Helmet Shopping: The Results

Spoiler alert! I came home from my trip to Boston last week (and of course a stop by Smartpak), walked in the door, and announced to my fiance that I had found the sexiest piece of riding gear I have ever bought.

(He said, "I don't even know what it is and that is blatantly false." Luckily I found a boy who appreciates breeches...)

ANYWAY.

Thank you all SO much for your thoughtful, eloquent, and incredibly useful feedback on my helmet search. I read every comment multiple times, made notes, scoured websites, and thought a lot. I was ready to tackle the new helmet fitting process.

First: a moment of silence for my old helmet, which did yeoman's work and came the closest of any helmet I have ever owned to lasting until its expiration date, rather than being put out of commission by a fall.

It was an ugly thing, but it saw me through a lot.

On to the shopping!

I re-confirmed the following: Charles Owens do not fit my head, Troxels are ugly as sin, I still dislike the Tipperary style, and everything else was waaaaaay out of the price range. I did not even try on any Samshields or One Ks or all those other helmets the cool kids are wearing these days.

I narrowed it down to two helmets.

On the right, the IRH XR9. On the left, the IRH Elite Xtreme. Helmet names are getting as dumb as car names, seriously.

I wanted badly to like the XR9. It fit pretty darn well, actually. I just wasn't quiiiiiite sold on it, and since I was there in front of a wall o'helmets, and had an awesome Smartpak salesperson helping me out and talking through options with me, I put on the Elite Xtreme. And little angels sang in a choir.

The trick, as it turned out, was that the Xtreme came in a "long oval" size, which means that my head is even weirder sized than I expected. I put it on and it fit like a glove, and it settled down onto my head and I loved it. And then I looked at the price tag, and I wanted to cry, but I looked at myself in the mirror, and felt the helmet wrap around my head, and sighed. 

The salesperson offered to get the black version of what I was wearing but you know what?  That silver is awesome. It looks like a million bucks. It's not a show helmet - I have a wonderful velvet show helmet - and we don't even show anyway. 

soooooooooo sexy

Spending way more than I planned on my helmet did not stop me from swinging through the clearance section, which was filled with the usual tempting array. I escaped with this jacket (minus the Smartpak logo) for $25, and the Back on Track glove liners for $12.50, because 'tis the season for winter stuff on deep clearance.

I've now ridden in the helmet about a half dozen times and I loooooooove it. It's a little snug until the back harness softens and the lining breaks down a bit, but it turns heads, and I get a happy thrill from putting it on. It doesn't budge while I'm riding, and best of all, I actually look almost good for once.

post-ride the other day

In conclusion: way more $$$ than I anticipated, but WHOOOO for sexy new helmets!

Weekly Blog Roundup

A few blog posts from the weekly roundup.

GoFundMe for Lauren from Fly On Over
I'm sure if you're reading horse blogs you've heard about Lauren's unimaginable heartbreak. I read her post just after it was published, while I was having breakfast with my maid of honor, about to meet my bridesmaids to pick out their dresses. Life is so odd, the way these things are juxtaposed and jumbled up.

Please consider visiting Tracy's page to help support Lauren.

It's official, Skeeter's Mine from Wilson's Wild Ones
Hooray for mustangs finding their forever homes. :) If you didn't know anything about the BLM adoption process, this is a good read.

So What Happens at a Paso Fino Show? from Tucker the Wunderkind
Totally different world than the one I'm used to - photos, explanations, utterly fascinating.

Question to Readers: Falling from Viva Carlos
Having recently fallen off myself, this was interesting to read. Make sure you check out the comments.

Yosemite Part 2 from DIY Horse Ownership
Uggghhhhhhh the jealousy, it burns. Go read this, and then read all the others in the series. Gorgeous photos, the trip of a lifetime.

25 things to know before your first 25 mile LD ride from Boots and Saddles
I've never ridden a 25 mile LD, but I've crewed and staffed my fair share, and these are great suggestions, many of them not obvious.

700 Posts from All In
Fun contest - definitely check it out!

Tristan's Scariest Scar

Tristan was a wild horse for four years in central Nevada. I wrote a little bit about where he came from here: the Callaghan Herd Management Area.

After that, he was in BLM custody for two years. After that, he was in an adoptive home for two years. Then he was relocated to the rescue for two years. Then he came to me.

At some point prior to coming to me, he acquired a really scary scar.

His roan coloring means that scars show up as darker spots against his coat. See just above his hock? That dark line along the tendon?

The picture doesn't show it very well, but it's actually a semi-circle, There's a matching one on the other side. Those are teeth marks.

Have you ever seen a horse - a boss mare, usually - herd other horses, head snaked down low, teeth bared? It's the equine body language equivalent of MOVE RIGHT THE FUCK NOW.

My best guess is that at some point Tristan did not move fast enough, and another horse bit him, just above the hock, on either side of that tendon. Badly enough to go through the skin, and then heal so that it left a pretty big scar.

He has never - knock wood - been lame on that leg, so it obviously healed. But can you imagine the perfect series of circumstances that had to occur so that an injury that gnarly healed without any lasting damage - in the wild?

Boosting the Signal

Just in case you haven't seen this elsewhere -

Gift for Lauren

Please consider donating.

Equestrian Antiquing

The My future in-laws visited this weekend, which meant two things: they helped us accomplish a truly amazing list of things around the house, and we went antiquing.

Whenever I am turned loose in an antique store, I gravitate toward the horse-themed items. I have a small but growing collection of old veterinary bottles - magic  elixirs and salves, that sort of thing. I didn't find anything tempting yesterday, but I thought I'd take a few photos to share anyway!

 

This was an old candy tin. My most tempting find of the day, but not quite right.

This was actually a whole pile of turn of the century sleighing and other horse-themed prints.

Original art - definitely the nicest piece I saw that day, just not my style. The artist's last name was Schyler.