Cob Jockey

1. What size horse do you prefer to ride?

Me sized!



2. Do you school in tall boots or half chaps and paddock boots?



3. What do you do with your ribbons after shows?
We eventers get so few ribbons that I actually find it manageable to display them.  The four that I have earned hang on 4 picture frames in my dining room.

4. Do you ride/board at a large show barn or a small private barn?
Somewhere in the middle.  I would call us a medium sized relaxed show barn with a handful of boarders and a handful of lesson students.  We work hard, but we also don't have any crazies or bad eggs in the group.  It's a great vibe.

Two of my teammates and I at the KHP

5. Have you seen a horse give birth?
Twice, and they're both great stories that I can't believe I haven't blogged about.  Once on the Thoroughbred farm in high school, and once alone when Connor's breeder had to go out of town to care for her dad.

6. What is your favorite breed?
Welsh Cob, duh.  :-)

A face only a mother everyone could love.

7. Favorite tack brand?
I guess I will have to start saying CWD in the end of January!

Can't wait...

8. Would you ever buy used tack?
I almost only buy used tack, with very few exceptions.

 9. Ever been on a carriage ride?
I don't think so, actually.

10. How often do you go to the tack store?
Once every couple of years when I'm in the Cincinnati area, I go to The Tack Trunk.  Unless you count Rolex, which pretty much counts as a tack store.  Heck, the Tack Trunk comes to Rolex.

If anyone is looking for a review of the Ariat Contours, here it is: I am in love with them.

They should be the same color as the boots...

Love their slim silhouette compared to the Dublins.

I've been riding in them for two weeks now, and I have to say, I'm never going back to a cheap and/or non-leather half-chap ever again.  This is definitely the highest-quality leather item I own now.  It's so soft and supple, but at the same time, it's very thick; they really feel like a premium item.  They give me fantastic grip on the saddle without making me feel like I'm stuck, and certainly they give me more than the rubbed-off suede did on the Dublins.

They're also quite stiff and tight (though not stiff up to your standards, Kelly!).  I had read that you want them to be so tight you can barely zip them in the beginning, and boy did I do that right.  That's how I found out my right calf is still much bigger than my left after my accident in 2007.  When I finally got them on the first few times, it felt like the circulation was being cut off to my right calf.  Now that they've had some time to break in, though, they're much less painful, and I can already tell they're going to mold to my leg perfectly.

If I had to complain about something, it would be the plastic zipper.  It's big and heavy-duty, but I can already tell that I will be replacing it with a metal one at some point.  That's okay with me: just like my paddock boots, good leather will last a lifetime with good care, and the repair is worth the investment.

I'm glad I only had to pay $49 for them, but I like them enough that I would have paid the $170 if I had to.  I highly recommend them!

I spent quite a while mulling over everyone's responses to my half-chap opinions thread, and was very close to pulling the trigger on these:

Tredstep Deluxe, in brown

However, despite not minding spending large chunks of change on good quality leather items, I was having a hard time reconciling paying over half of what I pay for board each month for them.  So I hemmed and hawed, and then I did something I hadn't done in a while: moseyed over to Dover.

Dover had these:

Ariat Contour, in chocolate

for $159.95 in their full-price section, but in Closeouts, they had them in XXS for just $49, and they match my beloved Ariat Performer III paddock boots perfectly.  Or maybe they did once, many years earlier...  My only hesitation was that I've heard Mary complain about her Ariat half chaps, but she also complains about destroying a pair of paddock boots every year, while I've kept the same pair in very good condition for six years, so I feel like I need to draw my own independent review.

So I bought them and a pulling comb, and due to Dover's ridiculously stupid shipping scheme which I would never normally subject myself to, I made it worth it by adding a Himalayan salt lick as well.  Wait, maybe that's what they want consumers to do...

Anyway, the point is, for the first time in my life I will have appropriately sized half-chaps that are actually professional looking and do not have fuzzy white suede ends sticking up all over them. 

Next item of business, eventually, will be replacing my tall boots.  You mean, I'm not supposed to be able to slide a hand between my boot and my leg?  Gosh!