Product Review: Higher Standards Leather Care

This is not even remotely sponsored, not even requested, product purchased at full price.

I'm going to be brutally honest here: I am really, really awful about cleaning my tack.  One of the huge perks about endurance and beta tack is that you dump some water on it, maybe scrub a little, and you're good to go.  Leather, though.. ugh, that's real work.

I had some Horseman's One Step cleaner/conditioner for a while.  It wasn't terrible or anything, but the last time I saw it, the heat pretty well destroyed it and it had separated into oily/not oily sections.  Ugh.  I suspect that was probably last summer when I finally tossed the whole thing.  Also known as.. I hadn't touched any of my leather tack with cleaner or conditioner for at least a year, probably more.  Oops?

Mostly, I don't care.  I should, but I really don't.  I couldn't be bothered to go out and buy more saddle soap, find more rags, and condition my tiny collection of leather tack.  Two bridles, stirrup leathers, two saddles (one sitting at home, one Eurolight).

It would not do, however, to list a dirty saddle for sale.  I could not bring myself to do that.  So: off to Higher Standards' shop I went, and purchased two, and lo, they arrived quickly and with bonus peppermint!  Ponies always like bonus peppermints.

Before.

Mostly the saddle didn't look too bad, with one exception: behind the crupper ring.  The brass snaps on my cruppers rub the saddle no matter what I do.  It looked pretty awful, and previous half-hearted attempts with water and a rag went absolutely nowhere.

After.

It was surprisingly effective at removing the accumulation of dirt and grime, although the most concentrated areas still took some serious scrubbing.  The after photo was taken when the leather was still slightly damp.  The saddle did end up slightly darker in that section, so I can't recommend spending 20+ minutes scrubbing/removing soap/scrubbing/removing soap in the same several-inch section - but I doubt anyone else is likely to try that.  In areas where I used a normal to perhaps double-normal amount of soap and cleaning effort, the leather color was completely unaffected.

Also, it smells amazing and isn't difficult to use. Sponge on, rinse, sponge again and don't stress too much if a bit is still on there.  Again: would be easier if I cleaned my tack more than once a year, but the reality is that I don't.

Even so: I think I like this soap enough that I might make it up to three or four times a year.  Novel!

Non-riding weekend

Things I did not do this weekend: trail ride.

Things I actually did this weekend:

1. Rasped both front hooves in the morning fog

pony was unimpressed.

2. Played with Fetti in the arena

must run!

zoooom

accelerating through the corner

takeoff!

polite zooming

a more sedate canter

2b. Failed to capture faceoff between pony and buck - silly deer leaped the fence before I could snap a photo

2c. Reassured pony that she was fine and the deer wasn't coming back.

Worried pony.

Fetti doesn't actually mind deer on the trail, but getting unintentionally within 10 feet of one in the arena broke her brain. Deer aren't supposed to be in the arena.

easing her closer to the fence; still worried

Human exists to shield pony.

3. Sorted boots and pieced one back together. Current count: one full set of two fronts, two hinds. One Viper front spare. One Renegade front spare, now back together. One Renegade front spare, needs a cable before it's usable. One Renegade hind spare, all pieces intact but I ran out of energy.

Yes, three front spares and one hind. No regrets.

Needs more shelf.

4. Lunged 'Fetti in the arena on a line, walk-trot-canter.  Also over the barrel-jump a few times.  She only bolted and got away once - big progress! - and it came across as a genuine fear bolt rather than a 'because I can' shoulder drop and run.  We managed a canter on the line again afterwards without further dramatics.  (No photos: my hands were full!)

5. Sunday I went to a semi-local show to watch Olivia and Nilla, and for extra bonus ran into a few other folks I used to ride with back in my hunter days. Sometimes I contemplate showing again. Halfway through a hot afternoon, though? I don't feel like we're missing out on much.

Back at the barn overheating and migrained, kind friends cleaned my stall for me and turned the mares out. I chased them around for a bit - more cavorting as she did on Saturday, I definitely did not want to ride that bareback with a migraine! - then put Fetti away for the day and headed home to sleep. Tuesday, we'll ride.

Saddle fitting, again

Despite all my saddle-fitting posts and the small fortunes I've spent on fitters this year, I don't actually like throwing lots of money at saddle fitting.  I want things to fit, and the saddles seemed NQR.

To recap where things were at:
Thorowgood dressage - rode 2 days at Wild West.  Noted white patch/slight hair loss where I placed the electrodes under the saddle (right side).
Specialized Eurolight - have not felt appropriately balanced in this saddle all spring and worry that it's imbalanced for Fetti also.

I finally connected with some saddle fitters who not only came highly recommended, but have experience fitting the Specialized saddles, something I haven't been able to manage previously.  We set a date and I was thrilled to finally get some answers.  (I should add, since I apparently managed to not put it in the original draft: the fitters in question are Susan and David of Saddles that Fit, and I too would happily recommend them to anyone even sort-of local.  They aren't particularly close, but they're willing to travel!)

Best conformation shot I was able to send off. Photogenic mare does not like to stand square.

Confetti's back
The fitter noted only a bit of soreness, mainly towards the back of the saddle if I'm recalling correctly.  Her back looks generally good.  She affirmed my belief that the pony has big shoulders, no withers, and needs a relatively narrow tree but with appropriate flare.  She also confirmed that a crupper is likely always going to be necessary: it's just how she's built, there's nothing to hold the saddle back.

Usual Thorowgood setup.

Thorowgood
The flocking on the right side was uneven.  While some of it might be attributed to the saddle rack (oops, my bad, I haven't been as careful with the flocked saddle!), it looked like a bigger issue than that.  When we put it on Fetti and had her walk forwards, the saddle consistently shifted slightly to the left, consistent with the flocking being uneven on the right.  Oddly enough, this is not something I've noticed at all while in the saddle - but then I'm not entirely even and I compensate for that, too.
Flocking issues are fixable.  It might be worth trying a narrower gullet plate.  However, on further examination, they did not have any narrower ones with them - so we opted to ignore that option for right now. 
Eurolight
I learned things about my saddle from the fitters.  Crazy how that works out!  My Eurolight looks to be one of the first Eurolight models, with absolutely no seat padding.  The seat, however, can be shimmed to influence rider-fit.  I thought shims were only for horse-fit!  It has more of an endurance seat than a trail seat, but doesn't completely match to the current endurance seats.  This saddle consistently shifted slightly to the lft when walking, too, but I think that was less so than the Thorowgood?  The fitter noted that we'll want to adjust the angle on the left shoulder.
The billets and the girth didn't fall quite in the right place; I should consider a contoured girth to help set it in the right place.  For the record: inexpensive 24" contoured girths are tough to find, especially once you rule out any mohair/string girths and prefer to avoid leather!

winter Specialized photo

I've had a tough time pinning down what exactly it was that made me feel off-balanced, but once I hopped up, it was clear to all of us involved that I was not-balanced in the Eurolight as-is.  We did some shimming with my Eurolight to see if it might fix things.  I pointed out that I have a difficult time getting my thighs on the horse, and thus my toes tend to point out; this is exacerbated when I have pommel bags attached, as my knees run into the bags.  Given that, they pulled out a 16" Eurolight demo (this is why I wanted a Specialized dealer, too!), shimmed it up, and had me give it a try.   Wow.  What a difference!  The seat didn't make me feel trapped, my thighs went on (reasonably) well, and the seat was way more comfortable.  Hey, it's the little things.  The demo model had a trail seat rather than the more-popular endurance seat.

My position
I absolutely loved this: not only are they saddle fitters with Specialized experience, they have a centered riding background and I got a mini-lesson to go with the saddle fitting.  I am, unfortunately, a large part of the issue here, though my saddles haven't made it easier.
I really struggle with body awareness.  This is not new.  I know this.  I don't know where straight is; I don't always know quite how to do something that my brain understands but my body can't piece together.  Mostly, I tend to arch my back too much and not lead with my seatbones or anything.  Let's face it: I grew up riding hunters and getting the job done, but I never made it look pretty and I was never super-effective.
The lightbulb moment: use one of Fetti's lower braids to physically pull myself forwards into a posting trot.  This motion has eluded me for years.  Using that braid connects all the dots and has entirely changed how I post.
I do a better job finding neutral/correct position at the sitting trot; if in doubt, return to sitting, then try posting again. We could have put me back in my Eurolight for proof-of-concept, but it was pretty clear mine wasn't helping me in the battle to fix my position, so we opted to skip that.
The fitter also had me drop my stirrups a hole in the dressage saddle.  It's been two weeks and I'm still riding with it at that length.  Combined with the new posting mechanics, it's working fine.

End conclusions
1. Adjust flocking in Thorowgood dressage saddle to help with lateral shifting of saddle & white hairs
2. Relearn proper posting mechanics and true neutral, use braids to help acquire muscle memory
3. Acquire 16" Eurolight with a trail seat

#1 the fitters did for me.  Yay!  #2 is my homework and I'm continuing to work on it.  #3 rapidly became challenging.  I have been casually watching for 16" Eurolights or Internationals ever since May.  They do occasionally show up, but often at more than new-Eurolight price, and frequently with a wide tree.  Fetti does not need a wide tree.  I do not need to pay more than new.  I hadn't even thought about what seat I needed the saddle to have, and already I knew my options were limited.  Adding the trail seat parameter took my used options down to zero.

Funny how things work: it was two years exactly from when I first set the Eurolight on Confetti to when I listed it for sale. 

It's not in me to buy new very often, but to buy used, there have to be appropriate saddles out there.  I put my 15" Eurolight up for sale on Facebook at what I thought was a reasonable-to-high price.  The market disagreed: within 24 hours, and before it even made it up on two of the three groups I listed it to, I had a buyer at my asking price.  I sent an email off to the fitters, made my decisions, and placed an order for a new 16" Eurolight.  There's a 3-4 week wait time for new saddles right now, so this should get it to me before our early October ride if all goes well.

I'm happy to have answers, and I'm excited to see where this takes us.  Fewer saddle fitting headaches, yes please!

Too hot; 5 years; DIY Horse Ownership's giveaway

I had great plans of working on heat training, taking Fetti out for more mid-afternoon rides, maybe going out for a long ride one day this weekend.  Then I stepped out of the house around 2 to move my car, walked back in, and turned up the fan.  Stiflingly, miserably hot: I have lived here for four years and this is the first time I've ever wished for air conditioning, blasting a fan and sweating while sitting inside my house.

So instead of heat training, I made it out to the barn near-dark, worked her in the round pen, and went for a lazy moseying mile ride with a friend.  Sunday I didn't even bother getting on; we turned the mares out, chased them a bit, and went home again.  It was just that kind of weekend.

I'll do competitive rides in 90-degree weather because unfortunately that's how it happens sometimes.  I won't go out and train in 100-degree weather in the middle of the day.  Today, we'll ride!


Also: five years now since I first met 'Fetti.  Where did the time go?

DIY Horse Ownership hit 200 posts last week, and she has a giveaway running!  Nilla is just as adorable in person - and totally memorable, given I discovered the blog via the contest and after seeing them at Fireworks this year.

Oops. An update!

I have been a bad blogger, totally and completely failing to update about anything.  Rather than try to do coherent, well-written posts about the past month, it's all going here or it will never get written.

July: burnout
Fetti and I had a spectacular May/June where we worked on stuff and rode hard and conditioned.  We kept that up through the first week in July.  When it was determined she wasn't going to Fireworks, we rather abruptly quit with the Serious Work.
- She felt burned out.  I didn't have my high-energy, enthusiastic trail pony.
- We were fighting about forwards in a big way.
- I had concerns about saddles.
- Friends were off work and available to do mellow trail rides with a new horse.
Two weeks of generally pokey rides, no big trots, some turnout.  She was content to go slow.

So.. slow it was.  We walked a lot.  We jogged some.  I did a fair bit of bareback riding and stayed tuned in to how she felt (answer: content to follow the new young-pony on trails).

Toward the end of July, I hopped on for what I had come to think would be a polite, mellow walk around the barn.  Instead, she had a big walk and leaped/flounced her way into the trot.  Vacation was over.  She was ready to go back to work.

Oh, but there was one eventful ride.

You will have to embiggen and maybe squint to find it, but there is a helicopter in this photo.

Eep.

Pony was Not Impressed: this was not our usual helicopter that lands-sticks around-leaves.  There were, evidently, two, and they were landing-leaving-landing-leaving-repeat perhaps indefinitely.

I evaluated the (rapidly dwindling) number of cookies I had, and the (not very rapidly dwindling) amount of helicopter we were likely to continue to encounter, and we politely turned around and walked our way back home.


Upcoming posts:
- saddle fitting and the results
- product review: leather cleaner/conditioner

Small blessings; a July-so-far recap

I'm a little behind on posting, so here are current-update snippets!

#1: I ended up as the volunteer coordinator for our very-local ride.  The original plan had been to have someone else take the ride on 'Fetti -- I knew I could not adequately watch everything and coordinate the day-of for the first time while also riding, at least not on a course with limited cell coverage!  Despite some last-minute scrambling, the pony ended up riderless and got the weekend off.

However.. it turned out that for whatever reason, the course rode much harder this year, and I am so, so grateful I did not send an inexperienced endurance rider out with reassurances that the horse could totally do it in time, only to find that in fact making time was really hard this year.  I would have worried, they would have worried.  Frankly, even if I'd ridden it, I would have wondered all day what the hell I was doing wrong that we weren't making good time.  No one was -- but riding back of the pack, I would not have known that until we finished.  I wish things could have worked out differently... but it was good that they didn't.

#1.5: Also, nothing went spectacularly wrong for me as volunteer coordinator.  Yay!

 #2: On a whim, I emailed the saddle fitting folks again, and they got back to me within a few hours.  I have no idea what happened the first time.  In any case, we now have a date set and I'm hopeful I can get some saddle answers.

#3: We're still dealing with the aftermath from that one lesson/training ride fiasco at the end of May.  This really deserves its own post.  Short version: Fetti learned that if she resists long enough she doesn't actually have to go forwards.  This comes up periodically, I've never 100% squashed it, but I 100% lost the discussion in the training ride.  She's now doing this at the barn when alone and pointed out towards the entrance to the trails.  While this sucks, it is consistent and easy to replicate.  If I could afford to fly Dom out and fix this one issue right now, I'd totally do it.  We're a little trainer-shy currently.
I will add: mare is not afraid.  She's stuck in front and quite behind my leg.  Once we get past her 'sticky spot' where she goes sideways/backwards/spin/full avoidance of forwards?  Totally fine.  Battle over.  Where are we going?  Trotting off?  Cool, whatever.

#4: For the first time ever, I have a full set of boots plus spares.  Not that the spares are pieced back together yet, and not that I've put the boots actually on the horse, but I have boots and I'm very excited.

#5: Our solo rides are keeping to a respectable 4.5-5mph overall speed most of the time.  This makes me happy.

#6: I turned Fetti out in the arena yesterday before our ride and chased her around a bit.  It's all a game to her.  This time, though, she'd sprint a lap or a half a lap, then occasionally pause and ask to come in for scratches.  I'd scratch her face, tell her how lovely she was being, back up, and give her a verbal OK.. and she'd sprint off again.  Rinse, repeat.  Eventually she decided she was done and stuck with me when I backed up.  What a good mare.

Renegade boot saga: the problem pony

I went to Wild West with four** full boots and came home with one full boot, one shell, and two captivators.  The question keeps coming up: why am I continuing to use Renegades?

Booting/ride recap:

Ride Bear 2012: First ride ever, first ride in boots (ever), front Renegades only.  No issues. W/T, no water.
Fireworks 2013: Front Renegades only. RF came off cantering uphill after water crossing*, 20-some miles in. I purchased hind boots for this ride, but for whatever reason she didn't vet well in them, so we went without. No good answer for that one.  It was odd and I was reluctant even then to blame the boots.
Quicksilver 2013: Front Renegades only. No issues. W/T, no water.
Mount Diablo 2014: Front Renegades, hind Renegades.  No issues.  Slow W/T, one water crossing.
Fireworks 2014: Front Renegades, hind Renegades.  Cable snapped on a hind boot heading home, so pulled both hinds ~19 miles (attributed to user error; should have checked/replaced cables prior to ride).  RF came off trotting uphill after water crossing (slightly different spot than usual, but within the 'usual hill' mile).
Quicksilver 2014: Front Renegades only.  Both boots came off repeatedly within the first few miles - at which point I discovered the cables were pulling through.  Pulled boots off, went barefoot for remainder of ride.  Probably user error with the cables not seating right in the clamp.
Mount Diablo 2015: Front Vipers only. No issues. Slow-moderate W/T, one water crossing.
Wild Wild West 2015 #1: Front Vipers, hind Renegades. RF came off trotting flat after water crossing around mile 5-6 - cables pulled through as in QS '14.  Hind shells disappeared (captivators intact) between mile 4 and 12.  Fast first few miles.
Wild Wild West 2015 #2: Front Vipers, hind Vipers.  RF shell came off trotting(?) uphill after water crossing (captivator intact).

*this particular water crossing/uphill takes the RF boot off almost like clockwork, so it wasn't really a surprise in 2013.  I think it's stayed on twice ever in training rides there.  We're headed home, she's moving out, it's after water, it's uphill.. it stays on better if she'll trot, but even then no guarantees.

** take spare boots with you to rides, y'all.  It's a Good Idea.

Ride morning: boots set out and ready to go.

The recurring theme is that the RF boot comes off.  This is not a boot problem; this is a hoof problem.  Her RF has a long-standing flare issue that I'm dutifully trying to resolve.  It's slow going and I have not been aggressive enough in dealing with it.

I don't train in boots often.  I do try to ride boots at least once within a few weeks of a ride, but it doesn't always happen.  It doesn't seem to bother her either way.  If anything, I'm more concerned about breaking a cable or doing something terrible to the boot prior to the ride!

Fireworks 2014. There was some creative boot-carrying going on.

For as much as I grumble about losing boots, the track record of my Renegades is not all that terrible.  Four rides with absolutely zero issues.  Two rides with issues I attribute to user error.  Four rides with RF boot issues.  And given I don't train much in boots, if I'm going to have issues, I'm going to have issues at rides.  WWW2015 #1 has been the only ride in three and a half years where I've questioned my sanity and boot use.  Everyone's going to have a tough ride eventually.  That was ours.

Mount Diablo 2014. Four boots!

Have I tried Easyboots?  I have not.  Initially, when I was first looking for boots, the Easyboot Wide line was not yet available.  Fetti has wide hooves; her RF measures wider than long with the flare (128w x 125l from the last notation I have a few months back) and the standard Easyboots were clearly not going to be a good fit for her.  At the time, I was also looking for a boot that would fit throughout the trim cycle; Renegades are more forgiving than Easyboots in that respect.  I'm now doing maintenance trims myself. Fetti is clearly not a good candidate for a boot that will fit throughout the trim without maintenance trims!  I'm not anti-Easyboot, but the problems I'm having with the RF Renegade are almost certain to give me problems with any other boot until I can get a better handle on managing that flare.

Why not just shoe?  I've thought about it.  I'm not anti-shoe, either.  Some horses need shoes to perform well, some situations require it, sometimes it really is the best option.  I'm just not convinced it's the best choice for us.  I have a pony with good feet who has been barefoot for the vast majority of her life.  She's sound over most terrain and slightly ouchy over gravel.  Probably 40 miles this past weekend were done missing the RF boot, and that left her only slightly sore.. and in hindsight, it's even possible the soreness is from having three feet booted all day and one not.  It's hard to say.  Short answer: I don't really want to put shoes on her for the 3-4 rides a year that require hoof protection. 

Renegade customer service is amazing.  I ordered my first boots via Mel, who patiently email-fitted the pony for boots and put up with all my questions, then got them ordered promptly so I'd have them for my first ride.  I've emailed with Ashley about water-crossing/boot-fitting troubles several times over the years - and the lack of follow-through on fixing that is entirely mine and not hers.  I'm not a very good online-troubleshooting candidate when I get boot advice and then forget to do anything about it for weeks to months at a time.  This spring I realized I had Serious Boot Issues that actually had to get addressed (namely: the boots don't stay on at the canter), so I got my act together and pestered Aurora when she became a dealer.  I chatted with both Ashley and Aurora at the AERC convention, pondered Viper sizing, ordered more trial sizing shells, pondered Viper sizing some more, and finally placed the order.  When the boots showed up, we photo-evaluated some more and ended up switching the Viper captivators out for Renegade captivators.  I have sent a lot of boot fitting photos to these ladies and they have been incredibly, incredibly helpful all along the way.

Photo-fitting the fronts.

Renegades are pretty easy to work with.  I can re-boot on the trail if a boot comes off.  I can adjust them myself to fit better throughout the length of a trim, and I have on occasion ridden in boots ~6weeks out from her last trim.  It may not be ideal, but these boots do have the flexibility to allow for that.  I didn't start doing any maintenance rasping until mid-2014.  Renegades also come in replaceable parts: if I break a cable, I replace the cable.  I don't have to replace the whole boot, and while an occasionally aggravating process, it's reasonably user-friendly.  I seriously contemplated fixing the cables in my boot over a 30-minute hold.  I didn't have to, and the boot wasn't cooperating, so I ended up not fixing it til after the ride - but if push came to shove, I could have spent a few extra minutes in camp and gotten it working again.

Most folks don't have the kind of boot issues that I've been dealing with.  I have no qualms about recommending Renegades to friends.. even friends that have seen me come back from rides with only one boot still on the horse.  When they work, they really work.  (That said, I also have no qualms about supporting people in using Easyboots, or shoeing, or whatever.  If it works for you, awesome.)

Fetti and I just haven't quite gotten there yet.  Maybe this season we'll sort out all the kinks?