Product review: Thermax Headliner

 Winter riding brings the need for warmth. For me my ears are one part that needs to stay warm or I am miserable. So years ago we found this headliner in the motorcycle section of our Marine Corps Exchange.

 

The liner is super thin, so it barely takes any room in your helmet. It is stretchy and can also be a balaclava or just a neck warmer.

It is sleek enough to wear at a show or clinic.

Just as many things the price has gone up over the years. It is still worth the $18 price tag. 

We just gifted one to our Magna Wave practioner and she was thrilled. She has a long walk to get to her lesson and was looking at something to keep her head warm.

I will warn that it holds heat really well, so it can get very warm using it in an indoor. It is durable, mine is still in great condition. 

Item:Seirus Thermax Headliner

Price: $18-$25 depends on retailer

Product Review: Prolite Dressage Relief Pad

 After riding in the wrong saddle for so long, Roscoe developed hard nodules on either side of his spine. When we got the new saddle, he still showed some back soreness from the pressure on those nodules. I began putting the sheepskin lined pad on him and that helped, but I decided to bite the bullet and get a pressure pad. Going into Second level with all the sitting trot, I want him comfortable.

Advanced Saddle fit had the Prolite Dressage Relief Pad and it seemed to fit the bill.

I was lucky enough to find it at The Cheshire Horse during a sale and got it for $99.

Roscoe's back was much happier and did not show soreness after work. And bonus, his nodules are nearly gone. The pad has relieved my mind as I develop my sitting trot skills. So not ready to sit his lengthening.

The best surprise was that I put the pad on Ember. He is still in the Isabel and I know he has the same issues that Roscoe did, plus some due to being an awkward growing cob. He is quick to balk under saddle. With this pad, for three rides, he has not balked once. That is a serious benefit and makes this pad totally worth the price. Ember is like a different horse.

The pad stays  in place and stays up in the gullet. It only comes in black, but seems pretty nondescript on the horse. I highly recommend.

Prolite also has a fixed riser, multi riser and pocket version available.

Product Review: Compositi Hot Spur Interchangeable System

 As we ask more of Roscoe in training, I found I needed more in the spur department. Mom bought me a set of heavy weight rowel spurs for about $35 from Dover. These spurs definitely got Roscoe's attention and helped when learning new lateral movements. But he seemed to overreact during transitions.

So I started looking at different spurs. Karrigan recommended buying lower end versions of different ones before spending a ton on one kind.

At one point I landed at Riding Warehouse and found the Compositi Hot Spur Interchangeable System for $29.95. One polymer spur with the option of five types of heads: Two Prince of Wales models, as well as a round, hammer, and smooth rowel.

When I received them, I worried about the durability and how well the head would stay on. Well so far, they are great. They fit on all my boots and the change is easy. I admit I put them on upside down by accident. Mom tried them and realized my mistake.

Now I can ride Roscoe in the rowel and then switch to the small rounds for Ember without taking them off my boots. My toolbox has expanded. Definitely worth the price.

Product Review: Hands On Grooming Gloves

I tend to be very basic in what I need for daily grooming. Give me a curry and a mixed brush and I am good to go. So when Peggy pulled out these Hands On Grooming Gloves, I  was not in a rush to try them. Plus unless it is winter or a horse show, I am not someone who wears gloves.

From Schneiders website

So Peggy tried them out and the horses loved them, but I was still not reaching for them.
Fast forward to the past couple of weeks when we have had rain which brought mud. Mud produces extremely dirty horses especially since we have taken off fly sheets. If I wanted to ride, I had to get through the mud to find my horses. Since mud is a hard thing to groom off certain places, I decided to give the gloves a chance.

Muddy horse who is suppose to be grey

Here is what I found:

- I only used one glove and had my brush in the other hand. When needed I could hold the brush with the glove covered hand.

- I was able to groom through the mud much quicker and more thoroughly then with a normal curry.

- The  hard to reach areas, between front legs, elbows, behind ears, fetlocks, hocks, were no problem with the glove

- The horses love the "Hands On" grooming since it mimics a good scratch and massage. I sometimes had to wake them up after a session.

- My hand was not tired from using this glove.

- The glove stayed in place.

- The glove design allows for good movement, definitely not awkward.

After the first use, these gloves have become my go to tool to cut through mud and building winter coats.

Mom has used them on the dogs, corgi and german shepherd, and removed a ton of hair. Always good to be able to use on multiple animals.

I have not tried them wet, though the are advertised as wet/dry. The small fit well for me. If you have really small hands, they could feel super spacious. They also talk about saving your manicure, but since I do so much more than grooming at the barn, I can't comment to the effectiveness in that area.

Cost wise, they run about $25 for a pair. In my barn with multiple people grooming at one time, a pair lets two people have a great tool. Worth the price for the ease of grooming. And for me to say that about gloves is a big recommendation, since I am a not a glove fan and I am a penny pincher.

Product Review: Dover Trailer Hitch Cover

Well I have just spent quality time trolling the Internet tack stores ordering supplements and a few extras. This takes me a ton of time since I go between multiple retailers checking prices and shipping rates. It is amazing how many times the product will be more expensive, but when shipping is added the total is cheaper than at another store where the price is lower.
Anyway one of my purchases was a replacement trailer hitch cover from Dover. I have had my trailer for eight years now and have used this hitch cover for at least six. Our first one was a Tent Sale find, but we were hooked. This cover is easy to use and fits great over the tongue of my trailer, protecting the hitch and electronics. Though I originally paid about $20 for the first and second, the current price is $29.99. Still not bad for about $10 bucks a year.

Dover's product page picture

The cover has a zipper for easy use and a strap to go under the tongue with a clip to secure it to the trailer. There are small vent holes by the hitch so it breathes. The nylon is durable and seems to last about three years. I love this cover and highly recommend it to any bumper pull trailer owners. Definitely a trailer must have!

And for those who like Riding Warehouse, I found that they have one similarly made for $25.95. I almost tried it, but decided to go with the one I knew worked for my trailer. So if anyone gets one let me know how you like it. The shape is slightly different and it does not have a zipper or vent holes (that I can see), but otherwise it looks like the same concept.

Product Review: Hay Burners Slow Feed Bags

Over the years we have tried different methods to slow down the rate the horses eat hay. Horses are grazers and do better when they eat a little over time. We have wrapped hay in landscaping mesh with success, but a lot of effort. Peggy purchased Nibble Nets and those worked really well too. For Winston we combined the Nibble Net and the landscaping mesh to make the holes smaller. Mom went a step further by purchasing fish net when she went to Florida. The fish net was too hard for Rosemary, but Winston did figure it out. We still have more fish net to play with and will work with it more in the future.
When we moved to Peggy's, the lack of grass made finding the right bags imperative. Peggy found an Australian company that made slow feed bags and bought two. We used them for the boys when we went to the Welsh show in September. The 3-4 flakes in each bag lasted the whole drive there and the five hour wait. Peggy and I were impressed. The squares are 1 1/2".

The Australian Slow Feed Bag

Afterwards Peggy went in search of others a little closer to home. She found Hay Burners Equine LLC. They have standard sizes and will custom make bags also. Knowing that our guys already mastered the 1 1/2", she purchased the 1" square polyester and the 1" hex nylon in the half bale size. The bags area  great size and fit over a muck bucket making it easy to fill. We found that the horses prefer the square bags versus the hex bags. This was because the hex bags are smaller when hanging. All the horses including Dottie with her big lips are able to eat from both though.

Hex material

Most mornings we come in to find some hay still in the bags. I love that because it means they have hay available all night. We have hung them from the fence and thrown them on the ground. Very effective slow feeders.
Now for the negatives. The website warns about shrinkage. That is a fact. We had rain soon after receiving the bags and soon the square bags showed shrinkage. Unfortunately the shrinkage was not even causing a bottle neck effect. Just getting a couple flakes past that point was difficult. The hex bags had minor shrinkage, but were still easy to fill. Peggy and I took pictures of the worst bag and sent it to the company. The company said they had not seen shrinkage in quite that way. Since they were unable to get the netting to work, they discontinued that material. For us, they sent two more square bags for free. The other negative is that the rope they use to secure the top can be frayed by a fence. Good news is that it is easily replaced for less than $5. We have replaced 2 so far. To help prevent fraying we put them on the ground when dry.

 

Roscoe says "I got this square bag"

The company does what they can to make these bags as durable as possible. They also send repair materials in case your horse causes a hole.
What they don't tell you is what interesting things can happen with the bags. We knew from Winston and the fish net bag that a horse could toss them under a fence and not be able to reach it after. So when we put them on the ground we make sure they are away from the fence. One morning I came in to find one bag in the grey boys area, but the other was missing. I looked at the fence line and could not find it. As I walked back to the stalls, I saw something in one of them. In the corner of the stall was the missing bag. One of the grey boys, I bet Winston, walked that bag all the way to the stall. Another time Peggy found one bag in each of the stalls. So not only are they "grazing," they are also moving around. To cap off the hay bag adventures, twice we have found this in the morning:

SLAM DUNK!!!

Yep that is a hay bag in the water trough. The first time they soaked it for most the night. The second time they tossed a morning bag in for about and hour. I will say they ate the hay once we fished the bag out of the trough, so nothing was wasted. It is not fun to bail out an entire trough though.

So if you are looking for a slow feed bag, definitely try these. Depending on the size you want they run from $27-$45. I especially like them for long show days to keep the horses occupied.