Going South for the Winter: Not Just for the Birds!

Note: I'm struggling with Blogger's layout issues so adding lots of photos into a post is a bit clunky. There are so many good photos I want to share so just keep scrolling down to read more after the poorly laid out photo sections.

It has been almost three years since I wrote my first post about going south for the winter. Our family felt pretty strongly that part of the bargain in having a horse was that our daughter had to stay and suffer through winter. It was perfectly appropriate if annoying at times and even with last year's goal of Training Level eventing, staying in Massachusetts was workable.

After a reasonably successful year at Training, Elizabeth wanted to consider a move up to Preliminary. It's really tough to move up to Prelim in Area I (the geographic designation assigned to New England by the United States Eventing Association) in the middle of the season. Our mid-season events tend to be tougher courses so riders like to move up in the spring or fall. Elizabeth didn't want to have to wait for the fall but to be ready for spring, she would have to go south to start training in January. Prelim requires some real fitness and preparation. She can't just show up at the end of April and hope it works out. Even with this trip south, a move up is not necessarily going to happen but she will get a head start on the season and see where it takes her.

We spent the fall working on finding a new trainer and barn for both our horses. For the next step in Elizabeth's riding we wanted to find someone who was close enough to us in Massachusetts that Elizabeth could get to their barn everyday after school but who also went south for a significant amount of time and would be able to help Elizabeth prepare for the coming season. Living in Wellesley, there aren't a ton of eventing barns within an hour's drive. We chose to work with a wonderful trainer based in Concord, Massachusetts and Aiken, South Carolina. We shipped into Concord for a few lessons in the fall to make sure everyone got along and started to make plans for Aiken.

To be clear, I had no idea what I was doing. We started looking for places to stay, working on a plan for Elizabeth to continue school in Aiken, and I hardly knew our new trainer, Erin and really had no idea what to expect. As it turned out, Erin didn't have anywhere for Elizabeth to live and Elizabeth is too young to drive. My husband and I talked it over and decided that I would go too and we would bring both horses. Well, talk about a dream come true! But it was also really complicated.

Finding a place to stay was not easy. There are some apartment complexes but they charge a premium for short term stays and then you have to rent furniture and everything else. It didn't help that it was pretty late in the game by the time I decided to tag along. In the end we found an AirBNB in what I was told was a good part of town. I had to trust other people, and in some cases strangers, in making some of our decisions since we had never been to Aiken. Our AirBNB is very tiny and was quite pricey but it's super well located, close to all the shopping and conveniences and at the edge of the equestrian district.

What, you may ask, is the equestrian district? I know I asked that about a hundred times. You have to see it and walk through it to believe it. The equestrian district is right in Aiken, walkable to downtown shopping and eating. There are little farms with gorgeous old homes, three race tracks, polo fields, a little public jump field and all the roads are sand so when I'm walking my dog there I see horses trotting by and horse drawn carts going out for a drive.

There is a "Track Kitchen" which is great for breakfast. It's not really on the track and you can't watch the horses go from there but it's quaint and old and full of history.

One of my favorite things about the equestrian district is the signs.  This is an area that puts horses before people. When in doubt, horses have the right of way. I'll be out walking and suddenly there are 8 baby race horses crossing the road to the training track and we all stop to let them pass.

Entrance to the training track.

One of the polo fields.

Bruce's Field - track and show venue.

A jump in the Hitchcock Woods.

Our house is also close to the Hitchcock Woods which is the most amazing place ever. It is 2100 acres of woods and trails with some beautiful jumps. I've explored about 70% of the trails with Bridgit and every area is a little different. The hunt goes through twice a week but the rest of the time it's a great place to go for a walk or to take horses for a hack. The footing is mostly sand and it can get quite deep so you wouldn't want to trot or gallop through most of it but it is stunning and very special. We go there as often as possible. Hacking through the woods makes Elizabeth and Quizz very happy so I try to take them on Thursday afternoons after Elizabeth goes to school.

From the equestrian district, one can hack to the woods. There are special crossing signal buttons that are mounted up high so that one can press them from horse back. They really have thought of everything to make this place an equestrian paradise.

Being down here has been an amazing experience. Elizabeth is a working student so she works about 10 hours a day, 6 days a week. My primary purpose is to drive her to work and feed her. On her day off she goes to school for 4 hours at the Visiting Equestrian Program which has worked out really well. She's down here for one school term and we've worked out a plan with her high school so that she can stay on track with all of her classes. She's working hard and taking a great deal of responsibility for her academic progress. She knows that she needs school to go well if she wants to come back next year.

E turning out horses.

When she's on the farm working, Elizabeth is most in her element. Having worked in a large boarding facility for a couple of years coupled with all of her Pony Club activities, Elizabeth was well prepared for life as a working student. She enjoys her co-worker and is lucky to have a great boss. She has plenty of work to keep her busy but is also fortunate to be riding at least 3 horses most days and sometimes more. She and Quizz are doing well and are preparing for their first show of the season. They plan to do two shows down here to be ready for the season up north.

E braiding at a show.

On reflection, I am glad we waited to do this. I am also glad we did this when we did. Elizabeth was very ready so that the experience has been a very positive one. She doesn't feel overwhelmed. She walked into work on the first day and hit the ground running. She knows how to make up grain, how to care for tack, how to pack the trailer, she's great at cleaning stalls, knows how to wrap (thank you Pony Club!), clip, braid, bathe, drive the gator and more. She is young at 15 but her experience having gone to a number of camps, competed for 3 seasons at overnight shows including 2 long formats and a Pony Club Championship prepared her for taking on a working student role.

And I'm having the time of my life! I'm building a relationship with my awesome horse and hanging out with my dog. Bridgit (my poodle) loves life on the farm and in the woods. I fear the return to suburban life in Wellesley will not meet with her approval. I'm able to do some sewing, writing, and complete some projects I never had time for at home. The time is passing too quickly. We are halfway through and I fear I will not want to leave.

As a sidenote, I finally found my horse. It took awhile and I had lots of help. In the end, this timid, beginner eventer found her perfect thoroughbred, chestnut mare. She is 14 years old and has done it all so now she will try to cart me around at the lower levels. 

Riding in a Classic Long Format Event Part 2: Being There

I almost don't know where to begin. Waredaca and the long format lived up to all our expectations and then some. We rarely pay for an extra tack stall at events but for a long format, you absolutely must have one. We shared a tack stall with a friend from Course Brook so the first order of business was setting up. It was great that we arrived so early in the day on Wednesday. We were able to get Quizz settled, set up our tack room, do a little volunteering and Elizabeth was able to ride.


Thursday morning began with a briefing. We met the organizers, the veterinarian and the clinician, Eric Smiley, who would be teaching us about the four phases of cross country day.

Eric Smiley discussing  how to jog a horse.

After the briefing, riders who had not yet had an in barn check with the veterinarian got that done.  Chad Davis was the vet for the weekend. At the "in barn" the vet looks over the horse and takes the temperature, pulse and respiration (TPR) so that he has a baseline to work from for the weekend.

At Elizabeth's in barn she talked to Dr. Chad about Quizz's atrial fibrillation. He taught her about the various types of irregular heartbeat and what the concerns could be with Quizz's condition. He also recommended the use of a heart rate monitor since tracking any kind of change in her heartbeat is key. Dr. Chad is awesome. He was great to have around all weekend.

Photo courtesy of  GRCPHOTO.COM all rights reserved.

Next came jogs. Each rider jogs his horse in front of the vet and the ground jury before competition begins and again after cross country, before show jumping. The jog is more complicated than I imagined. The first order of business is to get the horse and the rider cleaned up and turned out beautifully. We had nice, hot weather so were able to get Quizz pretty shiny. Elizabeth chose to wear white and managed to stay white!

When the rider is called, they proceed to the jog strip, greet the vet and ground jury and SMILE! The purpose is to let them see the horse move and make sure it's sound enough to enter the competition. They will also remember each horse so they can compare the first and second jogs to assure soundness. It's important to look confident. They will tell the rider to proceed and the rider jogs the horse to the end of the strip, walks to turn around and jogs back down the strip. It is important to get your horse to move forward nicely and to jog straight. You don't want to give the officials any reason to reject your horse. Elizabeth practiced quite a bit an definitely put her whip to good use as they warmed up.

It was pretty exciting to hear over the loudspeaker, "Quizz D'Organge, accepted!"


Next up, Eric Smiley took each group - Training, then Novice - out in pick up trucks to drive over the cross country roads and tracks sections - phases A and C for endurance day. Roads and tracks cover about 2 - 3 miles each at the Training and Novice levels. A is faster than C. Generally the rider trots A with a bit of canter to get warmed up for steeple chase and a bit of walk depending on terrain. On C you walk a bit to recover from steeple chase then trot and canter to make up time, being mindful of getting to the end of C and the start of the vet box in good condition.

Photo courtesy of  GRCPHOTO.COM all rights reserved.

Friday was more action packed. The day started with dressage, the primary excitement being that there were two judges - one at C and one at E. It's interesting to see the scores from the different vantage points. The judge at E can't see a really crooked horse going down the long side the way the judge at C does. The tests for the 3-day tend to be a little more complex than the tests used in regular horse trials. But otherwise, it was a fairly typical dressage test.

The long format 3-days of today are conducted as a hybrid between a clinic and a recognized horse trials so following dressage, everyone had the opportunity to prepare for endurance day (cross country day) by hacking the two roads and tracks sections to be ridden and attending a brief steeple chase clinic with Eric Smiley.



Up to this point the weather had been HOT. Unseasonably hot. So hot. But as everyone tacked up to head out on phase A - the first section of roads and tracks - the sky began to darken. Everyone had a time slot for their steeplechase practice so they headed out on A so that they would be at steeplechase (phase B) at the right time, allowing about half an hour to walk and trot all of A. As Elizabeth practiced her steeplechase, the sky darkened.

Elizabeth got lucky. In fact, I think only one group had to go in the monsoon that followed. Eric had each rider gallop until they had the correct speed and rhythm and then sent them over the steeplechase fence. Steeplechase is different from regular cross country. It is run at a much higher speed and the horses jump flat and out of stride. The idea is to let the horse figure it out and take the jumps without a bunch of interference from the rider. It's pretty cool to watch.





After steeplechase practice the riders headed out to hack phase C - the second section of roads and tracks. Elizabeth came back soaking wet having cantered through a field with hail pelting her. Her friend was out there for what felt like a really long time and just as I was really beginning to worry, she came in so cold and wet having walked the long section of roads and tracks since the visibility was so bad. Everyone made it in and as luck would have it, the rain stopped and we had a gorgeous afternoon in which to walk phase D - what we all know as cross country.

I got pretty nervous after walking this course with my daughter. She had been competing at Novice events all season and had tackled the toughest events in Area I but nothing came close to this course. She would have 22 jumping efforts including a ditch and wall, a half coffin, a corner and a jump into water as well as an enormous drop and a really tough table combination. It was long at 2500 meters. This would be a real test of both her and her horse.

Friday evening we had a team meeting. We divided up all the jobs for the next day - who would be at steeplechase to make sure our horses had shoes after A and B, who would be in the 10 minute box and who would be at the vet box at the finish. We discussed studs, put studs in all the spare shoes and checked through all the equipment. This was the best part of the 3-day for me. I felt like a real part of the team. We had 4 riders with us and 4 support crew including our trainer, Stephie Baer. Stephie loves the old format and had a blast helping everyone achieve this goal. There is so much to know when you do a 3-day. Having someone along who has done so many is a huge bonus.

And along the way, Elizabeth managed to do her homework. The reality is that she skipped three days of school to do this. She was exhausted but squeezed in some math and history where she could. I'm proud of her for working so hard and doing it all.

Saturday morning was exciting. It had gotten seriously cold overnight. We got up crazy early and got to the farm before 6am. The first order of business was to set up our area in the 10-minute box and the vet box. The ten minute box is between phases C and D - the second roads and tracks and the cross country test. The rider comes into the box, dismounts and the veterinary team immediately takes the horse's TPR (temp, pulse and respiration). From the minute they enter the box, they have ten minutes before heading out on phase D but they can only go out on D after being cleared by the vet team who will take the TPR again about 5 - 6 minutes later. During that time the rider sits, the horse is sponged and walked in intervals and hopefully all the numbers come down sufficiently.

View of both the vet box and, on the other side of the black fencing, the 10-minute box.

The vet box comes at the end of phase D. The rider dismounts, TPR is taken, the horse is sponged and walked and monitored until the vet team deems the horse sufficiently recovered to head back to the barn.

Our buckets and extra equipment.

Extra equipment for 3 riders.

We set up an area of buckets in both boxes and an area of extra equipment in the 10-minute box, making sure all the riders knew where we would be and all the grooms knew where each rider's equipment was stashed.

Soon enough it was time for our first rider to head out on phase A. My job was to be at the
steeplechase (phase B) to make sure that all our riders had 4 shoes both before and after running the steeplechase. We had arranged the night before what people wanted me to do if they had a shoe missing.  Most of them wanted some vet wrap or duct tape put on the hoof but fortunately all our riders had four shoes all the way through so my job was easy. We had spare shoes for all the horses in the 10 minute box where a farrier would be available.

Photo courtesy of  GRCPHOTO.COM all rights reserved.

The best part about being at steeplechase was watching the horses change with every lap. The two horses in our group who had been tough to ride and strong became carefree, happy and in sync with their riders. It was super cool to watch. These partnerships changed that day and are better for it every day since. The riders had a blast and just want to do it again. It looked like so much fun!

Once our last rider cleared phase B I headed over to the 10-minute box to support Elizabeth. I can't begin to tell you how exciting this day was for me as a mother. Seeing her arrive after A was exciting. Watching her finish B with no issues was thrilling. Being there with Quizz's halter when she finished C was amazing. She was in such high spirits and Quizz was barely puffing and recovered perfectly and all of it was just so awesome. They had worked so hard for this for so long and the day was going extremely well. The cool weather was great so we didn't need ice in our water buckets and we were able to get the horse's temps down nicely with sponging and walking. Before you know it she was back in the tack and headed out on phase D and I was crying and ready to burst with nerves, joy, the thrill of being a part of something so big and the pride of seeing my daughter taking on the world. I was jumping out of my skin.

Photo courtesy of  GRCPHOTO.COM all rights reserved.

I was able to see Elizabeth get over a few jumps from the vet box. When she made it up a ridiculous knoll and over the log at the top I started dancing. I knew that question had concerned her. The hill was big and steep and Quizz took it like it was nothing. They made it all the way around. No faults. They did it! They went double clear on endurance day. We had only hoped they would finish and here they were killing it. In fact, all our riders made it around. It was SUCH a great day!!

Kristen with daughters Taylor and Talia.

One of the best parts of that day was sharing it with another horse mom. We usually travel with adult riders who don't have kids. We love them and we are a great team. But I am so grateful to have been standing by my friend Kristen the whole time Elizabeth was out on phase D. She has two daughters who have been eventing for a long time. She knew exactly what I was feeling (her own daughter having finished cross country a couple of hours earlier). We were lucky to not only experience this awesome event but to do it with amazing friends. Sharing this day and this week with all of them was a huge part of the experience.

After everyone had rested and changed and walked the stadium course, we jogged our horses to make sure they had been walked enough and weren't getting too stiff. Exhausted and exuberant we headed back to our hotel, ate, did some homework, went back for night check and then we slept. Sunday morning rolled around very quickly. Again we were up before dawn. It was time for the second jog. Quizz had recovered extremely well. It was like the prior day had never happened. She passed and Elizabeth got ready for show jumping.

As a side note, choosing jog clothing is a big deal. Some are anti-dress. Some make better shoe choices than others. Then there is the weather to consider. Elizabeth, who generally wears any t-shirt and jeans to school, put a great deal of thought into what she wanted to wear and ended up bringing three or four options. If it is hot you want a different option than if the temperature is in the 40's. She went more casual for the second jog as did many of the riders. She looked great and so did Quizz.

Which reminds me, we braided 3 times over the course of the week. We braided for the first jog on Thursday, then removed the braids. We braided for dressage on Friday, then removed the braids. Sunday morning we braided before the second jog and kept those braids for show jumping, taking them out before we packed up to head home.

Photo courtesy of  GRCPHOTO.COM all rights reserved.

Show jumping was awesome. Elizabeth went double clear again. All 4 riders we travelled with finished, Elizabeth and one friend finishing on their dressage scores. In a division of over 40 riders, including some professionals, Elizabeth finished 20th. Among the young riders, she finished 6th. This event restored some confidence she had lost over the course of the season. She and Quizz had had a stop at each of her last 3 events. Elizabeth worked extremely hard to correct her mistakes and all her work paid off at Waredacca.

I'm amazed we were able to get this team photo. Our friend, a professional and fellow Pony Club mom lives in Area II and came by to watch some show jumping. She happened to be there and we miraculously had all 4 horses in one place, tacked up AND all the grooms. So thank you to Adrienne Iorio for taking this awesome photo to commemorate our victory!

Then it was time to pack and go home. Our adrenaline rush carried us for the full ten hour drive. Eventers never stop helping each other and two groups texted us from up the road warning to stay away from the George Washington Bridge. We rerouted to the Tappan Zee and saved hours on our drive.

Some shows leave us exhausted in a way that means we can't imagine doing it again any time soon. This show left us wanting more. We were ready to sign up for next year. It was the coolest experience ever for both of us. Everyone should do a 3-day. I watched my daughter transform over the course of a month as she executed her conditioning plan and invested herself completely in this event. She rode every minute and it paid off.

I also need to add that this venue is amazing. They clearly love what they do. The physical space is phenomenal. The clinicians were fun and happy and full of encouragement. Dr. Chad has so much energy it is infectious. I can't say enough good things about Waredaca. The three day is a bit more expensive than a regular horse trails but in my opinion it was a bargain. We stabled 4 nights, had a tack stall and the TD, vet, and other officials had to be there for three full days. They were actually there for four because they all came for the clinic as well. GRC Photo captured all three days of competition and had superb photos for sale at a reasonable price for every rider. I am so grateful for the photos they took.

The long format is important. It is where the sport of eventing started. It is a different test than a horse trial and different from a CCI. We planned Elizabeth's entire season around this event. She made the right choices for her horse so that they could do this. They didn't go to camp with friends and they didn't move up to Training even though they were ready to do so. It took discipline and maturity to prioritize this goal and make each choice each day based on that goal. I could not be more proud of my daughter and her horse. And I am grateful to all the organizers out there who are keeping the long format alive. We need to support them as riders, volunteers, spectators.

Elizabeth has her eyes set on a different goal for 2017 but I have no doubt we will be back at Waredaca in 2018 to tackle the Training 3-Day and I can't wait.

Riding in a Classic Long Format Event Part 1: The road to the Novice 3 Day at Waredacca

I'm not sure when we got the idea to aim for the 3 day, but by the end of 2015 my daughter had set it as her goal for 2016. What is a 3 day you ask? Allow me to explain briefly.

In the original sport of eventing, competition took place over three days: Dressage Day, Endurance Day and Show Jumping Day. This is the outline of the current format with the major change being that Endurance day, which used to include 4 phases, has been reduced to just one phase, the XC test.

Talia Freundlich aboard her OTTB mare Out Foxed

In a 3 Day, Endurance Day includes Phases A, B, C and D.  Phase A is "roads and tracks" during which horse and rider set out to cover a set distance within a set time, crossing through "gates" as they go. The terrain varies and the ground is generally covered at a trot with a bit of walk and some canter to get ready for Phase B.

Phase B is the "steeple chase" and the speeds vary depending at which level you compete. Generally, steeple chase is a more flat out gallup than the cross country test. It is short but includes the jumping of brush fences which means they are a bit higher than most fences at the level because if a horse hits the top they will just brush through it. Higher levels gallop faster than lower levels and jump more fences.

Phase C is a second, longer section of "roads and tracks" and is a period for the horse to recover a bit from the exertion of steeple chase.

After phase C, riders come into the "ten minute box" where the horse's vital signs are taken immediately upon arrival. A "pit crew" (to borrow a phrase from another sport) jumps into action, sponging the horse and walking it to cool it down while the rider sits, drinks and thinks about the final phase of the day. The veterinarian watches the horse jog to make sure it's sound, checks the vitals to make sure it has recovered sufficiently and if all looks good, sends the horse and rider out on Cross Country.

Phase D is pretty much like the XC test we see out at events in the current version of the sport but the course for a 3 Day will be a championship level course which means it will be long and the jumps will be maxed out in height and spread and there will be challenging questions for the level. After D, horse and rider return to the vet box until they are cleared to head to the barn. Again, we sponge and walk the horse to cool it down and jog to make sure it's sound.

Back to the road to the 3 Day…it began last winter. We bought an old copy of the USCTA Book of Eventing and started reading, taking notes on the equipment lists, conditioning plans and other nuggets of wisdom within this awesome book.

Being in Pony Club was an advantage. Over the winter Elizabeth attended HB Preps held by our region. The HB is an upper level horsemanship certification in Pony Club which has a pretty high bar of knowledge about the care and health of horses. She learned a great deal about nutrition, conditioning and soundness which would inform her choices over the 6 months leading up to the 3 Day. Elizabeth achieved her Pony Club C2 in August and one of the requirements was to write a conditioning schedule focused on a particular event. She chose the 3 Day and followed through on the elaborate plan she had laid out.

Another bonus working in her favor is her amazing trainer who loves the 3 Day format and supported Elizabeth's goal. Everything we did all season was leading up to this event. We determined her competition schedule based on getting to her goal. She did fewer camps so that she could focus on the horse's fitness, soundness and comfort, knowing that at the end of the season she would be asking a great deal of her lovely mare.

So we spent the summer working toward the 3 Day. By September it was time to really start focusing on getting ready. We made our own equipment list (you need quite a bit of equipment in the 10 minute box). We took Quizz to a couple of different places nearby with huge hills for hill workouts.  Her schedule began to resemble that of any athlete in training - some interval days, some hill days, some days focused on weight lifting (Dressage), some days focused on jumping. A week prior to the event, Elizabeth and Quizz did one last XC school, jumping Training level to prepare for what would be a much more difficult Novice course than they had yet to ride over.

Then it was time to pack. We bought two big, plastic bins for all the extra equipment we would need in the 10 minute box as well as tarps and more big buckets and sponges. We packed LOTS of towels and rain gear. And because we anticipated a 10 hour drive, we packed excessive quantities of hay, extra jugs of water and a full bag of hay cubes. It took days to get organized and fully packed.







We even borrowed a bucket holder and zip tied it to the trailer door so Quizz could drink on the long ride to Maryland. I was especially pleased with myself after securing the bucket holder with hand towels and baling twine. In a barn setting, there isn't much you can't fix with baling twine, duct tape and a sharpie at your disposal!

So that was it! We were as ready as we would ever be. And though we had worked hard and done everything we could to prepare, we were trepidatious, setting out on this adventure to attempt something big, something totally new to us.

We decided to hit the road at 2am. We're crazy but I had heard the drive was 10 hours and I was so worried about

getting stuck in commute traffic. There is no way to get around it. The best way to get from Boston to Maryland (the Baltimore area) is straight through NYC, over the George Washington Bridge. So we set out at 2am.

The road belonged to us and the enormous trucks. We hit absolutely no traffic anywhere and arrived WAY too early. The drive takes 8 hours for future reference. The 10 hour drive is what you get during normal, human hours. We listened to a book on CD and enjoyed the drive that would take us to our biggest adventure yet. Even Quizz seemed up for adventure. She is an excellent traveler and couldn't wait to see where we were taking her!

Keeping Horses at Home

Here I go again, writing on a topic of which I know very little. BUT, I know enough to have made the decision, for now, not to keep horses at home. There are a number of things I had not considered early on in our horse journey which came to light as I explored the possibility of moving to a horse property and keeping horses at home. For me, these details gave me pause, but for others they may be no big deal.

There are many reasons for keeping horses at home - reduced costs, more time with them, control over their care. The whole thing looks very different if money is no object than it does if you are on a tight budget. For our purposes, I'm going to be practical and assume you are not the type with bottomless pockets.

If you have more than one horse, you can't help thinking about the financial savings of keeping horses in your backyard rather than boarding them. Here in the Metro-West area outside Boston, board is extremely expensive ranging from $1,000 - $1,300 a month within a reasonable distance of our house. It's similar to the economics of day care vs. a nanny. The more kids you have, the more cost effective the nanny option looks.

The first thing we thought about when exploring the option of keeping the horses at home was the monthly cost of doing so. If you do all of your own barn chores, the cost to feed a horse in this area is about $350 per month which includes hay and grain. If you will have nice grass turnout that cost may go down a bit in the summer since they can graze and reduce your hay costs. Hay is about $10 a bale and a horse eats about a bale a day, maybe 3/4 of a bale. Your other significant cost is bedding. You will need shavings or some other form of bedding for your stall. If you have a run in stall, your bedding might last longer than if your horses are kept in all night. Regardless, plan for about $100 - $150 a month for bedding. I'm not including supplements in this discussion since their cost is the same whether the horses are at home or boarded somewhere else.

It looks like keeping horses at home could save us about $700 a month per horse (if you are doing everything yourself) which is pretty significant. But there are a few more costs to consider. First of all, there is the cost of living on a horse property. For us, moving to a town that allows horses would increase my husband's commute significantly and would have taken my two non-horsey sons away from a public school system they love so right there we had a deal breaker. But even if those pieces had fallen into place, we had a hard time finding a property we could handle that would give us everything we wanted. We currently enjoy the use of an indoor arena, several outdoor sand rings, jumps and fields. If we were at home, we would have reduced facilities.

Insurance and manure management are two additional significant costs. I am told by my friends who have horses at home that managing two is really not bad but adding a third horse seems to be a breaking point as far as the amount of mucking required and the quantity of manure you need to dispose of on a weekly basis.

Some rural towns will give you a good break on your property taxes if you are using your property as a working farm so look into the rules. The savings here might compensate for some of the costs listed above.

So now you've crunched the numbers, it's time to talk about the more subjective pros and cons of keeping horses at home versus boarding them. On the con side, having horses at home ties you down. My friends with horses at home are frequently looking for people they can hire to come take care of things when they want to go away for a weekend and it costs quite a bit to hire such a person. I believe they pay people about $100 a day for someone to come muck, feed and often stay overnight. Even when you are in town, horses tie you down. 7 days a week someone needs to be up early to feed them and turn them out. If everyone in the household is willing to take turns getting up and doing morning chores, then it might not be so bad. Horses need hay throughout the day unless they are turned out on grass so someone needs to be around to throw hay and fill water buckets in the middle of the day, everyday. And someone has to do night check, break the ice in the water buckets through the winter, change blankets, take care of emergencies, etc. There are some great devices such as automatic waterers and heated water buckets that will reduce your efforts but at the end of the day, horses need a great deal of care.

Horses don't usually like to be alone. If you have one horse you probably will want to provide the horse with a companion. You can run into trouble if you want to take one of the horses to a horse show or clinic for the day. Some of my friends end up dragging horse #2 along frequently so he doesn't get into mischief being home alone. You need to think through your program and consider what is the best number of horses to have at home for your lifestyle.

On the pro side, having your horses at home can be a great joy. I would love to have ponies in my backyard, to walk out the door and be with them any hour of the day. I would love to be at home more. My dog would prefer to have us home more! I could cook dinner while my daughter rode her horse. I think this becomes a bigger pro as the kids get older, have more homework and trips to the barn take up too much time.  We could afford to have two horses if we kept them at home. That's probably the biggest argument in favor of the idea for me. And I assume the bond is much greater when you take care of your own horse each day.

Having a farm is a serious lifestyle choice. If you really want one, then go for it! If you are just trying to find a way to cut costs, make sure you are truly ready for the commitment. If you aren't super knowledgeable, do you have someone you can call if something goes wrong in the night?

And if you're thinking about taking on something bigger, a boarding facility, think again unless you really know what you are doing. I know it sounds completely logical to buy a ten stall barn, rent 8 out to cover your costs and bring in a little bit of money, allowing you to justify having horses. Running a boarding facility is a ton of work and, unless you plan to do every bit of that work yourself, you are unlikely to see a profit. Look into how much you can charge for board. Backyard barns can't charge the same type of board a facility with an indoor and large outdoor rings can charge. Trainers running their own facilities always say they break even or lose money on the board and make it up with teaching or running shows or hay sales or some other horse adjacent business.

The other issue with running a boarding facility is that your home is no longer your own private space. You will have people there all the time and often those people will feel entitled to tell you what to do and to ask you to change your home to please them. I think I'd have a difficult time with this aspect of taking in boarders.

If I haven't talked you out of it yet, then good luck! I'm jealous! And I really hope to follow in your footsteps some day.

Silver Linings: The things we learn when our horses can't work.

I was giving a friend an update on Quizz the other day and realized just how big a blessing Quizz's issues have been so thought it was worth sharing the upside to rehabilitating a horse now that I can see the upside!

For most of January we took one step forward and two steps back each week.  It's been difficult to pin down the issue.  Winter inflicts enough stiffness on its own, exacerbating the question of whether there is a real problem or just an environmental one.  We had some good days.  Quizz no longer cross cantered (rather than bringing both inside legs forward together, the horse brings the front inside leg and the hind outside leg forward together).  She was doing better with her canter transitions though frequently exploding on the lunge line before picking it up.  We would have a good day followed by a day she didn't want anyone on her back.  We panicked that the saddles didn't fit but it turns out that wasn't really the biggest issue.  We did what you do with horses; we tried different things until we found a way to make things work.

Quizz has now been shod twice by her new farrier.  She still definitely has something going on in her right SI.  She won't let the farrier bring her right hind leg up under her so he has taken to doing all the work on that leg out behind her and she is much happier.  She is growing a nice amount of hoof in front, less behind.  He estimates it will take 6 - 8 months to get her feet where he would like to see them.

In the mean time, we developed a routine that seems to be working.  My daughter lunges Quizz for 10 - 20 minutes before every ride.  The goal is to achieve 2 smooth canter transitions on each side before working under saddle.  Some days this takes longer than others.  Quizz generally explodes at least once, leaping off the ground on all fours, bucking and taking off around her circle or another more creative shape.  Some days she explodes 3 or 4 times.  As we implement this routine, the lunging duration continues to vary but definitely improves each day.

As I mentioned in my post on lameness, lunging is an important skill but one we often neglect.  It had been on our list to work on for over a year and we did work on it a bit but usually our trainer would lunge the pony or horse, Elizabeth would watch and take over the lunge once we were sure things were going well and only at the walk and maybe the trot.  Over the past few weeks Elizabeth has developed her skills immensely.  Our trainer now sits at the side of the ring while Elizabeth handles the lunge line.  When Quizz explodes Elizabeth calms her saying, "Easy," and brings her back to a controlled trot or canter.  Four weeks ago Elizabeth was afraid to really swing the whip at her.  Now she uses it to insist on a consistent tempo in the trot and on picking up the canter.  The transitions are still not timely but they are getting better.  And the best part is that Elizabeth is solving a problem on the ground she struggles with in the saddle: respect!  The ground work is making Quizz respect her young rider.  The more Elizabeth insists on the canter transition on the lunge line, the better Quizz's canter transitions go under saddle.  I am so incredibly proud of my 12 year old daughter as I watch her master this skill and work with her horse to build a relationship and mutual understanding.

When Elizabeth sits on Quizz's back, the horse is already warm and loose.  The ride begins with stretching Quizz at the walk on 10 meter circles in both directions.  She's very tight through her rib cage so Elizabeth is learning to not just use her inside rein but to really use her inside leg to bend Quizz's body.  This is also improving.  Elizabeth is not big and heavy at this point so making a horse respect her leg has been a challenge but she's getting some results.  She absolutely has to get Quizz round and using her body properly at the walk before she can trot, and at the trot before she can canter.  In the past we've let the roundness and contact slide since those are difficult riding skills to master.  But now it is too important for Quizz that she engage her core during work and that she is not allowed to hollow her back.  By the end of their rides, Quizz looks wonderful!  It takes an awful lot to get there but she develops a beautiful, forward working trot, a nice long and low stretchy trot and lovely, smooth canter transitions.

The next step is to increase Quizz's work load.  Right now the weather is just miserable.  Quizz is doing very good work but often it's every other day.  By the beginning of March we will start working 5 days a week and, soon after, 6 days a week.  The duration of work will increase and hopefully by then she will be able to reduce the amount of lunging and even begin to jump again but we will be patient and let the horse determine the pace.

It's actually very interesting to watch this mare's progress.  She has had moments that she was not exactly cooperative which bothered us because she generally has a great attitude.  I have sensed a shift recently as though she feels like we finally figured things out and are giving her what she needs.  I believe she loves working, she loves eventing and she loves my daughter.  So I'm extremely optimistic we will get there and hopefully in time for a great season.

So in the end this whole thing has been a blessing in disguise.  It’s actually great seeing the things Elizabeth is learning during this rehab period that she wouldn’t have worked on if Quizz had been perfectly healthy.  If she had been healthy we would have been working on jumping position, jumping higher, no stirrups, etc, all valuable things we will get to but I feel like the things she’s focused on instead are the things we easily skip over or don’t fully embrace and perfect because we all have limited time.  We always say we need to work on lunging but until the horse forced us to go there we weren’t doing it in a way that Elizabeth was really learning and taking responsibility for.  I’m so proud of her.  You should see Quizz being totally ridiculous jumping up and down and taking off all crazy and Elizabeth telling her easy and bringing her back without a care in the world.  It’s hard to believe my daughter is only 12 years old sometimes.  

My daughter is obsessed with horses. What books might she like to read?

This post has the most hits of any post I've written in the years I've been blogging so I thought it called for an update. I once again enlisted the help of my voracious reader of horse books, my daughter. 

My daughter devours horse books. We've got them all. So I thought I'd try to give you a list with a little something for every age. Most of the comments come directly from my 11 1/2 year old daughter (now 13 1/2 as I update this blog) since I haven't read most of these books. Many we originally found at the library. The Wellesely Library has a great horse book list. Others we stumbled upon through Amazon recommendations. At the end I've included my favorites for grown ups. Some of them you will love wether you are a horse person or not. These are just plain good books. And reading a good book about horses will help any non-horse obsessed parent relate to their horse obsessed child a little more. All titles are linked to Amazon. Several of the books are only available as eBooks.

Early Readers

Keeker by Hadley Higginson - Pre-reader to early reader.  Fun bed time stories.

Pony Pals by Jeanne Betancourt - These were written awhile back.  There are at least 20 books. Similar to Keeker, pre - early reader.

Horse Diaries - 10 books, each written by a different author.  The books are not related to each other, each being about a different horse.  My daughter's favorites are #2 Bell's Star and #10 Darcy.

Elementary School

Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry - Marguerite Henry wrote many wonderful horse novels starting with this one which won the Newbery Award and was originally published in 1947.  My daughter enjoyed all the Misty books but didn't really like her other books.  Elizabeth recommends Misty of Chincoteague, Stormy: Misty's Foal and Misty's Twilight.

Wildwood Stables by Suzanne Weyn - There are 6 books in this Scholastic series and was the first series Elizabeth really got into.  She thinks these are good for 3rd grade and up even though the main character is a 13 year old girl.  It takes place in a hunter lesson barn.

Riding Freedom by Pam Munoz Ryan - This book is about an orphan girl who lives in an orphanage with a barn.  Elizabeth says it's a really good book.

Running Horse Ridge Series by Heather Brooks - There are 3 books in this series appropriate for 4th grade and up.  The main character's mother died when she was a baby and she lives with her dad.  She's a dressage rider.

Chestnut Hill Series by Lauren Brooke - There are 6 books in this series which, while appropriate for 4th grade and up, is about bratty girls.  This was not one of Elizabeth's favorites.

Middle School (Elizabeth read many of these in 5th grade)

Heartland Series by Lauren Brooke - There are 20 books in this series which Elizabeth says are more sad and realistic.  The main character ages from 12 through high school during the series.  Her family owns a horse rehab center so it's about caring for the horses.

Thoroughbred Series by Joanna Campbell - 59 books in the original series and 15 books in the sequel Ashleigh series.  These are nice books about a girl whose family raises race horses.  Appropriate for 4th grade and up.

Canterwood Crest Series by Jessica Burkhart - This series has 20 books and has been Elizabeth's favorite for awhile.  It's a little Dana Hall (local boarding school with equine program) meets eventing.  There is some basic teen content - romance, social stuff - but appropriate for 5th - 8th grade.

Timber Ridge Riders Series by Maggie Dana - So far there are 8 books in this series.  Elizabeth wrote an email to the author last summer and she wrote back!  The stories are about two 15 year old girls who are eventers.

Horses of Oak Valley Ranch Series by Jane Smiley - These are excellent books.  There are 5 of them so far starting with The Georges and the Jewels.  Jane Smiley is a Pulitzer Prize winning novelist who has always owned horses.  Her editor asked her to write a young adult horse series since they are in such high demand.  If only all series were of this caliber.

Indefensible by Rebecca Frankeny - I read this one to make sure it was OK for E.  The writing isn't the best but even I enjoyed the story.  It's about best friend eventers and their horses.  Good for 5th grade and up but the older the girl the more she'll really get the story.

Bittersweet Farm by Barbara Morgenroth - There are 6 books in this series for horse lovers.  There is definitely some boy girl stuff in these books so better for late middle school.  The girls live on a horse farm, they start off doing hunters and eq then one ends up doing dressage.  Elizabeth is hooked on these books.

The Shadows Breathe and The Shadows Fall by Kathleen Marentes - These books focus on training show horses, primarily Saddlebreds and Arabians.  There are story lines which include horse abuse and drugging and people who work to stop the abuse.

Turning on a Dime by Maggie Dana - By the same author as the Timber Ridge Rider series, the main character travels through time to the Civil War era.  Another favorite of Elizabeth's.

Show Jumping Dreams by Claire Svendsen - This is a series of over 20 books. They're all good and flow one to the next. A girl loses her sister and mother and ends up living with her father and accumulates 4 horses. There are some mean girl dynamics, boys in the later books.

Young Adult

Shadow Horse and Whirlwind by Alison Hart - These are definitely young adult books, again, according to Elizabeth who read them at age 11.  The main character is a teenaged girl who ends up with a foster family who runs a rehab center for animals.

A Circuit by Georgina Bloomberg - Young adult, 8th grade through high school.  I bought one of these for Elizabeth and made the mistake of not pre reading it.  There was a scene with a keg party and some heavy boy girl stuff.  My sons discovered the problem and we pulled the book.

Dancing with Horses by Toni Mari - There are currently 3 books in this series about a college aged dressage rider trying to make it to the North American Junior Young Rider Championship.

Alex and Alexander by Natalie Keller Reinert - This is a 4 book series about life at the race track. Alex, the main character, is in her mid-twenties.

Ambition by Natalie Keller Reinert - This is the only book currently available in this series focused on eventing. It takes place in Florida and the main character has always dreamed of having her own farm. She is trying to make her way as an event trainer.

Nadia and Winny by Rachel Eliker - This two book series (Headed for the Win and Road to the Ragalia) is about an event rider moving through the upper levels who changes places with her horse (think Freaky Friday, equine addition).

Great Books for High School Kids through Adults (ranked by how much I enjoyed them)

Horse Heaven by Jane Smiley - This is my all time favorite book.  I reread it every year.  I don't know if I love it because I love horses or just because it is such a great book.  She writes about the horses as though they were human characters and it is awesome.  It's about horse racing but really, it's about horses and the people who live with them.  So well written and I learned a ton about horse racing and training.

Eighty-Dollar Champion by Elizabeth Letts - This is one of those random books I bought having no idea what it might be about.  I wanted to read it to make sure it was appropriate for E and I got totally hooked.  It's your typical - and true - underdog story about an amazing horse saved from the slaughter truck who went on to win many times at Madison Square Garden.  Again, maybe I loved it because I love horses but I think anyone who loves a good, well written story would embrace this one.

Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand - I'm guessing you've read the book or seen the movie.  The book, as usual, is WAY better than the movie.  Another great underdog story.  Super well written non-fiction tale of the triple crown winning race horse.

Horse People by Michael Korda - Another book I randomly picked up because it had a horse on the cover.  I was so pleasantly surprised by this book written by the editor-in-chief of Simon & Schuster.  He tells numerous stories about his interactions with horses and horse people.  A rider himself, he has some good stories to tell - from fox hunting in the South to riding in Central Park in New York.  I've read criticism of this book for being more about wealthy people and their lifestyle rather than about the connection between people and their horses but I enjoyed it anyway.  I think it's a horse book non-horse people can enjoy.

Falling for Eli by Nancy Shullins - This was a lovely memoir about how a horse can come into a life and completely change it. Nancy Shullins tells her story with sensitivity and humor. I don't know if a non-horse person would get as much out of this book but it would probably be a valuable read for anyone with a horse person in their life. It might give you some perspective on the depth of the relationship between horse and rider.

And that's my list! Happy reading for you and your horse obsessed child!

Kristie

Blanketing: Why does the pony have more clothes than I do?

****Note: The links in this post aren't really recommendations.  At the bottom I will give you a run down on what I know of brands and places to buy them but I am putting links with lots of the items I mention just so you have a reference point for what I'm talking about.

Living in New England, blankets are a pretty serious topic.  Everyone kind of develops their own system and brand preferences and you will too.  However, we all need a jumping off point.

Last winter we were at a barn that really took care of the blanketing for us.  Our leased pony came with blankets and we didn't think about it too much.  Heading into winter this year we had a new pony and no blankets.  I didn't even know where to begin.

One big issue is that pony sizes are hard to come by so where horses have the option of buying a set from one brand and having all the layers work together, ponies end up with a bit of a hodge podge.  Then there is the issue of where to buy blankets.  I like to buy from my local tack shop.  It saves shipping costs and means I can try things out and exchange them if they don't work.  This is really important with blankets - just as it is with saddles and bridles.  But when it comes to ponies, the local shop won't always have what you need.  Sometimes, they can't even order it!  In that case, Just for Ponies is the place to go.  Even then you may not find what you need.

So what do you need?  It depends on where you live but if temps get down to 20 degrees in your area you should, at a minimum, have a turnout sheet, a cooler and a heavy.  A turnout sheet is the horse version of a lightweight rain jacket.  It can be put on when it's 50 and raining to keep the horse dry.  We also use ours overnight before a show so the clean pony can't get dirty when he rolls.  A cooler can take many forms but is essentially a cotton or fleece layer that can be put on either to keep a damp pony from catching a chill or as a layering piece under a turnout sheet.  So if it's 30 and rainy you may put a fleece cooler under the turnout.  Turnout sheets also come in medium and heavy fill powers so the heavy is like a super warm North Face down coat, usually with 300 grams of fill.  The medium is just a little lighter, usually around 200 grams of fill.  Both should be waterproof.  Many, like the Smartpak Deluxe, can be ordered in any or all of the 3 weights.  Sometimes you find you can order your blankets in a set which gives you more layering options rather than a heavy weight turn out.  I'm surprised by how much we use both the heavy and the medium.  Sometimes one of them gets wet so it's nice to have the other one available.  If you have a horse you are likely to have for a long time it's worth have a good selection of blankets and sheets.

If you live in a cool climate, a quarter sheet is a really good idea.  I made the one in this photo from a blanket called a Chappy Wrap.  A quarter sheet is soft and warm and is used to keep the horse warm while riding on a really cold day.  It has side extensions that go under the saddle flaps and meet in front of the saddle where they velcro to keep the sheet in place while you ride.

There are several other types of blankets and sheets out there.  Typically if someone refers to a sheet they mean the lightweight turnout.  However, there are also stable sheets.  These are not waterproof and are more appropriate for a life indoors.  It's nice to have a stable sheet for trailering or for putting on when they come in on a rainy day so the turnout can hang and dry.  It can also be a good layering piece.  The Baker Blanket is an equine staple and we have 2.  They are great for layering and come in wool or cotton.  We have cotton which is easy to take home and run through the washing machine (more on cleaning horse clothes in a minute).  Another good item to have in your equine wardrobe is the anti-sweat sheet.  This is similar to a cooler and is used to keep a sweaty horse from getting chilled.  It soaks up sweat but is like netting so it allows air in to dry the horse while keeping him warm.  There are certainly other items out there including dress sheets.  Some people like to have a separate set of blankets they use only for shows when the horse is clean and they want to look good.  They usually have a nicer trim and are embroidered with a monogram.  Most tack shops also offer a line of custom sheets and coolers.

If you plan to clip your horse's neck or if you live in a severely cold climate, a neck cover - or a heavy weight blanket with a high neck - might be necessary.  If you want a neck cover it is best to buy one that goes with your sheet.  Again, with ponies, this is a tall order.  I did end up finding one that fit our pony but then the sheet of the same brand didn't work with it. Fortunately, it does work with our medium and our heavy.  Eventually I'll get around to adding rings to our lightweight so it will work with that too but it still isn't ideal.  If you can, try to buy them together.  There are a few different systems out there but for the most part they have velcro or hooks on the underside of the neck cover that attach to the neck edge of the sheet either through metal rings or belt loops.  This is one of those things that's nice to buy at a tack shop so you can see how it works before making your choice.

To order blankets you will need an idea of what size your horse will wear.  The size corresponds to a measurement you can take.  Using a soft tape measure, start at the center of the chest and measure to the tail.  This is really only a starting point.  Our pony measures 63 inches but he has short legs and a big barrel.  Some blankets are long on him and a 66 fits better than a 63.  Like people clothes, some brands run big and others run small.  Some run in 2 inch increments, others in 3 inch.  Some have pony sizes and some do not.  Once you find a blanket or sheet that fits really well, take it with you when shopping for sheets and use it as a comparison.  Take notes on which brands and sizes fit well and keep it on your cell phone so any time you are out shopping you can remember if it was Weatherbeata or SmartPak that ran big for your guy.

Now that you have a wardrobe, I suppose you'd like to know how to use it.  This is something that just takes time and experimentation.  The goal is to keep the horse warm without causing him to sweat.  You don't want to over blanket.  If a horse gets sweaty and gets his blanket wet he can catch a chill as the temperature drops.  This is all pretty basic common sense.  If your horse has a heavy winter coat he won't need as much clothing as a thoroughbred with no hair.  If you do a full clip, you need to put on extra clothes.

Clipping may be another post but you may have no idea what I'm talking about so I'll try to explain briefly.  When you work a horse for an hour, even on a cold day, they can work up a sweat.  Before you can put the horse in his stall for the night, he must be completely dry.  You can't blanket a wet horse for the night.  If your horse is particularly fuzzy it can take a very long time walking him around to cool him out - we're talking about an additional 45 minutes.  So, you can shave off some hair to reduce sweating as well as the time it takes to cool down.  We full body clipped Pumba in October but it's pretty much fully grown out now.  For the coldest part of the winter we are just clipping him under his neck, across his chest and belly just past the girth.  You have to experiment with your own horse and the amount and type of riding you do to know how much clipping is optimal for you.  Follow this link for some information on clipping.

With blankets and clipping come blanket rub, yet another thing I had no idea about until one day I noticed an area on our pony where the fur had literally "rubbed" away.  Even really nice, well fitted blankets can give a horse rub.  On a chestnut horse it looks like a small patch of grayish dirt.  It's pretty easy to see on a light grey pony - it's typically dark grey against their light hair.  The real issue with allowing rub to continue is that eventually, all the hair in the affected area will wear away and the blanket will then begin to rub and irritate the skin.  I guess you could think of it like a bed sore.  The chest area is usually the worst and there are a few products on the market to help prevent rub.  Stretchies are usually the first line of defense.  You can buy a full body stretchy or one that covers the chest area and which many people refer to as a "bra".  Another option, and definitely a brand recommendation, is the Bossy Big which completely eradicated rub from the portion of our pony that it covers.  The stretchy just didn't work for us but the bib is a life saver.  We find that our Baker Blanket causes more rub than a fleece cooler if we need to layer - we recently had a stretch of sub-zero temperatures that had us layering under Pumba's heavy!  We also find that rotating blankets helps since different blankets fit a little differently and put pressure in different spots.  Most sheets have a nice slippery layer against the pony to minimize friction but some horses are just prone to rub anyway.  We find our Amigo heavy and SmartPak Deluxe medium are really good sheets and don't cause much rub.

Horses are dirty and love to roll in the mud so your pony clothes will get filthy.  Our barn sends sheets out at the end of winter for cleaning.  You can also have older sheets waterproofed if they are starting to leak though it seems as though once they start leaking, they never stop.  We sometimes take blankets to Dover Saddlery to send out for cleaning and I know there are other places that do it as well.  Dover is just really convenient for us.  I do wash coolers at home in my washing machine.  We usually put duct tape around the metal parts to preserve our washer and dryer.  Be prepared if you wash blankets at home you will find horse hair in everything you own!  It's probably not a good idea to wash sheets at home for several reasons.  Firstly, they are seriously dirty.  Secondly, you may damage their waterproof finish.  Thirdly, medium and heavy weight turnouts are super big and may overload your washer.  Having them cleaned once a year at the end of the season is usually sufficient.

So, in case you couldn't tell already, my favorite places to shop are Dover Saddlery, SmartPak and Just for Ponies.  We are super super super lucky to live in Wellesley, Massachusetts which boasts brick and mortar Dover and SmartPak stores.  We have even been so lucky as to find blankets in the discount attic at SmartPak and basement at Dover.  We love the SmartPak brand blankets.  Weatherbeeta tends to make sheets with the most fun fabrics.  Horsewear Ireland makes both the Amigo and Rambo brands which are pretty much top of the line in both price and design.  We got an Amigo from a friend and it is super nice.  It fits really well and when I'm out shopping I notice both brands take advantage the most innovative design and textiles.  If you can afford it, I think they are worth the money ($400 for a Rambo heavy vs. $200 for a SmartPak heavy).  But I am just about as happy with our SmartPak sheets so you don't HAVE to spend more.  I do think Horsewear does a better job with neck covers so if you intend to use a neck cover frequently you might really think about splurging.  Also take into account how long you will have the particular horse you are clothing.  It's rare that the next horse fits in the same blankets.  If you are leasing for a year, you might not go for the extensive wardrobe of high end blankets.  If, however, this is a young, forever horse, I would buy blankets that really fit well and will perform for a long time.

SmartPak has some great resources on their website including a Blanketing 101 article and a Blanketing Glossary.  Both are worth a look if you still have questions.

Have fun dressing your pony! -
Kristie