happen.
And then I saw pictures from last weekend's clinic. Bootcamp HAS to happen.
Now, I am okay with my weight. I know I'm overweight, and I don't like to make excuses, but I drive two hours EACH WAY to my office, plus I ride. I really don't have a lot of time for anything, but especially not the four hours a day of exercise that really fit people seem to do. Also, I REALLY hate salads, which is how I got this fat in the first place.
But I saw this picture and I started to really hate the way I look. I'm a perfectly fine rider, or at least I think so (would be better if I could learn to f--king sit up!!) but this photo just really highlights how unattractive my weight is. Now, this is MY OPINION. I realize that if I were posting photos of someone else and calling them fat, that would be no bueno. But I promise you, this is a photo of me, and if you look like me and are cool with it, then more power to you. You do you! Me, I do not want to look like this anymore.
So before I could change my mind, I paid my monies and registered for six weeks of having my ass kicked by a cute, perky personal trainer who will read my food journal and judge me. I really think it's something I needed to do.
As an aside, this has helped my shopping habit. I have a selfish motivation - a lot of the clothes I really want to buy, like Pikeur jackets and Equiline breeches, don't come in my size, which I think is really embarassing. I just bought a new softshell coat, and I had to buy the XXL. I was on calevo.com this morning and had two pairs of Pikeurs in my cart - but I don't want to buy them because I really don't want to spend more money on clothes in the largest size they make. The breeches I'm wearing in the above picture are a 34, and I'm 5' tall. When I rode in college, I wore a 28. I would like to at least get down to a 30.
I have the grave misfortune to ride at a barn that is full of tiny pony riding teenagers who wander around in their sports bras, trim midriffs exposed. I can confirm that I NEVER had a body like that - even when I was their age. I was always 'the chubby one' and I'd be fine with being the chubby one - but it needs to be 20 pounds less chubby than I am right now. And I really hate being the "fat one" in all the barn photos, especially since I'm the only adult, too.
Also, this picture showed me that I need a new saddle. Stay tuned for that post.
Saturday, June 6, 2015
Introductions
My name is Lauren. I'm twenty seven years old, and I'm owned by an 8 year old pony named Better and Better (but known to his servants as Chester). I also have another horse, but more about her in a later post.
I'm about as adult amateur as it gets, but he totes me around mostly happily. I'm an admitted tack ho, and this blog will be about 50% my complaining that after 15 years I STILL can't ride, and discussing my latest purchases. Trainer may roll her eyes at me, but my pony is the BEST DRESSED pony who is ridden by an out-of-shape-adult. I do realize that is a limited pool of competition.
Thanks for reading, and stay tuned!
I'm about as adult amateur as it gets, but he totes me around mostly happily. I'm an admitted tack ho, and this blog will be about 50% my complaining that after 15 years I STILL can't ride, and discussing my latest purchases. Trainer may roll her eyes at me, but my pony is the BEST DRESSED pony who is ridden by an out-of-shape-adult. I do realize that is a limited pool of competition.
Thanks for reading, and stay tuned!
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