Endurance Gear under $25
| September 18, 2014 | Posted by Melinda under Uncategorized |
We all know it’s possible to spend a lot of money on endurance equipment for both us an our horses. Matching biothane colored tack sets, saddles and fancy pads, hoof boots and shoes, fleece….
But what are the essentials (and luxuries) that are $25 or less?
$25 or less
Snug Pax Boot bag – $13.50
I’ve tried a number of different saddle bags over the years and even tried my hand at making my own. I keep coming back to Snug Pax Boot bags. Versatile and easy to use, they work on every saddle I’ve ever tried and I can keep them from bouncing. They don’t interfere with my leg when I mount and dismount. I use them all my saddles and work on my English, Aussie, Treeless AND western saddles.
Ziploc Divided containers – under $15
The only place I’ve found these ziplock brand divided containers is Target. They are my favorites for endurance rides – food is attractive, protected, accessible, and keeps everything from mixing.
They aren’t TOTALLY leak proof – if you have soup and the container is stored on it’s side for prolonged periods of time, couple liquid will contaminate the other sections, and little bit might leak out the lid. However, for slightly thicker liquids – think yogurt – and other foods it does a wonderful job.
My ride food strategy is to take 3-4 of these divided containers and fill each compartment with a different food. The strategy of “fill each section with something different” helps me pack a variety of food. At vet checks I (or my crew) open all the lids in a huge display and then I pick and choose at the pretty food in front of me.
Update: ziploc just discontinued these lunch boxes 🙁 HUGE bummer. I’m not sure what a good replacement is – all other compartment style boxes I’ve tried leak either outside, or between compartment. Major major bummer.
Yards of fleece – $5/yard
It can be doubled up to be thicker, or unfolded to cover more area. it’s cheap enough you can lend/give it to a horse or person in need. It can double as a picnic blanket. It can be cut into pieces.
I use coolers/rump rugs/blankets – but having a couple yards of fleece is more versatile and cheaper for responding to a need at a vet check.
Electrical Tape – $2
I keep a couple of rolls stashed in the tack room, trailer, and crew bag. I like it better than duck tape for a couple of reasons. Electrical tape doesn’t leave a sticky residue, or melt off in the sun, or look like crap. People like to joke they can fix anything with duct tape, but in my experience if I can’t get the job done with electrical tape, duct tape is going to fail too. And in the process leave a sticky residue that may or may not come off.
Some of the more common things I do with electrical tape at rides: Secure headlamp to helmet, attach glow bars to breast collar, put ribbons in tails, in place of elastic for mane braids.
Duck tape isn’t useless – there are some things it does very well around the house and ranch – but at a ride I find myself faced more often with electrical-tape appropriate situations.
SSG All Weather Glove – $20
These SSG’s are my favorite for durability and tactile feel. I wear gloves less for my horse and more for unexpected situations on the trail – having to pony a horse in an emergency or moving brush off the trail.
Darn Tough Socks – $14
Good socks make all the difference in the world. My current favorites are Darn Tough brand socks because for the same price point as my other favorite socks they can take a lot more of a beating without getting damaged, and they come with a life time guarantee. Be warned – they run a bit small. At a 7.5-8.5 size shoe, I usually wear size smalls socks, but I wish I had looked at the size chart more closely and realized that for Darn Tough’s a size 8 = medium.
Garbage bags – <25 cents apiece
I always find more needs than I brought garbage bags. Aside from actual trash, manure, or hay – I’ve used them as water proof socks in downpours, ponchos, crew bags, to segregate especially nasty clothing (don’t ask), short term water proof bandages, picnic blankets etc.
Don’t skimp and spend the extra couple bucks on the nice thick ones!
Griffins velcro “elyte” saddle pouch $12-15
One of these lives permanently on each breast collar I own. They are perfect for cell phones, elytes, ride cards, energy barsand anything else small that I want frequent access to without rummaging from the ground or the saddle.
Couldn’t find it on the website, but similar shape to this bag, except it has velcro strips for fastening similar to this bag (which I might even like better?).
The orangish red flat pack in front of the saddle
Dirty Girl trail running gaiters. They keep tiny rocks and junk out of my shoes when I am tailing, are washable, comfy, breathable, and come in crazy cool COLORS. http://www.dirtygirlgaiters.com
Oh yes!! LOVE my Dirty Girls! I bought fleecy stirrup leather covers and ditched my half chaps for Dirty Girls. So much more comfortable.
I did the exact same thing! So much nicer and easier to run in than half chaps.
I’ve found that I don’t like gaiters for my running most of the time, but I never considered them for riding. I think that it’s a great idea – I don’t like the gap of skin between my low shoes/socks and the bottom of my tights because sometimes I’ll hit brush or I’ll get a rub, so the gaiters are a great idea and now I finally have an excuse to buy a pair (love how they look – just couldn’t justify them if I wasn’t going to run in them…)
Fun topic!! My list:
These reins, I like that they’re flat rather than round and at 10 ft they’re plenty long:
http://www.ridingwarehouse.com/RJ_Flat_Woven_Trail_Reins_Nickel_10/descpage-RJFWTRN.html
I also have a beta pair very similar which I like almost as much. It really comes down to a texture preference.
Collapsible scoop:
http://griffinstack.com/nopCommerce/p/75/scoop-sponge-bucket
Sponge on a rope:
http://www.ridingwarehouse.com/Endurance_Riders_Sponge-Bag-Leash_Combo/descpage-TRS.html
I prefer to have both a scoop AND a sponge as the sponge you can throw in a bucket or puddle without having to dismount and it does a better job of wetting the horse without wasting the water, but a scoop is necessary for troughs or getting the horse a drink out of awkward water sources. I don’t like the “plastic bottle flailing around” alternative to a scoop, prefer these soft ones.
I also have a bucket organizer/caddy thing which I love but seems to have been discontinued, which allows me to keep all my grooming tools, hoof boots, etc in a single 5 gal bucket. Makes it really easy to tack up in the morning or go for a ride in a friend’s rig, etc. One bucket for all the “stuff”.
Those reins were the first endurance reins I bought! I still use them. They are Awesome. Agree with the scoop+sponge. It took me a long time to add a scoop to my tack set up, but it’s so useful.
A basic bandana! Can be had for super-cheap at the local drugstore and I always have one in my pack — useful for a dust mask, an emergency bandage, cool-down rag.
Tailing rope, like this one: http://www.ridingwarehouse.com/RJ_Tailing_Lead_Line_Nickel/descpage-RJMTLLN.html or make your own from climbing rope/yacht rope.
Bandannas are so 20th century, Ash. 😉 I am all about the neck gaiter now (due to Mel). Sierra Trading Post has some cooling neck gaiters under the $25 price point.
Oh, I have the neck bandana/Buff for myself…the regular one is more for ER/extra purposes.
LOVE this post & the comments.
One of my favorite things (though Griffin broke mine and I have yet to replace it) is a mini retractable dog leash for sponges.
http://www.chewy.com/dog/flexi-durabelt-red-retractable-belt/dp/104342?utm_source=google-product&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=hg&utm_content=none&utm_term=&gclid=CJO674Cs7cACFRVufgodXlcABA
You can get them at WalMart or anywhere and they’re great for your sponge to attach to instead of a sponge rope. They can be clipped to the saddle or other attachment point with a carabiner or ziptie and then instead of dealing with all of that extra sponge leash flapping around you can just retract it all when not in use!
Here’s another picture of the griffin “elyte” pouch I’m talking about. It’s the grey thing on my breast collar in this picture: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bGdhjJRAG6c/UvRt4wD8u5I/AAAAAAAAFR4/RR-6MPP_sN0/s1600/2014-02-06+17.06.16.jpg
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