Eighteen months with a gel seat pad, and an honest answer about who it actually helps. It was never the horse.
Eighteen months of three-ride weeks on a secondhand Western trail saddle, and an honest look at what a gel seat pad can and cannot do for a rider who is the one hurting.
A gel seat pad and a sheepskin seat saver both go under the rider, but they solve different problems. Here is what 18 months of one and a month of the other taught me.
A plain-spoken look at what a gel seat pad actually does for a rider on a four-hour trail, and what it does not do at all.
Eighteen months with a gel seat pad, and an honest answer about who it actually helps. It was never the horse.
A plain-spoken walk through what actually helped my seat bones on four-hour rides, what did nothing, and how to tell your soreness apart from your horse's.
Eighteen months on one gel seat pad, from a rider who bought it for the wrong reason and kept it anyway. What it does, what it does not, and who should walk past it.
Fifteen months, three Wisconsin seasons, and one very bad habit of mine. What a continuous loop rein actually changes when you ride one horse on real trails.
One is a single loop of rope with scissor snaps. The other is two straps of leather you manage one side at a time. After fifteen months of trail riding on one horse, here is where each one honestly earns its keep.
Fifteen months on one bridle, three rides a week, one wet June. What a closed loop rein actually changes on the trail, and who should leave it on the peg.
I ruined a good pair of leather split reins by stepping on them in the barn aisle. What I bought to replace them has been on the same bridle for fifteen months.
Five things to look at before you buy a rein for trail riding, from a rider who dropped a split rein once and did not care to repeat it.
Fifteen months on one loop rein, three rides a week, on a wide-withered Quarter Horse gelding. What worked, what did not, and who should leave it on the peg.
A plain-spoken look at two and a half years with a felt lined cinch, including the rub that started it and the maintenance nobody mentions.
A plain-spoken comparison from a home horse owner who switched cinches after a rub and has not looked back.
A plain-spoken look at why a felt liner can stop a cinch rub, what it will not fix, and how one Wisconsin trail rider settled on the Weaver Equine Felt Lined Smart Cinch.
A bare patch behind the elbow, three weeks off, and the piece of tack that fixed it. Notes from two and a half years of steady use on one wide-withered gelding.
A cinch sore is usually three small things stacked on top of each other: the wrong contact, the wrong length, and too much tightening. Here is the order I would fix them in.
Two and a half years, three rides a week, and one bald spot behind a left elbow. What the felt liner actually does, what it does not, and where it falls short.
Two years on one hook outside one stall, through Wisconsin winters and four-hour trail rides. Here is what held up, what dulled, and who this halter actually suits.
Two years of daily use on a padded nylon halter, set against the rope halter that lives in the tack room, and an honest look at where each one earns its place on the hook.
Two years of daily on and off on a wide-withered Quarter Horse, and the hair behind his ears finally grew back. Here is what a padded halter actually changes, and the one thing it will not fix.
Two years on a 1,100 pound Quarter Horse gelding, one winter rub that did not come back, and the one small complaint I still have.
Five fitting steps I use on my own gelding, in the order that actually works, plus the checks worth repeating every week.
Two years of daily leading, tying and farrier work with one padded nylon halter, including the parts of it that irritate me and the horses it does not suit.
Three years, three tins, and about eight cleanings a season on one secondhand Western saddle. What the paste does, what it does not, and who should buy something else.
Two soaps, one saddle, three years of monthly cleaning. A plain answer about which one does what, and when the other one is the smarter reach.
A used Western saddle, three tins of soap, and three years of once-a-month cleaning. Here is what actually keeps leather soft and what is just habit.
I bought my Western saddle used twelve years ago and nearly let it dry out past saving. A 3.5 ounce tin of paste soap, a damp sponge, and one evening in the tack room did more than any oil ever did.
A plain-spoken routine for cleaning a Western saddle with saddle soap, from a rider who has kept the same used trail saddle going for more than a decade.
Three tins over three years, one secondhand Western saddle, and a plain answer to what this soap does and what it does not.
Eighteen months of three-ride weeks on a secondhand Western trail saddle, and an honest look at what a gel seat pad can and cannot do for a rider who is the one hurting.
Eighteen months on one gel seat pad, from a rider who bought it for the wrong reason and kept it anyway. What it does, what it does not, and who should walk past it.
Fifteen months, three Wisconsin seasons, and one very bad habit of mine. What a continuous loop rein actually changes when you ride one horse on real trails.
Fifteen months on one loop rein, three rides a week, on a wide-withered Quarter Horse gelding. What worked, what did not, and who should leave it on the peg.
A plain-spoken look at two and a half years with a felt lined cinch, including the rub that started it and the maintenance nobody mentions.
Two and a half years, three rides a week, and one bald spot behind a left elbow. What the felt liner actually does, what it does not, and where it falls short.
Two years on one hook outside one stall, through Wisconsin winters and four-hour trail rides. Here is what held up, what dulled, and who this halter actually suits.
Two years of daily leading, tying and farrier work with one padded nylon halter, including the parts of it that irritate me and the horses it does not suit.
Three years, three tins, and about eight cleanings a season on one secondhand Western saddle. What the paste does, what it does not, and who should buy something else.
Three tins over three years, one secondhand Western saddle, and a plain answer to what this soap does and what it does not.
