HIYA!
Product trials! Fun!
Sometimes companies contact me out of the blue to ask if I would try their products…
Is that fun or what?!!…
It is kinda like winning something unexpected.
Usually, as long as the product appears legitimate and potentially beneficial, I grant the request (with glee).
However, I cannot always guarantee a review on the blog… I say this because I really don’t want to give an unflattering internet review that will be around forever.
If a trial doesn’t go well, I rather just be quiet about it.
(I feel totally differently about products I’ve purchased in good faith…)
Anyway, after all of that, I usually forget that anything is coming – until it arrives!
It is kinda like Christmas for me! I love opening packages.
In the last week, I have had two of those kinds of offers!
STANDLEE HAY PRODUCTS
The odd thing about this was that a new Tractor Supply opened up in my area.
Of course, I am already a frequent flyer…
And on one of my recent forays, I noticed several bags of hay. I remember getting down on my knees to read the sticker because I had never seen bales in bags.
It said, Compressed Hay.
Hmmmmmm.
I wondered if it was safe to feed? Was it really dry? How do they compress it? What does it weigh?
I ended up purchasing a bagged bale of straw to put in PLLL’s shed. It fit into my car, was not messy and it opened up easily and spread nicely.
That was a Standlee product!
So, when the company emailed and asked if I would feed any of their products to one of my horses for a month, I thought, “Why not…? I’ll try it….”
They are sending gift certificates to me that would allow me a month of one products for my horse. I now have to figure out which product I’d like to try and on which horse…
This is my list of choices…
EQUINELUX SADDLE PADS
EquineLUX just emailed today. They are a saddle pad company for Hunters, Jumpers, Dressage and Eventing.
Yes, I know…
There are sooooooo many saddle pads out there – I have about a tack store of them in my trailer right now…
(Not really.)
But, there is so much technology in saddle pads that if you had the money, you could purchase a new one every week.
I’m a bit of a saddle pad junkie…
It is kinda like when you purchase a mattress.
You go to a store and all the technology makes your mind spin (Sleep Number? European Sleep Design? Tempur Pedic? Posture Pedic? Memory Foam? Quilted?…).
You want to try all of it.
Finally, you end up just plopping down and feeling which one works for both you and your significant other (or horse – in the saddle pad scenario).
Anyway, I’m always game to try another.
So I went to the EquineLux site.
What I liked were the words: real wool, sweat wicking and non-slip.
I think they are sending a dressage pad. We’ll see…
This is just one page from their site… I like the words, real wool, wicking and non-slip!
A NEW SENSATION SADDLE
I reviewed a Sensation Saddle long ago…
And, to my surprise, the few things that I didn’t love about it have been upgraded.
Hmmmmm.
No one has asked me to demo or write about the Sensation. I called them because a friend of mine showed me hers and it was so totally different than the one I had demo’d, I had to try it again.
So, it is here but I haven’t had time to take it out of the box. In fact, the box is presently being used as an additional surface for all of my tax stuff.
(time lapse)
Well, that last sentence made me feel ungrateful and pathetic. So, I took the saddle out of the box…
(The lady who packaged it used NINJA tape. I swear to horsegods, after digging at the box for too long, I finally flipped it over and opened the bottom instead of the top. Much easier.)
Here is the Sensation saddle that I will demo. It is BRAND NEW. Wow!
The demo Sensation Saddle that arrived today. It is BRAND NEW! Yowsa! Good thing it isn’t my exact size or I wouldn’t return it – I loooove new saddles!
Pretty.
I’m excited to try it with the seat bolsters and all the new features (which I will talk about once I’ve tried them…).
Gawd. I hate returning brand new saddles…. Yum! I’m glad it is a larger size than what I need or it probably wouldn’t go back…
And
I really like the feel of the pad. I have to read up on it, but it is heavier duty and has some nice qualities I can see already.
That’s it for today! Back to taxes!
HORSE AND MAN is a blog in growth… if you like this, please pass it around!
I LOVE my sensation saddles (have 3 of them – one for each icelandic) – I am no more sore after a six hour ride now, than I was before using a different saddle. And no more trying to swing a heavy saddle up and missing (lol – the looks I used to get as I bashed some poor horse in the side for no apparant reason) It seems to me that there are gel pads which fit with the sensations (mine are sheepskin) and I think that they are by skito.
Our new TSC store carried the Standlee hay for a short while, but last time I was there (2 weeks ago), they were selling local regular bales of hay and I didn’t see any Standlee. I would have *almost* tried it, but it is so expensive, compared to regular bales (even with the high cost of hay and accounting for 10% loss), Standlee hay is much more expensive, but it seems really good. If I had to travel, or couldn’t get truckloads of hay delivered, I would maybe consider it.
Clinton Anderson recently did a whole one-hour show on Standlee, b/c they are one of his sponsors. He went to their plant and went through the whole process, from field to truck. It was interesting, but can’t get past the cost.
JMHO!
Sally K.
I use the Standlee Timothy Hay Pellets. They are the only hay pellets on the market that are exactly that … Hay pellets. No cheap fillets or additives. Great product.
I feel my oldie Standlee alfalfa cubes and beet pulp pellets. I’ve always used the shreds in the past, but I’m loving the pellets as a small hand treat as well as soaked in her feed. Treats tend to be quite pricey and sugary but the horses don’t care the beet pulp is healthy and cheap! (Standlee’s shreds are much more expensive by weight.) I’m interested to see your results!
I bought a sensation saddle two years ago for my icelandic and I love it. It is so comfortable for my horse and for me. The only thing I don’t like about mine is that the stirrups are attached in a way that you can’t swing them freely. I ride in the woods and sometimes I need to get them out of the way of a stump or bush and they don’t have much movement. That said, it is a great saddle for short backed horses and my icelandic has a wide back and not a withers and It stays in place going up and down hills, even though it is treeless.
Can’t wait to hear your review of the saddle! It sure looks nice and comfy!!
I use Standlee beet Pulp Pellets and Timothy Pellets. Lately some of the bags of beet Pulp have had a reddish hue to them and to not turn fluffy when soaked. Our horses love them even if they are not like the normal pellets. I was told at the feed store that some horses will not eat them, I guess our drafts are not that choosy. I am heading back down to o8ur co-op later and are gong to ask if they ever found out why some of the bags were different than others. I do think they have a good product and have used it for some years. My husband saw some compressed hay at our BCHW Rondezvous last weekend, but I did not see it. We feed local Western Washington hay and I take what I need when the horses go camping or to clinics. I love those large rolling hay bags that we have:)
Anxious to hear what you have to say about the Senstaion saddle. I have had my eye on one for a while, just haven’t made the leap yet.
I really like Standlee products. I feed my horses the timothy pellets.