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Friday, April 26, 2019

kentucky day 1: SHOPPING

Happy Friday everyone!! Obvi my weekend started yesterday haha with day 1 of dressage at the Land Rover Kentucky 3 Day Event. Except... Well... To be perfectly honest, we didn't plan on arriving early to watch all those extra tests haha. Thursday for us was for SHOPPING !!

check out this gorgeous ASB?
Also, unlike in past years, my host's home has upgraded the wifi so I can actually post this haha. PLUS I'm actually getting pretty reliable cell phone service in the Horse Park too. At least, on this first day when there weren't too many people on the grounds yet.

ooooh and this one too!! so much action tho
Actually, Thursday seemed pretty sparsely attended overall. But that worked out for us. No long lines, plenty of stock. And my friend with the injured foot is basically fully weight bearing and walking pretty darn well, albeit in a boot. So all in all, pretty good conditions haha.

inside the trade fair!
And we did a LOT of shopping haha. Right off the bat I had my eye on show coats, considering none of my coats fit me any more womp womp. I already picked up a couple pairs of breeches to update my sad saggy baggy, so that's not a big priority at the moment.

trying on so much attire! also. that shirt says "good studs are hard to find." OMFG
Tho. Haha. Just bc you're not buying doesn't mean you can't try on ALL THE THINGS!! Obvi for science, right? Like idk what size breech I am right now, to be perfectly honest. So clearly I had to try on all various different brands etc.

Like these Romfh breeches that I LOVED. It didn't hurt that VTO Saddlery was offering a free pair of socks just for trying on Romfh breeches haha.

LOVED this county, think it was an epiphany?
Clearly I've done a fair amount of saddle shopping in recent years so I'm not reeeeally in the market haha. But like that's ever stopped us before, right? We sat in a TON of saddles (probably will continue throughout the weekend tbh), and this County (Epiphany maybe?) was hands down the most favorite dressage saddle I've ever sat in.

majyk equipe is getting into the stirrup iron game!
Back in the world of more realistic price points lol, Majyk Equipe has these neat new irons (they had pink too! such cute colors!) with pretty good deals when purchased with full sets of boots. I've had pretty bad luck personally with MEs, mostly with the boots turning and rubbing. Apparently that's pretty common, tho they say it's user error. But like, how hard should boots be to put on?!?

wondered if there would be more demo stirrups to be found haha, but nope
Anyway. The Stubben tent is one of my favorites ever since finding those demo stirrups for $100 off list price haha. So naturally I had my eye on the ground just in case we could manage any sort of repeat haha. But rats, no such luck - all the demo irons chillin under the racks were standard old school fillis irons haha. Maybe they wised up ;)

i've heard good things about this faceh metal curry
Grooming stuff doesn't normally end up in my shopping cart bc I have a lot of it already and tend to just use my old faithfuls. This metal curry was interesting tho. One of my barn mates has it and likes it, but I'm kinda skeptical haha.

actually really liked those brushes too...
These brushes tho....I liked them WAY more than I expected. Bristles that long aren't generally my type. But something about their relative stiffness just had that certain je ne sais quoi that we all like in our body brushes haha. Didn't end up buying one, tho no promises I won't grab one before the weekend is over haha. I think they were only $14 or something so maybe haha!

loved this combination! 
There were so many pretty tech-y jackets allllll over the place too. I really like what's happening with colors right now too. Not so much bright and bold, but more sorta conservative while still kinda different and interesting. This particular hue I really liked, especially that underlying show shirt (tho the shirt wasn't as cute on its own). But I imagine it's a bear to keep clean!

came pretty close to getting these ice boots
Y'all already know that ice boots are on my list in general. This is the style that I was pretttttttty sure I was going to buy. But.... maybe I'm just kinda an idiot, but I didn't realize that the price was per boot. Which like, obviously changes the numbers quite a bit. So even tho the above was pretty much what I thought I wanted, I ended up not buying. Spoiler tho -- I found an alternative that seems even better haha.

the equitack booth was hardcore. champagne and insta-friendly cactuses and some aggressive sales people haha
Anyway moving right on along. Possibly my favorite booth was the EquiTack tent haha, since they had absolute mountains of really nice used saddles for pretty competitive prices. And quite a few members of my party spent a good long while trying different things and getting fitted etc. Didn't hurt that the sales reps kept plying us with champagne tho lol.

voltaire booth was super stylized 
For real tho -- actually one theme from the day was just how intense some of the sales people were. Like everyone is super nice, and obviously everyone is there to do a job. And there's naturally a symbiotic relationship between customers and sales people. But DAMN. Some of these folks were sharks haha. Definitely aggressive tactics. So like, consider yourself warned if you plan on visiting all the booths.

these titanium bits were fascinating! 
Like the lady in this booth who walked up to us discussing bits in general, not this specific metal (titanium), and jumped into the conversation to tell us that the titanium was what would make all the difference in the world. That horses who don't accept the bridle will accept the titanium. And that my horse who leans magically won't lean if I just use a $300 titanium bit lol. Which like, eh. We've heard that story before haha.

checked out the equipe booth too
Anyway tho, overall there were a LOT of really great booths. Lots and lots of excellent product. The Equipe was probably one of my favorites, and in some ways reminded me of Eponia (which I have NOT seen yet, tho that doesn't necessarily mean they aren't at the show).

they had a lot of nice stuff!
Actually they had some great deals here too. I LOVED all their bridles, but especially loved that they sold everything in pieces too. Y'all know I'm a huge fan of frankenbridles lol so individual parts are always very enticing to me.

i esp liked all the individual parts...
Especially, ahem, when I discovered a certain black patent chunk of leather that.... was quiiiiite possibly either tagged incorrectly, or tagged in such a way that the hand written price wasn't very clear. But I double checked the price with the rep and bought that thing before she could second guess her answer lol.

and, naturally, some stuff came home with me too ;)
So Charlie's got some new gear to try out when I got home. And, uh, yea there are some other fun new things too ;) Probably I'll do a more complete recap of the full haul eventually (bc let's be real, I'm probably still gonna buy more stuff throughout the weekend...). But here's a sneak preview!

Anyway. TGIF yo. Here's hoping for an awesome weekend here in Kentucky. It feels like kinda a small field of riders, but hopefully the weather will cooperate, the ground will be good, and the horses will all run well!

Hope you all have a great weekend too ;)



36 comments:

  1. Nice early haul!! Last time I went was 7 years ago. I’m very overdue and only 6 hours away. Maybe next year though I’ve been saying that for years now. Have fun today!

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    1. Thanks! Honestly I kinda love just walking around and touching everything haha even tho I only ever buy a few things. Will have more to share soon ;)

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  2. It is fun to shop right away and snag a few things before it gets picked over! Hard to resist all the fun stuff when you are away on a horse trip. I buy so much stuff I don't need at Congress...lol

    Enjoy the rest of the weekened!!

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    1. Thanks and totally agreed! The weather yesterday was perfect for walking all over the place, whereas today is cooler and rainy so we will be happy to just chill in the grandstands. Tho ya know some more shopping might likely still happen haha

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  3. I love seeing your shopping hauls from these things. And new (non-saggy) breeches are always necessary!

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    1. Definitely! I didn’t buy any breeches here yet bc I’ve already picked up some pairs to fill that gap.... but those Romfhs were FANTASTIC haha

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  4. I'm getting grabby hands just scrolling through this. You must have iron will!

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    1. Omgggggg the grabby hands is SO REAL tho haha. It’s been pretty hard to walk away from some stuff.... but there’s still time left to cave haha ;)

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  5. Romfh breeches are the absolute best hahaha. I have two pairs and would clothe myself in them exclusively if I was like... you know... rich hahaha. But yeah Romfh, if you need a girl to sponsor, HEY!

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    1. I LOVE the pair of Romfhs I have. LOVE. But I got them not long before I started losing weight and now they are two sizes too big. Which sucks ugh. They’re still in pretty good shape tho so hopefully I can sell them and might end up buying a new pair either this weekend or at some point in the future. The waist on the green pair above in particular was really perfect for my dimensions and shape !

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  6. Have a great weekend! I'm so sad I couldn't go this year. Totally agree on the crazy salespeople- it's a total turnoff to me. Last year I just wanted to look at some dressage saddles that were by the same brand my jump saddle is and the sales rep would NOT leave me alone. Even after I told him I flew and could most definitely not bring a saddle home with me, he was soooo pushy.


    I have the turquoise ME stirrups (they were a free gift when I bought the girth) and I wanted to love them but I just don't. Maybe I'm too spoiled by the MDC stirrups.

    Excited to hear about everything else you're going to buy, bahahaha

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    1. Oh that’s good to know about the ME stirrups. They look cool but definitely don’t make my heart go pitter patter in my hands the way my stubbens did lol. And yea the saddle sellers are cut throat haha but hey. I’ll take the free champagne !

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    2. another vote for the MDCs I love the look of the ME stirrups BUT I love my MDCs so much I can't do it! LOL.....and did Stubben have any used saddles there Emma or were they all new?? Glad you all had fun and glad Rachael could get around!! YAY...sad I missed it but next year is on my calendar!!

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    3. there were used saddles ER'RYWHERE OMG haha -- so so so many nice used saddles, including stubbens! definitely missed you tho - hopefully next time!

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  7. I love romfh breeches so much. They wear like iron too, which helps soothe my cheap ass self. Haha.

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    1. I love the pair I have but they don’t fit any more! Definitely foresee getting another pair at some point lol

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  8. First, ice boots. Those finn tack ones have short elastic, don't get them. The ones from Tough-1 are better. Having nursed my founder horse for a whole year, I feel like somewhat of an ice boot expert! (Lol, not really. But don't get the Finn tack ones.)
    Next, I can't wait for the full haul recap!!!! Shopping is my favorite.

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    1. Ha that’s good to know about the ones in the picture! I actually picked up a different pair that I’m pretty excited about and will hopefully have pics and details up soon! They’re esp neat bc the gel pocket lining Velcros to the outer wrap so it looks easier to get them cold and keep them cold. We shall see!!

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  9. That place would be so dangerous for me! But I still want to go someday. :)

    I have a patent leather noseband. While it's a bit tricky to keep the fingerprints off of it,I do like it. :)

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    1. You should definitely go some day! I still have it on my list to go to one of the majors abroad too, maybe Burghley ?! And re: keeping the patent clean she legit told me to use windex (tho she warned against getting it on any of the surrounding leather bc it’s drying lol)

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  10. You're not an idiot about the ice boots. I ordered them, got pissed they only sent one, and was on my way to email to to be a bit rude when I decided to double check the ad. Of course I bought a second boot at a later date when I needed two.

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    1. Ha ok glad I’m not the only one!! But also super relieved that I figured it out before purchase bc I would have been MIFFED lol

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  11. Ok so I was also pretty much attacked today by sales people too! One lady was pretty condescending to me as well so I WON'T be calling her back haha!

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    1. Omgosh by far and large most of them were totally friendly even if they were aggressive but one lady was super condescending to my friend too! Like my friend has legs for days, tho it’s not necessarily obvious when you look at her, so when she told the rep what size saddle she would need the rep was just like “no you’re wrong,” which like... no. And every other rep was like “oooh I see what you mean!” Seemed like a strange tactic haha

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  12. I ride my coach's mare in her Epiphany, and yeah...Im not one to buy into the latest and greatest but that thing is my favorite saddle I've ever ridden in, hands down. Its funny because we're all different shapes and sizes and everyone loves that thing.

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    1. Oh man it’s so funny how that works out!! I have always liked counties but they never ever came close to fitting Isabel and i haven't had a chance to try one on Charlie. But that one in particular is definitely #goals haha

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  13. I hope you have a great time in KY, totally jealous bc I couldn't go this year! Need ALL the updates!

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    1. sorry you couldn't come this year too!! i got updates aplenty tho - stay tuned ;)

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  14. Props to the designer of the Voltaire booth cause that looks cool. I'm also drooling over the Horseware coat! The farthest I've gone color wise is gray, but I might need to step out of the box a bit more

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    1. ha doesn't that booth look awesome? tho obvi all i was wondering about was whether those pieces would be discounted since they were used as decorations HAHA.....

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  15. I actually love patent nosebands - I'm excited to see what it'll look like on Charles!

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    1. omg me too haha -- true story, i've been low-key obsessing over patent nosebands for actual years now, and could not believe i found this one (which seems quite quite nice) for the price on the label haha!

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  16. I'm commenting backwards here but the epiphany is maybe the most comfortable dressage saddle my ass has ever touched and I regret sitting in one because now my butt wants no other.

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    1. omg i'm having serious Epiphany regrets haha... i've even gone so far as to google them (only like 16.5 seats or N trees seem to be available right now) bc HOT DAMN DID I LOVE IT THO

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    2. I was lamenting to my rep (I WANT ONE IN BROWN) and she said if I wait a year there will be more demos around (probably)

      (by then they will come up with something even better)

      (assholes)

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  17. That curry looks like a tart pan - did your friend buy that shirt?

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