An endurance rider’s wish list, version 2022 (Road to Tevis # 80)

Last year I shared a list of my endurance needs and wants just before the Cayuse ride. )You can read it here: All I want for Christmas: A horse owner’s wish list.) I’ve obtained many of the items on it, several before the Cayuse ride. Sadly, Cayuse was cancelled this year–oitherwise I’d be there now, having (hopefully) completed the 50 with Jazz, expecting to complete the LD with Fantazia tomorrow. As it is, I’m home, and thought I’d write a blog post reviewing some of the things on last year’s list and offering a new endurance rider’s wish list, v.2022.

Jump to:

A report on last year’s list
Stuff I’ve acquired that wasn’t on my list
An endurance rider’s wish list for the 2022 holiday season

A report on last year’s wish list

The stuff I’ve bought, with mini-reviews

Half chaps. I was looking for velcro-closure half chaps that would fit over my Ariat Terrains. The green ones I bought from Barnstable are a bit snug over my Ariats, but they fit well otherwise. They are still in great condition, after 155 endurance miles and 55 LD miles, plus about 100 miles conditioning. I don’t always wear half chaps when I ride at home.

LED lamps. I shared two in last year’s post, saying I preferred the rechargeable ones. For some reason I ended up buying the norechargeable ones (here). The truth is the batteries would last a long time if I didn’t accidentally leave the lamps pulled open so frequently. The problem is that if you hang them up, and then drive, they come open. And the batteries get used up. Other than that, they are great. Call me a semi-satisfied customer here.

Winter gloves. I wrote that I planned to get these fleece-lined gloves from State Line (click here), but ended up buying these ones from Riding Warehouse. I’ve never used them so I suppose it was a waste of money.

Energy gels. I listed Clif Shot gel packs, and I did buy them. hey were then my favorite. However, I have since decided Huma is the absolute best brand of energy gels, and have them on auto-ship. A bit pricey but I love them. Tasty, natural. I use them hiking and riding.

OneAC. I had used One AC in the past to treat my OTTB in Panama for anhidrosis, so I wanted to try it for Fantazia. I bought it, started her on it, and then she got lame… So we won’t know if it worked! I’ve only recently started conditioning here again (read about it here: Bringing a horse back into work after a break).

Portable camping gas grill. I waited until a few months ago on this one, and didn’t end up with the Cuisinart I was considering last December. I ended up buying this Coleman grill. not only was it consistently reviewed as one of the best options (whereas the Cuisinart never even made top ten), but it’s cheaper. It also has both a grill and a burner. So far I like it, but I’ve only used it a few times. No tritip test yet! It does block the wind nicely, and that’s important with a gas grill.

Small space heater. I actually didn’t buy one of these until just before this year’s Cayuse ride was cancelled. I only ordered it because I was so cold at Cayuse last year! Oh well. I chose the Mr. Heater Little Buddy, because it’s small and uses the same propane tanks. Haven’t tried it yet…

Ice wraps. I bought these Horze wraps from Riding Warehouse. I’m happy so far–they stay cold a long time, though they can be a bit tricky to put on.

Bosal hanger with jowl strap. I bought the one I mentioned from Buckaroo, available here. It’s exactly what I want, simple, looks great. A bit tricky to get on properly, but fortunately, once it’s on, it’s on.

Above: You can see the bosal hanger in the above picture of Fantazia overlooking her pasture.

The one thing I never got around to getting

Camping table. And I really could use one. But I cannot decide on one… and I just can’t bring myself to spend money on a table when we do have some lying around. They are too big to fit comfortably in the trailer, but I could toss one in the back of the truck.

Stuff I’ve acquired that wasn’t on my list

Jazz. Well, ok, so I did have “new horse” on there jokingly. And I was planning on trying to breed Fantazia, sort of. But I had not planned on her getting lame. And of course, I could not plan specifically for Jazz. I knew I wanted to lease, not buy, a horse to ride. But that’s it. Jazz’s owner Lynne was one of the many people who offered me a horse when I said I was looking. In fact, she had two–her older mare, and Jazz. I was initially more interested in the mare, because she could compete right away. But in the end the mare messed up a hoof, and Lynne didn’t really want to let her go anyway. She knew she would do nothing with Jazz, and told me she’d probably end up selling him if I didn’t lease him.

By that time, I was already up there with a trailer and had every intention of taking him home. I had liked the few pictures I’d seen, he was 7, lightly started, and a non-dominant gelding. Definitely worth a try!

As it turned out, Jazz was greener than I expected, but also a lot more talented. He might still have the occasional silly buck and big spooks, but he cruised to second place and best condition in his first 50. There will be many more successful rides to come.

And yeah, getting Jazz means I’ve had to buy some accessories: bit, headstall, split reins, and a mohair girth. Jazz was getting sores with Fantazia’s girths.

Above: Jazz’s new mohair girth, made-to-order with my stable colors (bought on Etsy from DoubleBRanchHorse). I would prefer a girth with more give, but this one seems to work wll with Jazz. He really blows up when I tighten it, and doesn’t really exhale till I am in the saddle. I finally learned to tighten it as much as possible before getting on…

A sleeping bag. OK, I am unreasonably excited about my new sleeping bag. I’ll admit that part of the reason I was disappointed when Cayuse was cancelled was that I wouldn’t be able to try out the New Bag! It’s a purple NEMO bag, spoon-shaped (which means it has more space and won’t squish my legs together) with vents and a cool hood. Rated to 20F. I bought it from Moosejaw, but you can get it at any place that has hiking/camping gear.

I can’t wait to try it. The Fire Mountain pioneer ride in a month (read about my experience there last year here) will probably be my first opportunity. (No, I am not going to sleep in the trailer just to test;-)

Saddle bags. I just recently tried out new saddle bags: Weaver leather nylon insulated bags that I got at Tractor Supply. As I shared on the AERC page, Jazz did buck a bit with them… As you can read in the responses to my post, lots of people had opinions about why this was happening. Jazz was not desensitized enough… the bags were annoying him… the bags were hurting him.

Well. There were no rubs, and he’s plenty desensitized. He’s just silly. And these bags serve my purpose perfectly: ride around home, collecting stuff, carrying food and drink, etc. I won’t be carrying them on endurance rides. And horses need to be capable of carrying things that flap around on their flanks. That’s just training. And safety.

I like my cheap bags!

Aboive: Jazz with the new saddle bags on a beautiful December day between blessed rain storms.

An endurance rider’s wish list for the 2022 holiday season

On top of my list is time to condition and compete with my horses! But I guess that’s on everyone’s list… I’m hoping to finish at least one LD and one 50 with Fantazia. I’ve got six planned for Jazz at the moment (Starting with xprides: Laurel Mt., Eastern Mojave, Cuyama Oaks; then I hope to do the rescheduled Cayuse, and Huasna and Montana de Oro). I’ll take Fantazia to those too, if she stays sound and isn’t yet bred.

I’m also hoping to successfully cover Fantazia this spring. I’ve got frozen semen from Beroni. It’d be nice to have a Morab in the works.

More practically however, there isn’t that much I need at this point. I still need a camping table. And I do need a saddle.

Saddle woes

I’ve already blogged once about finding the right saddle. I’ve meant to write more on the topic, and I will soon. In short, the Reactor Panel saddle I wrote about before doesn’t fit either Fantazia or Jazz well. Too bad, because I love it. Maybe if Dana ever comes close enough that she could fit it personally, it would work. But I don’t seem capable of doing it.

I’ve been riding in my Zaldi (read my review here). It doesn’t seem to cause pain or restrict motion in either of my horses, though it did cause white hairs in Fantazia. Jazz was slightly sore after his 50, but I am not convinced that was the saddle. He did a lot more work that day, much of it in a het up state trying to follow Eli and Susannah. I suspect those sore muscles were due to exertion, not poor saddle fit. But we’ll see. In the meantime, my cousin has a McClellan and a Stonewall I am going to pick up to try soon. I want to sell my Reactor Panel before buying a new saddle.