Riding Skirt - It's Fantastic!

The arena that I ride in isn't really heated during the winters. There are radiant heaters in it, but they are really high so it takes forever for the heat to reach the surface. Not to mention that half of them don't work. (They are getting worked on.... slowly.)

In winters, I can dress my upper body up warmly enough during a ride. But I can't seem to find the right layers for my lower body that will keep my thighs warm and still allow me to bend my knees when I'm in the saddle. My full chaps will keep my thighs warm, but not my butt.

Last fall I discovered a company in Alaska that makes riding skirts. And promptly sent a link to my mom with the message that she would be making one for me.

It was finally finished last week. And it's awesome.

Not a flattering pose from the horse.

We tried to copy the one that I had seen online from the pictures. I think my mom did an amazing job on it, though she's not happy with how the pockets are set in (the fabric is thick and she couldn't get it not to pucker at the bottom of the zipper). I'm not worried - it will be covered in slobber and hay soon enough and no one will notice.

We used a softshell fabric for the outside and lined it with a printed polar fleece. It's got some weight to it but I don't notice it once it's around my waist.

I love the fleece pattern that I chose.

There is a 2-way zipper at the front. I unzip from the bottom when I'm in the saddle.

Nobody has been around at the barn so you get barn bathroom selfies.

I wanted a velcro waist strap to allow for wearing different clothing underneath. My Kerrits fleece full seats are definitely thicker around my waist than my regular breeches and I wanted to be able to accommodate that. The waistband is actually a wee bit too big but it will work for this winter. In the summer we'll take it apart and make it smaller.

I can snap the front to the sides of my waist to make it easier to get on or to keep the skirt out of my way if I need to bend down.

Because the skirt is so full, it drapes nicely in front of my legs and the saddle so there is no need for straps around my legs at this point. If I find that it flaps around we can add them later.

In front of the saddle.

The cost for the material and supplies was about $150 - the fabric was on sale for 40-50% off. We used a poodle skirt pattern as the starting point, which called for 5 meters of fabric. Because I'm so short the skirt was shortened quite a bit and we had a fair amount of fabric leftover.

I chose a mid-calf length as I plan to wear it around the barn over my breeches when I go out to catch a horse or when standing in the arena teaching. Any longer than that and I felt it would get in my way.

I've ridden both Cisco and Phantom with it on. Neither horse had any concerns about it, though I played it smart and left it draped over the saddle while I mounted and then pulled it up around my waist just to be safe.

Both days that I rode in it were milder days, close to -5 celsius in the arena on Friday night and closer to 0 on Sunday. I had my regular Pikeur breeches and thin long johns on underneath it. My legs stayed nice and toasty. Almost too toasty in this mild weather (might need to also get an unlined one).

Apparently also a good spot for needy barn kitties to hide under.

The skirt stayed where I put it when riding. Because it is so full it doesn't get pulled around as the horse moves. And since it stays in place I don't have to think about it and can just worry about my riding.

Covering my leg while in the saddle.

It might have flapped away from one leg at a canter for a couple of strides - I suddenly felt a cool draft on my leg. But it settled itself back into position while I was cantering so I don't really know what happened.

I am super happy with it.

If you live somewhere where the temperatures are below freezing for 5 - 6 months of the year, I would definitely consider getting one. The price to buy one from Arctic Horse would be a little over $300 Canadian (of course way less for the Americans). If you don't have someone who has the sewing skills to make it for you (for free) then I think this price is quite fair based on the cost of fabric and the required labour. It might seem a bit steep of a price, but if you use it for 30 rides a winter for 5 years, that works out to $2 per ride. And that isn't counting all the times you'll just throw it on to do chores or stand around in the arena chatting.

Not having thighs that take hours to thaw out after riding - totally worth it.

Sports Bras Reviews

One of the most important parts of a rider's wardrobe is a good sports bra. Sitting the trot without any support is not comfortable or pretty - no one wants to see "two badgers engaged in mortal combat" as so eloquently described on a recent Facebook post about her brassiere failure while giving a demonstration ride.

As I gained some extra fluff over the last few years, I've had to make adjustments to what type of support I prefer. I like the girls to be locked in place with no movement. I don't mind a tight bra, and I prefer to wear underwire, for the support and also for the shape - I dislike the dreaded monoboob.

Full disclosure - my bra size is 36D. My boobs are full on top and fairly high up. If yours are different you might not like the same kind of bra as I do.

So here are the bras that I have and my opinion of them.

Moving Comfort Fiona and Maia bras

The new version by Brooks.

These were the first bras that I bought about 7 or 8 years ago when I starting riding again. I was also trying to be a runner at the time and needed a high impact bra for that activity. I liked them so much that I ended up owning about 5 of them (mostly bought on sale). They wore very well through many washings. The straps were adjustable using Velcro. All of these bras that I own are a size too small from my current bra size - they are still wearable, but there is a bit of boob overflow at the top, and on one of them the straps Velcro up at the very end and might come undone while I'm wearing it. They are out of my regular rotation at the moment but I'm not going to get rid of them.

Moving Comfort was bought out by Brooks a couple of years ago, and I've read that that new versions are not as good as the old versions, so YMMV.

The Panache Sport Bra

When I decided that I needed to go up a bra size, this was the bra that I bought. I tried it on at a trade show and took it home. I absolutely love this bra - unfortunately, not for riding. Likely because I am short-torsoed, I need to put the straps in the racer-back configuration in order to get full support for high-impact activities. The straps then put a strain on my collarbones and become very uncomfortable.

For everyday wear though, this bra is fantastic. It's comfortable and supportive enough that nothing bounces when speed walking or going down the stairs, and since it has underwire and encapsulation, it keeps the girls up and perky. If I could afford them I would happily pick up a couple more and wear them every day to work. They cost about $80, but I've seen them on Amazon for about $45.

I know that this bra is a favourite for many riders. I love it for everyday, just not for riding.

Wacoal High Impact Sports Bra

Kind of similar to the Panache bra, but I like this one for riding. Underwire, encapsulating cups. No monoboob here. Fits true to size. They run about $90, but I picked them up on clearance for about $50 (for Canadian viewers, keep an eye on The Bay's website). I liked it so much that I bought a second one. These are probably my current favourite for riding.

I have a different Wacoal sports bra that has a zipper front and racerback - it doesn't seem to be available anymore. Super supportive, but the band is tight. Okay for the amount of time I would be out at the barn, but I wouldn't want to wear it all day.

Freya Sonic Spacer Underwire Sports Bra

I managed to find this one on Amazon for about $30. I wasn't sure what it would be like for riding, but I figured it could at least be a backup for the Panache bra for everyday use. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I like it.

The inside of the cups are different than any other bra. They have almost a sling around the outside of the cup (on the inside) that is made of non-stretch material that supports your boob. It feels like a bit of a light-weight bra but does a really good job of supporting through a ride. I always forget that I'm wearing this one, which is the mark of a good bra.

It's not perfect - the underwire sometimes digs a bit into my arm, and if I've worn it for 8 hours I'm happy to take it off. But for riding, I don't mind it at all.

Knixwear Catalyst Sports Bra

I have a love/hate relationship with this bra.

It's the most expensive of the bunch - I paid about $85 for it. Knixwear doesn't have traditional bra sizing, so I used the chart and decided to order the recommended size 5.

When I put it on for the first time, I could barely pull the two pieces together to hook them up. (For sports bras, I hook them up in front of me by my waist and then turn them and pull the straps up over my arms. Good sports bras don't have much stretch in them and are hard to do up behind you with no stretch.) But I got it done and wore it out to the barn that night.

And thought it was going to be a dud. The hook for the straps sat right on top of my shoulder blade and bugged the hell out of me. But it seemed supportive enough, so I figured I would keep trying it.

That problem went away after the first wear. Not sure why - I think I adjusted the height of the straps, so maybe that did it.

The bra is very comfortable, and although it doesn't have underwire, I have no complaints about the support.

I do have a couple of concerns about it. First - remember how I could barely pull it together to hook it up on the first wearing? Well, it has stretched over the last 6 months with fairly minimal wear so that now I sometimes do it up on the second set of hooks. I question its longevity. Second - the height of the straps adjust by slotting the hooks into a slot on a tab at the back. The hooks come out very easily. Every time I wash it (in a mesh bag in the washing machine) the straps come undone, and one strap came undone between riding horses one day.

So I'm torn on this one. I like it, and will keep wearing it. But I don't know that I would buy another one (maybe at half price) or even recommend it.

Initial Review - Kentaur Torino Breastplate

Since I bought a black jump saddle for Cisco, I naturally needed a black breastplate to go with it. They're not common in North America - jump tack tends to be dark brown out here - but are pretty easy to find overseas. So I knew that is where I would be shopping from.

I also knew that I wanted a 5 point breastplate. I've had issues with lateral saddle slip on my propane tank of a horse and in theory, a 5 point helps to stabilize your saddle a bit. (Saddle slip has not been an issue with the Wow saddle though, much to my surprise and glee.)

I'm kind of picky though. I didn't want brass fittings (Dy'on), or coloured elastic straps (Flexible Fit), and it needed to come in cob size (Passier). And I really wanted a specific style.

My options were narrowed down the BR Heywood and the Kentaur Torino. The price on them both was about the same after shipping, but the Kentaur was slightly easier to find in-stock. The Kentaur also came with a running martingale attachment, which the BR did not. So when I received a message from Kentaur Australia saying that all breastplates were 15% off, I bit the bullet and ordered it (while holding Phantom for the farrier).

Interesting packaging, but it arrived with no issues!

I ordered it on a Wednesday and it arrived the next Tuesday. Pretty quick!

Initial thoughts:

The leather seems to be a good, sturdy, workman leather. Not overly soft and supple, but the kind of leather that only gets better with regular use. My kind of leather.

I could do without the logos though.

The yoke part that goes against the chest is nicely padded with soft padding.

The elastic part that goes to the girth on the sides has a non-stretch strap stitched inside the loop - I would imagine to reduce the wear on the elastic.

I do like me a fancy stitched bridle, so I should like the white stitching on the breastplate. I can't decide if I do or not - maybe if I had a bridle to match it I would be more enthusiastic about it. But that's minor.

The one annoying thing that I didn't think about is that the girth loop doesn't have a clip, and it's stitched shut, so adding a clip isn't going to be super easy. Anybody got any ideas on how to add one that doesn't look too clunky?

Now - the important part - how does it work on the horse?

I bought cob sized for Cisco. He's not tall, but he's very wide in front.

It took a few adjustments to get the fit that I wanted, but I think it fits him pretty good. It's on the biggest setting on the sides and on the straps that attach to the D-rings at the pommel.

I really like the shape of the yoke at the front. Because he is so wide, I wonder if a full size for that part would be a slightly better fit - I don't know if it would be better for it to be wider and have where it splits a bit more behind the point of his shoulder.

I have the side strap to the girth kind of angled up. I just didn't like the fit when it was straighter.

I still have to find a way to attach a clip to the bottom girth strap - right now I've got a clip being held on by binder twine. I'm waiting for a different style of girth to arrive for Cisco, so I'm not going to worry about it until that girth arrives.

Initial impression - I'm pretty happy with it. It looks good - the first two people who saw me ride with it commented that they loved the style. I'm good with the quality of leather. I think that the cob size is on the slightly smaller side, but very slightly.

Cisco had no complaints on the first couple of rides with it on. Fingers crossed that he doesn't decide that he can't move his shoulders over a jump while wearing it in the future!

Review - Spirulina

For the last three or four summers, Phantom has had some respiratory issues - namely a cough and some laboured breathing while under saddle. I had her looked at one summer (which was the summer that there seemed to be a cough going around at more than one barn by all accounts) and the vet said she might be a bit heavey. It seems to be a seasonal problem, from summer through early fall.

This summer I pulled her out of the field that she had been all winter in late May. That field was fed from a round bale. I wanted her off the round bale to try to avoid problems this summer and because she needed to lose some weight.

I also added Spirulina to her diet.

What is spirulina?

Basically, it's blue-green algae. Aka - seaweed.

It comes as a green powder. Very green.

It's considered a superfood, and some say that it is the most nutrient dense food source on the planet. It's very high in protein and amino acids, and is thought to have anti-histamine properties. It is for this last reason that I considered adding it to Phantom's food. Well, that and the many, many anecdotes online of how it benefitted horses with heaves or allergies.

Being seaweed, it has a fairly strong odour. And likely a strong flavour - I haven't tried it myself, but Phantom was not impressed in the beginning. I started out adding it to apple sauce by itself, then was able to add her grain to it. I tried adding a touch of Stevia sweetener instead of apple sauce to it one day, and that was a success. I've since progressed to adding it to her feed, which includes beet pulp, and she is happily gobbling it up. It took a couple of months though.

Food takes on a definite green tinge once it's been added.

I put Cisco on it also as he was coughing a bit this summer, and since he's not picky about what he eats, I don't have to do anything fancy to have him lick the bowl clean.

Cisco's food before being mixed up.

Do I think it made a difference? Most definitely. This was the first summer out of the last four that I was able to ride her for most of the summer (well, except for the crappy air quality, and you know, lack of time). Most telling is that if she hasn't had it for a few days because I couldn't get out to the barn, she will cough, but once she starts to get it regularly again the cough disappears.

The downsides - everything it touches turns green. Phantom's lips turn green. Where she scratches her leg after eating turns green. The wall where she rubs her nose after eating turns green. My arm after she begs for cookies turns green.

And once that stuff dries, it does not come off easily.

There are a few stall fronts with green nose prints all over them. Oops.

The cost isn't too bad. The first bucket I picked up was from Herbs for Horses - a 1 kg pail that was about $68 at a local store. Feeding about 10g per day would give me about 100 doses from that bucket. When I had to buy some more later this summer that store wouldn't get another order in for a few weeks, so I shopped around online and found some human stuff that was on sale from a health-food store that worked out to be the same price per gram. (There are people who voluntarily eat this stuff out there- amazing!)

I'm definitely going to keep Phantom on spirulina through the summer months going forward. I'm not sure about the winters- she is generally better through the cold months, and I tend to not be out consistently enough for her to receive any benefit from it.

The Fish

The Equisense sensor works with an app that you can put on your phone to record the information gained from the sensor. Even if you don't have the sensor, there is a valid use for the app. They have a bunch of exercises available for free if you need some ideas for schooling your horse.

Some of the dressage ideas.

They are located under the "Learning" tab, and are broken down into Flatwork, Dressage, Jumping, Lunging, Hacking, Rider, and Cross Country (which is empty at this point). The exercises are similar to the ones in the 101 Jumping Exercises / Dressage Exercises series, but don't have as much information on how to ride the exercise as the books do. They are rated with a level so you can pick exercises to suit your current riding abilities.

Some of the jumping ideas.

It is a newer feature and the library isn't huge, but they are constantly adding to it. It's nice to be able to look for an idea while I'm at the barn if I feel the need for inspiration. Equisense often does a short video about one of the exercises and posts it on their Facebook page.

Some of the rider ideas - mostly core exercises. I really should do some of them. 

Facebook was where I discovered the Fish exercise.


I thought that it looked like it could be super fun, and have a lot of options on how it could be ridden.

Black = poles (10 ft), blue lines = trot, red lines = canter (bounce distances). My Paint drawing is not totally to scale!

I set it up when I was out late on Saturday night so that I could ride it on Sunday morning, since I had to get early rides in to beat the worst of the heat. It took a little bit of finagling to get the center all lined up, but it wasn't too bad. With 10' poles it worked out to 9' bounce distances down the middle, and also parallel to the vertical poles on the end and middle.

Here it is set up in the arena (that's Cisco's fat tummy on the left)

With Cisco, we trotted through one side of a triangle, with the focus being more on just hitting where I aimed him. It worked out quite nicely and we seemed to find a good spot pretty well every time. 

I did attempt the trot straight down the middle with him, but it was a gong show for a couple of reasons - a horse had just left the arena and he was sucking towards the gate end, he had spooked at something he saw out the door at the other end that we were heading towards, and narrow points of the triangles are kinda hard to do at a trot at the best of times. 

I don't think I would recommend trotting through the center, just leave that for the canter. 

By the time I got on Phantom it was noon and super hot and muggy, so I knew my ride on her was going to be pretty quick. I put my stirrups up a hole and just played over the poles. I haven't done any jumping flatwork in ages, so I wasn't sure how it was going to go when I tried to canter through the middle. 

It actually rode pretty good! 

I mean, there were only two times that I didn't see my distance so I panicked and threw my body at her and said "go" and she was all, "whoa whoa whoa, this is a turtle exercise. Just chill. I gots it." Not bad for not doing canter poles in like two years.

If you enter at the pointy end it's pretty easy for the horse to just slightly fall one way if they feel the need to give themself a bit more space, so you have to ride that part pretty accurately. If you come through the center, you can turn and have the option of cantering through parallel to one of the vertical poles or over the part where the tail joins the body (if that makes sense) and then turn and canter through the center again. 

I would recommend setting this up across the center of the arena so that you can enter from both leads. I had to set it up on a diagonal because of all the other stuff set up in the arena, so it was a little trickier to make sure I did it on both leads.

I really liked this exercise and I will definitely use The Fish again!

LeMieux Schooling Boots - Initial Review

Last summer I picked up a set of Back on Track Royal Tendon and Fetlock boots for Cisco (at 1/2 price) in cob size. I'm not much of a boot or bandage person (mostly because I'm lazy) but Cisco paddles a bit in front so I thought I would put something on him to protect him if he whacks himself.

The BOT boots have the pin and tab closure, which only have 3 options for tightness. The fetlock boots have needed to be done up on the tightest hole since the beginning, and I've been thinking that they've already stretched a bit. Overall, the boots are okay, but not my favourite. So I've been thinking about replacing them.

As per normal, I researched the crap out of what boots I wanted. I like the look of fleece - when it's new. Our arena has sand footing and sand is harder to get out of fleece than neoprene type linings, so decided against the fleece. I wanted durable. I wanted them to look classic but stylish. I would have loved them in a leather print like reptile or ostrich, but there weren't too many options in that. I wanted them in cob size. And I didn't want to pay too huge an amount for them.

I decided upon the LeMieux Schooling Boots. They have the neoprene type lining, a durable pebbled faux leather exterior, and I like the look of them. The size chart recommended size medium for fronts and backs for cob sizes.

I've never seen LeMieux products in person, but have seen lots of reviews on their items and they've all been positive. Many people said that they bought their items from the UK for a much better price, so that was where I focused my shopping. I received a 15% off code for Ebay so that dropped the landed price down to about $145 for an all-round set. Shipping took about 2 weeks and I didn't have to pay customs (yay!).

The pebbled faux leather appeases my desire for texture.

They feel good - the faux leather doesn't feel stiff or plasticky. The velcro straps have super sticky velcro on them - they will take a good pull to separate. (Mediums have 2 straps, large/XL have 3 straps, which I prefer the look of, but oh well.)

The boots have a polycarbonate shockproof shell between the layers but are fairly soft and flexible. They are machine washable with cold water.

The bottom strap is slightly angled.

The height on the medium sized boots is just right for the fronts. I might like them to be a touch higher for the backs, but the mediums will work fine.

What I don't like is that the tabs seem too long and stick out behind the leg. I would say that Cisco's legs are of average bone, and the boots don't seem to overlap very much. I'm not overly worried about them coming undone, I just think it doesn't look as tidy.

The back leg

Other than the tab length, I am initially happy with them. They seem to be durable and well-made. Cisco has never worn high back boots before, and he didn't seem to have any complaints about them.

New boots did not interfere with zoomies.

Pony Approved: Hands On Grooming Gloves

I bought a pair of the Hands On Grooming Gloves during a Boxing Week sale about six weeks ago. The regular price is between $35 and $40 Canadian; I paid $32.

I have child sized hands, and my glove size is about 6.5. The size smalls fit my small hands quite well. They felt a bit snug in the beginning, but seem to have relaxed or stretched a bit.

I really like them. I wear one on each hand and use both hands to curry the pony. It's a bit of an a workout for my shoulders when both hands get going at the same time on their barrel. The knobbies on the palms and fingers are knobby enough to feel like they are doing a good job of getting through thick winter coats, and in summer they should have no problem reaching the skin.

Most importantly, the horses seem to love them. Phantom actually leaned her butt into me the first time I groomed her with them - totally uncharacteristic for her. Cisco loves a good scrub, so he had no complaints about the gloves. His favourite thing is getting his withers scratched with the gloves. I'm trying to teach them both to scratch their faces against my gloved hand when I put it up against their forehead. I could totally see them liking that.

The lip shows the love for the gloves.

I don't know that I will use them during shedding season. I bet they'll probably do a great job of hair removal, or should I say hair transfer - pretty sure that the hair would all be all over my arms, then all over me.

They can also be used when bathing a horse. They would probably work quite nicely, but since the back of the hand is knit your hand would get quite wet, and the gloves would feel quite soggy. Not something I plan to try anytime soon.

I am a bit worried about longevity since they seem to have already stretched a bit. Only time will tell.

Super happy I bought them. I can see them being part of my regular grooming kit for a long time to come.

Pastry Chef in the Making

I actually baked this week. Not for me of course, or any other humans. The only thing that would give me the incentive to bake is my kids.

This recipe popped up on my Facebook feed a couple of weeks ago. It looked simple to make so I saved it. Throughout the week I actually planned ahead and bought the ingredients and decided to whip up a batch this weekend.

It was super simple to make. Mix up four ingredients, a half a cup each of applesauce, flour, steel cut oats and grated carrot. Next time I will add the flour last to make it a bit easier to mix up.

Not cheese biscuits.

The batch made just enough cookies to fit on one cookie sheet. So, like, two days worth for my two treat moochers.

But the big question to be answered - were they deemed edible?

I found a use for the plastic mason jar I picked up at Michael's on clearance at Christmas. One batch fit perfectly in there.

Oh yes.

Cisco is still getting used to being spoiled treats. So he tends to be a bit dramatic with new food and there is lots of head nodding as he chews (and these are a bit chewy). But he finished and immediately looked for another one.

I think Phantom literally inhaled her first one. I didn't actually see her chew it.

A couple other horses at the barn got to try one and they thoroughly approved.

16 hooves up.

It looks like I'll be baking regularly now.

Find the recipe at Baking Mischief. She has a couple of other ones for horses to try out too.

Solo Equine Bridle - Initial Review

One of my wants needs that I picked up on Black Friday was a new black bridle for Cisco. I have many brown bridles from my years of hunter/jumpers, and actually prefer brown leather. But I seem to be going more the dressage route these days, and have a black saddle coming for Cisco. So he obviously needs a black bridle to match.

The Solo Equine bridles have popped up many times in my Facebook feed over the last few months. Their products are flashy, and have been getting good reviews. Plus they are local to me - gotta support horse people in my area! So, when they announced a Black Friday sale of 30% off, I decided to throw some money their way.

I didn't have a hard time selecting a bridle - because they only had one model in Cob size. The Solo Sigma. Thankfully it was a model I quite liked so I was okay with ordering it. (When they started up last spring they only offered everything in full and oversized, but I'm pretty sure I saw a post that going forward all new models would be also offered in cob size.) The regular price was $175, sale price $125.

I ordered it in the wee hours of Friday morning, and it was sold out by mid-morning. Good thing I jumped on it early!

Since it's local to me, I received it the next business day.

Initial thoughts - it felt good. Not stiff. Thick leather. And I loved the blingy browband. Not overly bling, but a nice subtle pattern.

It's also skinny, which I don't mind.

It has a monocrown. The ears are cut back, but the padding is not.

The strap for the noseband is the bottom layer of the monocrown. It comes out from the padded part.

One concern I had before trying it on was that it looked small. The cheekpieces are shorter than other cob sized bridles I have.

Old, no-name cheekpiece at the top, from a bridle that fits perfectly.

Many years ago, I had read that a way to judge quality of leather was to flex it backwards (towards the finished side) and see how it wrinkles. The better the quality, the less it should wrinkle.

There are some wrinkles there.

The bridle came with plain, flat reins with stitched on running martingale tabs. Not my favourite reins, but I seldom use the reins that came with the bridle. Maybe I'll take them in one day and have hand tabs stitched on them.

Most importantly - how does it work on the horse? (Excuse the horse pics - they were all taken in a rush on a fuzzy, ungroomed pony.)

It looks good. I love the thick, patent noseband. The browband kind of disappears behind Cisco's thick forelock (and fuzzy forehead).

I am undecided on the fit.

The buckles all line up near his eye, as they should. The noseband strap kind of disappears behind the cheekpiece. But there are only a couple of holes left on the cheekpiece. Cisco is currently wearing a Myler D-ring with a massive D. When he (hopefully) goes in something with a smaller ring I will have to drop it down another hole. 

I can only get the patent noseband done up on the very first hole. This noseband wouldn't fit Phantom, who is thicker through her nose. It might relax over the next bit and be able to get to the second hole, as it is not cranked.

No issues with the crownpiece.

I like the shine!

Despite my concern over the fit, I am going to keep it. It doesn't fit him badly, it just doesn't have much room for adjustment based on the way it is currently fit. Since their next size up is full/warmblood, I would think that it would be huge on Cisco.

The quality seems okay.  I didn't pay $400 for it, so I can't expect the quality of a $400 bridle. I paid more than twice as much for my PS of Sweden bridle, and I think this one might be on par with it (except for the PS of Sweden reins - which I love!).

I will give an update once I can actually use it for riding in a couple of months and it has had some use. In the meantime, I will just look at my reflection in the patent noseband and smile.