video on blogger, haveta try it out..

So let's just see, this is from a couple of years ago but I dont have many videos of my horses. Have to change that...

initial fitting...

"Well, this is different" 

is what she seems to be thinking.... Chew, chew, chew. "Definately different"

And after some adjustments to sit just right I think this bridle will work :) . However, the noseband is not her thing, nor the eggbutt bit. For some reason, none of my horses have ever liked eggbutt bits, it's been sitting in my tack for the last 20 years, everyone has tried it but nobody likes it. So... I need to get another of her bits she likes, and I think I will put a Figure 8 on this bridle and see if she likes that better. She's not used to having her mouth kept closed, and likes to yawn and lick alot when bridled, so I want to keep her in that same relaxed attitude. 

But so far at least I know it fits ;)

the Gatsby Bridle review...

And it came today so here's my first impressions. This particular one is the Fancy Snaffle Bridle, with matching reins. First of all, the leather is nice and soft, it came already oiled and ready to go, I had oil all over my hands just from handling it to put a bit on, but that said, far preferable to a "crispy" dried out one! The bit was very easy to attatch due to the softness of the straps, which are also a bit thick and not flimsy at all. However, the strap ends are not as crisp-clean cut as what Im used to seeing, 2 on this particular one are going to need a trim to give nice edges (they are ragged but purely a matter of looks and not function) 

The stitching, shown here on the noseband, looks neat and tidy.

If I were to see this leather in western styles it would be called Latigo, for that is what it reminds me of, the color is a rather burgundy shade but is named Havana. I think of a chocolate color when I think of Havana-colored tack, but it's still a deep brown color, just has a burgundy tint to it, at least new out of the package, and maybe that's the shade these days, lol I havent paid attention the last few years. 

The reins feel nice too, and a bit thicker than the other english reins I have, which suits me just fine. I prefer a heavier rein so I dont need as much 'signal' to the bit, and these have the same feel as the Weaver reins I use. In my own opinion, since my horses dont know english and it's so much bit contact, we are going to have to go slow because they are smooth on the bit, and used to the release of pressure and one handed 'steering'. So a heavy rein might be just the thing to keep it somewhat familiar for both of us, rather than a thin and flimsy one that needs more oomph to signal. I dunno, it's just what I wonder and I dont want them to be all "Lady, get outta my face!" 

All that remains to see is how it fits on my horses, but so far I'm impressed with this bridle. I've paid more for less quality and quality is what matters to me.

Bridles...

Ooo such pretty things! Tack obcession here, I admit it...

But I really have to wonder at the exorberant price of english bridles these days. Or maybe they're always been that way and I was too busy with other things to notice. But it's been super hard to choose any new ones. With the whole fitting issue that's been going on I decided to empty my english cabinet and see if there were any horse sized ones to be found. Except for the Weavers, the rest of what I have was bought secondhand or on clearence. And I found 3 actually, whoo! The old looking hunt bridles ( they're from the 70's actually!), and the black Collegiate dressage on the right are the Full size that hopefully will work for Pheonix and Dusty. That still leaves no normal brown ones and Im working on that, having bought a secondhand Suffolk one and a Gatsby. For the price, I'll see how they do, the reviews were positive and the price was cheap enough, especially the Suffolk. For $25 it's a great way to see how that brand is and has held up to use- compared to me buying one for $80 or whatever they are new.  Im really hoping they'll be great and be another "Weaver suprise value"... 

time for some new gear..

There's just no getting around it. Here is Miss Pheonix,

being kept content so I can practice braiding- SO much practice needed!- and you can tell exactly where she shifted her head and I lost the tension, the bumps give it away lol. But she's never had that done and I dont have cross ties, so Im sure that would help. As would a step-stool, being she's over 15hh, maybe even 16hh and Im only 5'4" it's a reach even with the hay bribe ;). But anyway, I tried on some english gear for her yesterday, and oh boy. This english bridle thing is so wonky, there I said it lol. Her particular fit issue is the cheek pieces are as short as they'll go on Cob size bridle, but the browband is too tight so I didnt leave it on her to see what else is going on. Life is unfair for 'western' breeds in the english world it seems. I will see if the Full size Dusy has will fit her better. On the other hand Twista just inheirited all my Cob size stuff cuz I bought it all based on her and another horse I had at the time. I shouldve gotten a few bigger bridles then too, seems the price was better back then!
 She also tried on one of the saddles, lol she actually turned her head around to look at this contraption on her back and then at me like "Seriously?? Where's the rest of it??" and I wish I'd been holding the camera! So that one wasnt the best fit, she is a wide girl to start with but there are others I can try yet. It's a far cry from all her western gear and she looks even bigger with so "little" on and her hair done up. I actually like her look better with hair down, but maybe that's just cuz I suck at braiding manes yet.
 But shopping for horse gear is something Im out of practice doing, it's been about 5 years since I bought any tack, and that's cuz I had what I needed and liked, and more than enough. Tack shopping for me is like extreme coupon people lol, I want awesome stuff for very little $, I do a ton of research and I dont get caught up in the brand name game, though there are some I like alot, it still doesnt mean I'll buy anything from that brand, I still get picky, and sometimes a big deal name from years ago is made like modern junk now- they just dont make em like they used to. The only exception to this rule is Weaver Leather, I trust thier stuff and have western and english gear from them. Thier english bridles are my favorites and I know the leather isnt going to snap at the worst moment so they have always been my go-to for that style as well. But they stopped making them! I am kicking myself for not getting a variety of sizes, cuz they were only $40 and $80 (for the Square Raised) years back when I got mine. I scoured the net, emailed the company and no luck, dammit. I cant even get browbands to make them a bit wider, dammit.

"Mom, this is much ado about nothing"

So what are good brands that dont cost a fortune? I dont show and the english is just my own personal goal, there are no trainers here and nobody rides this style whatsoever where I live, so it's not like I have any guide beyond what I can research off the net, tack stores here dont even have english gear. ( I know cuz I bought it up years ago on clearence lol) Tack reviews are awesome but mostly feature the expensive brands. Im not worthy of an expensive brand yet, but my main concern is leather quality- Ive been in a situation where a strap snapped and chaos ensued so I dont want bad leather to start with but am not at a level where $200 is ok for a bridle, let's be realistic being no lottery ticket has ever panned out here. ;)

What this has taught me is that when I do find a new bridle that's awesome Im going to buy several of it in various sizes and avoid this issue in future :/ . Add it to the collection lol!! there are worse addictions you know...

tack cleaning experiment...

I had heard on some horse forum, (cant even remember the name of it) that Castile soap was THE thing to clean tack, and had a huge following even though it was an "ol timer's secret". I must admit I'd never heard of it.

So curiousity got the better of me, I had several items that I'd tried everything else on and could not get the dirt off of them, and I'm talking severe 'dirt' from an episode of the cattle breaking into the tack room and wreaking havoc on everything in there while they had a slumber party. Needless to say, I've been trying the last few years to get the manure out of these items without scouring and scratching the leather itself, and it just never budged. Well that saga is behind me now I'm happy to report, and since I had to order online, I got 5 bars of Kirks and 2 of Dr Bronners Rose scented. (It doesnt have a rose scent, more a faint flowery one). Of the 2 brands, Kirks worked better with lots more suds action and very little effort at scrubbing, I used a yellow tack sponge as usual. I wish I had thought to take a before pic of this saddle, while it was still a dark color, it was dry from needing a cleaning anyway, and the manure was cemented down into the tooling and the seat. The directions I used were to just use enough water to make suds and circular motion to clean till all dirt was gone. Then to take a clean sponge and alot of clean water to rinse (I filled a gallon jug and just poured clean water to the sponge, and left it to dry. The next step was to condition as this type of cleaning can dry the leather out so I had a new product I wanted to try as well, Feibling's Aussie conditioner.
 My first impression of this stuff was it was rather a strong odor, and it is thick like Vaseline. But I wanted to see how it would do given it's sposed to waterproof and hold up in extreme temperatures, so here we go. This is 5 days after I used the Aussie conditioner, and buffed it yesterday. It is still super shiny! If you look closely, you can see the bottle's reflection even.

Compared with this saddle which only had Fiebings saddle soap (yellow) used on it. Clean but not near as rich looking. Yet. I plan to try another brand of conditioner on this one and see how it looks...

all sorts of spring doings

It's all about Spa Day and shedding season! First up is Dusty's braid job, being Ive never done this and he has a long and thick mane, I figured he could be my guinea pig ;). It's 'ok' for a first try but not to my standard of perfection by any means. Practice practice practice.... I think I will try some Quik Braid and see if that helps. I Love the look of english braids but cant bring myself to cut or thin manes, omg after all the work to grow them it's something I probably wont ever do. And since the english experiment is for my own amusement there's no need to worry bout it, and the braid here will be my insurance should there even be a worry in future. 

Everyone is shedding gobs of hair, as you see here with the mane comb, but anything that comes in contact is covered in shedded hair- including myself, thank God nobody's allergic- and the birds here know enough that when there's gobs of fuzz on the ground it's time to go shopping for nesty home improvements, they were rather excited to see it. So my evening chores were rather peaceful after a crazy weekend, which was nice. 

18 Things...

I've been seeing this on other horse blogs and thought it was very cool! But since I have 6 horses and have to be fair, it'll just be the top 3 things about each horse ;).
1. Cim  1. I love how he hasnt changed a bit in the 20 years Ive owned him, his quirks are what makes him so person-like
             2. I love how he helps manage the others cuz he is the Ol Man, when moving the herd he is my wingman.
             3. Even though he can be rude to the others, it's still rather a warm fuzzy that he gets so jealous to be the focus of my attention.

2.   Twista.  1. I love how easy she accepts new things and has to be in your pocket
                    2. I love that she doesnt spook at birds and deer out on the trail, even when they pop out under her nose.
                    3. I love how crazy her coloring is

3 Pheonix    1. I love everything about this horse but most of all her brain.
                    2. I love how quiet and in your pocket she is.
                    3. Did I mention her brains? Cuz she came fully loaded with them

4 Dusty       1. I love how he's spirited but obedient
                    2. I love how he's always been easy to assist or treat, lol this is important cuz he's called Dangerprone Dusty for a reason
                    3. I love how pretty he is

5 Sierra      1. I love how she's blossomed from a scraggly little rescue into a pretty mare
                   2. I love working with her
                   3. I love that she is really bonding now that Ive started working with her, she actively seeks out my attention

Kazzam    1. He's a plucky little mini who thinks he's 15hh, what's not to love?
                 2. I love how he's always the first to nicker at the sight of us or if he hears us.
                 3. I love how he changes colors so dramatically, being bay roan.

It was actually rather hard choosing just 3......
   

a new look

and an easier way about things, so I think this is a much needed change around here.. On that note, please enjoy while I find some horsey endevours, ie chores to the layman, to occupy myself with. Here are some old pics and some new ones :)

 Sierra as a 3 year old...

  

and here she is a couple of weeks ago and still winter fuzzy...

Pheonix and the 4H hiefer, lol

and everybody wants breakfast! Which is the scene that awaits me now so I better get a move on ;)

Fitting bridles....

This is Dusty, trying on an english bridle just for giggles. Western headstalls fit him no problem but the english ones turned out to be "complicated". Why? His arabian features make it so. I wonder if everyone who has arabs runs into this issue, and Im not even sure how much arab is in him, but he has the head shape. The Cob size bridles I had with me didnt fit him, the throatlatch wouldnt even reach its' buckle and the cavesson was the same story. Those jowls! It's funny how the Cobs fit my other horses even though they have bigger heads, This happened to be the only Full size I have, and Ive since switched the cavesson to be under the crown, but it is an odd color for what looks to be a dressage bridle. Maybe that was the style years ago, cuz the leather is very nice and I bought it secondhand from someone in Florida. 

My next try will be trying another brand to see if thiers are sized any differently. He looks cute as an english horse though ;).....