Cob Jockey

*tap tap* Is this thing on? I haven't done a product review in so long, it feels weird. Oh well, here goes. These are on sale this weekend for Black Friday so I wanted to get this out ASAP.

Pictured in the background: my Jurassic Park fence extension I had to add because my 42lb rescue mutt can jump my 6ft privacy fence without touching it. Good times.

Over two years ago, I reviewed the Piper Heavy-Weight Winter Tight by Smartpak, and concluded that they were the best winter tights I'd ever found, except that the sizing was tricky. Well, that turned out to be an understatement. In both the XS and S sizes the damn things stretched out as I wore them and slid down, like, over my butt! I ended up only keeping one pair and only wearing them with my Underarmour 4.0 under them as protection.

1.0's, from the original product post. Baggyyyyyy.

I wasn't alone - the reviews were full of people saying the same thing. It seemed that no matter what body type you were and what size you chose, you would eventually moon someone while wearing these. Which is a shame, because I have never found another pair of winter tights that are warmer, more comfortable or more functional.

I am happy to report they finally came out with a new model, the Piper Heavy-Weight Winter Tight II by Smartpak, which changed nothing except the fit, and it does seem to have solved the "moon" problem, at least for my body type.

I got dressed up in a ridiculous outfit just for some legit product photos of these for you guys, please appreciate, lol. Shirt by Equestrian Stockholm, hat from the Royal.

Let's get the big thing out of the way first: they didn't change a single feature. Still the same silicone dots, still a cell phone pocket on both sides, still heavy velour? inside material, still yoga pant-like outside material.

The inside is SO DAMN WARM.

These are all great things. In winter, I want comfort, warmth (REAL warmth, this is Indiana we're talking about), and as little fuss as possible, and both the old and new models smash all that out of the park.

What did change: sizing. I am not quite 5'1 and an hourglass-shaped body-by-CrossFit 120lbs with most of that being in my butt and thighs (holllaaaaa hit a 185lb back squat last week with that butt and thighs!). 

In the 2.0 model of these tights, I can barely get the XS on. Even over my calves! 

 

That said - I am wearing the XS in all of these photos, because they do stretch as you wear them. And they don't fall down. THAT said - I would struggle to put my Underarmour 4.0 underneath the XS. But that's okay. 

Hear me out - even though I can barely get them on at first, XS IS THE RIGHT SIZE FOR ME. If you buy these and try them on and worry they're too small at first, don't panic. Wear them around the house for an hour and see if you change your mind. You probably will.

 

Bottom line: These are such good I-live-where-it-actually-gets-cold winter tights, and they have so little competition for being as good as they are that I do recommend giving them a shot if you live in a cold climate, but sizing is tricky and keep in mind that they do stretch as you wear them. I recommend trying your regular size and not panicking when they feel too tight at first. On some body types, especially if you size up, they may still fall down. But not on me!

What: Piper Heavy-Weight Winter Tight II by SmartPak - Full Seat

Sizes: XS-XXL

Colors: Black, Grey

Price: $82.95 with discounts available for USEF members and supplement auto-ship members (currently $59 with code BF2023 and the USEF discount stacked)

Disclaimer: Bought these with my own hard earned money, and I am not affiliated with nor being compensated by SmartPak in any way.

Anyone else not feeling the love from SmartPak lately?  I long ago switched to Riding Warehouse for as many of my purchases as possible, but Connor has been on a gut maintenance SmartPak for a while, which I didn't feel great about.  The extra cost, the amount of plastic I was sending to the landfill, their guilt-trip driven supplement advertising.

So when I went to re-start Connor's gut supplement, I balked at going for SmartPaks again.  (It also helped that I got a killer deal on a bucket of U7)  But I strive to be a low-maintenance boarder, so I definitely won't ask my trainer to scoop out of buckets, so I needed to find a single-serving supplement container.

My criteria for a supplement container were that they needed to be:

• Durable (this ruled out Ziploc baggies and thin plastic containers)
• Easily opened year round with or without bulky gloves (this ruled out anything with a pry-off lid)
• Big enough to hold two supplements

I landed on making my own Smartpaks using these:


They're salad dressing containers and VERY sturdy.  I have no reason to think these won't last me for years.

They come with a white plastic inner lid meant to keep liquids from leaking.  I tossed them, I have no need for that with powder supplements, but if you do feed liquid supps, you might want to know about it.






In terms of size, they're not enormous.  Here's a picture with my fairly small running watch for scale:





And here's a picture with them loaded with one scoop of U7 and a loading dose of Cosequin.  It's hard to tell in the photo, but this makes them about 2/3rds full.  You're not going to fit five different supplements in these things, but if your horse is on just one or two, they're a great option.

Technically they hold four tablespoons or 1/4 cup.

I set it up to where my trainer twists the lid off, dumps it, and then puts the empty in a bag hanging outside the tack room.  It's no extra work for her than Smartpaks were, and it's not been bad for me either.  Even if I have to make up all 12 of them it only takes a couple of minutes, and I'll cheerfully pay with my time in order to save some money and not deal with Smartpaks anymore.



What: Salad Dressing Condiment Containers (6-Pack); 2-Ounce To-Go Plastic Mini Food Storage Jars for Lunch Boxes; Carry Up to 4 Tablespoons
Quantity/Price: $9.99 for 6
Where to buy: Amazon

Now that I'm into my fifth winter with my somewhat unusual and very thrifty blanketing setup, it's time for a proper review.


Back in 2014, money was tight, and I needed to make a decision on blankets since I was going to take the plunge on full clipping.  I spent a long time that summer trying to figure out the most cost-effective and durable way to blanket my naked pony in the upcoming winter.

I ended up buying a SmartPak Ultimate Turnout Sheet (review here), as well as a 100g, 200g and 300g Rambo blanket liner.  Because I deal hunted, I got his entire wardrobe for under $300.

Connor modeling the 300g liner

The main thing to take away from this is that with 4+ years of experience to back me up on this one, the Rambo blanket liners work GREAT with non-Rambo and non-Horseware blankets.  The Rambo blankets have a metal ring on either side of the neck that you run a Velcro tab on the liner through, but you do NOT need to use that to keep the liner stable.

Connor's liner attaches to his SmartPak sheet only at the back rings of the sheet, and has never shifted.  The only time a liner shifted and got destroyed was when a barn worker forgot to attach the liner clips to the leg strap rings.

The only attachment point, shown here with two liners ahead of a brutal cold snap a few winters ago.

Eventually I ended up buying the SP Ultimate Medium and Heavy in later years when they were on sale, because I thought both I and my BM would prefer legit blankets to my liner setup once I had the money to do it...but I was really surprised to find that that wasn't true. 

Pros of Blankets/Liners

• The liners are very light and easy to store compared to blankets. 
• The liners don't get muddy, so there's less dirt in my blanket bag, and I can wash them myself and not risk destroying my washing machine.
• They're durable.  My set is entering it's fifth winter, minus the one I mentioned above that met an untimely and preventable death.
• You always hear layering is more effective than one really heavy blanket, and that's super easy with these.
• The SmartPak Ultimate Turnout has proven to be everything they advertise and more, so it's a great outer layer for this setup. 
• It's one of the cheapest ways I've found to acquire a whole horse wardrobe that's still good quality and durable enough to last for the long haul.

This being a training barn, Connor's had all kinds of turnout buddies over the years and this is literally the worst thing that's ever happened to the sheet (and it's happened to the heavy as well, which I think is what he's wearing here).  And SP still sent me a new one anyway, overnighting it before I returned the old one since it was his only blanket at the time.

A while back, I posted that I took Connor off of my current barn's standard ground flaxseed and started feeding him a primarily flax-based supplement that comes in SmartPaks to prepare him for his diet changing when he gets to the new barn.


(The move to the new barn got delayed til mid-May due to my unusually heavy travel schedule at the beginning of May, and I can't waaaaaaaaaaait!   Feels like waiting for Christmas.)

After comparing everything available in SmartPaks, I ended up going with Omega Horseshine.  There were a lot of good contenders, but I chose OHS because it also contains Vitamin B-12 and biotin, both of which I like.

He's been on it now for about five weeks, and I have to say, they were not kidding about the 'shine' part:

Need shades!

The only other time I've ever seen this horse this shiny was when Mary spent HOURS over multiple days grooming and bathing him.

*This is not normal.

And keep in mind I really am a terrible groomer, and with him living so far away he only gets brushed 3-4 times a week. This is with no recent baths, no recent hosing, living on a drylot and this photo was taken on a night when I didn't have time to put a lot of effort into grooming.  Mostly because this was the same night as Mud Body Art night, when I was late to my lesson so of course Connor came in looking like this:

Two hours earlier

I didn't expect to see a difference.  I keep trying to think of what else could be causing this inside out glow, but nothing has changed except adding in the OHS.  He did start getting his summer coat in about the time I started this supplement, but this is shiny even for his summer coat.

Anyone else tried and liked Omega Horseshine?

One thing I haven't had to do in a while is think about Connor's diet.  He's on Tribute, first of all, which I love.  I got a Bachelors in Equine Studies, which doesn't make me an expert, but according to Dr. Marks "This Equine Nutrition class should make you skeptical of snake oil feed and supplement salesmen for the rest of your life," and it has.

Reasons I love Tribute:

- It's fixed formula - they're not going to change the ingredients based on whatever was cheapest that week.
- It's low starch/high protein/high fat.
- Dr. Dan Burke came to speak at the farm on equine nutrition a few years ago, and he's the only feed/supplement salesman I found myself nodding along with throughout his presentation.

The type of Tribute he's been on has changed a few times.  When he first got to the farm, he was on a mix of Essential K (ration balancer) and Kalm N Ez (low starch, 14% protein, 6% fat).  About a year in, we switched everyone over to a mix of Essential K and Kalm Ultra (low starch, 6% protein and 14% fat).

He's been on the 1 Kalm Ultra to 1/2 Essential K recipe twice a day for years now (really if we're talking in terms of the big plastic scoops most everyone uses, he gets 1/2 KU and 1/4 EK) plus the scoop, maybe 1/4 cup, of ground flax all of our horses get with every meal, and I've been so happy with that:


And yeah, I know Mary's grooming skills were a big part of this, but you don't get here without good nutrition too:


New barn does feed Tribute, but they feed Essential K and Kalm N Ez, what Connor was on when he first got to my current barn.  They also don't feed flax, so he'll be taking a big hit in terms of fat, mostly.  And his NSC content will go down, which I am kind of interested to see what that does to him:

He'll be going from the Moderate to the Low category in terms of NSC (plus some Essential K on the far left)

 I'm fine with the change for the most part, but I'm not thrilled about losing the flax and the fat content of Kalm Ultra.  I'd really like to keep that macro as consistent as possible, and the only way to do that is going to be with a SmartPak, which the new barn requires if you feed supplements, as so many do.

So that his system doesn't get overwhelmed with so many changes at once, I've already identified the supplement I think will fill the gaps the best, started him on it and took him off flax a month ahead of time, so that the only change he experiences when he moves is the actual Kalm Ultra to Kalm N Ez adjustment.

But before I reveal what I chose, I'm interested in hearing from you guys: Does anyone currently feed a supplement available in a Smartpak that is mostly flax?  What did you choose and why?

Is there anything better than getting to the barn, seeing that your horse has almost tore the tail flap off of his new heavyweight blanket, shrugging, and getting a brand new one for free?

This is what greeted me when I got to the barn last night.

No, no there isn't.

Let me start by saying I'm a huge fan of Rambo blankets, they fit Connor incredibly well, but I can't afford to replace them if they rip.  I'm also a huge fan of independent retailers like Riding Warehouse over SmartPak just on principle.  That's a long story.

But both those things said - enter the SmartPak Ultimate Turnout.  I've had the sheet for a year (used it with the Rambo liners all winter last year), and I've had the heavyweight for about a month.

Smartpak heavy with Amigo neck altered to fit the non-matching blanket cause I'm not made of money.  (It's on the list.  When there's a clearance sale.)

If you're not familiar with them, they're made of 1600 denier ballistic nylon, supposed to be indestructible (ah but nothing is), and the best part - SmartPak will replace them an unlimited number of times for ten years.  A DECADE.  It doesn't matter if it rips wide open or a tiny little tear, if the waterproofing wears out, if a strap breaks, whatever.  They'll replace it, literally no questions asked in my experience.

I've replaced one so far, the sheet.  It wasn't even the sheet's fault, I just ordered the wrong size and didn't come to terms with that decision until Connor had worn it 24/7 for a month.  SmartPak's answer?  "Sure, no problem!  Just get it reasonably clean and send it back."

The original too-big sheet that Smartpak exchanged for a smaller size - they fit true to size, which means size down 3" from what your horse wears in Rambo/Amigo.

When I said, "This is my horse's only blanket, is there any way you can send me the new one before I send the old one back?"  They said "Sure!  We'll send you a new one and put a temporary charge on your credit card which will be refunded in full when we get the old one back."

Erm, his blankets, uh, get put through a lot, and this is the first time I've had to replace one due to it ripping.

So let's do some math.  I paid $125 for the heavy.  Say he totally destroys it once a year for ten years, I've paid a total of $125 over ten years or $12.50 per year to blanket my horse, and on top of that, he pretty much always has a brand new blanket, so no re-waterproofing or anything.

Compare that 10 year price to a heavy Rambo - if he destroys a Rambo heavyweight once a winter for ten winters, and I find a really good deal on a Rambo at $200 per blanket every year, I would have paid $2,000 over ten years or $200 per year to blanket my horse!  $125 vs $2,000 - there is just no way I can say no when the math is that good and they fit him really well with no rubbing.

(I know Rambos typically last longer than one season, but in my hypothetical example, both the SmartPak blanket and the Rambo are getting shredded once per year - come on, we all know horses like that!)

Have any of you tried out the SmartPak Ultimate Turnout?

The 69" is totally the right call.  I'm embarrassed that it took me this long to return the 72" now that I see the 69".

69"

72"

And from the front:

69"

72", and bonus, a cookie mugging nose.

The moral of the story is, there are some things worth being picky over, and blanket fit is definitely one of them.  Don't settle!  And if you are going to settle for a month and then change your mind, make sure you buy your blankets from Smartpak...

Last year, Connor proved that the 69" Amigo Bravo 12 was too small, and he ended up in a 72", which fit SO well:

Beautiful, isn't it?

Unfortunately, when homeboy learned he could scrape up against the one stretch of woven wire fencing in his paddock to give himself that authentic "survived a horror movie" look, it died a painful death:

That white spot is stuffing hanging out of the butt flap, which along with the entire left side of the blanket, looked like they'd been slashed from shoulder to tail with razor blades.

So non-Rambo Horseware Ireland's fit great, but I am not made of money, so an authentic Rambo that would stand up to his shenanigans is out.  I needed something that could be replaced.  For free.  No questions asked.  Enter the Smartpak Ultimate Turnout sheet (the one they will replace an unlimited number of times for 10 years), which I got on clearance in August for $125:



I ordered a 72" in this based on the Amigo.  I didn't like the fit that much, but thought it was okay.  However, I have seriously changed my mind this week after he's worn it 24/7 for a month.  It just does not fit well.  It's too long, the neck opening is too big, and it's going to rub his shoulders eventually.

I am not a huge fan of Smartpak, mostly due to their non-supplementing-horse-owner shaming tactics, but I turn to them for expensive purchases that I might need to return: blankets, clippers, helmets.  And it paid off.  They are letting me exchange...this:

Which he's been wearing for a month.

for a brand new 69", AND they're sending the new one immediately so he won't be without his only blanket, AND all I have to do is clean the 72" and put it in the 69" box and send it back.

My plan for this sheet is to use my 100g, 200g and 300g Rambo liners underneath it, which have proven to work perfectly with it even in turnout, and let Smartpak replace the sheet however many times he can destroy them over the next ten years.  If it works out, I will have paid $265 over 10 years for a complete set of sheet/light/medium/heavy blankets for him, or about $26/year.

Anyone else getting creative with blankets this winter?