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Not-So-Speedy Dressage

From Endurance to Dressage

Dogs, Beach, Wine, and the Riding Warehouse

8/8/2016

 
As a last ditch effort to squeeze out a little more summer vacation, my husband took me (and the dogs) over to the beach on Friday. Whenever we take the dogs with us, we always do a Google search for dog-friendly venues. For this trip, we planned to visit a few past favorites while checking out a new place.
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How could you be any happier?
The dog beach in Avila is amazing. It's huge and protected from traffic, which gives the dogs plenty of room to run as fast and far as they want. Of course, tossing 150 pounds of wet, stinky dog into the backseat of the truck does diminish a bit of the previous enjoyment.
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Screenshot from Mersea's website
Our next stop was lunch on the pier in Avila. We chose Mersea's because they claimed to be very dog-friendly. When we saw other dogs sitting politely under the tables, we knew we had a winner. The waitress even brought out a bowl of water for the dogs. We had brought our own of course, but we love dog-friendly businesses.
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I am pretty sure they're eye-balling the burger at the next table.
Once the dogs were good and wore out, we headed over to the Riding Warehouse in San Luis Obispo, or as it's known locally - SLO.
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They love visitors!
My plan had been to pick up a Union Hill Dressage Pad. Riding Warehouse just started carrying them for $17.95, and if I was already going to be there, why not, right? Except they weren't in stock.
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I wasn't too disappointed though as I already have two of them and was just picking up an extra one to keep in reserve.
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I had made a list of other things that I was hoping to pick up, so I set about searching for those. Of course my little pile grew the longer I shopped.
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I spotted these beautiful breast collars and almost wished that I was still competing in endurance. The western model is pictured below, but it comes in an endurance model too.
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Then I looked higher up the wall and saw that it comes in a rope halter too. Best friend has been searching for a red rope halter, so I gave her a quick call and asked if I could buy this halter for her. Who says no to that? She didn't!
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Of course, I picked up a few things for myself as well ...
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Love the clearance rack!
I've been watching this Ariat shirt for a while, but at $35, I couldn't commit. Even when it went on sale, I wasn't ready to pay sale price for a white t-shirt. At $15, I couldn't say no. And actually, I really like it!
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My endurance roots will be showing through here, but I ride in the Nunn Finer Rubber Spur Straps. I've only had one pair wear out, and at under $10 a pair, that's a pretty good deal. I have two sets of spurs, one for each horse, so I like to keep an extra set of spur straps for when my current set wear out. I am sure it will be a while.

I am also on a tall sock kick, so I grabbed this pair of Noble Outfitters Printed Peddies for the clearance price of $6.88. I should have grabbed a few extra pair to save as Christmas gifts, but of course I didn't think of that at the time.

Since my husband and the dogs were sitting outside in the shade waiting for me, I kept my visit short. Besides, we had one more stop to make.
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We discovered Saucelito Canyon Winery on a previous trip. They love dogs there and are well-prepared. There's a large orchard behind the tasting room so we let the dogs run around and potty before we chose our table on the lawn.

The outside lawn is set up for wine-tasting with plenty of room for the dogs. Both dogs were given treats and shown a water bowl that is kept filled and waiting. Both times we've visited, most of the other patrons have come over to chat and visit our dogs while we sipped our wine. We've found that people are so much friendlier when we have the dogs with us.

My summer vacation might be over, but I think we gave it a pretty good send off.
Leah link
8/8/2016 06:09:21 am

Dog-friendly places for the win! That looks like an awesome day -- especially shopping for horse things. You can't go wrong there! 😉

Bakersfield Dressage link
8/8/2016 06:58:28 am

We did have a nice day. Just getting out of the heat made the day enjoyable. :0)

jenj
8/8/2016 07:55:43 am

Wow... beach, tack shopping, and wine... does a day GET any more perfect???

Bakersfield Dressage link
8/8/2016 08:56:44 am

I don't think so. :0)

lytha
8/8/2016 08:25:17 am

I can't imagine going into a tack shop and finding endurance stuff! We have 5 tack shops in our little town. In fact, I found a new one today while geocaching. It's all basic stuff though. But even the huge tack chain Kraemer doesn't carry endurance stuff.

I like that you use halters ? on your dogs - I am a fan since dogsitting a young Golden Retriever and seeing him rip his pre-teen owner off her feet. We went to PetSmart, put the "halti"? on, and in his mad rush to something he hit the end of it and flipped over. From then on the little girl could walk her dog. It's so logical, the dog learns that if he really wants to see something, he has to be gentle or else it will automatically twist his face away from what he wants.

Bakersfield Dressage link
8/8/2016 08:56:11 am

Riding Warehouse started out as a small mobile tack vendor at endurance rides. Over the years, they've become a powerhouse in the online market carrying just about anything I ever need. The vast majority of their business is from online sales, but it was fun to pop in and look at stuff. A couple of our local feed stores carry tack items, but it's mostly halters, Showsheen, and hoof picks. I buy my stuff exclusively online.

We discovered the Gentle Leader 4 years ago when Tobias was a puppy. It applies pressure to their muzzle if they pull or sit back. It is much kinder than the traditional choke chains which we used before the Gentle Leader. With dogs this big you need control. We keep Tobias at a lean 85 pounds - he could carry a lot more weight, but we worry about his joints. Brienne is only 8 months old and already weighs in at just about 50 pounds - she's got a fair amount of growing left to do.

lytha
8/9/2016 07:10:21 am

I agree, they don't cause pain at all, they only redirect. The way dogs are driven TO things and horses AWAY, these must work even better on dogs than halters on horses, considering the direction of the strong movement. I'm not sure I understand how they work when, as you say, a dog "sits back"? If a dog is pulling away, straight back, won't it just work as a normal collar?

OH! I just looked and Riding Warehouse used to be Long Riders Gear, one of my favorite vendors, and my horse was featured in a photo in their catalog! Well no wonder they have some biothane: )

Bakersfield Dressage link
8/9/2016 08:34:27 am

Yep, RW used to be Long Riders. :0)

Re: the Gentle Leader - the loop around the nose is not fixed. The nose loop slides through a loop that goes around the neck. If the dog is in a neutral position, the loop is soft around the muzzle, but if the dog pulls forward or pulls backward, the loop around the nose compresses, squeezing the muzzle (gently) until the dog returns to the neutral position. You can look at them here:http://store.petsafe.net/gentle-leader-headcollar?swtb=2&gclid=Cj0KEQjw_qW9BRCcv-Xc5Jn-26gBEiQAM-iJhaIX15NwOLiBWY6HA5QQS2WowX62KrsFxModYrzXByEaAseX8P8HAQ

Olivia link
8/8/2016 12:09:58 pm

Oh man. I think going actually into Riding Warehouse would be dangerous for my wallet. Sounds like a fun trip though.

Bakersfield Dressage link
8/9/2016 08:35:52 am

Actually, since they only had some of their stuff on display, it wasn't as bad as you think. :0)

When I got home, I wanted to kick myself for not poking around and asking to see more things.

Teresa link
8/9/2016 06:18:05 am

What a wonderful day! The dogs were having as much fun as the humans.

Bakersfield Dressage link
8/9/2016 08:36:27 am

Maybe more, but they're easy to please. :0)

Exploringdressagebiomechanics link
8/9/2016 06:31:21 am

Looks just about perfect!

Bakersfield Dressage link
8/9/2016 08:36:53 am

Pretty much was. :0)

Micaylah link
8/9/2016 03:38:03 pm

That sounds like the perfect day


Comments are closed.

    About the Writer and Rider

    ​I am a lifelong rider. 
    I began endurance riding in 1996 where I ultimately completed five, one-day 100 mile races, the 200-mile Death Valley Encounter, and numerous other 50, 65, and 75 mile races. I began showing dressage in 2010.
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    About Speedy G

    ​Speedy went from endurance horse to dressage horse. After helping me earn a USDF Bronze medal in the summer of 2020, he is now semi-retired. Speedy is a 2004, 15'1 hand, purebred Arabian gelding. His Arabian Horse Registry name is G Ima Starr FA.
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    About Izzy

    Izzy was started as a four-year old and then spent the next 18 months in pasture growing up. I bought him as a six-year old, and together, we are showing at the lower levels. He is a 2008, 16'3 hand warmblood gelding. His Rheinland Pfalz-saar International (RPSI) name is Imperioso.
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Among other things, Karen is a Wife, Friend, Reader, Writer, Rider, Traveler, and Dog Lover
Contact her at bakersfielddressage@gmail.com
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