The Equipment, Part 1: The Rider

Today I am going to talk about equipment. It turns out there's so much to say on this particular subject that this will be broken into two or three posts. From my helmet to my boots, from the bit in Hoss's mouth to the saddle pad on his back, every choice I make affects our ride.

Tights and Jacket by Evelyn Allen

Most of what I wear or use for myself I have down. I can buy a brand new pair of boots and ride fifty miles in them the next day, because I have found the brand and style that works best for me. It helps that they are of a type that really doesn't require breaking in. Similarly, I can purchase a new helmet of the brand I'm using and expect to encounter no troubles. My riding tights are made by Evelyn Allen of Just For Horsin'-Round (http://www.justforhorsin-round.com/), and I could buy a new pair on ride day and be fine. She also makes a wonderful sport-type bra specifically for riding that I use. T-shirts are obviously not a big deal. Jackets and sweatshirts I have to be careful about. Since my shoulder injury, it is extremely difficult for me to remove a sweatshirt over my head. This is complicated by trying to do so while riding a crazed maniac horse! I fixed the sweatshirt problem with a zipper version that Evelyn made just for me with green and yellow flames. It's awesome. I use a windbreaker jacket when I need to, which I had the foresight to buy a bit large. I also got a hooded zip up sweatshirt, which is a little warmer than my awesome green and yellow flames (although I find the hood a little aggravating most of the time). So I only have to work around the troubles I have applying enough force to remove the arms of a jacket or sweatshirt.

T-shirt with "Team 91" logo

It's important that I, as a rider, be comfortable. If I'm hurting for any reason, it will affect the way I ride. If I'm not riding in a balanced manner, I could potentially harm Hoss. Fortunately it's pretty easy to figure out what works for me, at least in terms of what I am wearing. I am, after all, within my own body. I know pretty early on what's working and what's not. It's usually not horrifyingly expensive to experiment. When trying on boots, I know if they're going to work or not based on experience.


There have been times that clothing that has seemed to work have turned out badly. The most memorable was our ride in January, our first 50 miler. I'd been using everything the same the whole time I've been riding Hoss in Limited Distance, so I had no reason to suspect there'd be a problem when we bumped up to 50s. Well, turns out that the underwear I was wearing was too worn. I removed them about halfway through the ride, but it was too late. I ended up with a sore in a truly inconvenient location that plagued me for some time.


Saddle bags are something I feel should be covered under equipment for the rider. Unless a saddle bag is just so badly built or packed that it's harming the horse, it's really a choice based on what the rider likes. I like a cantle (front) pack. The one I have has two water bottle holders, two large side pockets, and a large top pocket with smaller zipper areas. It's great for keeping a minimal first aid kit, stethoscope, sunscreen and bug spray, spare sunglasses, my phone if it's bouncing too much, an Easy boot to act as a "spare tire" in the event of a lost shoe. It even has a little loop for a tube of lip balm, although this can be tough to manage if Hoss isn't on his best behavior.


I do wear half-chaps.  Strictly speaking, with the Western fenders on our saddle, I don't "need" the half chaps.  However, I use short boots, and I hate A) ending up with sweat and horse hair on the back of my calf; B) all the crap that falls into my boots as we ride along narrow, overgrown trail; and C) even with the fenders, I get a little rub from time to time. So the half chaps are a nice addition.  I've ridden just fine without them, but I'd rather not!

Hoss wearing his halter-bridle with bit

Bridles and reins are generally more of a preference of the rider sort of thing. I really like the synthetic halter/bridles. Synthetic is easy to keep clean and hard to break. The halter/bridle is a halter with d-rings for attaching the bit. It allows me to have Hoss bitted and still have a halter ring to tie or lead him with. I hate the look of a bridle over a halter. It just looks cheap to me. Leather is not my favorite, largely because I've lost so much of it to getting stepped on by the horse! Besides, it requires a lot of maintenance. When I purchased Hoss's halter-bridle, I got a deal in which I got the halter-bridle, reins, and a breastcollar. The breastcollar is rather a bit of unnecessary equipment. Breastcollars are designed to keep a saddle from slipping back on the horse. Since our saddle stays pretty much exactly where it belongs, Hoss's breastcollar is purely a bit of ornamentation.


The saddle deserves a quick mention in this post. It is so important that the saddle fit not only the horse's back, but the rider's butt! A saddle that doesn't suit the rider will result in an unbalanced rider. I've had this problem in the past. If the saddle isn't right for me, I will develop saddle sores, leg pain, numbness in my feet, you name it. And, as previously mentioned, I have to be comfortable to ride well. I do use a fleece saddle seat cover for a little extra "padding."


There's not great big bunches to say about what I, as a rider, use. This is the easy part! There's so much more entertaining stuff to say about the horse's equipment! Still, I think this is worth a mention!