Cob Jockey

Longtime readers of the blog know that you could describe me as obsessive when it comes to finding great cold weather gear. I developed Reynauds in my early 20s, and if I let my fingers and toes go numb long enough, I can sometimes pass out when the blood comes back to them. 

After eight years of wearing the same outfit, my cold weather gear finally changed this year and man, some of these pieces are too great not to share with everyone. So here's the first in a three part series about what's new:

I've found the holy grail of winter weather barn coats.

I had to get a new one this year, and I landed on the Carhartt Montana Puffer Coat - Sherpa Lined. On Carhartt's warmth scale, it's a maxed out "4 - Extreme Warmth Rating". For comparison, the canvas coats you usually think of when you think Carhartt are a "3 - Warmest Rating".

 

 

Guys, I almost returned this coat. It's TOO WARM at temps above 15F. It's too warm to wear a scarf with, too warm to wear a vest with. Too warm for a single Smartwool base layer. Way too warm to wear my Underarmour 4.0 with. I sweat no matter what I wear under it even though my body doesn't handle cold well at all. You put your hands in the pockets and they are immediately WARM. It's remarkable, and I can't get over it. 

Just as a fun experiment for this post, I did an hour of feeding, turnout and stalls in just a t-shirt and this coat when it was 18F this morning, and I was sweating! I have never felt anything like it before, and I'm truly in awe of it. 

The weather this morning

 

How I dressed for it

Other upsides to this coat are:

• Extremely durable water-resistant and windproof outer layer. Yes, it's a puffer coat, but it's a puffer coat that takes the abuse of farm work no problem.
  
• Great pockets - big, warm pockets (with zippers) for jamming your gloved hands into, snap pockets to drop things into, a nice big cell phone pocket on the chest, and an easy-to-access massive mesh pocket on the inside.
• Internal wrist cuffs - you can't see or feel them, but you can feel that the cold isn't getting into the sleeve
• It's lightweight and doesn't restrict my movement in any noticeable way.
  

 

Giant mesh pocket

It does have some downsides:

• It's massive and not at all attractive. Imagine what the Michelin Man would look like if he had all the curves of a cereal box. That's what you'll look like wearing it.
  
• The zipper sucks. It's plastic and sometimes gets stuck. I can already tell I'm going to be making a trip to the seamstress this summer to get it replaced with a metal one.
• The hood is not removable. This really bothered me at first and I felt like it was constantly hitting me in the back of the head, but I don't notice that as much now - not sure if the hood relaxed as I wore it, or if I'm so grateful to be warm that I don't care. I did have to get a different winter hat to fit under the sherpa-lined hood - more on that in another gear review post.

 

Sexy, it is not

Closeup of the sherpa lining in the hood and body of the coat

Of course 'significant' is relative.  Connor's full winter coat looks like this (if I let it grow out, which I do NOT do anymore!):

Yakity Yak!  Too bad we didn't get anything for scale in this photo, each one of these belly hairs was 3-ish inches long.

For comparison, the below photo was taken two weeks ago today.  He is just racing right into winter.


All the reminders that I'm about a month away from clipping 😭

Note: This is a repost from two years ago, with some notes added throughout. I wanted to share it again, because I still have this same set of UA 4.0, it still looks brand new after two whole winters of wearing and washing for both CrossFit and riding, I can't live without it, and I hope some of you add it to your Christmas list!  I literally have not worn my winter coat a single time since I got this stuff, and that's not something most equestrians can say in Indiana.  Prices appear to have fallen too - I've seen the shirt as low as $45 on Amazon.  Enjoy!

Mother Nature has decreed that it's time to review my new Underamour 4.0.


Californians are not invited to this party.  Not that they want to be.

For Christmas, my Grandma got me a set of Underarmour 4.0, which is for "brutally cold" temperatures, according to the box.  (Note: They do also make 2.0 and 3.0.  Don't bother with those unless you live in California.  4.0 is where it's at.)



Summary: It is so much warmer and more comfortable than traditional UA, I can't bring myself to ever wear my traditional Underarmour again, after wearing it for two years. (Note: I got rid of all my regular UA after writing this review and never looked back.)

The inside is a waffle pattern, which the manufacturer says traps pockets of warm air underneath.  They're incredibly soft and comfortable against the skin.  On the shirt, the big waffles extend throughout the entire shirt.  I'm showing you it inside out:



On the pants, the big waffles turn into tiny waffles just below the knees, which is great for equestrians:

Also shown inside out, and shown with optional dog hair.

Unfortunately this is where my one equestrian problem is with them: they don't have rubber cuffs on the inside of the pants, so if you are putting breeches or tights over them, they roll up your calf and have to be pulled back down.  It's a minor annoyance given how awesome these things are, but it does bug me. (Note: really doesn't bother me anymore.)

Also, thumbholes.

Now for the performance.  And keep in mind I have Reynauds and don't handle cold well at all.

To really test it, I rode in this stuff with just a thin vest and summer tights over it in 35 degree weather and my core stayed so hot, my hands didn't get cold even though I wore summer gloves too.  It was in the indoor - UA4.0 is definitely not meant to be windproof, so I wouldn't do that outside.

I also wore it with one polar fleece shirt and a puffy vest over it for my lesson at PHS, when it was 28 and snowing, and I was so hot I got sweaty - but I stayed dry because those waffles wick moisture like crazy.  It's truly remarkable how much warmer it keeps me than traditional UA.

This is what the outside back of the pants look like.  The waffle pattern does show through summer weight riding tights, but not through winter tights and breeches.

But even better, it's so much more comfortable than traditional UA, which always left me itching with red horizontal lines on my arms when I took it off.  I felt strangled by it, and always raced to the bedroom to take it off as soon as I got home.  The 4.0 stuff feels like pajamas, I could happily wear it all day.  I am so much more lazy about taking my barn clothes off when I get home now (much to my husband's dismay).

She bought the shirt one size too big because XS was sold out.  I wish it was the right size, but it doesn't bother me like this.

All that said, if you go to buy it, you're going to find it's expensive - about $170 for the set.  (Shirt) (Pants).  You guys know how frugal I am, and I am telling you: this is worth every penny if you live in an area where it is regularly below 40F.  I probably wouldn't have worn my super heavy insulated Carhartts and equestrian team coat through college if this stuff existed back then.  I plan on taking good care of it, because I can't afford to replace it and I can't live without it now! (And edit, it has held up incredibly well for two years.  I'll get years more out of this set, making the cost per wear low).

That's a solid 20lbs of clothing right there.  Freshman year, 2007.

Equine college was fun!

In honor of it being 3 degrees above Fahrenheit this morning, it's time for my annual mid-winter Reynauds and cold weather gear update.  I know several of my readers also have Reynaud's - it's really common in women over the age of 20 - so please chime in in the comments if you have any additional suggestions!  I am happy to report that I have not had a single Reynauds-related fainting episode this winter, thanks mostly to the fact that I've finally nailed down the perfect winter outfit - at least, for those of us on a budget.  I'm sure there are better options out there, but I can't afford them.  Here's my current arsenal:

Head: Columbia knit hat
Torso: Horze Winter Riding jacket, over my Irideon fleece vest, over an Underarmor ColdGear shirt

Horze Winter Rider Jacket

Hands: SSG 10 Below gloves, over Back on Track ceramic glove liners

Legs: TuffRider Winter breeches over (if it's sort of cold) microweight SmartWool  (which I also highly recommend under dress pants at the office) or (if it's actually cold) Underarmor ColdGear pants

Smartwool Microweight bottoms.  I know they look like Underarmour, but they fit more loosely and the feel is totally different.

Left knee: Back on Track ceramic knee brace


Feet: TuffRider Winter tall boots, over Wigwam ski socks, with HotHands foot insole warmers in the bottom of the boot

Some notes on the new stuff:
Back on Track ceramic glove liners: These are nothing short of a miracle, and you all need to go order them right this second.  They WORK.  Usually, halfway through my lessons I have to tell my trainer to stop while I revive my frozen fingers on a handwarmer.  Since I started wearing these under my SSG 10 Below's, I don't have to do that anymore.  They work best if your hands are warm to begin with, so I like to run my hands under warm water or stick my fingers in my mouth for a few seconds before putting them on.

Horze Winter Riding Jacket: All the warmth, almost zero weight.  It's so light, and the details show that someone really thought about equestrians when they designed it.  I like that there are four pockets with snaps on the front, plus there are side pockets lined with warm fleece behind the two lower front pockets, which make a good place for my hands when cold.  The neck is lined with the same material, and made it to where I don't have to wear a scarf anymore.  Highly recommended.

Wigwam ski socks:  The best advice I've ever gotten off the CoTH forums is to look outside the equestrian discipline for serious cold weather gear.  These socks are lightweight, not bulky, and yet are some of the warmest things I've worn.  They are the perfect companions to my lined winter boots.

HotHands Disposable Foot Insole Warmers: Not the toe ones, the whole-foot shaped ones.  It's an expensive solution to the problem of cold toes, but I haven't had a single Reynauds episode since I started wearing them.  My feet are so small, they cover almost my entire foot.

Merry Christmas, everyone!  Unlike most of you, judging by the blogosphere today, I was unable to see my pony on Christmas.  We had to make a mad-dash run to my parents 4 hours away and then come back the next day to beat out the Great Indiana Blizzard of 2012, which shut down this entire area.  Despite getting the rare county government snow day today, I still couldn't make it to the barn as the snow is going to keep me from making that drive for the next couple of days.

Nonetheless, I had a fantastic Christmas.  Seeing my family is priceless to me, and being able to wake up on the farm on Christmas morning is a rare luxury now that we live so far away.  Honestly, being snowed in with my husband was a great Christmas present itself!  For gifts, Connor got shipping boots and the white with green Smartpak show pad, as my mom was excited to contribute to our first show season.  My husband bought me the Horze jacket, which is the lightest,warmest thing I've ever owned, and my sister bought me some excellent ski socks that bear a review for the Reynaud's riders out there - you guys are going to love these.  My husband says he likes to buy me warm barn things because it makes him feel like he can take care of me even when he's not there.  Aww!

Finally, I am so behind on this, but two weeks ago I received my Chronicle of the Horse Forums Secret Santa gift!  This was my first year participating, and I hope I did well for my giftee, because my Secret Santa sure did well by me!  I opened the box to find all of the following gifts, which were so thoughtful and personalized:

A book I've always wanted to read but never bought, UnderArmour  shirt to match my black underarmour pants, and handwarmers, which  I go through by the box every winter trying to keep Reynauds attacks at bay.

Plus this:

It wasn't empty like this before my husband got to them...

Plus a not-pictured blanket in our hunter green color that is currently on my couch and two bones that my dogs actually tore into the package to find.  I feel like I made a friend through this as well, as my SS has evented before and higher than me, and said she would love to answer any questions I have as I go forward this season.  If you're out there, thank you so much, Jen!

Merry Christmas to all of you, I've enjoyed reading your Christmas blogs the last few days even if I haven't had time to comment - I promise a flurry of comments coming up soon.

This is pretty well unrelated, but here's a cute video of our Husky/Malamute mix, Tucker, playing with Nick in the snow this morning.  We got another few inches after I took this, if you can believe that!

The view from the window of one of the stalls I was cleaning this morning.  Some days I'm convinced that I've died and gone to horse heaven.

The gorgeous day at the barn had me in a good mood (the horses stayed out last night so my chores were two hours shorter than normal!), but Connor clearly wasn't feeling it.  From the moment we moved away from the mounting block, it was clear that he wanted to be anywhere but in the arena working on flatwork.  I can't blame him, I guess, but I also need him to at least try to focus when I ask him to, so I tried to get something out of him.  When he obeyed me, he did so automatically with his focus never shifting from the birds/his buddies in the pasture/the trees blowing in the wind.  He wasn't spooky, just never focused on me.

When I asked him for something that forced him to focus on me, he either started rushing, tossing his head, or both.  This is very out of character for him lately, as we've had several good, through, connected rides in a row lately.  Against my better judgment but out of options, I threw in a canter transition and gave him a good long canter, hoping that he'd get tired and start paying attention.  He did, and he did, but only after some death-defyingly fast trips around the arena.  I was never afraid, but I was glad I had texted my husband before the ride to tell him to send the hounds if I didn't text back in an hour.  You know, just in case.

We've been doing nothing but basic Dressage for a long time now, and it's clear that we need a change up.  He seems to enjoy the mental challenges most of the time, but I'm not surprised that the lack of variety is getting to him.  I'm going to try to get a hack in sometime before my lesson on Thursday, and cross my fingers that jumping gets added back in sometime soon.

Additionally, it's 80 degrees and he's barely shedded a single hair, which is adding to his unhappiness about being ridden, I'm sure.  At least it's warm enough to hose him off!