Tips for Success for Riders on a Budget

 Ok, so it's no secret that the equestrian world is kinda expensive (sorry if this is shocking news to you; welcome to riding). If you're anything like me, you probably don't have the funds required to own a made horse, have daily lessons with a top trainer, and go to events every weekend. If you're even more unlucky like me, there also isn't anywhere to show that is less than a couple hours away. However, there are things you can do to help your equestrian finances and be able to have a successful riding career.
 

YOU DON'T NEED IT
    While there are things that are "necessary evil" expenses in riding (ie. basic tack and attire), do not get sucked into buying the what I like to call " stuffs". Stuffs are anything that you do not need or that are not going to help you be a better rider. For example: Instead of buying the super cute saddle pad with fancy stitching and piping, get a plain $10 saddle pad( or better yet if you already have 5 functional ones, don't get one at all!)and use the saved money to get a lesson with a good instructor. Lessons can help you ride better, the pretty piping will not. If you want to steer clear of stuffs, do not bother picking up a SmartPak catalog....... they, hands down, win the contest for stuffs marketing. Have you seen how cute all the riding clothes they sell are?? I myself cannot helped but get sucked into admiring how beautiful it all is....... but again, it really won't help me ride. I can ride just as well in my zip up shirt from Wally World as I can in that beautiful Ariat jacket (that will, in fact, get covered in hair, slobber, and hay after one trip to the barn) . And do not get me started on all the monogram stuff! I am well aware of my initials and things have tags for a reason (so I can write my name in sharpie on it!  ) Ok, end of rant.... I think everyone gets the point.

Is the Brand Worth it's Name?
    This can be a bit of a touchy subject in some areas, but I'm going to cover my opinions based on experience. Nothing is wrong with having nice stuff (trust me I have plenty) but there are places were you can definitely save some money by being smart. Questions when thinking if the name brand is worth it:
 1) Is safety involved? If what you are buying is geared toward rider or horse safety, that is definitely not an area to skimp on. But even with safety equipment, there's a point where it becomes extravagant.  For example: You need a good helmet, obviously you want one that not only meets, but exceeds standards; and if you show you need it to look good. You see that you like the look of the Charles Owen Gr8, but it's kind of pricey. The only apparent difference in the Gr8 and the Jr8 is the harness( the Gr8's being nice leather instead of nylon) oh and the huge price drop.
2) Does the quality highly affect my horse? The only tack this is majorly true of to my experience are saddles. A good, well-fitted saddle is extremely important for your horse. Not saying you need to get a top of the line custom saddle, but you most definitely don't need to be putting a complete piece of junk on their back either. Don't always assume people are "hating" on a brand of saddle because of it's price, there are often good reasons why it gets negative reviews......
3) Are they that much better than the cheaper alternatives? I find that with riding apparel, this doesn't seem to happen very often. Tuff rider is one of my personal favorite cheapo brands. They have riding tights that are a 1/3 the price of Kerrits, they have the mesh under side sleeve shirts that are 1/4 the price of EIS shirts, and their saddle pads can't be beat on price. Same goes for detanglers and shampoos and other grooming products. My horses look super shiny gorgeous and I use,  the very affordable, Orvus livestock shampoo!

         Tell   me the difference        



Be a Deal Seeker
    I honestly could not tell you the last time I payed retail price on a piece of riding equipment. {Ok, so I got to go to Dover recently and got a dressage pad, but it was a very special occasion and I can be impulsive sometimes!} Anyways, that is definitely not the norm is for me. I can almost always find what I need for discount eventually if I am patient and look enough. Facebook used tack pages are your best friend! I just recently got a lightly used Anky dressage saddle  (my bum was way to big for my current saddle) for $650;  this a $2,200 saddle we are talking about. My jumping saddle I got brand spanking new for half of it's retail price because the store had stopped carrying them and it was collection dust in the Warehouse. The majority All of my riding clothes were bought on extreme discount, are hand me downs, or are very inexpensive brands. My full show attire, which's net cost is right around $1,000, I got for about $200.

Used is Cool
    Last rant session. Used tack is that has been taken care of is the best. That way, you can get a quality saddle for the same price as a new cheapo saddle. I have never been one to be above hand me down clothes and have bought a lot of my riding clothes used. Another incentive to take care of your tack is to know that if it ever does not work for you and you need something different one day, you could resell it to help cover the cost of your new equipment. That is the boat I'm currently in with my old dressage saddle which I am hoping to sell soon. The only thing that I would usually avoid with used tack is helmets because if they were fallen in, they can have eternal damage that you can't see; and (sadly) not everyone in the world is honest.

Hope you enjoyed this article might do some more on this topic, but it's late and I'm tired so that's all for now.

Organizing Your Barn : Tack Room

Organizing the Tack Room

    If you are anything like me, your tack room probably doesn't tend to stay the neatest.  It gets even worse when you throw in other people's tack too.Well, I've been on a quest to have a perfect tack room ( not that it's going to be perfect, but eh worth a try) I have worked at a several barns and seen quite a variety of tack storage (some great, others well um). Hopefully I can shed some light in on some ways to organize a tack room.

Step #1: Get It Cleaned Out

     This sounds pretty obvious, but you really just have to deep clean your tack room in order to keep it clean. This means taking everything OUT. It is a pain in the butt for sure, but you really just have to get everything out in order to get it really clean. You might find some weird things....... I recently cleaned out my monstrous tack room to find several t-shirts, lonely shoes, some random crayons, a can of edible spray paint, a spider nest, and a dehydrated mouse *gags*. Once everything is out, brush down all the walls, light fixtures, and clean the windows. Then, sweep everything out or vacuum it up with a shop vac if you have access to one. Now, you have a blank slate to organize.

Use Your Vertical Space! 

  I cannot stress this enough. Hang everything you can up on the walls. If you want to have an organized tack room, I forbid use of the saddle stands that sit on the ground! Biggest waste of space ever and they are a pain to sweep around. Using the saddle racks that you screw into the walls, you can stack them and save so much space. Just make sure to get the ones that give the flaps of the saddle some support. 

   For saddle pads, a shelf works lovely. Each person can have their own shelf; or can use the other shelves for grooming stuff, helmet, Ect, if it's just you at the barn. Same thing for grooming supplies. Everyone can have a shelf and keep their stuff easy to reach. Much easier than trying to keep all your grooming products in a truck which wastes so much space and is just not practical when you need to get something out and there is stuff on top.

   Most people have the bridle organizing part down, bridle hooks all the way!

   You can get little command hooks for all of your girths to hang on. That way they can easily dry after each time you ride.

   Then there is the great apocalyptic problem. Your horse's never ending collection of boots and polo wraps. Everyone always seems to have these stuck on blanket bars, or buried in a cluttered tack trunk... But not you! I've found the best thing for boots is  handy dandy stacking drawers. They even make them with holes in them so your boots can dry out of sight and still get ventilation. The best part is, when you go to a show they are all separate, so you can just grab the pair or two of boots or polos you need, not the whole shelf. You can get them at that fancy French store...... Target.

 

Step #2: Put it All Back In

  You've got a plan, a clean tack room, and fancy French drawers, now it's time to just throw all your grimy horsey stuff back in, right? NOPE

As you put each thing back in your tack room, be sure to wipe it off and try to get it as clean as possible first. Grooming totes are notorious for having tons of hair and dirt in them. Also, all your bottles of grooming spray and shampoo tend to get a nice, thick dust layer on them. Clean your tack (it probably needs it anyways) and beat the hair off your saddle pads. Everything will look so nice and clean in it's assigned place, but you've got to keep it that way.

Step #3: Keep it Clean

  To keep your perfect tack room clean, you just have to take a few extra, not-so-hard steps each day. Things that help are:

• Get a mat for the doorway to wipe your feet on. Yes, it's a barn, not your house, but this really helps cut back on the amount of dirt that gets into your tack room.

• Keep the door closed. It's amazing how dirty stuff gets just from dusty air. This is also just a smart idea to avoid trying to get a confused horse out of your tack room  when they get those " bright ideas"

•Sweep daily. Just a few quick whisks of the broom every day can really help keep everything clean. 

• Clean your tack after each ride. This is just good horsemanship anyways to have clean tack for your rides and will help your tack last longer. Keep a supply of baby wipes to go over bits and sweat build up after you untack each ride.

•Limit the amount of tack you collect. I know, it's hard to not buy every cute saddle pad and set of polos to match, but keep in mind what you actually have room for in your tack room. 

Organizing your Barn: pt. 1 Charts

Organizing your barn:

OK, so not that our barns are all the fanciest , but having a well kept  barn can really keep you in a motivated, positive, and professional mood. The problem is that having a clean and organized barn is pretty impossible when you have it full of furry, slobbery, sweaty beasts that have a never ending supply of dirt radiating off them in all directions.... Or when you have a tack hoarding addiction ( guilty).... Hopefully I can give you some of my ideas to having a nice orderly barn. I'll try to post another part of this little series as soon as I can!

Tip 1: Schedules, Lists, Charts... Everywhere

   If you can write it on a dry erase board, do it!Having nice, neat, visible charts is very helpful to you as a barn manager or a boarder. Yes, I understand in the age of smart phones and tablets that there is an app for that, but as we all know technology doesn't always comply! Some things that could be written on boards: feed schedules, emergency contact numbers, turnout schedules,or even possibly a riding schedule if you have multiple horses. 

  Feed charts are definitely a must have. If something happens to the main caretaker of the horses, it needs to be at least relatively easy for somebody to step in and at be able to correctly feed the horses. If a sub comes in and gives all your horses the wrong feed, there is a heightened risk of digestive upset or even a severe colic if feed is extremely altered. As riders, we like to avoid the " c word" as best we can, so something as simple as feed chart. Just get a dry erase board and some markers and your all set!  Be sure to list down the volume and type of feed each horse gets as well as any supplements or medication. In certain circumstances, some directions might be helpful too. For example:  if your horses are pastured, you might want to list the order in which to feed them to avoid somebody being run away from their food. Also be sure to list different types of hay if there are multiple kinds at your barn. The great thing about using a dry erase board vs. a piece of paper taped to the wall is that you can easily make changes if a horse's diet changes. Also looks much neater and professional

   Next on the list of importance would be an Emergency Contact Board.  When there is an emergency, whether it be a horse or person is injured, a horse is behaving oddly, or any other unforeseen circumstances, everyone needs to be able to contact somebody for help. Some people prefer to have each owner's number on their horse's stall, but I like having a big board with everyone's on it. Especially in a large barn with lots of stalls. I'd include each owner's number, the barn manager, local vet's number, farrier's number, and the barn hand's number if you have them at your barn. Might be smart to put everyone in your contacts on your phone, but the chart will still be very helpful for less regular visitors.

   Kind of goes along with the feed chart swing, but having the turnout schedule on it's own board is also very helpful. Also eliminates confusion in the daily swing too. Once you pass 15 horses, it can be kind of hard to remember who goes where goes when goes what. Make sure to note what time and which paddock each horse is going to. 

   Lastly, having a riding schedule can really come in handy and quite frankly, put you in that " professional mood". If you have multiple horses to ride, it might be necessary to help you remember. If you only have one horse, however, it still has it's advantages. Planning a week ahead in advanced helps you make sure to get in all the rides and training you need around whatever small excuse for a social life you have as a rider. It's also easier to resist unnecessarily  canceling a ride  when you have a set PLAN for that day. Also really helps you put a structure to your training program which helps you evaluate your progression. I know I make 10X more progress when I plan my week rather than when I wing it .