Two Horse Tack Beta-Biothane Halter!

 Natasha from Two Horse Tack contacted me to do a Product Review of her Beta-Biothane tack line. I was pretty excited as I have never dealt with Beta-Biothane, and heck - who doesn't love trying out new tack?!

I went with their Turnout Halter & Lead made from Beta-Biothane in the two-colour combination.

The website states that "it's the only halter you will ever need!" due to the fact it is super strong & made of easy to clean material. The halters feature double buckle crown pieces, easy on and off throat latch snaps, an option to purchase a breakaway leather crown piece, an optional matching lead and stainless steel hardware.

Beta-Biothane

A little more on Beta-Biothane: the website claims it to be more durable than nylon or leather. It also says that the color will stay true even after years of use, and to clean dirt around the stitching you can wash the tack in the washing machine! Finally, what I found interesting is that it doesn't absorb moisture or sweat like leather does, and the web coating serves as padding so it's comfortable for your horse.

So what did I think?

well first, let's all just say how cute my model for today Buster is. I went with the black halter with red on top, because ultimately (of course) this will be Jingle's halter and those are his colours!

Fit

I really liked the fit and feel of the halter on Buster. The snap throat latch and double buckled crown is a really nice addition, plus the roller clasps work really well with easy adjustment. I'm always in the market for tack that can easily adjust from one horse to another since we're constantly using our tack on different horses in our training operation. These halters definitely have that.

Function

For what I do, I would have preferred a rope lead, and will probably end up switching out the beta-biothane lead for a traditional rope lead. I like to be able to have a long line so I can lunge a small circle if I need too, and also I prefer to tie to poles/fence/etc. with rope.

I also wanted to test how easy this halter was to clean. So I found legitimately the only mud-pit in the desert, a very gross cess pool of wash-rack run off and literally drug this halter through the muck. All I did was hang it in our wash rack, quickly sprayed it off, and then left it to dry.

After an hour it was dry, and after a day of sitting outside it was slightly dusty, but otherwise like I had never gotten it dirty or left it outside. Pretty impressive. Unfortunately the desert dust really seemed to show up on the black, so next time I might go with a different colour. 

Overall...

Overall, I really like the halter and especially like the idea of the halter and the quick-clean Beta-Biothane. At our operation we have the "home halters" and the "show halters", the home halters take quite the beating - from having the horses tied up while their saddled, washed off after we work them, tied to the fences while they are turned out - they see a lot of the elements and show it. This material is way tougher, and way easier to clean, and would be a much better substitute to have a better looking, yet still cost-effective halter at home.

I'm pretty happy with my new little halter and can't wait to throw it on Jingle and see how he looks in it! (He will look adorable... obviously) Plus, speaking of Jingle, i'm mulling around the idea of possibly trying the two different styles of Side-Pulls that Two Horse Tack provides - and if I do end up trying them out of course I will let you guys know all about it!

Try it yourself!!

Finally, Natasha over at Two Horse Tack has offered up a coupon to my readers if you guys would like to try out some of their cool Beta-Biothane tack - don't miss out!!

Riding Diary: 37 & 38

I have been super AWOL, but i've been working on this behemoth "year in review" post, and writing these posts in-between, and getting mad at myself for posting other stuff before my resolutions, but then not having time for the behemoth post, yada yada yada, and between all that, life has jumped in my way ft. never-ending car problems, and a birthday trip to Vegas! I will attempt to be a better blogger, soon.
You guys get to hear about two of my lessons today! Woop Woop! My trainer was gone for most of the holidays, meaning no lessons for me. I rode Jingle pretty regularly throughout the holidays, and also tried to do a day of groundwork a week (blogs to follow haha), but towards the end of our trainer/lesson break, things got a little hairy. I rode one night and Jingle was a firey bubble of crazy - he would.not.check, he would not slow down, he just extended trotted his heart out around the arena like a fire breathing dragon. Finally, almost an hour later of jogging and trotting and trying to lope, I got his brain back and we finished the lesson on a decent lope.

Then, the next time I rode, his warm up seemed calm, which is generally a really good sign - wrong.  Demonponyboy was back - his left lead that he never, ever, ever misses - gone, buh-bye, can't pick it up to save my life. So, perhaps he'll finally pick up his right lead? Nope. Fuck you Mom, I hate my leads. By this point we were both sweaty and frusterated, so I decided to switch up the ride, try to come back to our happy place and work on some slow stuff. It was going well until I asked for some sidepassing whilst facing the wall. Cue my horses new trick "watch how fast I can run backwards away from this mother-fing wall", no fun. Okay Jingle, you are getting frazzled over the wall - and you are showing me you can sidepass at a fricken run down the wall, so let us attempt a calm sidepass in the middle of the arena - nope. My horse begins to crow-hop when I ask him, then he begins to attempt to rear, then he full out fricken' rears on me! Bad. By this point he was having his head hauled to my foot and the words "QUIT IT" were being growl-yelled at him, It doesn't really surprise me that when he get's frusterated like that his instinct is to go up. I always figured the time would come when he would try a rear, since he's never, ever bucked in his life, but I have seen him rear up before (such as the time he jumped a 7 ft. round-pen to be with his friends - he started that little escapade with strikes and rears at the panels). We finished the ride working on transitions, I just wanted to get his mind back, so we would walk a semi-circle, and either stop, or transition into a jog, and then vice versa. He was okay with that, and we side-passed one more time, no rear, and quit.

So....

37.I went out on a Saturday for a lesson, I had done some groundwork and desensitizing the night before, and was hoping and praying it would help. Jingle was a bit messy, at one point his steering failed me, and he ended up trying to lope on-top of, and over, my trainer. However, overall I felt the lesson was really productive - Jingle is starting to pick up his right lead more and more consistently, and I'm beginning to really not have to even "ask" anymore for his left. With my trainer there she was able to walk me through dealing with his pissy run-away-i hate you behaviour, so that really helped. So although it was a tough lesson, and not the prettiest, I felt like we worked really well together.

38.

Ponyboy got a day off, and then I was out again Monday to ride. Ponyboy was rushing me at the warm up and my trainer reminded me to post slow, and to not rise as much, and just to keep really steady and calm and it helped, and right away I noticed him slowing down and responding to me. In our previous lesson, my trainer commented that Jingle reaaaaally works off of my body language, and so that is something I'm going to really start focusing on during my ride. If I have a horse hyper-sensitive to my body, the second I get tense and frusterated, he's going to do the same. Once Jingle was a bit more calm, we started loping, and opened up our loping to the entire rail-length of the arena, from there, we just really focused on transitions from jog to lope, and picking up his left lead on a straight-away - he did great. His jog-lope transitions are actually coming along so well, like they are beautiful, so smooth and straight - I love it.

From there, we finished up with some sidepassing, no rears this time! and it was super helpful to have my trainer there kind of walking me through what I should and should not do when he starts to get so frazzled and far apart. She had me hold a crop because a couple times he would refuse to move an inch, and reminded me to start small and build - so a little leg, more leg, big leg, little spur, more spur, big spur, and then finally - if he is totally ignorning me - pop him with the crop. He hates the crop, I barely have to even brush his bum with it and he flies away, after one little pop - he was listening much better, and we could side pass really effectively, and he wasn't as frazzled and attempting to avoid whatever I was asking him.

So, all in all, really successful lesson.

Afterwards, a friend, Caron and I got to discussing "Pissy Horses". Her horse, Jager, affectionately known (by myself) as Prince Big Ears, and Jingle are both "pissy horses", but in different ways. I've been thinking a lot about what it means to ride a sometimes pissy horse, and she put it better in words when she said that she has to ride Jager the same, even when he is being a royal pain in the ass. I think that holds true with Jingle, obviously when he is zooming around like a maniac and attempting to run over people, I'm not going to be like "Oh whatever horse, do yo thang", but at the same time the minute i'm like "fuck you, you ass, stop being such an asshole", Jingle generally flips me the middle hoof and keeps on dancin'... sigh. Thus, I generally have to rememeber to ride him the same, i.e. when he is being a big pain in my behind, I have to gently remind him, "hey, remember me, your rider?" and then release, and keep it going until he remembers who I am, and what we came to do.

Things to think about.

Equestrian Challenge: Day 8

Day 08- A little about the barn/stable you ride at

Last year I was working at a really beautiful barn, that was ruining any form of self-confidence I had. I honestly, to this day, still have flashbacks of a terrible boss, and the bad environment, and it sucks. Anywaysss, a good friend of mine (who reads this blog - Hi Caron!), had recently purchased a quarterhorse named Quiz, and she also owns a big Warmblood named Jager. She was finding that she was riding Jager more, and I was desperately looking for lessons, and some form of sanity. She graciously invited me to come take lessons on Quiz, and Quiz became Princess Mareface (if any of you have read my blogs from last year, she was the star of the show), the lady I took lessons from became "My Trainer", and the barn became my barn too! In September I moved my own horse in, and the deal was sealed.
Honestly, my barn is awesome. It's not the most fancy schmancy pants place, but I like that about it. However, we have an awesome barn manager who makes sure everything is clean, running safe and smoothly; so what it lacks for in schmany pants, it definitely doesn't also lack in safety and cleanliness, which is all that matters to me. Jingle is stalled at night, in a semi-heated barn, and then goes out in group turn out everyday. He has access to a massive field, as well as a feed lot that is opened to them in the afternoon. When Jingle first was moved inside, and into this turnout situation, they decided they would try to put him with the mares. He is definitely a very low-pecking order, submissive horse. Anyways, it worked well, so my little fairyboy is out with the mares. There's less of them, and he seems to really enjoy it, so I don't complain!

The barn has an indoor arena, as well as an outdoor, and some really nice trails that I've just begun to discover out back. It's 35 minutes from my house, and right at the doorstep of the Rocky Mountains, so it's definitely pretty stunning.

It's really, for me, the perfect mix of social and private time I need. There's a lot of really nice, super welcoming, girls there. A lot of which worked at the same ranch as me! & of course, Brigitte, my best friend, also boards there with her winter-lease horse, Mac. So, there's generally always someone to chat to, and visit with, if I wish. However, I can also escape and do my own thing, and work on my own stuff.

So, as you can see, I really love my barn. My only "complaint", an unheated arena makes for some pretty fricken' cold night rides. (But honestly, what kind of complaint is that? I have an indoor arena to ride in - life's good.)

Ponyboy Angelface

My boy is so lovely,

Thursday night I showed up at the barn super late (I have a chiropractor appointment that ran much later than expected), but I was bound and determined to ride. My poor horse... I approached him with a flashlight, dragged his half-asleep bum aside and the whole time he had this look in his eyes like, "but mom... it's late, and I am sleepy"

However, he was a gem, we worked in our regular three piece with the roller, on some softening stuff and just a nice calm jog and looooots of stops, and he's really starting to listen when I say "Woah".

Then today, Saturday, I came out and low and behold - prince angelface was back again! I focused more on transitions today, so like quarter circle jog, then walk, then jog, then walk, stop, jog, walk, jog, stop, etc. and he was really picking it up nicely. Then we'd back, soften, back, stop, jog. He's doing really well.

Finally, I just worked on the pole pattern with him at the trot and jog, and he did great both times. He tried to deek out a few times, but overall he's becoming waaaay more responsive to my leg, and figuring all this crazy stuff out!

I love my ponyboy.

Ponyboy Comes Home

Since I keep recieving text messages detailing how exceptionally sad my "summer posts" are making them, I will move on. Besides, it's time to start moving on a little bit, isn't it? The most exciting, happiest news of all is that Jingle, (also referred to as Baby-boy, Wild-boy, Jingle-Bell-Rock, Jingle-Bells, Pretty-Boy-Rock and sometimes... swear words) has come home, and is now a resident of the barn I rode and took lessons at during the winter!

Here I shall detail his trip home...

We arrived at the ranch to the site of horses all over the place, the one in the centre, Flare, refused to get out of the way of our truck and trailer. Happy to bring my horse home? Yes, yes indeed.

Jingle has only ever been run onto a stock trailer, so we wondered if my friend's straight-load with a ramp would be an issue. Being the ever-intelligent, over-compensating mother, I put shipping boots on my boy... which caused him to walk like a spider... "Where, do, I, put, my, legs". So he proceeded to high-step right up the ramp and into the trailer, due to the confusion of the soft stuff velcro'd on to his legs. Good boy.

"Mom, what is happening?"

"Mom, I know you think I look cute in these boots, but I'd like them off now, oh by the way - where are we?"

"Mom, are you leaving me in this thing?"

"Mom..."

"MOM?!"

Jingle proceeded to bang and whinny for quite awhile in the trailer, but ultimately survived the trip home. When we arrived to the barn he seemed pretty excited to just look around at things, remember, he is a creep, and a total people watcher.

Jingle in his quarantine pen...

"Mom, there's hay in here... excellent."

"Go away now, I'm hanging out with my hay"

Then, I proceeded to groom big baby, anyone that knows me and my horsie, knows that, that is a ritual I really do love.

And then I put him away from the night, and was of course the most nervous for his well-being, but he did really good!

Then, the epic adventure of finding him a saddle began, my Circle Y wasn't fitting and the folks at Frontier in Claresholm told me they'd take it off my hands - excellent. I couldn't trailer Jingle out there, as I do not have my own trailer, but I brought home a 10x Frontier Cutter hoping it would fit - nope, not at all. The next day I went and under the excellent, but expensive guidance, of the tack manager I found this beauty:

A Jeff Smith roughout cowhorse... absolutely beautiful...

so pretty... so expensive...

and, it turned out to fit my high maintenance bush-pony...

He seemed happy, that's all that matters...

and then I rode him in the indoor arena for the first time. Jumps? no big. Fake flowers? no big. Everything I ever hand to him? ain't no thang.

So of course, he gets his grain.

"Mom, go away now please"

So, I'm very proud of my boy. He's taking this new environment in stride and is doing very well.

But his mother? and her slight tack obsession, well.... small confined tack lockers are a struggle...

Two favourite bridles, as well as my two favourite halters (Weaver rawhide tie noseband, and monogrammed nylon halter) & his back and front splint boots.

Progression of a tack locker:

Helmet, rubbermaid, breast collar and cooler

Bits, notepad, pens, extra dewormer...

Extra reins (english and barrel loop reins), lunging stuff, and shampoo, conditioner, extra grooming things...

Everything stuffed into the locker...

Including extra grain bucket, which doesn't fit... I need to start slimming down on my things I think...

All and All I am exceptionally happy, Jingle is doing very well in his new environment and I couldn't be happier that I can just bounce on down the highway to see my baby. Life is so good when I have him close by. To even think that I now, officially, own him and can do whatever I damn well please with him, brings the absolute biggest smile to my face. He's my baby, wouldn't have it any other way.

A Glimpse: 3

Barn Life:

Jäger does not like having his bridle-path trimmed...

but he does like his mama

especially when she gives him stud muffins AND lickits. 

Best horse-cookie day, EVER.

Blog - meet Caron & Jäger! Caron is also the owner of Quiz, and lurks this blog enough that I placed her photos up without permission, because I'm a spectacular friend.

So many equestrian problems...

Images taken from the brilliant "equestrian problems" tumblr.

http://equestrianproblemss.tumblr.com/

These are all spot on, I love it. She has a ton more, every one makes me laugh. 

My profile pictures on facebook are overloaded with horses,

 my glove-tan line this summer was atrocious and it took a month of sucking it up and forgoing the deer skin gloves for it to disappear, 

lately any day with horses means brutally early mornings for me, 

I certainly agree that the company of horses is often much better than the company of humans

and ... hahaha, that last one, what's a boyfriend? You can't really go on a date when you don't leave the barn until 7:30 pm and you are soaked, smell like sweat, horse crap and various other "heavenly" scents for us horse crazy girls. Unless of course, you get that perfect boy.

Lately I've had a couple more serious equestrian problems

- balancing horse-time with work-time, school-time, friend-time and just general me-time.

lately it's been in that order and I really wish I could be one of those people that just balanced life better, more effortlessly you know?

- proving myself

grumble grumble gr gr grrrr, just when you think you're a step ahead of the game, you get knocked down 7 spaces, I hate it. 

- being good enough

the barn i'm volunteering at is the by far the nicest barn i've ever even stepped foot in. Embarrassing confession time; i've been horse-raised on ranches and backwoods, I had never even cleaned stalls that had shavings in them... Now i'm cleaning 15+ a day, while balancing rehabbing and conditioning horses, talking to clients and attempting to not come off as a total idea, and attempting to please the owner... not working. uuuuuugh.

However, today I banged out a seriously good polo-wrap; (I am still really getting the hang of these damn things), so that's one equestrian problem that isn't nagging at me so much anymore!

Also, way less serious equestrian problem that I just thought of...
- being clean. haha
whenever I get home from a long day at the barn the last thing on my mind is, you know, showering, or generally not smelling awful. I'd way rather just sit and stare blankly at my computer/tv.