Product Review: Irideon Synergy Tights

Thank you to everyone who gave their opinion yesterday. I really appreciate the insight!!

Typically I ride in Irideon Issentials and I absolutely adore them. The medium fits me perfect in all aspects and they are perfectly comfortable to ride in down here from Spring through Fall. I never chafe and they are not slick in the slightest. I highly recommend them except for one thing: no pockets.

For endurance rides, this isn't an issue because I always wear my Camelbak with side pockets to hold my phone, ride card and a granola bar. I don't ride with it unless I will be out for over 2 hours, so for those shorter rides I have found it difficult in the warm months to safely house my phone while riding.

Having loved the Irideon Issentials, I opted for the Synergy tights with two very generous pockets. I ordered a medium in grey and have now ridden in them twice: once for a trail ride and once for a lesson.

Bottom line for those who don't want to read the entire thing: Not recommended.

The details:

Fit: At first I got a small based on both measurements and some self delusion. The small fit perfectly in the legs specifically the knee down and were manageable in the waist and butt if I had no qualms with showing off everything I've got. I quickly decided to return them for a medium. The mediums fit perfectly in the waist, butt and thigh but now the lower leg is baggy. For reference, I am 5'4" and 130 pounds and mostly equally proportioned torso and legs.

loose and wrinkly fit

These do have a high waist which I personally dislike. I am much more of a low rise pants type of gal. The waist band is wide and does stay put without the need for a belt.

The bottoms are a sock type bottom, yay no velcro!, but they are too big for my skinny ankles and bunch up under my half chaps. I don't ride in tall boots, so no clue how they would feel in those, but I suspect they wouldn't feel too great.


Fabric: So these boast 4 different types of fabric to allow maximum stretch and compression. I find it to be overkill and a little annoying, to be honest. The thighs, waist and butt are a lovely stretchy, but soft material that is a bit thicker than the Issentials but not suffocatingly so. Much nicer than my old cotton breeches.

Then they added a weird, super thick and ribbed material as a line down the outside of each leg. I'm not sure of the technology behind this, but it is just odd. It makes the breech warmer and a bit stiffer.

And to make it an even bigger jigsaw puzzle of fabric, the material below the knee is a flimsy, supposedly breathable yet still close knit fabric. I guess this is to fit inside boots or chaps without bulk, however it doesn't hold any actual form and so it bunches up instead. I'd rather they just used the same fabric as the thigh.

So much fabric. I am not a fan of the thicker band along the outside of the leg

Durability: I've worn them in my endurance saddle with wool seat saver on a 2 hour trail ride and then for an hour in a full leather jump saddle in a lesson. 3 total hours, one wash. They pilled at the inside of my thigh and above the knee.

Pillng. I hate pilling. 

Additional Features: The entire reason for branching out to a new style of tights was to gain pockets. The Synergy tights do not disappoint here. There is a massive pocket on each thigh which is large enough to easily hold my cell phone and granola bar. I could probably even fit a bottle of water in there. Since they are full pockets that run down nearly to the knee my phone stayed safe and sound even during crow hopping attitude. It was simple to get my phone in and out during the ride as well.

Very large pocket

Overall: I will keep these for those rides where I need a pocket in the pants: warmer months when I don't ride with a vest and shorter rides where I am not using my Camelbak. I fear that they won't stand up to much use without becoming a pilled up mess, so we shall see about the longevity. One these are worn out, I will switch to the Kerrits line with the pockets.

My Head Found Its Soul Mate

Monday evening I ran out of work to get Wyatt and make it to the tack shop in town before it closed at 6 pm. Tack shopping with a 3 year old is no laughing matter. It was a good thing that the shop had a resident friendly dog to keep Wyatt company as I tried on helmets or else who knows what I would have been forced to purchase. Well....actually....maybe he should have put his stinky fingers on a nice riding shirt or dressage saddle or summer riding boots...I need to teach that kid a thing or two about keeping his hands to himself. Sorry honey, but Wyatt put a small scratch in it so I was forced to buy this wonderful piece of tack. Nothing I could do!

After doing some research online, I had narrowed it down to the Ovation Extreme and the Tipperary Sportage as helmets in my price range. Thankfully, this shop had both so that I could try them on and see which fit my head right.

My old helmet was a Troxel and it never fit me. The tack shop in WI was extremely useless and you couldn't beg for help in fitting any piece of tack or clothing. I don't think the employees even knew what a horse was. They also only stocked Troxel and so I just grabbed one I liked, shoved it on my head and went with it.

It was always slightly too big, sat like a mushroom and would rotate from side to side, but man was it comfortable! It was like I didn't even have it on which technically is about how well it would have worked in a major accident anyway.

This shop was a whole different experience. They measured my head, asked what I was looking for and let me try on things as many times as possible while also trying to convince me that the vice like grip these had against my head was actually the way a helmet should fit. Apparently, when you move the front of the helmet up and down, your eyebrows should move with it or it isn't tight enough.

We began with the Tipperary Sportage. This helmet comes in a static size: no dial a fit like my Troxel had. There are two sizes of pads you can add to the back (a thick and a thin. Heads up to the company - add a medium one too) to adjust the fit, but that is about all the adjusting you can do. Features I wasn't really fond of from the get go included: the static fit - what if I chopped all my hair off or wanted to shove it under the helmet or where a liner in the winter; the lack of a liner - can't wash the grunge out of it, and it really did feel pretty tight. Features that I liked from the start included: the low cut back of the helmet for better coverage for the back of my head, the massive vents, and it didn't rock from side to side on my head.

The shop lady seemed to think it was a perfect fit and likes this helmet as a nice everyday helmet. The safety ratings are good as well. It also come in black which is sufficient for me.

Next up was the Ovation Extreme. This was a two toned brown and black low profile helmet. She shoved it on my head and I had flashbacks to my Troxel. Then she turned the dial in the back and there was that new vice grip feeling I had missed. I actually really loved this helmet. It had the adjustable dial in the back so I could snug it up and have it fit no matter if I decided to go with a pony tail or long hair or chop it all off. It had a cool max removable liner claiming to keep you 5 degrees cooler which is a big deal here in the summer. The lower profile was nice for my small face and it was comfortable. I found myself missing the added security of the lower back from the Tipperary, but in general I liked this helmet a lot.

Except it didn't fit.

My head is apparently oval in shape where the helmet sits. This is why the Troxel, a very round helmet, always rocked side to side regardless of how tight I made it front to back. The Ovation is also a round helmet and when it was properly snugged so that my eyebrows moved with the helmet, I could still get a whole finger between the sides of my head and the helmet. Not good. Darn.

They also had a few IRH helmets and one even came in a "long oval" shape (yeah that doesn't make me feel awkwardly shaped at all) that fit well but I didn't really like the helmet much and it already felt hot and heavy and I was just standing inside a store.

So it was back to the Tipperary. I tried it on again. And again. And again. Eventually I reconciled with my oval shaped head and then looked past the minor cons I had (although I still think any helmet without a liner is just ridicuouls and shouldn't even exist) and decided to purchase this one before my child knocked everything useless off the shelves.

And then I saw it. The Samshield Shawdow Matte helmet in all its glory. The sales lady saw my glance and reached a hand out. She grabbed my size and offered it over to me. She remarked about all the customization options as I slid it over my long oval shaped head.

My head breathed a sigh of relief. I saw stars. I heard angels singing.

Ok...that is an exaggeration, but holy crap was that thing amazing. Light on my head, a perfect fit without feeling overly tight, lovely features and above all I could add red highlights!!! I was already picturing myself crossing the finish line at my first 100 with this baby on my head when I heard her say the worst words ever..."$430".

Ah...crap :( I don't have $430.

The lovely Samshield went back in its box and I grabbed my lowly Tipperary and walked to the register like a child pulled away from the candy store.

Truth is, even if I did have $430 to spend on a horse item, a helmet is so very low on my list of priorities that it isn't even registering. The big ticket item that I do actually need right now is a second pad for Gem when we do the two days in April so she will have a dry, clean pad for the second day. That is $300.  That is way more important than upselling myself with a helmet. So for now, the soul mate to my head will have to remain on the shelf until such a time that I win the lottery, remarry a sugar daddy or someone famous dies and randomly wills me all their cash.

Initial Review: Side Pull Halter Bridle by the Distance Depot

The move to the new barn was the perfect catalyst to finally remove the unused and unwanted pieces of tack from the trailer. A pair of black Renegades and a never used biothane breast collar were the easiest to clean up and splatter on the various tack sale facebook pages. I still have to clean up her red Renegades and get those listed. Both items sold pretty quickly and my paypal tack account was bolstered enough to be able to purchase the side pull I've been really wanting.

(This post isn't really about why I chose to have a bitless option or why I chose the side pull versus the multitude of other bitless headstalls. If you are interested in that information, I can write up a post on that too)

After much debate and research, I decided on the side pull halter bridle from The Distance Depot. I chose this company for a few reasons, but the main one was cost. The bridle with overlay color of my choice was $105 with free shipping. I also read numerous good reviews of their tack and they supplied the tack for the AERC Rose Bowl Parade members. I figured it had to be a good quality after all of that.

I chose the Arab/Cob size with a few butterflies in my stomach. Biothane tack is typically considered custom and is therefore non returnable. Gem's head is a bit oddly sized in that her nose is pretty petite but the rest of her is more horse sized. The Distance Depot offers one base color and either bling or an overlay color at no additional cost. They have the full array of color options and will send you swatches if you are unsure of a particular color. I wanted a black base with a red overlay on the brow, nose and bit hangers. You can also choose between stainless steel or brass hardware at no additional cost (other places up charge for stainless). And finally, you can choose the hardware that goes on the brow band for its attachment to the poll and throatlatch straps. I went with stainless steel and a basic rectangle. There was a small upcharge for some of the fancier options. 

The headstall arrived on Friday and after tearing open the package in glee, my heart sank a little. The thing looked massive!

My red and black precious

I took a closer look at the fittings and the material itself. I have never owned a biothane headstall before, so the material was new to me. I was immediately taken with how flexible it was. I could bend and twist the life out of it and it would just go right back to its original shape. It was also slick in a non friction causing way that I am sure Gem would appreciate after several sweaty miles. The overlay red was double stitched with black thread and sealed at the ends. The actual width of the pieces was a bit narrower than I had expected.

The stainless steel hardware was bulky enough to look durable, yet sleek enough to not be the focus of the headstall. 

One feature really stood out to me as being amazing: the throatlatch. After a life time of having to buckle the throatlatch each time, having a system where you set the length and then just quickly snap it on is pretty great.

The side pull part of it.

Saturday afternoon was fitting day. The headstall fit nicely straight away for the brow, poll and cheeks. I think I could lower the cheeks a bit, but I want the side pull to not be sitting too low so I am going to work with it as it is for now.

The nose band was a bit stiff and wanted to lay flatter and wider than my mare's nose shape. I tightened it a good bit, but still left room under the chin for two fingers to sneak in. It still sat a bit wider than I like, but I think with time it will shape better.

The bit hangers proved to be the biggest pain. They were really, really short. Like not even reaching the nose band which I had a bit higher than normal too short. I lengthened them all the way out, grabbed a spare bit from another bridle I had, and went to see how they would do. In the end the bit hangers were set to two holes from the very longest setting possible.

The other piece was the throatlatch. After getting it adjusted and falling in love with the quick attachment and release snap, I stepped back and looked at the fit. I always thought that the whole point of the throatlatch was to sit behind the jaw in the actual throatlatch and prevent the whole thing from being removed. This one was placed way forward of that. Looking at the construction, there is no way for the throatlatch to sit in the actual groove with the angle that the material leaves the poll. I did a lot of stalking on the AERC facebook page looking at pictures of other people's headstalls and they all seem to lay in the exact same position, so I don't think it is a flaw of the design of this particular headstall just in all the headstalls in general.

All dolled up. Makes me really kick myself over losing her red mohair cinch back in the fall.

Then we rode. Had my plans gone right I would have dropped the bit and used the side pull about half way in, but by the time the clock ran out I still didn't feel comfortable with no bit and the ride was done. I plan to do the hunter pace this weekend twice: first loop with bit and second without. We will see if I end up in an ambulance.

Gem was sweaty when we finished and seemed content with the headstall. Or as content as she could be with tack. 

In the end my initial impressions are such:

1) The material is fantastic, the options and speed at which it was produced from Distance Depot are all big pros.

2.) The fit on the Cob was pretty spot on except the nose is a bit wider than I would have liked. My mare is pretty petite in the nose though.

3.) I love the width of the material used, but I also like a pretty refined and understated look to my tack (well, except in color). If you have a larger boned horse, this piece might be eaten up. The same width is used in the horse size.

4.) The bit hangers are really too short. For reference, on Gem's old hater bridle (cob sized) the bit hangers were at the absolute shortest and I still wished they could go a bit shorter. This one was nearly at the longest possible setting. If this was a regular halter bridle, I would just lengthen the cheeks a bit, but it is a side pull and as such you need to be careful where the nose band lays.  When ordering, just keep in mind that you may want to call and inquire about longer bit hangers.

We will see how the side pull functions and the longevity, but for initial impressions I am really pleased with it overall and would order from Distance Depot again.

Reviews: Endurance Caged Stirrups and Garmin 310xt

First, the stirrups:

For the last year and a half I have been using the black, plastic EZ Ride stirrups that a lot of endurance riders use. I have been wanting cages though, so when these popped up on Facebook (in many colors and in a western version too) for only $50 I thought why not? I had some money left over from the sale of my Fusion Jogging Boots that wasn't book marked for the new boots anyway. They came quickly and Monday was the first time I tried them out.

Before purchasing I researched the aluminum versus plastic stirrup debates and came away with this: plastic will become a million sharp shards piercing the horse's lungs and killing them and aluminum with flatten trapping our foot and dragging you to your doom if your horse should fall and land on its side with you aboard. It really seemed 50/50 on who liked which best. I decided to take the chance on these aluminum stirrups.

They are well made and probably weigh 1 lb each, so heavier than the plastic ones but really not heavy. I am not close to a weight division line, so adding some weight to my tack isn't a big deal to me, but if you hover between two divisions you may want to consider the added weight. The cages themselves are a thick material and hold their shape really well.

I like the cut of these versus the classic western shaped ones and they sat on my leathers facing forward without any convincing. The foot bed is 5" with a thinner but denser foam than the EZ ride ones. I was worried that my feet would start burning and go numb like in my regular irons, but I think the denser foam prevented this. The foam is just glued on and I have a ton of materials and super awesome contact cement at work to make orthotics, so I could easily change out the foam if need be down the road. Overall they were really comfortable and I didn't notice much of a difference from my EZ ones. If you are looking to spruce up your tack colors or want cages, for $50 I think they are a good buy. I'd recommend the seller too since she got them to me quickly and without hassle.

Second, the Garmin 310xt:
The Garmin Forerunner 410 has been on my wrist for most of my rides and runs for the last 4 years and I really liked it. The only reason for upgrading was the 8 hour battery life. It shut down on me at the last 50 mile ride with a few miles left to go and that was with shutting it down at the holds. I had plenty of time to spare and it was on a loop I had done twice already on that ride so I knew exactly how far I was from camp without it, but had it been on a new loop or close to running over time I really would have needed it. The 310xt has a 20 hour life.

Dusty got me the Garmin 310xt for my birthday and I took it out on a ride wearing it on my left wrist and the Forerunner on my right. I also used the new one during the Equathon on very familiar trails and on Monday on the new trails. I have to say that I really like it.

In general, the fit is much like the Forerunner. The band is much softer and more flexible, but the face is larger.

It is easy to read and will show up to 4 different data points at one time. I have mine set for the current time, ride time, distance and average speed for that lap. It can show any number of things from current elevation, elevation gain or loss, heart rate if used with a monitor, overall speed/pace, current speed/pace, and a host of others. Lots of options.

The thing I like the best though is the lack of the stupid touch bezel to control it. It actually has buttons! Turing it on/off, starting it, pausing, stopping and resetting all occurs through buttons instead of attempting to use your fingertip around the bezel and scrolling endlessly through options.

It grabs the gps signal faster and maintains it better versus the Forerunner as well. When I wore them both the 310xt was much closer to the real life measured distance than the Forerunner. I think some of that has to do with elevation as well. It doesn't have an altimeter which gives the best elevation readings (you have to jump up in series for that and get a super large watch for big bucks) but it records more accurately and therefor loses less trail distance.

What don't I like about it? Two things:

1.) It uses a heart rate monitor, but even though I told it I wasn't using one and supposedly turned it off, when I came across a runner who was wearing one it picked up his data. It was very odd downloading my data to see a random heart rate reading. I  have been told that I can't fully turn this feature off.

2) The Forerunner defaults to just being a watch when it is on but not connected to satellites for a work out. The 310xt does not. I miss using the watch feature when wearing it which is why I set the 4th data point to the time of day. It takes up space that could be better used for something cool like elevation data or left open to allow the other points to be larger.

So all in all the two buys have worked out so far. If you are looking into getting a wrist GPS for riding, the 310xt provides a lot of good features and has a great battery life for the price point.

Where There Is A Will

There is a way. Or so they say.

I had gotten a new pair of running shoes since mine had been delegated to double duty as riding shoes and are 4 years old. Technically you are supposed to change running shoes every 500 miles or 2 years whichever comes first. Its not the tread that goes bad, it is the midsole (the part squished between the insole, part foot touches, and outsole, part ground touches) that dries out on you.  Prior to the last 5 years, you needed new shoes every year regardless of milage because the midsoles were junk and prone to dry rot. Recent technology improvements bumped that up.

Brooks Glycerins have been my go to running shoe for years and years and I have always loved them. I need a neutral shoe with loads of cushion to help give my lower legs shock absorption. I have high arched, rigid feet and this type of foot just can't absorb the shock it needs to, so it vibrates up the calfs. You can actually see it in people if you know what to look for. I always try to get the previous years model for the price break and did the same this time. I laced them up with anticipation of the cloud like cushion I've known for years. And then my feet hit the pavement and I was immensely disappointed. They had changed. Enough to be very noticeable and actually by 1.5 miles I had medial knee pain and sub 1st MPJ pain, neither of which I ever had before. As I ran I could feel how the shoe was effecting my foot motion.

Needless to say they got sent back, but this put me on the prowl for a new shoe. Fortunately, I have the vast knowledge of my hubby and his running pals to dig into and all suggested I try the Asics Nimbus. I did and they felt like a true neutral running shoe with cushion to help with shock absorption and I was very happy.  Asics seem to run really small though. My feet measure a 5.5 and I always wear a 6 unless in running shoes. Always go up a half size in running shoes. Pretty much always. So my Brooks are 6.5 but the Asics were jamming my big toe just standing there so I jumped to a 7. Now I look like I have clown feet. But they are pretty, shiny, pink and blue clown feet, so I'll take them :)

With shoes that finally work I wanted to hit the pavement, but it has been raining all crappy week. I don't mind running at night in the dark and I don't really mind running in a light rain (as long as it is 40 and above out), but I do mind running in the dark and rain of safety reasons. As luck would have it, my parents were looking to ditch their old treadmill.  They just moved here from the Arctic North and have been enjoying the ability to run outside during the day all year round. They don't like the fact that I run at night and so when they decided they didn't want it anymore, they offered it up to me. The thing is close to 20 years old, but works (or so I thought) just fine. This is great addition because a) I am weird and don't mind running on the mill and b) now I can run inside while Dusty gets to run outside so we can both get runs in. Before this it was one of us runs while the other stays inside with Wyatt as he sleeps. This frees up a bunch of running time.

I plugged it in and was all ready to go when the console refused to light up. The belt worked just fine and you could change the speed, but nothing registered on the console. No time, distance or speed. My dad came over to see if he could fix it, but nothing worked so I was left with either not running due to it being super rainy out or running on the thing anyway. I chose to run anyway.

I turned my phone to Pandora, found a stop watch function and let it rip. I picked a pace typical for me based on my foot falls and breathing and went for 30 minutes. I just listened to the music while I ran in the garage with nothing but as of yet unpacked boxes to look at and focused on tuning the world out. Its why I actually like the treadmill. I can tune out the world much easier than running outside with scenery to look at.

I loved the new Asics and think I found my new shoe. Unless they change these as well.

Since we now have more freedom, I sent Dusty out for his own run. He is just getting back from an injury and is taking things slower/shorter than normal. Typically he goes out and runs 10-15 miles multiple times a week at a pace I can't even keep for 2 miles. He went around 4 miles tonight at a moderate pace. Before he left I strapped the Bia to his wrist while he had his Garmin on the other wrist. Here are his screen shots:

First up the new Bia. It stinks. Sorry, Bia but it does. Apparently, it just really doesn't like tracking you on the road and instead would prefer to show that you went right through people's houses. I apologize to all our neighbors for Dusty's rudeness as he went crashing through your living rooms. On the plus side, the lines are smooth finally and not so jumpy. The Bia read 3.81 miles.

Bia

 Here is his Garmin read out from the exact same run (had it on his right wrist). See, he did stay on the road. He also runs with a Garmin Forerunner 410 and got it the same time I got mine. This read 4.00 miles. I think I trust the Garmin a lot more.

Garmin Forerunner 410

With these two read outs in conjunction with mine from before, I'm sending the unit back for a refund. I just don't trust it at all and don't like the fact that they are saying that this is a good reading. If they had responded that this was crappy and that they were working to improve it, I would hang in there. I am al for supporting a new company as long as it seems like they are being realistic.

It is a shame too because the darn watch is so easy to use. I love the interface, the fit, the extremely fast GPS connection and uploading data. I just can't use a watch that I don't trust at all. Hopefully they fix this in the future and I can try again later, but for the high price point I don't see enough benefits to tie up that money in it.

Bia GPS Watch: A Review, Part 2

With a lot of excitement I put the Bia on my wrist. To give it the fairest shot, I decided to try it out on my 2 mile neighborhood run. This is on paved roads in suburbia with pretty much no tree coverage.

I had read numerous blog entries about the accuracy prior to purchasing. They all raved about it and one even showed how it was used on an actual track which is historically difficult for GPS units. The Bia had picked up which lane they ran in and it was all very exciting.

I laced up my shoes and headed out.

This route is precisely 2 horrendous miles pre measured with my car. I live in a small neighborhood with many cul-de-sacs and in order to get the miles in I have to go down pretty much all of them. It really isn't very enjoyable, but it is safe at night which is the only time I have to run these days.

I paid attention to the watch to see how the fit would be. At first I was super concerned that it would jam into my hand, but it didn't. In fact it was way more comfortable than my Garmin and was light weight enough to forget it was there. The Go Stick was clipped where instructed: on the same hip as the watch and white side facing out. They connected to each other very quickly and the GPS signal was picked up in about half the time of the old Garmin. A great start!

As I was running, I kept looking down at it and I will admit that the jaunty angle was super easy to read. I had my head lamp on, so didn't need a back light and the black on white display showed up just fine. The screen showed my pace, time and distance easily enough, but I did miss the lack of beeping at the mile markers.

I was happy with it when I finished. Comfortable, light weight and extremely easy to use. It automatically uploaded and by the time I entered my front door and logged in my data was waiting for me. 

So two thumbs up for ease of use, comfort and both acquiring GPS and uploading data quickly. I was tempted to try the SOS feature, but refrained because Wyatt was sleeping and I didn't know how loud it would be and knew Dusty couldn't come find me anyway. 

When I logged in though, I was disappointed. The Bia read 2.25 miles which on a suburban route with no clouds and no trees was odd. How could it be that off when everyone else showed screen shots of an almost unbelievable accuracy?

Well, here is my screenshot.  You can easily see the areas where those extra miles came into play. I don't have sidewalks where I live, so I run along the actual road. While I hoped it would, I did not actually expect it to pick up exactly where on the road I was, but I did expect it to show that I was actually on the road and not running through people's houses. It also apparently thought that I ran past the cul-de-sacs and into yards.

A big two thumbs down on accuracy :(

To compare here is the Garmin:

While also not perfect, you will notice that the lines are smooth and it looks like I actually did run this route.

I emailed my screenshot to the company and they responded very quickly. One big bonus to an upstart company. The customer service rep said the route looked jumpier than normal and sent it along to the tech team.

Well, not to let a good purchase go sour after only one try, I took it out to the woods on Saturday. Unfortunately, I was stupid and took a whole new trail. That meant that I wouldn't have any old Garmin files to compare to. Not smart on my end, but the ride meant more to me than the actual watch.

We headed out and I was skeptical of the readings the entire time. I missed my Garmin and knowing how off to plan on. Who knows if it was adding or subtracting miles?

Here is the read out from that ride:
 

For the trails that I know, this looks pretty good. It shows pretty much all the creek crossings and roads accurately and I only see a few spots that make me question it. It is at least smooth and not all jumpy and weird. Maybe it just needed a warm up? 

Given the two test runs, I'm not sure what to think. The tech guys responded that the first run looks just fine to them and that the additional mileage can be attributed to the cul-de-sacs. Basically they claimed that if I ran to the center and turned around that the miles would be less than had I run around the entire circle. No crap? Really?  They say the watch figured I did the circle and I must have only ran to the center and turned around. But they are wrong because I always make sure to run along the outside edge of the circle for the added miles. Sorry, boys but the GPS signal just sucked that night.

The rep was really nice and explained that I can use it until the end of the month before returning it for full money back. An upgrade to the software should be out prior to that and may make the data better. She also thinks an update rolled out between my run and ride which may be why the run looked crappy and the ride pretty.

I am going to use it out on the neighborhood again tonight to see how it compares to the first run. Hopefully it looks similar to the Garmin read out and all my concerns can go away. Otherwise, if it remains sketchy I will just return it. The only reason to shell out the cash was for an upgrade to what I already have. If it isn't going to be much better, than it isn't worth the money.
 

Bia GPS Watch: A Review, Part 1

For the past two years or so a Garmin Forerunner 410 has donned my left wrist almost every time I run or hit the trails. It has done a decent job at tracking my miles and pace and has a ton of features I have no clue how to use, so I ignore. I've used it enough to know that it drops 1 mile out of every 5 in the woods which is fine by me and can be accounted for. So why change it? Well, it doesn't fit me very well, is annoying to get things to upload off of and the battery life is only 8 hours requiring me to shut it off at every hold if I want a watch at the end.

Dusty scoured the internet for me looking for a suitable replacement and came up with a brand new product. A new product is both exciting as you go into uncharted waters hoping to strike gold (or catch a white whale or whatever analogy works well here), but it is also nerve wracking because well, it just might not work.

We found a product that seemed very promising...the Bia GPS watch. 

Having never heard of it before, I delved into the internet to read all about it, find reviews and any small piece of information that might lead me to either by passing it or purchasing it. In the end I got one and have now tried it out twice.

What is Bia?

Its a GPS watch that does what all good watches of the sort do: tracks time, pace, mileage. It has modes for swim, run and bike, but unless Gem dumps me in a lake or I need to "borrow" someones mountain bike to catch her, I won't use anything besides the run feature. It happens to be made specifically for women, which isn't a particular draw for me, but it does mean things like shiny colors and a size that actually fits my 5" wrist. The company wants potential users to know that this is not a fancy schamncy watch with millions of features nobody knows how to use. It does the basics and claims to do them very well. 

The watch itself come in two pieces. There is the typical wrist watch that displays all your data. It is set at a jaunty angle that supposedly makes it easier to read. This has non rechargeable battery with an 18month life span. When it dies, you replace it.

The watch. See the odd angle?

The second piece holds the technology and is called the Go Stick. This clips onto your belt and actually finds the satellites and transmits data. Without it you get nothing but a time piece. This has a 17 hour battery life and does need charged.

Go Stick

Ok... that is the basics, but what drew me to it and what was I worried about going in?

 

Lets start with the fun stuff...the PROS:

1. Light weight and came in a  size that fit my small wrist
2. No more of the Garmin touch crap that I can't ever work. One button starts, pauses and stops everything. The large touch screen does the rest. 
3. Automatically uploads your workout using a cell signal. As soon as you are done and a signal is found, it is online. No more annoying Garming stick.
4. Automatically uploads upgrades to the watch which apparently roll out frequently

Those are all nice, but you want to know the real reasons I chose it?

1. SOS
2. Live Tracking

Yep, those are what sold me. SOS is a great feature that is free. If you are lost like me or feel in danger, you hold down the button and a single goes out to any cell number you pre set up online to receive it. It goes out every 5 minutes or something like that until you turn it back off. Not only does it send your help message, but also a location and if on a smart phone it even includes a google map. And it is scary accurate.

Live tracking is not free, but isn't super expensive either. A month is $5, quarter $9 and year $36. You can allow people access at all times or just for certain events. I would love it if Dusty could watch my progress during a ride while he is at home with Wyatt.

The downside to these two features is that they don't run off the GPS, but on a  2G cell signal. For those of you who ride in areas without any cell signal at all, these won't work. I have yet to ride anywhere without a signal, so for me these were a big draw.

The not so fun stuff...the CONS:

1. The two pieces thing. Ick. More to break, more to forget and even more to not work when one doesn't see the other. 
2. No back light. Its a little thing, but something they should fix. I don't ever go out at night without a head lamp, so I do have light to read it with, but why not just add a back light?
3. The actual Go Stick doesn't have a read out for battery life. It isn't until you hook it up with your watch that you can see the battery life on it. This means you either have to remember to check it the night before by setting the system up or hope that when you climb on up Gem and hit go that it actually works. 
4. No beep for mile markers. Again, a small thing but it is really nice to hear the beep to tell you. I didn't realize I liked it so much until I went without and I miss it.
5. I also worried about the fit. The angle looked like it could jam into the top of my hand with wrist bent.

Pretty much all of the cons are livable (except #5, I don't need to add more pain to my body on a 50!!)  as long as the benefits are there and the thing can accurately (as much as any GPS device can) tell me the information I need when I need it. 

Next up....my test spin....

After Thoughts

Well...there you have it. Gem was almost a rock star, minus that whole bucking-throwing-me-in-the-dirt thing, for the entire trip up and back. Me? I had mental issues, but fortunately I worked through them and managed to have a great time and make some new friends. Would I do it all again? You bet!!!

I didn't completely follow the golden rule of not trying anything new on race day. Sometimes it just doesn't work out that way, but all in all I am very, very pleased with how things worked out. Some things do need tweaking for the future, so here is my list of what went well versus what didn't.

Things That Worked

The absolute best thing I did all day was use Body Glide on Gem. In the past, I have battled girth rubbing and someone suggested I try it. I had never tried it before and thought it couldn't hurt, so I lathered up her armpits and the front edge of her girth area before the ride and at every hold. 50 miles later - not a single rub, sore spot or lost hair. Yippee!!!!

A sports bra. I'm not particularly well endowed and I've always gotten away with just my usual bra for rides, but for some reason I grabbed the sports bra before leaving home. In as much as you can love a vice grip on your chest, I liked the feel of it during the ride and will not go sans sports bra again.

The Camelbak was perfect for me and since I had the fleece vest and then a higher collared long sleeve shirt for the entire ride, I had no chafing issues. I drank the entire 2 L bladder the first loop and then split the next 2 L on the last two. I was never thirsty and I completely avoided the post ride headache I typically get.

Nature Valley Chocolate Pretzel granola bars were a life saver out on trail. I shoved one in my Camelbak and made myself eat it at the 2 hour mark each loop. It had just enough sugar and salt to go down easy and perk me back up, plus it was satisfying enough to last until camp. I will have to remember to bring these along again.

Gem's saddle, girth (cleaned and much softer), Reinsman pad and halter/bridle.

I am always amazed at Gem's hooves and this ride was no different. It was rocky with those palm sized rocks that fit perfectly for a sole bruise and yet 50 miles later she didn't have a single off step, chip or crack. In fact her feet looked as though I has just trimmed them to perfection. Ssshhh....don't let on that I don't ever trim or rasp her...ever...last time the farrier was out was in February.

My Irideon tights got destroyed after Biltmore and I waited entirely too long to replace them. In fact, the exact model I had was a special addition for Rolex that year and are no longer available, so I picked the Issential line and went for it. They arrived the day before I left and the first time I wore them was for the ride. They fit well and were super comfortable for those hours in the saddle.

Gem gobbled down her grain all day which is the reason it gets on the "worked" list. I'm just happy she ate anything since in the past she refused.

My eating was pretty much the best yet too. I ate the shaved rotisserie chicken breast which was easy to eat one handed, sat light in the stomach and provided needed protein. The granola bars count here too. I drank a ton of water (see above) on the trail and supplemented with Coconut Water at the holds for elytes and sugar. I was never hungry feeling, but also never felt tired and full.

Things That Didn't

My reins. The reins came with the halter/bridle and are a lovely nylon webbing in black and red. They provide a great grip and I have never had her pull the reins out of my hands. Unfortunately, they created a massive blister that extends from the distal to middle joint of the ring finger on both hands. It hurt badly enough that I stopped at the Running Bear trailer to buy a set of biothane reins at the first hold. She only had rubber reins (looked more painful than mine) or biothane reins with nylon webbing, so neither would work.

Snaffle bit. Gem is definitely getting herself a Kimberwicke over the winter.

Her grain  goes in this category too because while she ate it all hungrily, it was dry and didn't help the hydration issues we had. I was so pleased she ate anything that I happily let her go, but now that I know she will eat I am going to slowly get her used to some mashes.

I've never had an issue with her hydration before, but even though she drank a ton that first loop we were behind the 8 ball, so to speak, beginning with the first loop. I bought new elytes after the second loop, but by then it was too late. I think I will return to the Finish Line brand I used up north and had worked really well. Also, in the future I will bring a tube along with me to use on those longer loops if she decides to fall behind. I don't want that salty mixture sitting on an empty stomach though, so will probably only use it on trail if I know there are plenty of opportunities for grass.

Things I'm On The Fence About

Crew spot. I made the decision to walk back to camp for several reasons. One it would be easier for me to get things done if she was in her pen and I had two free hands. Two I would have complete access to everything I brought with me, so I could easily change things up if needed. Three she tends to be a royal PITA at crewing when there are a lot of horses around. She walks all over the place and tears down the tent and pays more attention to everything else and less to things like eating, drinking and resting. This crew area was much less frantic and she might actually have settled down well. The downside to going back to camp was the 12 minutes it ate up each hold walking back and forth. It made her move more and rest less, so in the end I really don't know what I should do. If I had crew I would lean more towards staying fi she looked content and chilled, but when I fly solo it is hard to hold her and get anything else done (like eat, pee or refill my camelback bladder)


Overall, I am thrilled with her and the ride. She gained strength throughout the day, pulsed in amazingly well and even behaved at the trot outs. Her feet were like concrete and without steel we actually slipped less than most out there. I think our conditioning was adequate for the task and those trails were not beginner friendly in any sense of the word I have ever known.

I would recommend the ride to anyone though. The ride staff was amazing and once I stopped to smell the roses, the trails were superb. She most likely will hold it again next fall and even hinted at a possible spring ride. Get your entry in early though - camping is very limited.

Product Review: Trailer Jack

Continuing yesterdays product review story....

We filled up the trailer tires and then happily hooked the truck up and pulled the trailer up the hill to get Gem.

As I was opening the back I walked past the right side of the trailer and thought that the tire looked like it had already lost a bunch of air. I mentioned it to the hubby and he thought maybe it was just because we were on a small uphill grade, but then upon closer inspection he agreed that it really was already down. Crap.

We had already planned on changing that tire out before we headed to TN in October, so now was as good a time as any. We have a full spare in the trailer. Thankfully my friend T had recommended a trailer jack back in the spring and we actually went ahead and got one. It had been living in the trailer unused until Sunday when we finally pulled it out.

The instructions on the side say to be on level ground which is just common sense when changing any tire. We of course ignored that and just changed it where we were which was on a slight grade going uphill which would put more weight on the tire we were changing. I'm sure that is the exact opposite of what you should do.

Anyway....

All you do is place the thing in front of the good tire as pictured below. If it was the front tire that needed changed we would have placed it behind the back tire. I was worried at first that it would just shift as we tried to drive up the ramp, so I made the hubby drive and I watched :)

I needn't have worried though. The trailer just went right on up the little ramp and once the tire hit the well I called out for the hubby to stop.

Since we were on the hill it did roll back a smidge, but was steady and stable so we left it. By doing this, the back tire that needed changed was now in the air and ready to the removed. One side note: make sure you loosen all the lug nuts a bit prior to pulling up on the jack.

Having removed all the lug nuts you can now easy pop the tire off and replace with the new one.

It is even better when you have a little helper to sweep out the tack area while you work on the tire :)

Once you are done all you need to do is back up off the ramp and you are all set!

We inspected the tire afterward and saw a small nail in it which is what we expected to find. With such a slow, but steady leak there had to be something in there.

And that was all there was to it!

PROS:
See the above story :) Seriously, it is that simple

CONS:
Other than the fact that it is just one more thing taking up space in my small tack area, I really don't have any cons.

If you drive a trailer, I highly suggest that you invest in one to have on hand. You just never know.

Product Review: Tire Inflator

I promise that I will put up my Sunday story, but first I want to rave about two little items I added to my arsenal this summer and got to use this past weekend.

Item 1:

Have you ever tried getting air at a gas station for your trailer tires? I don't know if it is just this area or my lack of trailer maneuvering skills, but it is next to impossible. Either the station doesn't offer it or has it crammed into the back corner where I couldn't possibly fit with the truck and 2 horse. I know every station between the barn and the trails I frequent and have eye balled them all looking for easy access.

Why?

Because the back right tire on the trailer has slowly been leaking its life blood over the summer. I last filled it up prior to Biltmore in July and the pressure gauge read 10 psi when it should read 30. Ooops. Since then I noticed it slowly getting lower and lower and have tried on numerous occasions to swing by a gas station to fill it, but just can't get in. We do own a large air compressor at the house, but getting the trailer to the house isn't ever really going to happen and it is just too heavy for me to get to the barn.

Enter this:

I spied this while spending an eternity at Sears waiting for my van to get new tires before our trip up north last month. There were several different versions ranging from $20-100 and we grabbed the $20 version.

On the right hand side you see the power cord which goes into the plug in your car (you know - where the cigarette lighter used to be). I can't remember off hand how long the cord is, but it is plenty long to fill the tires on your own car. The center is the actual machine with a regular pressure gauge. The fancier ones had digital read outs, but they also needed power to work the gauge which this one doesn't. Then on the left is the air hose that attaches to the tire. It came with a normal attachment for vehicle tires as well as ones for bike tires and balls.

It is very simple to work: just plug into the car, turn on car, plug into tire, turn on machine and watch as it fills your tire back up. Working with the trailer, the cords are not long enough to hook the truck up, but I planned for that and just pulled the truck up beside the trailer. It filled all 4 tires without a problem and without draining the truck battery.

PROS:
Super compact: easy to store in the truck or trailer.
Light weight
It works! It was a little slow and noisy, but all 4 trailer tires were filled and ready to go in short order.
It didn't drain my truck battery even filling 4 tires (one of which was extremely low)

CONS:
Can't hook truck and trailer up and have it reach. This may seem silly, but think about being stranded along the road or at a gas station and having to unload the horses, unhook the trailer, and then fill them up.
Noisy

All in all it was a great purchase to have and it worked super well. Much faster than I expected being so small and using the car battery. I like having it on hand in case I show up and the trailer has a flat. I can see using it at the barn, at a ride camp while Gem is in her paddock, or even at a trail head while Gem is tied to the trailer (once she gets used to the noise). The only situation where I don't think it is usable would be once in transit.

I highly recommend getting one to have on hand. It really was so simple to use and I wished I had it earlier this summer.

My Love/Hate Affair With Tack

High quality, durable riding equipment is my Achilles heel. I love it. I skimp on my wardrobe, as my last post definitely pointed out, but love to pamper Gem with great tack. I adore my new saddle, so there isn't much to monkey with there and at this point I'm not even thinking about tempting fate on that. Finding a saddle that fit Gem was so insanely difficult, I was near the point of breaking her to drive instead. Now that I have the Advantage I am finally at peace with that.

Having purchased the used demo saddle instead of a new one, I had some money to play around with. The Fusion Jogging boots, new red mohair cinch and red sheepskin seat cover were acquired and have been working out great.  She looks fantastic in her new get up.

I also purchased a wool saddle pad and it finally arrived this week. The quality is amazing. Thick and luxurious with no seam on the underside and pockets on top for shims if needed. I was drooling over the ability to ride in something so soft and couldn't wait to get out on it.

(Side note: I currently use a Reinsman Tacky Too pad and it is a great utility pad. No frills or fluff, but also no pain. The only issue is that it is slightly too short for the saddle and the back of the saddle sits off the pad a smidge)

Hard to see, but the back of the saddle sits off the pad a bit

Tuesday night I headed out, but forgot the new pad. It was a good thing too because that ride was amazing. She was calm and cool beyond her normal spooks at logs, branches and big rocks. No hissy fits and no rushing. The sun was beginning to set, the heat of the day was easing up and we got a great work out in. Gem trotted and cantered up the hills and in the back hay field without going crazy and we enjoyed each other until the sun went down. It was very humid out and she worked up a good sweat. I left the barn feeling so content and happy with all things and that is exactly why I have a horse in the first place.

Thursday came with the opportunity to head back to the barn and this time I remembered to grab the new pad. I was running low on daylight with W staying up later (until close to 7 pm now) and the sun giving up on us earlier, but I could get a little bit in. She wasn't too pleased to see me so soon.

I'm eating...come back later

Seriously....leave me alone!

I tacked her up and fell in love with the pad. It fit the outline of the saddle perfectly and she looks sooo darn pretty in it.

Very classy with her nice bay coloring and  the brown/black saddle. I swung my leg over and really could feel the difference in the saddle. It felt way more cushioned and I hoped Gem could feel the difference too.

I wanted to get in a lot of down hill work since in the past that has always been my tack nemesis. We headed up to her pasture then down the long hill to the hay field and down the hay field to the woods. Through the woods, back to the hay field and on up. We trotted or cantered the majority of it. I was really enjoying the feel of the new pad and Gem was moving out well in the beginning. Coming up the hay field at the end she started really acting funny. Almost like she used to in her old saddles where she just didn't move out quite as freely and was holding back. I looked down and then immediately jumped off her.

The pad is squeegeeing out the back

 Well, poop.

The saddle has slid a little forward although not nearly as bad as in the past with other saddles, but the bigger problem was the pad creeping out the back under the saddle.

I was disappointed to say the least. There are no loos/girth savers on the pad and I tightened the girth like always. It wasn't loose when I took it off. I shot off a quick email to Katee at Advantage saddles asking her for suggestions. I really don't know what to do to fix it. Anyone with a wool pad and experiences like this?

I don't know if she would take it back. I only rode 12 minutes, but with horses everything gets dirty after only a millisecond on them. It is washable and I plan to wash it if I return it or have to sell it.

Since this isn't working I will need to be on the search for a new pad. Any suggestions? Anyone want to buy this one?

Fusion Jogging Boots: The Ride

Ok...I'm going to assume you either read the details on the boots or don't care, so this will focus mostly on the trial.

I had two concerns going in:

1) Fit: they seemed way too large for her feet
2) Stickability: would they stay on?

Sunday morning I headed out to the barn with the intention of trying them on her and if they fit well enough going to Clemson to try them out. I had permission to ride on two separate one hour long trail rides to check form and function. I wanted it to be on familiar territory to rule out her tripping or being weird because of the new location versus the new boots.

I cleaned her feet super well and then reached for her front left. I opened the boot all the way up and slid her foot into it, but it was pretty tight. I tried to close it up, but I couldn't get the Velcro sides even half way together and when I tried to snug it up it just wouldn't budge. So I left it in place and moved to the right front, but had a similar situation. Hmmm...perhaps if I walk her around they will settle in place? So I did and they didn't. I took them back off and looked inside at her foot print. It was off the back of the boot. Hmmm..

I then took the dampening pad out and held it against her sole and low and behold the monster, massive boot was too small!!

When aligned with the toe, her entire heel is off the back. Way too small.



 I have no clue what I was smoking when I measured her, but apparently I measured an entire size too small. No wonder they wouldn't go on and tighten up. Darn.

I moved to her rear and held up the pad to check the fit. Going in I was worried about the width being too much for her narrow hoof, so I paid extra close attention to this. There is about a 1/4" overhang of pad on each hoof, but that didn't seem too bad to me.

Back left. A much better fit.

Looking snazzy in her boots

 Knowing these would at least go on, I loaded her up and made our way to the trail head.

The hubby met us there to hike and I started the process of getting her hind boots on. I wanted a boot that wouldn't require either a mallet or messing with a ton of cables to get on and these definitely fit that bill. Even being the first time I tried, I was able to easily slip her hoof into the boot. It opens up very wide and is simple to do. I pulled upward on it to make sure the toe was well seated and then let her put the hoof down on the ground.

Once there I fiddled with the back strap, pulling that as tight as I could and then went to the front. All in all is took me maybe 5 minutes to get them on. I figure after a while it will only take 2-3 minutes. It was that easy!




Everything seemed to fit nice and snug except there was a fingers width gap in the back. I'm not sure if this is and issue or not. I have tried to email the owner about it and even posted the picture and question to their facebook page without a response. I made a mental note to check this area well afterward for rubbing, but the more I thought about the function of the hoof and lower leg, the leg must rock back to push off so maybe a little room to move isn't so bad. Time will tell on that.

Up close look at her running shoes





 I hand walked her to the trail head to see how she moved and look for any obvious looseness or issues. She took some very high, odd steps but quickly got used to them. They are super light weight so I wasn't too concerned about them.

Once on the trail I decided to go out 30 minutes and turn around. I know she hates out and back rides, but I didn't want to go over the limit and I had no where to hold them if I wanted to go out longer and just take them off. This also gave me some ability to perhaps find one on the way back if it came off on the way out.

During the ride I tried to maintain as much trotting as possible. Unfortunately, without the fronts being on I couldn't push it too much on gravel. We did cross two creeks, go through deep sticky mud, slick mud over some trees and down the gravel access road. She moved out just fine and was forward and happy the whole time. Now this probably isn't due to having boots in the back, but at least they were not causing any issues.

Unfortunately, what I didn't do is take after shots, but that was because there was nothing to see. No rubs, no twists, no nothing. They stayed right on through it all and came off in 30 seconds. The sole showed no signs of wear even after all the gravel work and her feet looked perfect.

I was very, very pleased with them. I need to return the fronts and get the next size up and then I can try all 4 to see how she does. If the fronts fit as well as the back, then we are in business!

I know they are a completely different concept and not everyone will like them, but I can really stand behind the logic of the boot and Gem rode great in them.

Biltmore 25 Mile LD Ride 7/12/14: Gear

I'm pretty sure this will be my last post on the subject. Maybe. Unless I can think up something else. Here is what we used this weekend and some notes:

New Items:

None of these were truly brand new for a ride, but were new to this distance.

Advantage saddle, Reinsman wool saddle pad and mohair girth: performed very well. Equal sweat pattern all around and no sore spots to prodding. Saddle stayed put even at the faster pace and with hills. My right knee was a little touchy out of the saddle at both the hold and the end, but I think this will go away with lengthening the stirrup a bit. She had no girth galls or rubs, but the vet noted a slight twitch when she rubbed the area at the end. She made note of it in a FYI fashion. I will keep an eye on it. I'm loving the saddle and can't wait until I someday get my own.

Just Chaps Half Chaps: comfortable and not overly hot. They stayed put without twisting around like my leather ones started to do near the end. No wear noted at the end of the ride, so maybe they will stand the test of time after all.

EZ UP Saddle Caddy: Oh, the color is a god awful Pepto-Bismol pink. But it held my saddle and stuff just fine. The hubby wheeled it back to camp at the end for me and it pulled just fine. It still tends to want to collapse on itself. There is one bar at the very front the is needed for balance once it is at rest, but it doesn't stay when in motion. It is serviceable and I will continue to use now that I own it, but would not buy it again. I think the more expensive ones may pull a little easier.

E-Lytes: She didn't eat, so any powder form on her food is useless. I was very glad I thought ahead and grabbed the applesauce and syringe. She tanked up which is either because a) she is awesome like that or b) the elytes made her thirsty. I'm not willing to experiment with none at a ride to check which is true. I like giving her the supplement because I know it is easy on her stomach and it gives her more than just sodium and potassium. It is loaded with good things, so I think I will stick to it and make sure I have something to mix it in for the hold.

Camelbak: It workd in regards to hydration. I was able to drink the entire ride and while it was a bit warm towards the end, it was so nice to drink throughout. I wasn't dehydrated. it didn't bounce at all and even with 2L of water and some stuff stashed in the back, it wasn't overly heavy. But...it chafed the left side of y neck badly. The hubby suggested I get one made for running, but I just got this one and would like to monkey with it a bit. I think wrapping the straps in fleece may help a good bit.

Old Items That Continue To Work:

Halter/Bridle Combo

French Link Full Cheek Snaffle Bit: questionable with regards to the beginning of the ride, but I doubt anything would work that well when she gets that worked up. She didn't bolt and take off on me so it did keep her in check to a degree

Irideon riding tights

Brooks running shoes

Bare hooves

All in all most things worked out really well. I'm not planning on making any major changes to anything at this time.

Items to Purchase Prior To Next Ride:

Buckets. Lots of buckets for sponge water at the hold.

Large sponges

That's about it!!

Project...and product review Cashel Organizer

Gem rides around in an Eclipse 2 horse straight load aluminum trailer. Is it absolutely perfect? No. But I actually really like the trailer and it fit all our needs at the time of purchase. I have no plans on selling it ever and after owning it for 3 years it was about time to personalize it a bit.

My only real issue with the trailer is that the tack area is also the walk through/emergency door for loading the horses. It is a decent size, but most things were stored in a large muck bucket on the floor and I tended to trip over or step on items. The last straw was two weeks ago when I tried to open the trailer vents (with the trailer being so ridiculously tall, I have to stand on something to do this) and stepped down and tripped landing on top of my brand new bottle of fly spray squishing the bottle and popping the top off. Fortunately, I was able to attach the nozzle of a different bottle to pry this one back into a straight position and get it working again. But I had had enough.

Enter the Cashel full door groom organizer:

I had ordered it with the new chaps, but had run into a small complication with using it and so it sat in the trailer being useless and taking up yet more essential floor space.

What was the complication? The trailer is aluminum to cut down on both the annoyance of dealing with rust creating steel as well as weight. That's fine. But the door and walls themselves are fiberglass (I think...well they are something other than metal of any sort) and that limited the ability to hang the above contraption since the width from aluminum post to aluminum post was too wide and the length was too long. I really wanted it on the door and low enough that I could reach everything from the ground.

We needed to do something to safely hang the unit and so we stopped at Lowes and picked up some pieces of wood to go from end to end of the door at whatever height I wanted. Then the hardware for the organizer could be hung onto these and voila!

So we got the wood, but it was boring wood. I happened to walk past some decorative wood meant for something I suppose...maybe a railing or something. Anyway...much to the hubby's annoyance I grabbed a piece of that too to make it look prettier. Then...having pretty on the brain...I looked at staining options. Everything I have horse related is red and black. There was one staining option that was red looking and so I grabbed a can and headed to the paint department to get it mixed up.

I chose Antique Red because it was a little darker looking and in 5 minutes they had it ready. The person didn't offer to open the can and I was already taking too long for a quick 10 minute stop (30 minutes later :) so I grabbed it and headed to the check out. You can guess where this is going, right? It was 5 pm Saturday night and I wanted it stained and dry by morning. I got everything ready and opened up my can to see....purple stain. Umm? It wasn't even anywhere close to being red or reddish or pink or any shade/hue close to red on the color wheel. Darnnit!

Back to the store I went worried they wouldn't take it back. But they did without a question and I grabbed another can of base and headed to the paint department. I chose a new color (China Red) in case the other color recipe was messed up and I ended with purple again. The guy (same one as last time) handed it to me and I asked him to open it this time. It was red!!

Back home and I put W to bed and headed out to stain the wood. It really didn't turn out quite "red" more of a terracotta color, but it is red enough for me.

Sunday morning I had the hubby drill holes into the aluminum (ick...I guess the trailer is ours now!!) and he hung the board up across the width of the trailer door at a height reachable for me from the ground. He then tacked on the pretty top boards (the picture we have it crappy but it has a vine and leaf pattern running the length of it) and then the hardware for the organizer.

It works perfect!!! I holds all my fly spray bottles, grooming brushes, belly balm, hoof pick, her ear bonnet, etc... There are two hooks as well and I used these to hang our bits up off the floor. The plastic zipper pouch velcros on/off and I put my AERC card and coggins papers in there. That way I can just grab it and go to the vet in keeping it all organized.

I am sooo happy with it. The trailer looks so much better and everything is super easy to reach. I can't wait to really use it. Next time I make it to the barn I will grab better picks!