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Tack Review: Equiwing Aluminum Wide Track Stirrups

5/19/2013

2 Comments

 
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For years my feet fell asleep when I rode. Laurie kept on telling me it was because I was jamming my feet forward. But I just couldn't stop it. I rode in a barn mate's saddle complete with those fancy wide-track stirrups. And my feet didn't fall asleep. So I set out to find a pair of my own.

Starting this year (December maybe, I'm not really sure) USEF rules will change and all black stirrups will not be allowed in equitation classes. Equitation is  my favorite division, so I set out to find non-black wide-track stirrups.

Enter Equiwings. Long story short, they were the only non-black wide track stirrups I could find.

First impression: these suckers are huge! And not foot bed is wide huge. Tall and thick huge. They are a good two inches taller than my regular irons.

The stirrups come with two sets of foot pads, rubber and cheese grater. I never rode in the rubber ones, because I am a cheese grater fan. These cheese graters are not nearly as sharp as the ones that go in my jointed stirrups. I like this texture better, as it doesn't scratch my saddle and leathers like the others do. The pad are attached with four screws on the underside. It should be simple to change them. It wasn't. The screws weren't long enough. It was kind of a pain to dig through the junk in my garage and find one that would work. I suspect that I got a mildly defective pair. Why else would the pad be bent slightly so that the screws didn't fit?

The foot bed is indeed wide, around twice as wide as regular fillis irons. The width is such that I cannot get my heels nearly as far down as I could before without losing contact with the foot bed. But since I was hamming my heels at a 45 degree angle, this is a good thing. First time I rode in them, I could immediately feel if there was jamming going on. They are very secure and I feel like I have a great base of support. The wider foot bed also distributes my weight better then my regular stirrups. My feet don't fall asleep in these stirrups. In my old irons they fell asleep every single ride.

The finish is a matte aluminum, not shinny like you would expect from a stirrup. I haven't tried to polish them up. Maybe I'll get inspired and report back on how well they shine up.

My biggest complaint about these stirrups are how light they are. When I drop my stirrups, they bounce everywhere. The aluminum bangs against my spurs and makes an annoying noise. If I cross the stirrups, the pads rattle and make a different annoying noise. I understand that light is a sought after trait for many people, but unfortunately, it isn't for me.

Over all, these stirrups were a fine purchase. They were only $71 and they keep me from heel jamming. They also come in black plastic and in the jointed version. I do wish they would make them in a regular weight, and height. I'm sure there is a point to ultra light weight stirrups. I just wish I knew what it was. I can't imagine a benefit to them being that big.

2 Comments

Fix Wrinkly Ribbons

5/11/2013

2 Comments

 
Some people take great care of their old horse show ribbons and hang them immediately upon returning home in a delightful arrangement. Some people *cough* me *cough* leave their ribbons in a box in their childhood bedroom while they go to college, start a career, go back to school, start a new career, get married and move around to 3 states before they finally get a wall of their own to hang them on. When those ribbons came out of the box, they were crinkly and wrinkly and rather unattractive. Here's how to make them smooth again.
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Start with a crinkly ribbon. This is the first blue ribbon I ever won. It is from 1999.

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Set your iron to the silk setting. You want to use the lowest heat that will still flatten the ribbon. If you go too hot, the ribbons will curl or discolor. Make sure to drain all water out of the iron. Using steam on the ribbon will lead to staining.

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Lay your ribbon face down on the ironing board. Start with the center ribbon. Pull the other two sides of the ribbon back. Run your iron of the ribbon, making sure to keep it moving. If it stays still, you'll make a new wrinkle at the end of the iron.

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Fold the second ribbon down, and iron it in the same way you did the first one. Then do the third ribbon the same way. Get as close to the base as you can.

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If there is still a crease at the bottom of the rosette, turn the ribbon over. Place the rosette on the side of the ironing board and the ribbons on the top. Bend the rosette back. Now you can run the iron to the base of the rosette.

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And here is the side by side. I promise you, the end result is much more dramatic in person. Simple, easy, and it looks much better on the wall.

2 Comments

    Gone Kazawompy

    My name is Melissa. I'm not a trainer, or a groom, or the guy who cleans the stalls (now at least. I was the stall guy once.) I'm just a barn rat who never grew up. Over the years I've learned some stuff, and the rest I get Laurie to tell me.

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