Valentine's Day
What? It's April and you're talking about Valentine's Day?
Whatever, I felt like it merited a post.
I entered Olivia's Valentine's Day Contest and WON which is amazing because I never win contests. Ever.
I got this amazing drawing of Runkle which is now hanging on my fridge, although I kind of wanted to scan it and put it everywhere and color it a million different ways. She was all 'oh no I'm a bad artist' etc, etc but in reality, I think she's great and I think this drawing is adorable and fun. So thank you Olivia for the gift of your art!!
The other part of the gift was a $14 giftcard to Riding Warehouse. I used it to procure new stirrup leathers for my dressage saddle, because it has really gone through the ringer leather-wise.
Initially I had a pair of Pessoa leathers that came with my jump saddle. Those literally fell apart (not my fault, they were on their way out when I got them).
Then I got a pair of Bates webbers which were a) too long and b) somehow managed to DESTROY my saddle. What happened. I used to love webbers and these seriously screwed me, how dare you.
I had to quickly replace the Bates at my total crap local tack shop that I hate. The only ones they had that weren't ridiculously overpriced were beta ones that are too short for dressage length, so the extra bit doesn't fit in the keeper it just flops around under my leg giving me rubs.
I'm a professional.
So I'm pretty excited for these, and it's way overdue. I was less fussed before because I wasn't riding in my dressage saddle all that much. Lately I've been using it a lot more; I need to be able to sit on Runkle and get my leg around him. So the stirrup leather situation has been more at the forefront.
Now I'm the proud owner of these bad boys:
Whatever, I felt like it merited a post.
I entered Olivia's Valentine's Day Contest and WON which is amazing because I never win contests. Ever.
I got this amazing drawing of Runkle which is now hanging on my fridge, although I kind of wanted to scan it and put it everywhere and color it a million different ways. She was all 'oh no I'm a bad artist' etc, etc but in reality, I think she's great and I think this drawing is adorable and fun. So thank you Olivia for the gift of your art!!
The other part of the gift was a $14 giftcard to Riding Warehouse. I used it to procure new stirrup leathers for my dressage saddle, because it has really gone through the ringer leather-wise.
Initially I had a pair of Pessoa leathers that came with my jump saddle. Those literally fell apart (not my fault, they were on their way out when I got them).
Then I got a pair of Bates webbers which were a) too long and b) somehow managed to DESTROY my saddle. What happened. I used to love webbers and these seriously screwed me, how dare you.
 |
| Stupid webbers destroying my saddle in this picture. |
I'm a professional.
So I'm pretty excited for these, and it's way overdue. I was less fussed before because I wasn't riding in my dressage saddle all that much. Lately I've been using it a lot more; I need to be able to sit on Runkle and get my leg around him. So the stirrup leather situation has been more at the forefront.
Now I'm the proud owner of these bad boys:
 |
| Bates pretties |
They sit really comfortably under my leg and don't squeak against my saddle. And they hold my stirrups. What else do you need from leathers?
On a somewhat unrelated note: I rode in jointed stirrups for the first time the other day and have had terrible knee soreness ever since. Has anyone else had this issue?? I'm a boring traditionalist - I only ever use plain fillis irons although I do adore the comfort pads. Especially after that video of a guy's Freejump stirrups snapping in half. Terrifying.
#1 YAY for cool art! #2 That picture is gorgeous and I am SO jealous of your pretty brown dressage saddle! I want one.
ReplyDeletei. love. brown tack. ESPECIALLY brown dressage saddles. I found that one on the super cheaps at Ricks Saddlery, only to realize it actually belonged to Sally Cousins so I totally could've gotten it even cheaper :/
DeleteHaha I have a love/hate relationship with jointed irons. I can't ride in normal fillis--my knees/ankles are crippled in minutes. I also can't do high-end joint like Royal Rider or HS because they're too flexible and hurt me. I can do the knock off royal riders because the joint is less joint-y.
ReplyDeleteMy happy place is wide tread stirrups. Good luck. :-)
Yeah I think that's why I like the comfort stirrup pads I think, they have a TINY amount of give just on the ball of my feet and make my 'plain fillis' stirrup tread wider.
Deletewhy are there so many tiny iterations of things I can change??
Jointed stirrups kill my knees and ankles. Just what your used to I suppose.
ReplyDeleteyeah it's just funny because I feel like people ALWAYS tout the jointed ones for happier joints!
Deleteaw that picture is awesome! Olivia is talented. also i get weirdly excited about basic equipment like stirrup leathers and have been casually thinking about replacing my ancient stiff uneven jump leathers for a while. maybe soon?
ReplyDeletealso brita has had some knee / ankle problems and finds that stirrups with wider foot beds (wider in the toe-to-heel dimension, vs from side to side) are the most comfortable.
yeah the wide tread is where its at. I wonder the dynamics of why that works
DeleteI also wonder why more people don't make purple stirrup irons.
probably something to do with the distribution of force across a larger area? idk. i think the joint idea works better in concept than in reality bc maybe we end up bracing in our own joints since we don't have anything fixed to stand on?
DeleteI mean if you legit want purple stirrup irons, I might know a guy ;)
DeleteI'm a traditionalist too so I ride in boring old fillis irons
ReplyDeleteyeah they've got my vote for life :P
DeleteLove the art! You should definitely scan it a thousand times and make a coloring book.
ReplyDeleteI have the opposite with stirrups. I get joint pain with fillis irons, much prefer the bendy ones.
That art tho! So beautiful! And I get oddly excited about weird little tack purchases too... although that might be because I'm a tack ho? Details, details.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you like the drawing. I like the weber type stirrups leathers and get really annoyed with any lump under my thigh. I don't love jointed stirrups either, but I do find the twisted stirrups (Icelandic) to work really well. It definitely relieve the tension across the leather, but without any of the flexibility issues of the jointed stirrups.
ReplyDeleteThat is a beautiful drawing!! I hate jointed stirrups and I've had two knee surgeries on my left knee. I traded for regular ones with a friend that actually liked them.
ReplyDeleteThat art is amazing! I'm with you on the desire to print it out and color it! Wow!
ReplyDeleteThose bates leathers look almost identical to prestige leathers! Very similar at the top. I love the art <3
ReplyDeleteLove the art! You should definitely scan it a thousand times and make a coloring book.
ReplyDeleteI have the opposite with stirrups. I get joint pain with fillis irons, much prefer the bendy ones.
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ReplyDelete