I managed to do a small fraction of my holiday shopping this weekend. Yay me. (never mind that there's still so much left... sigh). A fave local tack shop is stuffed to the gills with merchandise too - so they had some deals that were just stupid. There were stacks on stacks of discounted saddle pads, and all kinds of rider accessories. Like, how do they even make money?
So naturally I had to grab a few things for myself too :)
Most of my own goodies were boring, practical/functional stuffs - like new ties for my trailer. But I did splurge a teensy bit (term is relative - the prices were goooood) on a pretty peachy thin Ariat vest:
pretty!
Vests have been my barn jam for ever, really, and my big black Gap vest has been there for it all. I LOVE that vest. Seriously. Still looks brand new. Has been a dedicated barn garment for over 10 years. That's quality folks. But it's also a little too heavy for spring/fall. So this new peachy one will be more seasonally appropriate (eventually) :)
'what's a flash?' - isabel
I also picked up a havana cob-sized flash noseband from the consignment section. I saw this same one last time I was in and hemmed and hawed over it for maybe 20 min... and opted not to get it. But I've been thinking about it ever since. So. Picked it up this time around.
I'm not sure if it's going to do what I want it to do for Isabel. My dressage trainer and I have talked a couple times about using a flash on her. But I guess the proof will be in the pudding. The price was good enough for an experiment. Plus the cavesson itself is nice and padded and might be a decent replacement for the flat wide ugly one I'm using now.
Also, picked up a new little painting from a local artist/friend (this wasn't at the tack shop, but it's horsey so I'm including it). I already have a piece by him, and am pretty excited to add this huntsman to the collection. I kinda love his saucy little stance too lol.
There were a few other fun things from the tack shop too... In fact, it was the perfect opportunity to do some shopping for the 2nd Annual Equestrian Blogger Gift Exchange, hosted by Tracy at Fly on Over. Gotta admit I had a little fun with this :)
Yay for horsey shopping & bargains to boot. Win-win ☺
ReplyDeleteI have my parents Christmas gifts sorted, now to discover what to get my sisters & friends *head-scratching*
yea - bargains are *always* welcome when shopping for horsey stuff lol. and you're much further along in your shopping than i am - kinda jealous lol. i need to get my butt in gear!!
DeleteI don't use flashes much, but I love the way they look on horses for some reason.
ReplyDeleteyea i've never used one on Izzy before either, but will see how it goes!
DeleteLooooove that vets color!
ReplyDeleteFlashes are hard things. I finally gave up on them and went to drop. I only use it to support the bit in Pig's mouth, which helped mitigate his reactions to my hands while I was developing a better feel for following contact. I still use it because he's comfortable in it, and it still does its job. Every flash I ever tried on him didn't sit right to lift and support the bit. Either it stretched or it sat funny. Part of that was Pig's mouth conformation (he has a REALLY short mouth), part of that was flash construction. Your experience may vary. I've seen some flashes that do a GREAT job at supporting the bit, and others that just dangle pointlessly. I think as long as you know what you're looking to get out of the equipment, you'll be able to tell really quickly if it'll work for you.
This post reminded me that I should check the clearance bins of all the tack stores in Chicago when I'm there this week. Thanks for that!! SO excited!! :)
i kinda love that color too - super excited about it! and thanks for those points on the flash! i'm not really interested in sticking it on her for the sake of it - it's gotta serve a useful purpose... but i'm also a little worried about it just pissing her off lol
DeleteLove that painting! Super cute.
ReplyDeletethanks! i'm so excited about it! haven't brought it home yet bc the artist just had his opening in the space - so i wanted him to get a least a week or so with all his work hanging together.. but i might not be able to wait very long :)
DeleteThat peach color looks so nice! Now I want to go shopping too haha
ReplyDeletei love peach :) and yea... i kinda have a problem wherein i can't resist shopping for myself while getting gifts... lol
DeleteScore on the vest!
ReplyDeleteyessss!
DeleteI like the peach vest! perfect spring color :-)
ReplyDeletenow all we need is spring ;)
DeleteI'm so jealous you have a local tack shop!! There used to be a very small one here but they went out of business because they literally never had anything in stock it was so disappointing! We have boot barn and stuff but they have nothing english it's a sad life! Haha
ReplyDeleteGlad you're getting Christmas shopping done sounded like a successful day!
aww what a bummer that your shop closed! having tack shops around is so convenient - and we have a couple nice independents + two Dovers, so we definitely have options (maybe too many options lol)
DeleteNice scores!
ReplyDelete:D
DeleteI really wish I had a consignment tack store around here. My regular feed store never has sales. Congrats on the awesome deals!
ReplyDeletethanks! and the consignment store is pretty much my favorite, honestly.... so convenient!
DeleteShe has the cutest expressions!! Love it! I'm a vest girl too..Really liking that Ariat, and that painting is super cool!
ReplyDeleteshe loves making faces lol. i'm sooo excited about the vest too! now it just needs to warm up a bit so that it's more appropriate :)
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