Outfitting a Zoëbird: Part Two

Needless to say, when you go from the cobbiest of cob size OTTBs that ever cobbed the earth to a Percheron cross baby, not a lot of your tack is going to fit.

Like. Less than you'd think even.

i mean. they go on. and they're purple. so they stay.

I did not expect C's boots to fit, but they do. Sorta. As in. Well. ZB has good, solid bone but isn't exceptionally enormous, so the height is pretty ok. She's definitely broader than C is, so boots that overlapped a little on him don't quite close on her.

o hai expensive boots

I do have this fancy schmancy set of Schockemohle dressage boots that I bought for Courage, but by the time I got done dicking around with eBay UK and they actually arrived, I'd already decided to rehome him. (So if you don't recognize them, that's why.) Anyways. They fit just slightly differently than the knock offs and are the best fitting boot I have right now.

I did not expect my boots to work.

I did expect my saddle pads to work.

yeah she thinks i'm funny too

I keep meaning to take a fairly hilarious video for you guys, but essentially, my beautiful Ogilvy wither-relief pads... uh... don't work for a horse without withers. Like. You push one end down and the other pops up. And if you're wondering, no they do not stay under the saddle. Oops.

Fortunately, I have more dressage pads and those seem to work ok for her shape.

and that shape is hella sexy

 Then saddles. 

Yeah. 

I knew my $$$$ Custom was never going to fit her and I know it's idiocy to buy a $$$$ saddle for a baby horse that's going to change shape dramatically unless you can afford to just keep buying them. Which yeah no. Not happening. 

I scrounged up a saddle at a local consignment place that fits both of us well enough but won't completely break my heart to sell when the inevitable time comes. 

sad lil jump pad

Bridles were tricky of course. Zoëbird is actually the same measurement bit to bit over the poll as Courage, but let's just say all of her other dimensions are... larger. If you're counting, yes, that means off-the-rack bridles are out for her. SOB. This is a shopping killer. I ordered her a Nunn Finer Custom event bridle because they let me pick the size of each piece without ever talking to an actual human being. (That's the whole point of the internet. Retailers, take note.) 

hey baby. sad bridle.

Now of course I have already ordered Ms Zoëbird her very own Topline Leather browband (custom specs omg can't wait!) buuuuut the wait time is killer and no matter how many times I'm like BUT LOOK AT THIS SAD BRIDLE WITH NO SPARKLES, I don't get to jump the line (sob) so I needed an interim browband also. Alyssa let me play with her cool new toy from Blackjak Refinery and with my great sense of restraint, I ordered my own immediately. 

rainbow hematite. i think yes.

Haha and remember how I buy every bit I can get my grabby hands on and never sell them and have this life goal of being the crazy bit lady in 30 years with basically every bit that was ever made?

Uh yeah. 

Well like 85% of horses on the planet wear a 5" bit. So my entire collection is 5" bits. And one 5.5" because there was a sale. 

Guess where this is going.

mmhmm

Yeah the "little" D bit in that picture is my lone 5.5". And yeah. It's too small. The eggbutt is a 6" that fits just fine. Jury is out on the ramifications for the bit collection, but it's a strange position for me to be in. 

Oh and halters? Hahahahahahaha shut up. When Roxie's mom dropped Ms. ZB off, she handed me a rope halter and was like "this fits weird. you can have it." 

just. weird. not bad. 

She's not wrong. It does fit weird. It also goes on Zoëbird pretty ok, so we use it on the daily. 

My inner optimist stuck Courage's fancy clinician-style stiff rope nose-knot halter on her...

someone should slap my inner optimist

Yeah it just straight up doesn't fit. Her smooshy nose barely goes in it and the tie throatlatch is BARELY long enough. 

So uh. Possibly there was some late night online shopping that hopefully rectified this situation. I'll keep you posted. 

Oh. And. We're not even talking about bonnets, ok? WE'RE JUST NOT. 

(definitely) let them tame you

I mean. I guess I would have been disappointed if I didn't get to shop for her. Silver lining?

Budget Bridle Breakdown

As you might have guessed, lil Ms. Zoebird doesn't fit in a single beautiful cob-size thing that Courage left behind. This means shopping. I like shopping.

And of course, shopping means putting all that expensive, time-consuming product research I've done to use. 

And if I'm going to do that, y'all might as well benefit. 

So if you're looking for a solid bridle on a budget (and your horse is a standard size):

...and you can spend up to $200:

I realize that just because I think a ~$200 bridle is "relatively affordable" doesn't mean everyone does. However. This starts to be the range where you don't have to compromise a whole lot. My favorite in this range is Eponia Equestrian. Nice leather that breaks in fast, fantastic, thoughtful details, interesting designs and solid customer service. A recent blogger review from Austen pretty well dials it in. I snagged one of these babies at Rolex and it was GORGEOUS. Super sad that it was never ever gonna fit Ms. ZB. 

why yes that's Teresa's horse rocking brownie now

10/10 would buy again and don't be surprised if another one shows up in my collection. 

...and you want to spend about $100

This is a dicey price range. There are some options on the table but you're definitely going to have to make some pretty serious compromises with either design details or product quality. Or both.  

One entrant in this category the Premiera line by Hypostore. (These are also marketed by a popular instagram retailer for a 200% mark up. Friends don't let friends pay 200% too much.) I picked up one of these last winter. The leather is ok. There are definitely attempts at thoughtful details, but the budget nature of this range just means that it's not... quite... something. Mine just sat funky on Courage's head. It wasn't bad, but I wasn't in love with it. Blogger Karen hasn't written a full review, but she had a double from this line (on my referral, sorry Karen) and the noseband just didn't work for her horse and the browband fell apart. Buyer beware apparently--their customer service was underwhelming when I dealt with them. 

5/10 would use them in a pinch but probably won't go back

...and you want to spend less than $100: 

Once you hit this end of the spectrum, you better know what you're getting in to. Royal Sports is probably the best option here--lots of options, lots of coupon codes, reasonably fast shipping from India. Downsides include leather that smells weird (technical tack ho talk here), iffy-at-best customer service, and kinda wonky sizing. Like. Cob size is TINY and horse size is HUGE and maybe oversize is for elephants? I have no idea. Haven't tried the OS. Alli wrote a review here, and she's the most recent purchaser I'm aware of. It's not my favorite option, but you can get a bridle pretty inexpensively and if you're not too picky, it's probably fine. 

browband unrelated

2/10 unlikely to place another order unless I need something cheap and weird 

Not to worry!! You're not SOL if your horse is full or semi custom, but you will have to take some measurements and try a little harder. There can also be a bit of a premium for buying piece-by-piece. It's definitely more expensive than just buying an assembled bridle. So. 

If you want to spend up to $300 (and you need custom sizing): 

I know it's not super sexy, but a quality standby is the Nunn Finer custom event bridle. You can pick leather and buckle colors and then pick a different size for every different piece. Or at least choose from three different sizes. It's not fancy and modern, but we're talking solid leather that does the job and isn't embarrassing. The look blends seamlessly in the dressage and eventing rings and the bridle will pretty much last you forever. 

ZB not getting a figure eight obv

9/10 have already ordered one for Zoebird

If you want to spend up to $200 (and you need custom sizing):

I've written a very positive review of Uisce Saddlery in the past. Elaine makes a quality product with excellent craftsmanship that is surprisingly affordable. Because these pieces are hand made, you can get all crazy-go-nuts on hyper custom sizing and details. I did contact her this time around and apparently mid-busy-season she's a little slower to respond than if you catch her in the off season (and I have the patience of a gnat, oops). On the whole, my experiences have been positive and I love the little extra zazzle you can get with colored padding if you're bold. 

i love different stuff

8/10 we all know this is going to happen again

Noted: Flexible Fit Equestrian also theoretically lands on this list but I have no personal experience with them and haven't been thrilled with the designs I've seen out there. I'm happy to be proven wrong but haven't had the impetus to spend the money yet. 

If you want to spend about $100 (and you need custom sizing):

A bit of an unexpected entrant in this category is the Equiture line of bridles. I'm not sure where they're sourced from (well I mean Asia obv), but you can order each part individually and get some fun details like patent or white padding. It's more of a dressage look, but with the right pieces you'll be ok regardless. Downsides are of course that you're looking at pretty mass-produced leather that's just... not that pretty. It has that cardboard-y shine that doesn't really come off and it doesn't break in like super nice leather, but it's affordable and it will do in a pinch. 

this qualifies as a pinch

4/10 unlikely to buy again 

Final Thoughts

Ummmm I hesitate to add at this point that I've (obviously) owned models from all of these lines and all of my reviews are based on actually owning/handling them. I also paid full price (or used publicly available sales) and received no compensation for any of my thoughts on these. This is also just a list of budget options and doesn't include bridles from higher-end price ranges that take a little more commitment to acquire.

and none of this includes browbands haha

At this point, I'm playing with an Equiture frankenbridle with a Nunn Finer on the way. What are some other options that would be worth checking out? 

Zoëbird Meets Tack Ho: Phase One

One thing about going from an OTTB to a draftie cross: nothing you own will fit. None of it. I've been sitting over here like "i'll always have my saddle pads", but guess what? Those gorgeous Ogilvy non-slip anti-microbial, contour-cut, tastefully-chosen beauties slip like a bitch on my round, witherless lil mare.

but she's cute!

Oops.

But hey, at least that means Z-bird is wearing a saddle, right?

saddles delicious!

Well yes. It does mean that. Of course, nothing I own will fit her except maybe the western saddle. But that seems like a lot of leather to lug around when it is a millionty-five degrees, so we haven't pulled it out yet.

I talked a local friend (auntie Crystal) into making a run to consignment with me and we resurfaced with saddles to try. I refuse to shell out $$$$ for a saddle for a four year old who's going to grow and change. We did find one that fit nicely inside the budget and yay! It's an all-purposey one, which I prefer for baby shenanigans.

Breastplate originally purchased for Izzy. Is magic. Fits.

Bits and bridles are a trip and a half. Zozo isn't that big of a horse, in terms of height. Hell, her girth is nearly a foot shorter than Courage's. Buuuuut. Her big smooshy face is not ever going in a cob bridle or (gasp! pearl clutch!) any of my browbands.

A moment of silence for the pretties.

A moment of raucous applause for shopping.

Of course,  "shopping for what" has been kinda the kicker here. Apparently "Zoëbird size" isn't really off-the-rack anything.

a flash of future Zoebird!

Auntie Crystal used to have a big mare, so we cobbled together a frankenbridle out of parts. It's a mishmash of three different brands and sizes, but it looks respectable. Of course, then I got all excited like MUST USE GIANT ASS PADDED BRIDLE WITH BLING BLING and we tried that on:

or not

So uh. That's a no on giant padded. It takes her pretty lil face and makes it look coarse. THE HORROR. I kind think Zo is going to just stay a custom/franken girl in the bridle department.

 You may also have noticed Ms. Zoëbird rocking a full set of boots. They are basically the one thing from Courage that still fits. Sort of. I'm deciding what I like on her and what I don't, but I would be remiss if I didn't share the video of her first time in hind boots:


We are supposed to get this shitshow on the road here pretty quick, so hopefully the girth and bit I ordered show up before my trainer has any real expectations. Or whatever. "Millionty-five" is the forecast for the indefinite future, so Ms. Zoëbird's training is not going to be overly strenuous.

Uisce Saddlery: Custom Bridle Work Review

This past summer, I got an itch to have a cool, colored-padded, contour-fitted, super-magic-amazing dressage bridle for Courage. The obvious choice for that in the dressage world is of course, Otto Schumacher.

pictured: not otto

You know--big, patent, fancy, custom shit. Oh, and it's like $700/bridle and you have to go through their rep system because heaven forbid a mere plebeian learn how to click the order button. It's like going to Oregon and not being allowed to pump your own gas, except in this case, I'm in BFE and there's no rep to help me even if I did want to talk to someone. Which I don't. Eff off, Otto.

Construction and Service

I asked around and got pointed to a small Irish shop called Uisce Saddlery, based in Ireland. I am the worst at custom anything because I hate options, so I looked through the gallery until something leaped off the page at me and then emailed to ask how much it would be and if there was shipping to the US and just sort of get a feel for the process.

I got a prompt, polite reply in fluent english (hey, you never know) by the saddler herself (holla Elaine!) with specific answers to my questions. She was also conversant in standard sizing, inches, and US dollars, which I find very useful because my interest in understanding foreign currency is around zero. I will google the exchange rate. That is all.

I don't order full custom much, so this was kind of an experience. Elaine doesn't just glue some trim on an existing caveson--she makes each piece from scratch.

The gallery and her happy customs told me she could do more fancy custom stitching and etc, but I liked what I saw and I had an itchy trigger finger. I had a paypal invoice in my inbox within an hour or two of initiating the conversation and when I paid, there was a note indicating about a 10 day wait depending on what was ahead of me in line.

threw it on a bridle i had sitting around :-) 

Best part? Ten days later I thought I might send her an email just to check my order status since I hadn't used her company before, but when I got home to do that, there was a package from Ireland sitting on my porch. Oh, AND when I emailed to say thanks, she apologized for not sending tracking. Geez. Polite much?

Fit

I told her Courage was a pretty standard cob size, she sent me her standard measurements, and because I'm a dork who has C's measurements memorized (but not my own, go figure), I knew it would work. I also needed it made sans flash because SOMEONE hates them.

dress up=always a good idea

The measurements were accurate the the piece fits true to size. If I had it to do over, I might have her bump the caveson hangers back a quarter inch each side just because I'm picky, but it looks fantastic and gets tons of compliments. I LOVE the cutback around the bit. Courage has a small face that does well with a big caveson, but there isn't room for that + a bit, so this is an ideal solution.

Durability

This is a funny topic with strap goods. I love my some French leather, but I really don't think the Antares/CWD/Devoucoux/insert French here strap goods are worth it for the asking price (but by all means, hit the used market). They don't hold up the bestiest and they just aren't as substantially nicer than everything on the market the way the French saddles are.

we don't understand

Then there's things like Stubben strap goods, which everyone is like "oh they last forever", but like... it's shit the whole time so does it really matter? Wouldn't you rather it just died and went away? I would. I hate shitty strap goods. They're the worst.

experimenting with bonnets

Anyways. Uisce is neither French nor German, so I guess the last two paragraphs weren't super relevant. The point is, it's nice English leather. It takes a little breaking in, can handle daily wear, and still looks good. Yeah, it's not French but it will outlast the mustachioed bastards oh and let's talk about price...

Value

Remember when I inquired by email originally with some specific questions? See the thing with the world of custom shit is that you can get anything you want; you just have to be willing to pay for it. A lot. And while I spend an obscene amount of money on Courage, I'm just not the sort of person who drops $$$ without thinking about it and planning for it and all that. I'm blue collar. What can I say?

So yeah. Custom colored, custom stitched, custom made piece of leather shipped to the US. What do you think she quoted me?

oh yeah and that other blue bridle also

$65.

Not a joke.

I... really don't know how you could say no to that.

(Note: price current as of fall 2016, so be advised that currency fluctuates and I'm not a rep and if you're reading this post years later, you need to get your own number).

Likes

Oh, everything. Love the color. Love the cut. Love the design. Love the non-crank. Love the custom options. Love the service. Love it all.

yup

Dislikes

Ummmmmm well it's exactly what I wanted, which is exactly what it was advertised to be and I had an exceptional customer service experience. I'd be hard pressed to find anything to really dislike about it.

mmm sexy

Conclusion 

If you need fun colors, custom sizing, bold accents, and affordable pricing, I really don't know how you could do better. The look maybe isn't for everyone, but I'll definitely be ordering from Uisce Saddlery again. 10/10 positive experience would recommend.

PS If you want one of these in purple (I DO!!) and have a stupidly tiny horse (alas. sob.), Teresa has one for sale. Contact her for details.

The Firstiest First World Problem

I've been in need of some distraction lately, so I'm sure you're all super shocked I turned to obsessing over tack. 

It's.... happened before... in case you were wondering why I all of a sudden have two patent leather cavessons and a new twist on a blue padded piece, well, that was last month's distraction that just happened to arrive. Don't judge.

Anyways. I have a lot of bridles. Despite what most people think, I'm not a hoarder and I like to keep my options open, so I'd like to have somewhat less bridles. That means I have to tally up the bridles/looks I have and then decide what stays and what goes.

Let's start easy--

BROWN BRIDLES:

Haha well our open show debut prompted this second-most-recent (I think? I lost count) addition to the collection.

yup

Horse size Dover Circuit bridle. Tobacco leather, fancy stitched, plain cavesson, traditional crown. Got it for a screaming deal and this reminds me, I said I'd do a craft project and dye it. Maybe next month. Don't hold your breath. 

Also in the brown category:

do you remember this one? Had it forever.

Cob size Nunn Finer figure eight in havana with stainless buckles. If you're sitting over there like "wtf sb I've never seen this bridles before", well, you have. It just usually looks like this:

frankenbridle

with the custom race noseband and sweet Dark Jewel Designs gameday browband 

OR

topline

this with the fancy Topline Leather sparkles and ebay-find cavesson for when mamma needs a standing, which is always. 

Believe it or not, that's all the brown bridles I own right now. Excluding my western bridle which is sort of tan colored. Whatever. It only half counts. You don't get a pic.

BLACK BRIDLES

Despite my early-life loathing of black leather, I now own quite a lot of it. I'll try to go in order of what I've had the longest, but my memory is only so good.

red barn

There's my Red Barn Capriole bridle, which I think was my first legit dressage bridle that was not PS of Sweden? I don't remember. Anyways. Very classic look. Very conservative. It's the dressage bridle your mother would want you to buy. Accommodates a flash (which I have) and the unused tabs really don't bother me. 

Shown here with my birthday browband from Browbands With Bling. 

I guess next up would be my dressage Frankenbridle.

topline

This bridle is some mishmash of random parts--I think it might be horse size bobby's crown, cob size bobby's cheeks, super legit retro noseband from an enabling friend, and of course one of my crown jewels, the Absolute Courage browband from Topline Leather. Yeah it's named after him. ;-) 

Hmmmm probably next would be Otto, who was already introduced via his own personal blog post, but here goes:

otto

Otto is of course a cool retro Otto Schumaucher bridle with a traditional crown and crank cavesson but no flash. Otto rocks the self-colored braid on the nose and brow and is the only bridle I own with no sparkles. Fun fact: I even bought a pair of plaited (not braided) reins to go with Otto because it seemed like the thing at the time. I like Otto. 

Then there's this contraption:

not my franken

A friend gave me a very fancy custom-made-for-her-horse patent monocrown noseband because it was not made well and didn't fit her horse. I had to borrow a monocrown headstall off her to try it on C. I left the flash on and added sparkles and if you notice he looks a little cranky, it's because even my superstar model OTTB eventually gets tired of head shots. Honestly, I really like the crown this bridle hangs on (but it's a little too big for C) and I'm less in love with the noseband? 

I dunno. Patent is new for me. 

But you can't just try one patent nose, can you?? 

I mean, I was pretty enchanted with the one I tried on C last winter. Noted: I never owned this bridle and haven't actually bought it for myself yet. Do love how it looks on his head.

Fancy!

So that one isn't/wasn't mine, but this one is. I call him Bachelor #1.

whoops

Let's just say I was stress shopping and there was potentially more than one bachelor coming home so they got numbers. Um. It escalated from there and I'll explain later. This is totally a knockoff of that super trendy Otto you see running around dressage shows. I found it on British eBay, tracked it to a uk tack shop I'd never heard of, and got a screaming deal on it. Padded crank, monocrown, decent leather, has a flash, yada yada. Did not love my shopping experience and didn't really have time to get enamored with this bridle. (Hint: if you want it, buy it from me or eBay. Don't waste you life at the tack shop.)

This happened next:

ooooooooo

See, I just so happen to be friends with my browband ladies and one of them heard I was looking for something cool and different and colored and custom and she sent me to Uisce Saddlery.  Never heard of them? Me either. 

However, another friend piled on with the recommendation and when I sent an inquiry on a specific item, the response was prompt, articulate, and polite. Oh and the price was KILLER. OH AND I GOT A FULL CUSTOM PIECE IN 10 DAYS. Not kidding. From inquiry email to product arriving at my door step was ten days. Quality is good, service was incredible, 10/10 I owe them a proper blog write up. 

But see, that's a lot of bridles for a horse who goes in one bit and a snaffle bridle and no flash and don't want his cranks cranked. Plus, as a working adult ammy, I'd like to have 1-2 (ok fine let's be real it's me) 2-3 bridles at the barn to maintain vs trying to clean an entire tack shop's worth of booty every couple weeks.

So. For a dressage horse in a snaffle bridle. What's your favorite and why? What would you sell and what would you keep? 

PS What if I just kept one bridle at the barn. Can you imagine? Would you even recognize me? DO PEOPLE EVEN DO THAT? 

Meet the (Strap Goods) Crew

I think it was Emma who said that every time I give y'all a tour of my tack room, the major players have changed. I would like to point out that is only partly true.

dramatic lighting for effect

 THE PRECIOUS IS STILL HERE

Ha! But actually, my saddle inventory is remarkably stable. It's the bridles that change up a lot. Right now, we have three main bridles in rotation.

 This is our work bridle. Courage loves his sprenger bit and I love looking at this bridle. And YES I KNOW the buckles aren't all the same color. Remember franken? That's why.

 You've read about dressage frankenbridle before. It's a really fantastic piece. You'll notice the (beautiful) cavesson is adjusted so loosely that it literally does nothing other than hold the standing martingale in place. This is for REASONS--specfically that Courage does not deal with sharp bits or tight nosebands and every trainer he's ever spent time with (even the ones who hated him or whom he hated) agreed that a loose cavesson was really where it's at for him.

 Next we have our hacking bridle. It also features the loose cavesson (and standing martingale woo woo). We have what I call the "magic contact bit" (GIANT single joint d) on it, which is a bit hilarious because I never pick up the reins in this bridle.

This bridle is fun to look at--it has my cool custom race noseband with blue padding and diamond shaped cutouts and my super cool blue and orange sparkle browband. The whole point of this set up is to let Courage know that when he wears it, all is well with the world. We toodle in it. That's all. He loves it. As soon as I put it on, he pricks up his ears and we go adventuring.

 What's this? Didn't I just go on and on about how Courage must have his loose cavesson?

Yes.

This is our lunging bridle. It's my gorgeous Red Barn Capriole bridle that I love very much with an identical sprenger to our work bridle. It has a crank and I usually pull the flash off, BUT. Always a but.

But Courage is stepping up his game and learning to accept contact in a much better way and from time to time, while lunging, I find it advantageous to ask him to actually close his mouth while he's working.

CHUCK TESTA

It's definitely not his favorite thing and I don't think it will be going away from home any time in the near future, but it's a tool in the tool box and we're giving it a whirl.

I guess at this point you're also noticing that Courage ALWAYS goes in a standing martingale at this point in his life. Here's why:

No for real.

Most of the time, the standing hangs uselessly. All y'all rules Nazis out there are like "ZOMG SB THATS NOT DRESSAGE LEGAL", which hellooooooo I am well aware. I'm also aware that every time Courage has a big giant flailing fit (which in fairness to him are usually caused by me), that response takes weeks to work through. Weeks.

Remember the last (/only) time I jumped him this year? Yeah broke my steering and my brakes in one fell swoop because I didn't put his martingale on.

But the standing causes nobody any problems until the penultimate moment and then it acts on his nose, he goes "oh shit right gotta stop this nonsense" and the world keeps on spinning. 

Magic, I tell you. Once we're thinking about showing again, I'll wean him off it. Til then, it stays.