My Holiday Shopping

 I was pretty good about not going crazy on spending over Christmas this year. However, I did succumb to a targeted ad that came across my Instagram feed. And I'm glad that I did!

The ad was for a small company called Vencedora Eq. They are local-ish in that they are in my province, but too far away for me to be able to shop in person. Their selection is quite limited; this isn't an everything-you-need-for-your-horse kind of shop.

The ad was along the lines of "up to 75% off". I'll always check out those deals but I usually don't find anything of interest.

To my surprise I found a few things that I liked - and I really liked the prices. 

I ended up ordering a couple base layer shirts at $15 each, a quilted jacket for $42, a belt for $13 and a saddle pad for $29. That got me free shipping.

I'm not really keen on ordering clothing online due to fit issues. But I figured at those prices I could make it work.

The quick reviews:

The base layer shirts - "Eva" - simple, polyester V neck shirts. The sleeves are on the longer side (I have to roll up the ends), the fit in the body is a close-fit, the fabric clingy. The colours are great - I got the ink blue and the raspberry. Happy with them at $15 each.

Photo from vencedoraeq.com

The jacket - "Nadia" in navy - well, the description says that it runs small. It does. Sized for someone slim with no boobs - not me. I can do it up, and it looks fantastic, but I wouldn't be able to ride in it without undoing the zipper most of the way. 

Photo from vencedoraeq.com

But it's a super cute jacket. It's got a 2-way zipper, tailored fit, and a shiny look to the quilting. I really like it, and so far I'm keeping it (but I really need to lose a few pounds before I can wear it out of the house). I might try to sell it at some point and since I only paid $42 for it I think I could get that back.

The belt - a braided elastic belt in red and navy. I like the belt and have worn it quite a bit. However, I wish I had ordered a smaller size. I did my due diligence in measuring and it ended up being longer than ideal. Still wearable though. It was $13.

The highlight of the order was the saddle pad.

They only come in a jumper style and in three colours - red, burgundy and navy. I ordered it in burgundy.

It's a really nice pad. So nice, that there are now at least five of them in my barn - everyone wanted to know where I got it. 

It's got a satin finish on the outside layer and silver braiding along the edge. Like, a shiny silver braid. It looks far more expensive than the $29 that it cost me.

Silver braid next to the cording and a nice little button detail.

I liked it so much that I piggy-backed on someone else's order and also grabbed the navy one. It helps that it's a good shape for my rather oddly shaped saddle. 

The website is definitely worth a look. The sale prices are still in effect - not sure if they are closing or clearing out to make room for more inventory as the ad's state. There's not a lot of options but what they do have is priced really well. 

New Place to Shop?

 Over Christmas, I was hoping to find a new winter coat to replace my current barn winter coat that is about 10 years old and starting to fall apart. There were lots of sales, but I have a list of things that I want in a coat and I wasn't able to find anything I was willing to pay for. 

In my search, I came across a website called decathlon.ca. I figured it was the website for the national sporting organization, and that since jumping is a sport in decathlon it made sense that it sold equestrian stuff.

However, I was wrong. Riding is not a sport in decathlon - it's in modern Pentathlon. Also, Decathlon is a sporting goods store.

Decathlon is a French company that is the largest retailer of sporting goods in the world, selling in 57 different countries. In Canada they have physical stores in Ontario and Quebec, in the US there are only a couple of stores in California. They sell stuff for something like 62 different sports, all under their own branding. No name brands. Thus, their prices are really good. 

They sell all kinds of horse things sold under their house brand Fouganza. Most of the horse care/tack items seem to be introductory level quality, so I don't know that I would buy much of it. But some of their clothing seems to be very reasonably priced and worth looking at. 

This leather halter looks cute and it's only $55!

I bit the bullet and ordered a pair of winter riding breeches. I've been looking for some to add to my rotation other than the Kerrit's full seats that I regularly wear, but I haven't found anything I've been willing to pay for. 

Decathlon had a few options at really good prices starting at $30 CDN. I ended up ordering this pair that has a silicone full seat and costs only $60. They even have a cell phone pocket, though I'm not optimistic that it will fit my cased Galaxy 10+.

I was going to order a different pair, that have a weatherproof finish to them that gives them a leather look but they didn't have my size. Having all sizes in-stock seems like it might be an issue as many of the items I looked at were only available in very small or very large sizes.

If the winter breeches work out, I might try these breeches for summer.

I did a search before ordering to see if I could find reviews and they were generally all positive saying that the quality is much better than the price reflects. 

There are a lot of things I wouldn't order from there - the sizing charts are horrible with little information of use and the descriptions on many items leave much to be desired. Returns are free if you return to a store but if you have to ship it back you would have to pay for shipping. 

I don't know that I would buy a $35 helmet, but I could see the appeal to parents of kids who are just starting and don't know if it will stick. It's not ASTM approved - it has an EN rating  (European) so it appears to still be legal to use in Canadian competitions.

For basic clothing staples however, it is worth a look.

I'll post a review when I receive the breeches. Fingers crossed that they are decent!