Dingy to Dazzling

Speedy is officially grey with black skin. "White" Arabians are quite rare and are the result of an abnormal action of the grey factor. Those horses are born with their adult coloration. Speedy is also lightly fleabitten - he sports small red flecks throughout his coat, and he has a bloody thumbprint on his neck. To see all of his many coat changes, read this post.

A month or so ago, a judge commented that Speedy looked dingy in a white pad. I laughed at the comment, but I also started to hunt for an eye-catching pad that would fit him. With his smaller stature, correctly fitting dressage pads are hard to find.

I should frame this photo as it makes me laugh every time I see it.

Enter The Dressage Pony Store. My pal Valerie is the owner of this much needed online and mobile store that caters to the smaller equine athlete. When I saw her pony, Clooney, wearing a well fitted dressage pad, I had to have one of my own. I ordered the B Vertigo Lexington Dressage Pad.

Boutique style packaging.

When the package arrived (super quick because she's only two hours away), I was pleasantly surprised to find the pad neatly wrapped in fancy tissue paper with a cute little sticker. Most of the time we get packages padded with newspaper or plain brown paper. I thought the tissue paper was a classy touch.

The sticker is already proudly affixed to my horse trailer.

I don't know if every customer gets the works or if I got some love because we're friends, but Valerie also included a Pony Store sticker and a brightly colored hoof pick. When you place your order, tell her I sent you, and you might get some love too. 

I never turn down freebies!

While swag is always appreciated, the pad is the real story here. I will admit that at $59.98, this pad is way more expensive than what I normally get. The Union Hill pads, my go to favorites, sell for $17.95 less a 15% discount. While those are great for the budget-minded, they're not at all fancy. The B Vertigo pad is the real deal fancy.

Gorgeous in person.

This pad has so many bells and whistles that I don't know where to start. First of all, it's very sturdy without feeling overly heavy. It's definitely not going to flap around.

Padded withers.

Besides being nicely contoured - I won't even consider a pad that's not, it has cushy padding at the withers. Even though I tuck my pad up into the saddle's pommel, I like this feature and am sure that the horses appreciate it.

Super fancy embroidery.

Even though no one except me will ever see it, I love the fancy embroidery at the girth straps. Little touches like that make the pad feel extra special.

Sparkly corded trim.

I know you can't tell from the photo, but the outermost trim is navy which will pair well with my navy coat. The triple corded trim is absolutely stunning. It flashes and sparkles in the sun way more than I was expecting. The whole thing is going to look amazing with my new helmet. There is one small problem however ...

No problems with the fit.

I definitely need to do something about my half pad. It's my every day half pad, so it gets dusty and dirty. I think I may have to break down and buy another one just for shows. For now, I'll just clean it up a bit for this weekend's CDS Regional Adult Amateur Competition.

If you have a smaller dressage horse, check out Valerie's online store. She's got some great items for smaller horses and ponies.