A Halter Hang Up

After I rode on Sunday, I hosed Izzy off and left him to graze on the lawn as he dried off. I saw him give a quick shake of his head, but it was nothing that caused me to be alarmed or even worried. He continued to graze as I sat cooling off in the shade. 

As usual, I poured his lunch bucket into his feeder and watched as he came strolling into his paddock. It wasn't until he was right in front of me that I noticed that the clip that connects the throat strap to the halter was swinging in the breeze. I tugged the halter over his ears and saw that the snap was broken. He must have hooked it on the wire fence and broke it when he jerked his head free. Shoot. There's no fixing that.

Bummer

I have really liked this halter, a Tekna breakaway halter. I actually have two of them, a black one for Speedy and this brown one for Izzy. The Tekna line of products are synthetic, but they look and feel very leather-like without the hassle of leather. And yes, my endurance roots are shining through.

I have actually been considering getting a new one though as this halter is starting to show its age. First, the padding at the noseband and crown has begun to crack.

Cracking of the crown piece and noseband.

Izzy long ago rubbed his name off the halter plate that someone gave me as a gift which was one of the most thoughtful gifts I've ever received.

It could have been anybody's name ...

The hole that I use to buckle the halter is also starting to show its innards.

Nothing lasts forever.

Other than those few cosmetic issues, everything else is in good working order. Good enough anyway to continue using it. Now, I don't have to feel guilty about buying a new one.

The stitching has held tightly with no fraying.

My birthday was in January. My mom had said she was sending me the usual Riding Warehouse gift card. When no card arrived, I assumed my mom had forgotten or something had prevented her from ordering it. It felt rude to call her up and say, "hey, where's my gift?" When she was here a week or so ago, Riding Warehouse came up in the conversation - horses are high on my list of things to talk about as is buying stuff for said horses. My mom asked what I had ended up buying with the gift card.

When I told her that no gift card had arrived, she swore up and down that her credit card had been charged, so I placed a quick call to the fine folks over at Riding Warehouse. Within minutes, the customer service representative verified that yes, a gift card had been ordered, and no, it had not been redeemed. The best we could figure was that the email notifying me of the gift card had been lost in space. So guess what I now have? Yep, $200 to spend at my favorite online retailer.

Schockemohle Ulm Round Raised Padded Leather Halter

So, along with a new pair of C4 socks - these run a very close second to my all-time favorite Noble Outfitters Over the Calf Peddies, and a tub of Zephyr's Garden Skin Rescue Emollient Salve - poor Izzy has rubbed out most of the hair from his poll to his tail, I ordered the ​Schockemohle Ulm Round Raised Padded Leather Halter. I am not a fan of leather halters, but Riding Warehouse no longer carries the Tekna halter, and none of the other synthetic halters appealed to me.

The Shockemohle arrived last night, so I haven't had the chance to see if it fits yet. I hope it does because it is quite pretty and has several features that put it just a step above ho-hum. I like the adjustable noseband, the clip at the throat, and the double adjustable crownpiece will help with fit. Izzy wears a Full/Horse size in both of his bridles and Tekna Halter, so I am hoping I ordered the right size.

Since he's my "new" show horse, I think he deserves to walk around in something a little nicer than his old halter. Don't let me down, buddy!