Christmas List 2018

Over the past few years I’ve had the honour of reviewing products from The Comfy Horse Company and other amazing companies. I always enjoy looking at the more unique products on the market, so I tend to come across some good finds that I never would have thought of using before. I thought I’d put together a Top 5 of my favourite products that I’ve reviewed this year. I hope it helps to choose a good present for your horsey pals or family, as I know we’re not easy to buy for! Especially if you come from a non-horsey family.

1) Kerrits Ice Fil Tech Tights

These are truly fabulous and something everyone should own! I’m a fan of fancy expensive breeches, but as we all know, they aren’t always the comfiest to wear. These Kerrits are the first riding leggings I have ever tried and it’s safe to say I fell in love on first wear. I ended up riding in them for the whole summer (don’t worry, I washed them in between!) and didn’t even think of my breeches. They feel like a second skin and really do keep your legs cool. No more sweaty saddle bum! Plus they look amazing too. What’s not to love?

Full review – https://braceyourselfeb.wordpress.com/2018/05/13/kerrits-ice-fil-tech-tights-review/

Price – £69 (The Comfy Horse Company)

2) Stubben EquiSoft Girth

This is a product that I had been wanting to try for many years, but the price was always a little bit off-putting in case Dave didn’t get along with it. I had trialled the Wow H Girth a few years ago, which is a similar width to the EquiSoft and Dave tried to buck me off the whole time. I was anxious about our first ride with the Stubben girth, not expecting much, only to be completely surprised! Dave felt so free and happy wearing it. His saddle didn’t slip at all, even with the stretchy elastic loops. It makes you more conscious to not over tighten your girth too, which is a major issue when it comes to tacking up. Stubben doesn’t recommend using them for jumping though, due to the risk of their shoes getting caught in the elastic loops when tucking up over jumps, which I didn’t realise as I have it for my jumping saddle! However, I have never had a problem with it and as long as you are aware of this I don’t see it being a problem. You could even just put duct tape over the loops!

Full review – https://braceyourselfeb.wordpress.com/2018/07/08/stubben-equisoft-girth-review/

Price – £238 (The Comfy Horse Company)

3) The Husk Titan 3D Shield Air Target Protection Boots

The name’s a bit of a mouthful, but what they really are is a pair of “high tech” brushing boots. Over the years, more and more research is being done on the effects of boots/bandages on a horse’s legs. To keep it short, heat is a no no. The Husk makes their boots with a special material that has optimum airflow, therefore keeping the horse’s legs sweat-free. I tried these in the middle of a summer heatwave and was a little skeptical on how well they would work. How can a horse working hard not sweat under a layer of material, right? Well I sure was wrong! Dave didn’t have a single drop of sweat on his legs whatsoever. So, apart from Dave being much comfier, they also protect your horse’s delicate legs. Definitely worth checking out yourself! They do other kinds of boots such as sport wraps and tendon boots too.

Full review – https://braceyourselfeb.wordpress.com/2018/03/09/the-husk-titan-3d-shield-air-target-protection-boots-review/

Price – £60 (The Comfy Horse Company)

4) Haas Dark Bay/Black Brush Set

Now I think we have all heard of the Haas Eqclusive brush packs. They’re literally everywhere on social media and people can’t get enough of them. A wonderful company called “The Yard” offered me an opportunity to review them when they first got the sets in for their shop. My grooming kit consisted of a single HyShine body brush, an old flick brush, a child-sized curry comb from my very first grooming kit at 8yrs old and a very old face brush (they’re cute and little. I had to have one). So, very bare and not in the best condition!

The Haas set takes a little getting used to in terms of what order they go in. I still keep the instructions in my kit in case I forget! They’re definitely good quality brushes and worth having. I don’t find my grooming time has been shortened, but I get better results in the same time. They will definitely be a great present for any horsey person. Plus you will fall in love with the Diva lambskin brush! I still like to rub it on my face every now and then. Before using it that is!

Full review – https://braceyourselfeb.wordpress.com/2018/05/07/haas-dark-bay-black-brush-pack-review/

Price – £100 for the Dark Bay/Black set, but they vary depending on colour. (The Yard)

5) Epiony Heat Pad

The Epiony Heat Pad is the most recent of all my reviews and the last one for 2018. I’ve never owned any therapy items for my horse before, so I really enjoyed checking this one out. It works on thermatherapy (heat therapy), where the heat penetrates the muscles in order to make your horse comfier before/after exercise or just as a nice treatment to help them relax. You can even use it on yourself and your cats/dogs will love sitting on it too. It has a safety feature where it can’t burn your horse, as it will turn itself off if it overheats. It’s easy to use and just like having your own mini solarium. You can use it on any part of your horse’s body, as it has two different attachments; one neoprene and one surcingle. Do not use it on any fresh injuries though – thats when cryotherapy (cold therapy) should be used. My full review goes into detail about how heat therapy works.

Full review – https://braceyourselfeb.wordpress.com/2018/12/08/epiony-heat-pad-the-comfy-horse-company/

Video Tutorial – https://youtu.be/jPf1UiPgr9Q

Price – £129.95 (The Comfy Horse Company)

I really hope my top 5 picks for 2018 help you to choose your purchases wisely! Feel free to comment with any questions you have below or message me directly on my Facebook page – www.facebook.com/braceyourselfeb. I’ll answer as quickly as possible, so you can get your products in time for Christmas!

Hope you all have a brilliant Christmas and a happy new year! Thank you to everyone who regularly interacts with my blog. It really does mean a lot to me.

Elise x

Haas Dark Bay/Black Brush Pack – Review

What Is It?

Haas is a German company that has been around since 1919, producing high quality brushes for horses. Their brushes are known for longevity, and being all round quality products. Each brush has been carefully designed to be able to do it’s exact purpose. The use of synthetic materials also means the brushes are much more hygienic and easy to wash.

How Does It Work?

Eqclusive have put together sets of brushes from Haas to suit certain colours of horses and their coat types. There is a range between 4-5 brushes per set, depending on the horses’ colour. I am specifically looking at the Dark Bay/Black set for my black horse, Super Dave! Black horses tend to have sturdier hair that produces a lot of oil/sweat, so you can use harder brushes on them. By using the brushes in order, they work together to create a beautifully clean coat.

How To Use Them

The information that came with the pack describes the old brushes, which was a little confusing. The ones I have are the new and improved versions. They are used in the same way, just with improved bristles/different colours!

1) The Parcour – Used to remove dust from deep within the coat.

2) The Lipizzaner – Removes sweat and oil to really clear the coat.

3) The Cavaliere – This brush removes the dirt brought up by the previous brushes.

4) The Coat Gloss – Removes any final bits of dirt whilst providing a shine to the coat.

5) The Diva Exklusiv – The final brush makes the coat super glossy for a show finish!

My Experience

I received these brushes when Dave was severely moulting, as I didn’t clip him this winter. He also only gets a proper groom once a month, due to me not being able to ride often. So, when I first went to use these brushes, Dave was quite a mess!

Before.

Parcour.

Starting with the Parcour brush, I went over his whole body and legs, just avoiding his head. He had solid mud on him at this point, but the brush was barely touching it, so I decided to get rid of any mud stuck to him with a plastic curry comb first. Once all of it was gone, I went back over with the Parcour. This really helped to bring up all the dirt and dust stuck in his coat. It also pulled out loads of loose hair. The one issue was, once all the hair started coming up, I couldn’t get rid of it! The area over his bum was very thick with hair and dust deep in the coat, and although the Parcour helped, it didn’t completely clear it.

Lipizzaner.

Then I used the Lipizzaner brush over his body and legs, avoiding his head again. This brush did a good job to remove any dirt that was still in his coat. However, I couldn’t tell the difference between the jobs of the Parcour and Lipizzaner brushes. They both are hard brushes that remove dirt from the coat. I guess doing it twice in a row just helps to clean the coat more!

Cavaliere.

With the Cavaliere brush, I went over his body, legs and head, as this brush is slightly softer than the previous two. I was still careful around his head though, as they are quite big brushes compared to the size of a normal face brush. The Cavaliere is the last of the “cleaning” brushes and helped to remove any of the dirt brought up to the surface by the previous two brushes. I started to see that Dave’s coat was beginning to look cleaner now. I was still having trouble with the amount of hair that was coming off him though. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Warmblood moult this much before!

Coat Gloss.

The next brush is the Coat Gloss, which I used over his full body. This is a softer brush with thickly packed bristles. I enjoyed using this brush, as you can start to see a shine come through your horse’s coat whilst the remainder of the dirt disappeared. This was great at cleaning any sweat marks off Dave’s face from his turnout headcollar that he wears during the day. His legs even looked like they had been baby oiled by this point!

Diva Exklusiv.

The final of the 5 brushes I used was the Diva Exklusiv. This is a really unique brush as it’s made of lambswool with a border of short black horse hair bristles. I’ll definitely be taking this brush with me to any shows in the future! I went over his full body with this brush and I loved how it picked up any last bits of dirt without pulling any more loose hair out. It really finished off the groom and Dave definitely looked clean at this point. It also leaves a natural shine to your horses coat. With the other brushes I cleaned the dirt out by using a plastic curry comb in between strokes, but I didn’t with this brush as it’s such a soft and delicate brush. Instead I used my fingers to flick off any loose hair/dirt stuck to it.

After.

It took me at least 40mins to groom with the whole set, but I soon learnt you don’t need to take that much time on each brush. It may seem that you have more dirt to get off, but as you are using multiple brushes the dirt left will be taken off with subsequent brushes.

A few weeks later I went to use the set again. Dave hadn’t been brushed in between yet his coat still looked shiny! I was definitely impressed with that, as he has been turned out naked for a while now. I didn’t have as much time to groom before riding this time, so I chose to use a plastic curry comb to remove any dried mud, then the Parcour, the Cavaliere and the Coat Gloss for a quick groom that took around 15mins in total. This worked just as well and left his coat looking super clean and healthy!

When I made the video showing how to use the whole set, Dave had finished moulting. Hooray! This really gave the brushes a chance to work properly. I was much more impressed this time around and finally understood the hype behind these brushes! Black horses tend to be naturally shiny, but with these brushes Dave looked ready to go out for some dressage.

Pros

1) High quality brushes.

2) Leave a good shine to the coat.

3) Having the set will make you want to groom more!

Cons

1) Relatively pricey.

2) Seem quite delicate, although they are meant to last a long time.

Are They Worth It?

Yes! I have never had any good quality brushes before, and the most I’ve ever spent on a single brush was £10, so it was really lovely to use these luxury items. It really felt like you are giving your horse a spa treatment! I did find they definitely work better when your horse isn’t moulting or has a thinner coat. They aren’t a necessity, but if you compete a lot these would be amazing to add to the collection, so you can avoid bathing in the winter. They would be perfect for show horses too! I’d recommend buying a set over single brushes though, as they seem pricey to purchase that way. If you have multiple horses that are different colours, then they do a universal set to suit all. Treat yourself or get someone to treat you for a birthday present!

Price – £100 (price varies for each set).

Website – https://www.theyard-equine.co.uk/collections/haas-brushes.

Thank you for reading and feel free to ask any questions!

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Elise x