Best: Kerrits 3-Season Knee Patch Breeches. I get cold really easily, and these fleece lined breeches are life savers for me during winter. And they come in tan so you can wear them in a show if you need to!
Worst: Fleece quarter sheet. Who wants to zap their poor horse with static electricity? Nothing but wool for me from now on.
Oh, I love these threads!
BEST
Dehner paddock boots. Brown. Laced. Super comfy. Stock sized so pretty sure cheaper than ariats. Take abuse like nobody’s business.
Hadfields cotton ratcatchers. With stripes, and with no polyester. Gorgeous and comfy. I’m an eventer: I can be wild.
Ogilvy baby pads. I’m done buying anything else.
Remarkable Leather Goods girth. Beautiful leather and workmanship; nice people.
WORST
Joules wellies. So cute that I loved them for all of the 6 months of light wear they lasted before leaking. Such sadness.
I actually think the Parlanti paddock boots are fine, but all this sure is making me feel better about having accidentally driven away with them on the roof of my car…never to be seen again.
BEST:
Shires cactus cloth mitt
Rubbing alcohol for getting rid of sweat marks
Solo Comb, which makes fast, easy and beautiful work of horsey’s bouffant mane
CWD leather conditioner (and secondhand CWD saddle, come to think of it)
Higher Standards Lemon-Aid formula from Jeffers
Effol Ocean Star spray shampoo. I’m never going back to regular shampoo and that gross wet sponge. This stuff is pricey but just a few sprays get horsey super-clean and shiny. Lovely light fragrance. I think it will last at least as long as a 16-ounce shampoo.
Hit-Air vest. I haven’t fallen off yet, but this thing is so light and comfortable that I forget I’m wearing it. One day soon I’m going to dismount having forgotten to unlatch, and KABOOM!
WORST:
Dug an unused new bridle out of the haunted tack trunk, which had sat unopened for more than 20 years while I wasn’t riding. Returned to horses, pressed this thing into service – and I’m still not certain whether it’s leather or plastic. I’d like to leave it by the side of the road.
That made me LOL. I’m sure it was heartbreaking and maddening in the moment though.
I love all the Effol care products! The shine spray is great too.
Best: Tiger’s Tongue groomer from Epona, I think?
When it briefly disappeared, I immediately bought a second. I love them, love them, love them and, next to hoof picks, my single most used grooming tool.
That makes me wonder where mine wandered off to…I even bought a few for friends. I have the one with the tiger tongue on one side and sponge on the other and love that too.
I shop carefully and look for bargains and I’ve actually been pretty happy with most of my things.
As new second hand Passier Optimum, bought over a decade ago, still great for me and mare. I had D rings put on the back for latigo strings and go on big trail rides in it. Ogilvy dressage baby pads for that saddle, Lemieux CC for my jump saddle. I just have a couple of each in our best colors, and it stops me from collecting random pads! Also finally got a mohair string endurance girth for the dressage saddle and that has made mare much happier, no rubs at all. Having gear that all fits together is priceless 
My disappointments have been minor and usually about lower cost items. I started out as re-rider buying Greenhawks comfortable and affordable house brand breeches, but I wore through the actual fake suede full seats in a year! On multiple pairs! I upgraded to Pikeur and Cavallo I found on discount, and while they are fading, they are still going strong years later. Same with the low cost SSG grip or fleece gloves from Greenhawk. They split really fast. I upgraded to “glove liners” for skiing which have silicon palms and fleece inside and are similar lightweight to riding gloves, and they have been in use for years now.
Best: Leather halter with nameplate purchased on-sale for $25 from Chicks saddlery. It was dirt cheap and still looks great after four years of hard use.
Worst: Saxon tall dress boots. I’ve had them over a year and they still don’t feel broken in. Unless I wear super thick socks they rub my ankles raw. I should just give up on them, but the thought of starting the break in process all over again makes me cry a little inside.
I have a pair of these that I bought on eBay NWT for $50. I feel so old school classy in them.
The Saxon boots afaik are not real leather, they are a man-made product, so they never will actually break in. Give up on them! Leather boots won’t take a year to break in.
I only rode in the Hybrids, for years. They were my fave gloves and they lasted forever, until the palm started to wear out super fast, the ring finger started to split on multiple pairs. They are no longer worth the price tag and that makes me really sad because they were so comfortable and they had the mesh over the knuckles which I loved.
So I wanted those features and I found a pair that I actually like better with similar features, the Uvex Ventraxion gloves. Miss the leather, but these have lasted me all summer and they still look brand new. They are a bit more expensive but if they last, worth it.
Thank you! As a long time Hybrid lover, I am so sad about the decline in the quality too. I wear the yellow Roeckls for hunting and those wear out super fast, so not super interested in getting any for schooling. I may have to try the Uvex gloves you mentioned.
Oooh, I didn’t know about the sponge version.
Crapcrapcrapcrap. And here I’ve put myself on a spending diet, too.
Fabbri boots… qualify as best AND worst. Best because they required zero break-in but they have completely fallen apart over the past year.
Not just zippers, but spur rest and soles. Total hot mess.
After wearing Fabbri boots for years, I had such a terrible experience with them last year that I will never spend another dime with them. Boots had to be remade three times and still aren’t right.
I bought a pair in 2015, even though they were really out of my price range. The double zipper type. They held up beautifully, and I wore those puppies 5 days a week, 10 hours a day. Not the most comfortable, so I put insoles in them. I have very long, narrow feet; 9.5AA, think skis, and you’ll see my feet. They were the only brand that actually fit me. They still look beautiful
Ariat, Dehner, Vogel, et al all fell apart with in 18 months.
I’m glad they worked so well for you. If you saw my feet, you’d think duck…short and fat😀.
Favorite: After a bad tailbone injury, I found the Acavallo GEL SEAT SAVER DRI-LEX ORTHO-COCCYX saddle seat cover. This has been a life saver for me. I have permission to show in it from my local dressage association secretary. I have one on my h/j saddle as well, though I haven’t had an opportunity to show in. Seriously, this is great for me! Also, being of a “certain age” I’ve found I was rubbing my skin raw under my seat bones, and this has eliminated that as well. I can only ride for about ten minutes without it.
I also love Moss Naturals Bit Cleaner. It smells good and makes wiping down dirty bits much easier.
Disappointment: Saddle Right leather half pad. I hate it.
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