November 12, 2019

Royal Winter Fair: Non-Saddle Shopping Edition

Do you know what's better than Rolex Land Rover-style shopping?  Land Rover-style shopping where every time you buy something, it shows up on your credit card bill with a 24% discount over what the receipt says you paid, since right now the Canadian dollar is $0.76 USD.

I didn't go as crazy as you might expect, partially since I bought two expensive riding shirts recently, but even I am not cheap enough to pass up the one thing I did buy: a Back on Track mesh sheet in navy, plus the matching neck, plus a BoT jump pad for $174 USD with free shipping to the US.

If you're keeping score at home, that would normally be $347 USD.

The lady told me the price and I stood there silently for a second running the math in my head, and she said, "Come on, that's practically free in USD!" 😂 I'd been wanting a "nice sheet" and a BoT jump pad for a while now, so yeah, at nearly $200 off what I would pay in the US, even Black Friday won't be able to touch that deal.

Here's a photo montage of the more interesting things I saw:

I liked this scoop, especially for getting through frozen sweet feed in the winter

These padded halters were $30 USD

Weatherbeeta blankets
Apparently everyone but me knew these existed, I totally want to try one.  I love the warning label that basically says "You're F'ed the second shavings get on this thing, sorry".

LEMIEUX HAS A COMPLETE MATCHY MATCHY MINIATURE HORSE LINE AND IT'S SO CUTE!

This Schockemohle vest was gorgeous, and thankfully not in my size or else it might have come home with me.

The fabric on this Schockemohle pad was absolutely stunning, almost had a linen look to it.  Those circles were so padded, we thought they might have been memory foam at first.  I want to say it was around $130 USD.


HKM had these stunning pads, with matching breeches and halters


These boots sold out so fast.  That's a rubbery sparkle background behind the perforated shimmery gold outer layer (it didn't photograph well), so I don't think they'll loose their sparkle over time.

I would buy an Antares just to get this platinum gold padded detail on my brown saddle...just saying.

Interesting wool and mesh half pad from Antares, underneath side shown below

It kind of felt like one of those mesh dish scrubbers, and the mesh had quite a bit of structure to it.  I can imagine the airflow would be good, but it also seems like it might be scratchy.

The Antares halters were drop dead gorgeous.  So gorgeous, in fact, that I was sorely tempted to drop $250 on a halter and lead set, and you know that's totally not something I'd normally do.  They just screamed "I am nice leather" when you looked at them.

It was so heavy!  So well-constructed!  So swively!
Just look at that noseband.  LOOK AT IT!  IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL!

No seriously, I'm going to make you look at it again
One last view.  I just love it.

I am not an Ogilvy fan but I know there are a lot of you out there.  The Ogilvy booth was so cute, and really big.


This black and metallic gold saddle pad didn't photograph well, but in real life it was a gorgeous bright yellow gold metallic color that almost-not-quite looked sparkly from far away

I was tempted, but didn't end up pulling the trigger because every normal Dressage pad in the world looks massive on Connor, so I have to be really careful on sizing.

This BR Equestrian Equipment brand was very popular and very cheap.  TONS of matchy matchy sets in literally dozens of colors.  The matchy matchy pads were $30 USD.  They also were definitely doing some copyright infringement on some US brands though, so take that for what you will.  They had a knockoff of the SSG 10 Below gloves that were so visually accurate, you couldn't tell them apart if you hid the logo.

This navy Samshield shirt, which I'm pretty sure I've seen in the US, but not in person before.  It was ridiculously beautiful.

Tomorrow, saddles!

28 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness...how did you have such control! Looks amazing!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I baaaaaarely got out of there without that halter!

      Delete
  2. Oh man... I basically want all the things. I can't believe you had the restraint to not buy more.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was giving myself a serious guilt trip over spending $200 on two shirts recently, but yeah, it was tough! I brought a mostly empty suitcase and everything.

      Delete
  3. so jealous of the blanket deal situation. And in a fun color as well!!! Connors going to love that this winter :P

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope so! I really hope it fits. AND I CAN'T WAIT FOR IT TO GET HERE!

      Delete
  4. HOW COULD YOU NOT BUY THAT HALTER? Are you made of steele? God, I so need to go there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I knowwwwwwwwwwwww I probably should have. Even now just looking at those pictures hits me in the feels. It was gorgeous.

      Delete
  5. Someone at my barn has the dry rug and it is definitely forever covered in shavings now.

    Now I want to go to the Royal some day!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I really recommend it, honestly as much for the spectating as the shopping!

      Delete
  6. That HKM pad is a thing of beauty!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's totally not my jam but I tried really hard to get JenJ to buy it. She needs it!

      Delete
  7. I am shocked that halter didn't magically jump into your bag and run home with you. It's gorgeous!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It came SO close. If I hadn't gotten the BoT deal, it might have.

      Delete
  8. I saw that Antares halter and lead rope in a shop in France for $180 USD and was sorely tempted too, but geeeeeeez so much for just a halter...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh man, at under $200 for the set I might have jumped on that. I feel ridiculous for loving a halter this much, but it was just so NICE.

      Delete
  9. I'm a sucker for a pretty halter, but I have issues with spending that much money on one. It is probably the most used piece of tack that we own, but it's hard to spend that much on a utilitarian item.
    I wish I could get my items in Canada 24% cheaper!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You more or less summed up why I didn't jump on that halter. It's gorgeous, but I'm a "cost per wear" calculator, and I'd only use something that beautiful at like what, shows and clinics? And I'd be afraid it would get stolen in a way that I'm not afraid of my $40 halter getting stolen. So, it will be admired from afar.

      Delete
  10. That trade show looks amazing!! And what a cool show having all of those different disciplines there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It really was! I think I liked the show part better than the trade show, and that's saying something because the trade show was amazing.

      Delete
  11. So much good stuff! I'm impressed with your restraint! I have that horseware towel/sheet whatever it is, and definitely it's for standing in the wash stall or hand grazing and not for being in a stall or out in the mud rolling.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. How does it compare to a normal cooler? I'm specifically looking (not very hard) for reviews comparing it to what I have now, which is the Centaur Turbo Dry fleece cooler.

      Delete
    2. It's basically made of terry cloth. I'm not sure it dries them any faster or wicks any better than fleece would, but it doesn't get as much static as fleece can. I use it just after baths, I haven't really used it to throw on a sweaty horse.

      Delete
  12. That halter is gorgeous though I could not spend that much on a halter. With my luck, it would break and I'd cry.

    ReplyDelete
  13. ok, the warning note on the cooler is hilarious. I don't live in a world where my horse doesn't stand in a stall to dry while I finish all the other things I have to do!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Wow, what an amazing shopping experience!!

    ReplyDelete