Hand Gallop Blog Hop: Tack Setup

I was catching up on my blog reading this morning and saw that Tracy from Fly on Over had joined in on a blog hop from Stephanie at Hand Gallop. I love tack so I wanted to jump on the band wagon too!

Both horses use the same saddle, so we'll start with that. I ride in an Hermes Essentielle, which I actually think has been discontinued. It's my most favorite saddle I've ever ridden in, and I've had it for 13 years. It is quite similar to the Butet.

Jampy wears two different bridles depending on if we're schooling or showing. To school, he is currently wearing a very inexpensive jumper bridle from Da Vinci. The leather is so-so quality but for under $60 I have no complaints! I was unprepared for this post, so I don't have a good photo of him wearing it close up, but it's on him here:

He also wears a happy mouth three ring to practice. For showing he wears a bridle from Joseph Sterling. Also on the lower end of the price range (around $150), these bridles are GORGEOUS, and really great quality leather. I like them better than the Hadfields and Beval bridles. You can find them on SSTACK.com. He shows in a "D" ring bit with a smooth, thin mouthpiece.

Ducky wears either a Joseph Sterling Bridle with a three ring or a western bridle of unknown brand with a slow twist long-shank bit. His Joseph Sterling looks the same as Jamp's. Here he is wearing his western bridle:

 As for pads, we use mostly one basic set up: a baby pad and a fleece half pad. Lately, we've been having some fun with brands and patterns. We have 3 sets of matching ones from Mae Equestrian (which is out of business). We have the yellow that Ducky is wearing above, a pink and blue pattern, and a blue and orange one. Sometimes we use a baby pad from Lettia with the pink and blue half pad as seen above in Jamp's jumping picture. I also sometimes use receiving blankets from Vera Bradley as baby pads:

 My FAVORITE baby pads however are from Wilkers. You can customize them in whatever colors you want, and they hold up really well. Unfortunately I don't have a photo. My most often used half pad is from Horze. I found it on sale around holiday time and it is a chocolate brown color. I like that one best as it's real sheepskin and offers more padding than the silly ones from Mae Equestrian.

Ducky doesn't wear boots. Jamp wears Heidi boots for schooling. If he shows in the hunters he can't wear any boots. In the equitation I usually just use black polos on his front legs. Nothing too fancy! Rio wears Heidi boots to lunge.

So I think that's everything! What does your horse wear? Hop on over to Hand Gallop and see what other bloggers are dressing their horses in!