following up on that Rolex swag

Remember back when I went to Rolex? Earlier this spring?? It was totally fun and we had a blast, even if we got soaked. Oh. And I bought some stuff haha. As promised, here's the follow up post on all that, now that I've had a chance to use it all for a while..

the whole shebang, everything but the gloves (more on them below)

I already reviewed the Le Mieux cross country boots (which I continue to love), so we'll just move right along to the rest of it:

kastel sun shirt in action!

Kastel Sunshirts

I got two of these - the navy with red collar and white paneled sides (below), and royal blue with white collar (above). And have since bought another one from that closeout shop on ebay. So. Obviously I bought more, so I must like the shirts haha - so there's the bottom line, I guess.

If you want more details tho, here they are:

These are nice shirts. They are comfortable, have good long sleeves with tight cuffs that prevent rolling up (and thus defeating the purpose anyway), are pretty colors, and have a nice classic look to them. The material is not the most forgiving ever, but it's also not the absolute worst. If you're unsure, tho, size up.

Also, they clean up nicely and have even survived an accidental pass through the dryer (oops). The mesh sleeve panels are delicate tho, and one of my shirts now sports a snag or two.

kastel on left (with free hat with purchase), horze saddle pad on right

The shirts are also more comfortable in heat than the few other sun shirts I have tried - including SmartPak and Under Armour (sold via SmartPak).

At the end of the day, tho, I'm still uncomfortable wearing these shirts in high temps with high humidity. I have done so bc they do an excellent job of protecting from the sun... but I've also put one on, only to switch it right back out again for something sleeveless bc... just, ugh, too hot.

So idk. That might just be my problem with the concept of these garments. I am not likely to buy another one at full price, but reserve the right to purchase one at close-out prices should a fun color come around. Bc let's be real, they're still cute shirts and it's not going to be 90* forever.

so pretty!! even if they're a little sweaty

SSG Gloves

Ok. So these gloves. There is some history here. I tried these on in Dover over a year ago and was basically in love. I'm a bit picky about glove fit - through the fingers and especially through the wrist. These things fit me exactly the way I like. Plus. Ya know. They are just suuuuuper pretty. So pretty. Omg.

But I didn't buy at that point (after waffling way longer than you might expect for, um, gloves). The price point (somewhere around $30-$35 if I remember correctly) seemed a little high for material that felt like it might not stand up to the test of time.

gloves purchased at the end of april, picture taken in june

Then I saw them again at Rolex after searching fruitlessly for brown or navy Roeckls and immediately went for them. Treat yo'self, right? I still loved them after all that time had passed since first trying them on, and with the new job I felt more comfortable with giving them a shot despite the price.

And in action? They are fantastic. I love wearing them. They are like a second skin and are much more comfortable and flexible than my thicker SSG crochet gloves. PLUS. They work on touch screen phones - bonus!

definite wear and tear happening here

Alas, the SSG Lycrochets are holding up way better than these pretties after YEARS of use. Whereas these brown gloves are showing signs of holes to come after just two months. Much sadness :(

I don't regret buying them, tho. Bc damn they are pretty and I am happy every time I wear them. (For now. Until they are in tatters and ultimately need to be thrown out...).

same saddle pad, different color

Anyway, moving right along, let's talk about this Horze Supreme saddle pad. Keen eyes might notice that this pad above is gray, whereas the one I bought at Rolex is royal blue. Well. The short story is, I love the pad so much that I scoured the internet for more.

branding is not as crazy as some Horze products

Unfortunately the pad appears to be discontinued and finding more was REALLY difficult. I had wanted Navy, but every lead was a dead end and I ultimately picked this pretty gray color up off Amazon for probably more than I should have paid. Whatever. No regrets.

weird branding on the back mostly disappears under tack

For whatever reason I just really prefer this contoured cutaway shape, and have had a hard time finding saddle pads like this that don't have built in half pads. And the colors of these Horze pads are pretty nice too.

The royal pad (not pictured her bc it's pictured in practically every other single post from the past two months so if you're super curious just, ya know, keep scrolling lol) has held up well to my near constant abuse. It's a nice weight and thickness, the piping and stitching is solid, and it just looks like a nicer fit on my near-pony.

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So. Kinda probably not the best product review post haha. The item I love the most (saddle pad) is no longer available. The other two I really couldn't recommend for their advertised purposes at full price, tho both are pretty and look very nice (kastel shirts and gloves). Plenty of people are fine with the kastels in heat tho so again - your mileage may vary, and if you see something in that closeout ebay shop definitely go for it!

But hey, shopping stuff is fun, right? And don't we equestrians always have a running list of things we want etc etc? What's on your list?