September Roundup!

A compilation of a few of my favourite things from the last month!

From XOJane: 10 Better Body Affirmations For Young Women

From The Chronicle Of The Horse: The Souls The Barn Builds

This awesome hairdo that I have NO IDEA where it originated from, though someone on the FB fanpage said: "I believe this is an old photo of The General, an Andalusian from Colorado"

And even though this last one was from August 31st, I'm counting it because I want to -- but a lovely piece of artwork from Lindsay Gibson Clark depicting my beloved Angel:

Guest Blog: Review For Kanyon Ash Wide Calf Riding/Country Boot

This guest post is from Scherry Clarke, who has a pretty incredible horse story when it comes down to it. She also makes some really neat equine themed skin care products @ Aviemare Body Care.

I've been on the hunt for a pair of wide-calf boots for a while. Unwilling to settle for another pair of cheaply made, poorly fitting boots, I set up some criteria for my "Perfect" pair:

1. They had to fit well along my entire leg. This is no small requirement because I have short legs with large calf muscles. This unfortunate combo means that my calf starts getting wider lower on the leg. If a boot fits on my lower leg it usually gaps around my upper calf.

2. They must be real leather. I refuse to pay $100+ for plastic/pleather or "synthetic" boots.

3. They must be versatile. I wanted a boot that could be used for riding, hiking, general outdoors, or even dressed up with a great tunic, tights and a scarf.

4. They must not be black. I already have a good pair of high-end black equestrian-look boots that I got from widewidths.com

5. They must not cost over $400. This seems high but you get what you pay for. I don't wear junk. I have too many foot issues to do that to myself anymore. Good boots are worth saving up for.

This boot fit all of those requirements. I won't rehash the description. Rather, I will give info that the description does not tell you.

HEIGHT: Nowhere in the description do they mention how tall this boot is. I could not find it ANYWHERE on line and nobody responded to my inquiries. I do not know if the height increases incrementally with size but my boots are a size 9 UK and 15.5 inches tall.

CALF FIT: This particular model is called the Ash. It adjusts from about 17 inches to 20 inches. The 3 inch gusset runs the entire length of the boot so as your leg widens and enlarges the laces can be adjusted. The top part of the boot has a buckle for adjustment. The buckle can be unsnapped from two different positions to further customize fit. There is a small leather piece that snaps over the laces to keep them in place. Plus it looks snazzy.

COLOR: Very attractive two-tone brown. Pretty much true to my monitor.

EASE OF PUTTING ON: I was concerned about this due to high insteps but was pleasantly surprised. I only had to unlace to boot a few holes and my entire leg went right in!

SIZING: This might be your only glitch. Every chart for international sizes said something different. I wanted to pull my hair out. I wear a straight 10 in most US sizes; an 11 with some brands such as Earthies Euro sizes get trickier. In Dansko I wear a 41 which is 10.5-11 in US. In some Euro sizes I need a 42. I always check each brand's charts.

In boots I like an 11 in case my injured feet/ankles swell. So I got a size 9 UK which supposedly corresponded with an 11 US. It did NOT! The box actually states 11.5 US.

However, I put a good pair of Spenco inserts in the boots and a thick footie/sock on my foot and they fit very nicely with room to wiggle my toes. I MUST have this room because my toes go numb if they are crushed. So it worked out fine.

Because these boots come from the UK I would email the seller with ANY questions. I would also err on the side of the boot being a bit larger than too small. One size larger can usually be fixed with orthotics insoles and/or socks.

HOW THEY FEEL: I wore them for a about an hour walking around our olive grove then took my horse for a walk. They were comfortable right out of the box. The top part of the boot is sturdy yet soft and flexible enough to not bruise the daylights out of my high insteps. This was a huge relief.

DUTY/IMPORT TAXES TO US: Another slight snag. I have never ordered internationally so this was a new experience. The boots came a full week early from the date Amazon emailed me and I was asleep. I got a note on my door from UPS saying I owed $26.13 in fees. I was not informed by Amazon, UPS OR the Seller that these fees would be due at the time of delivery or how much they would be. Luckily I was able to contact UPS and the driver stopped back by before leaving town. UPS likes a check for the fees. They won't accept cash.

I have no idea how one can find out how much the Duty/Customs fees are ahead of time. I will have to research this more if I make more international orders. I could NOT find a US seller for this boot however so I had to buy from the UK.

BOTTOM LINE: A sturdy, stylish and functional boot that has multiple uses. Water resistant. Total cost of boots, shipping and duty/import fees: just over $300. Worth every penny as I feel these boots will last a long time if properly cared for.

RECOMMEND: YES!

Peace,
Avie

Note: the boots can be found to purchase HERE.

Why You Will Never See Me Post About Real Women Having Curves

Listen up, ladies... - and men, too - because this might be important for you to read as well!

This might not be popular. And I might be crossing the line into a bit of "feminism" here, too.

I try to repost as many relevant things as I can on the Facebook page, but I can't post internet memes about "real women" having specific body parts. You've seen them... they are usually colourful and feature some womanly icon who isn't a size 0 and they say things like "Nobody wants a steak that is all bone so why would a man want a woman without a little meat?" and "REAL women have curves", and a variety of other things that speak about your validity and desirability as a woman based on your physical attributes.

Here is the thing - real women are fat and skinny, tall and short, have hair on their face and smooth, hairless bodies. They come in every shape and size, nationality and personality. Even though we, as fat women, have been told by society (and sometimes even the people in our lives that are supposed to love and care about us) that skinny women are better than us - more desirable to men, more successful and more attractive - indeed, more "womanly" than us, the answer is not to try to juxtapose ourselves as better women than anyone.

I do not want to be more woman than anyone. I just want to be a woman, recognized and appreciated as such, whether I weigh 100lbs or 400lbs. The amount of fat and weight that I carry on my body has absolutely nothing to do with the gender with which I identify. I do not want to marginalize or ostracize other groups of women in order to make myself feel better.

Don't get me wrong... it is understandable to want to do so. I know why it is easy to do this. For your whole life, likely, people have seen fit to comment on the state of your body without your permission like you are not even a human being let alone a powerful, wonderful woman. I've mentioned before that I was once looking at a sales rack in a clothing store when an elderly man approached me to remind me that I couldn't fit into any of those clothes and shouldn't bother looking. Yes, these sorts of things made me angry. They made me want to hurt someone the way that I was hurt.

But let's think about it this way - you know you have that friend on your Facebook page that once in a while posts something derogatory - probably one of those "some ecards" internet memes that make some sort of commentary about a fat person in Walmart, or whatnot. You know they didn't mean it for you because, well, obviously they are your friend... but a part of you feels badly and it stinks because you feel like you don't have a right to say anything because it wasn't directed at you. When you start posting the comments about "what man wants a bone?", you are certainly making someone else feel the same way you feel when you see derogatory comments about fat people - and if you're a half decent person - why would you want to make someone else feel that way?

People, and specifically women, are sometimes fat or skinny despite their best efforts, because of genetics or medical conditions or sometimes because they just want to be. You don't know the passage of their life, you don't know how or why they are where they are or look the way that they do, and assigning "bad" to skinny is no better than them assigning "bad" to fat.

And that is why I don't allow any "better than" talk on my Facebook page. Because we don't have to be better than to be good, wonderful, authentic, marvelous women. We are all enough just exactly the way that we are.

Product Review: Equine Aid

I am pretty fortunate to have at least one horse that is a good drinker. So good, in fact, that I tend to rarely actually see her drinking at home - she seems to have no qualms about water quality or flavour and is always hydrated. For those that don't have Bronwyns, meet EquineAid, a product that, per their website, has changed the old adage that you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink.

Make no mistakes, this is not marketed as an electrolyte (because it's not!), but as something to think of as "a horse cookie dissolved in water" - a tasty treat to encourage your horse to drink when it might not otherwise want to. There is no comprehensive ingredient list on the website but it does say this:

The ingredients in Equine Aid are all human grade--organic, non-GMO alfalfa, molasses, brown sugar, and pink Himalayan rock salt--and are consumed by horses on a regular basis without any adverse effects. 

[Post entry note: The rep I have been working with informs me that what I've listed above is the comprehensive list of ingredients. Straight, simple, wholesome!]

Soooo... since it said it was human grade ingredients, before I offered it to my horses, I did what I usually do - I tasted it. I lived! It tasted a bit like black licorice, actually.

Overall, I found the presentation of the product - both the packaging and the product itself - to be neat, clean and professional - just the way I like most things.


The instructions for use on this one were obvious - mix with a bucket of water and offer to horse. I did find it didn't dissolve into the water as quickly as I would have liked but there were no adverse affects as a result of it - kind of when you put cocoa in milk or water - maybe mix or shake it into a small amount of water prior to mixing it into the larger bucket.

(I didn't taste the water after I mixed in the supplement, but I am sure it would have tasted good!)

The next step was to get my taste testers! They had been in the barn for a couple of hours so I thought it would be a prime opportunity to offer them a drink -- this is what I ended up with:

Bronwyn, who actively ignored it.

And Rex, who was interested, but not interested enough to drink. As I did this outside, I thought perhaps it was the "you can lead a horse to water but not make it drink" thing, so offered it inside, in their stalls... which was met with similar disinterest. They weren't interested in straight water, either - so it leads me to believe that it had nothing at all to do with the EquineAid in the water, and everything to do with that they just weren't thirsty.

I did, however, offer it to Serenity, who thought it was pretty snazzy:

To be fair - the website recommends that you feed it dry on top of their feed to get them used to the taste and in their water at home so they will drink it off property as well, which makes sense. I can't say for sure if things would be different if I offered again, but I do have other samples and plan to give them a shot when I have actually taken one of my kids out and worked them - so they ought to be thirsty.

My overall verdict? If you have a horse who is a picky drinker (and we all know them), EquineAid can be ordered for $1.99/pouch or $25 for 30, which, as someone who doesn't venture off property very frequently, I find to be pretty reasonable. 

Stay tuned for part 2...

The Heart Knows

Angel,

It is funny how, seven years later, you still permeate my life so much that I knew I had to come to the farm today even though I could not remember why. I wasn't feeling well this morning and G gave me an opt out, saying he'd come next week and help me groom, but I knew I had to come.

I was in the barn with Rex, spending some time giving that filthy boy a deep groom, when I remembered. First, I thought I had missed it by two days but I think my heart knew. It has grown so used to grieving on this day that it does it on its own, without any help at all.

When my Nana passed away, Daddy told me an analogy about how losing someone or something special to you is like when you pull a large boulder out of the ground. At first, that hole is jagged, it wants for something to fill it. As time passes, eventually it smooths out, sometimes it fills in a bit. There is always, however, a groove there. Eventually, the grieving turns to memories you can call to mind on any day of the week and be happy to have them. Eventually, you stop saying "I wish there was a rock here." every second day. Eventually, you learn to function and move on, and you allow yourself to grieve on days like today.

Seven years ago, I came home at this time of day and saw you laying in the field - sunbathing, everyone insisted, but I knew something deeper was wrong.

The heart knows, doesn't it? Just like I knew something was happening the night that you foaled when I was in another city and it took three grown man to pull that dead colt out of you but didn't hear the news until the next morning. Just like I knew about the sorrel and white filly growing inside of you that first year, that filly that would go on to touch hearts that I didn't even know would need touching. Just like I knew that you would leave me that night.

After four years of teaching me to love horses again, to trust in my partner, to believe in myself, and how to know an equine so well that you can tell in six seconds whether something is wrong or not, you had completed your work here on Earth and you moved on.

You opened up the door for Bronwyn to come into my life. And you left me Rex and Ari. And you reminded me that it is okay to cry when you have to. And you gave me a special appreciation for falling stars - because so many fell that night while I walked you, and now every time that I see one, I know you are reminding me to listen to my heart, and letting me know I am going in the right direction.

Most importantly, you taught me that everything will pass, too - no matter how hard it seems to overcome. That someday I will look back on every challenge I have faced and be reminded that I had to be there to be where I am now. That everything that happens exactly the way that it is supposed to.

My girl, I had no idea I was learning these lessons when I was learning them. It took me a long time to appreciate it. Seven years later, I can say I still miss you, but the overwhelming emotion is THANK YOU.

Angel & Rex Spring 2006

 

Do One Thing Every Day That Scares You

I bet most of you don't know that I get very anxious going into new social situations. That might be surprising for some of you - some of you might not find it that surprising. I, myself, was a little surprised when it started to rear its head in my first, and only year of university.

All through middle and high school, I had been that obnoxiously outgoing girl. You know, the one who turns around and introduces herself to everyone within hearing distance in lines at concerts, has no problem getting up in front of her youth group and acting like a doofus, makes it all the way to the provincial level of public speaking competitions without batting an eyelash. Then, in university, it started small - as simple as I could not possibly spend the night at someone's house, I would fight tooth and nail to get back to my apartment after a night out at the bars. I knew that it was turning into a problem when I started taking an economics course mid year and I got up on the first day and gathered my books, ate breakfast, showered - got all the way ready to go and got to the door to leave and turned around and climbed back into my bed, unable to face the "newness" of a whole class of new faces, a professor I had never met, and a completely different part of the university than I had ever had a class in.

It never developed into anything that has affected my quality of life but I know there are some experiences and friends I have probably missed out on as a result of my desire to stay home, where I am comfortable.

So when I decided I wanted to add "something else" besides dog walking and biking to work to my exercise regime, I picked lap swimming. We have a local pool that offers a pretty decent price and is not far from our apartment, so I investigated it as much as I could online... but then I came to questions I couldn't find the answers to online - like what sort of people swim there? Am I going to get hated on for being a slowpoke? How do you know which way to swim? Which time is the busiest to go? And of course... the one that I try to never let myself ask but pokes it's head up ALL OF THE TIME and I think is the root of all of the anxieties I have about just about everything - even though I know better than this - Am I going to be the fattest person there?*

All of those unknowns cause me a lot of anxiety so yesterday, G put me in the car and drove me to the pool without my bathing suit so I could take a peek in through the big window and see what sort of people swim there, and how fast they are swimming (the answers were all sorts and all speeds). I talked to the lifeguard at the desk to get a feel for it and he told me I should swim in the medium speed lane because the slow lane is mostly people walking or flutterboarding. He told me that the midday swim is usually the busiest.

Armed with this information, I steeled myself to go back today and actually swim. I knew I had to take my information I had gained and the little burst of bravery that I had and go swim sooner, rather than later, or I would chicken out completely. So I put my swimsuit and a towel in a bag and headed out. I was extremely nervous as I left the house, tummy full of butterflies - what if they don't like me? G gave me a hug and told me I would be just fine and sent me out the door.

As I parked the car, I wanted to turn around and go home, but I knew that G was at home and would know I hadn't swam if I just turned around and went back with dry hair, so that little bit of knowledge forced me into the reception and changing rooms. By then, I was most of the way there so why not just try it?

So I did. And obviously, I am here to write this and my entry didn't start with "NEVER GO LAP SWIMMING, IT IS HORRIBLE!". The truth was that it was uncomfortable at first, but I enjoyed it. It felt like a physical challenge. I pushed my body and my mind and I came out alive on the other end. There were, indeed, bodies of all ages, and shapes and sizes and speeds. In fact, the most inspiring swimmer there was a woman a bit bigger than me. She came to the pool, got in the medium speed lane, put her head down and went right to work. I felt like my strokes were frenzied and challenging, I felt like I was splashing a lot, but she cut through the water like a hot knife in butter, with slow, methodical strokes. She was a beautiful swimmer.

Am I going back? Of course.

If you're comfortable, you're not growing.

* And really, who cares if I am? I am as entitled as anyone else to pay my $3.50 and go swim as many laps as slowly or as quickly as I want to, regardless of my size or skill level.

Guest Blog: Safety Vests For The Plus Sized Rider

Writer, Vickie Tatum, is one of our "family" at the AFG&AFH forum and when she shared her experience on the forum, we knew she had to write us a blog. Enjoy her articulate, thorough approach to her experience with riding vests!

Last year, I fell off a horse and broke 4 ribs. I’ve always heard that broken ribs are painful, but until I actually experienced it, I had no idea what that meant. I don’t ever want to go through that again, so I spent some of my recovery time shopping for protective vests.

Once I decided to purchase a protective vest, the first thing to decide was whether I wanted a traditional vest or one of the new air vests. When I watched the Olympic equestrian events on TV last summer, I saw one of the air vests deploy in a fall on the cross country course. It looked pretty cool, but they are also quite expensive and somewhat controversial, with some experts suggesting that, in some circumstances, they could actually be harmful. Plus, they seem like more than I need as a recreational rider, so I crossed air vests off my list.

The next thing to decide was whether I wanted an approved vest. There are three different certification systems for protective vests. These systems set standards that must be met for things like impact and puncture resistance. In the US the certification system is ASTM, in Europe it’s EN, and in the UK it’s BETA. In addition, within each certification system, there are different levels or standards for different types of equestrian activity. The approved vs. non-approved decision is one everyone has to make for themselves.

In the end, I decided an approved vest would be nice, but if the vest that best met my needs was not approved, I wouldn’t pass on it only for that reason. I don’t ride at high speeds or jump large fences or ride lots of green horses, so, recent fall aside, I’m not really a high risk rider. Plus, the Tipperary Eventer vest, which has long been popular among eventers, isn’t certified and plenty of people will testify as to its protectiveness during a fall.

Once those decisions are made, I was still faced with what turned out to be the biggest obstacle in purchasing a protective vest: my size. When you are plus sized, some vests simply don’t come in your size. And, even when they do, your local retailer or the familiar big catalog/online retailers like SmartPak and Dover, may not carry the larger sizes. But, with the help of the internet and my mad googling skills, I was able to find several vests that are available in my size. Tipperary, Charles Owen, Rodney Powell, and Airowear all make vests in larger sizes.

When I went to the web site of the manufacturer of Tipperary vests, I found that some of their vests are available in chest sizes up to 52 inches (132 cm). I also found that the size charts on the web site show sizes much larger than those available for order. I contacted the manufacturer and was told that I could special order those larger sizes. The Competitor model can be ordered in chest sizes up to 56 inches (142 cm) and the Racer style in chest sizes up to 60 inches (152 cm).

The Charles Owen Kontact5 is available up to size XL, which fits chest sizes 38-46 inches (96-117 cm). I also found the Charles Owen jL9 in size XL at a couple of online tack shops, although most stopped at size L. However, I noticed that the size charts seemed to vary between retailers. For example, one online retailer’s size chart for the jL9 showed size L fitting up to a chest measurement of 40 inches (101 cm) while another retailer’s size chart showed it fitting up to a chest measurement of 43 inches (109 cm). So, Charles Owen vests may be something better purchased through a local tack shop where they can measure you and provide size advice.

Rodney Powell vests come in a staggering array of sizes, custom made to fit your measurements. The most common sizes are available ready made from a variety of online retailers, but if you want larger sizes you need to order a custom fit vest, which can be done through any tack shop that carries the vests or through a number of online retailers. The manufacturer’s web site provides detailed instructions on how to measure and also has some nifty features like an “interactive designer” and a size calculator.

The Airowear Women’s Outlyne vest is available off the shelf in sizes to fit chest measurements up to 49 inches (124 cm).

I now own two different protective vests. The first vest I purchased was the Airowear Outlyne. It is certified to the highest BETA level, which is Beta 3. I chose this vest because it was recommended by one of the A Fat Girl and a Fat Horse Forum members and because it is advertised as being “specifically designed to fit the female body shape.” I ordered it from an online retailer in the UK, Amira Equi. Even with the shipping, the price was competitive with US sources (cheaper than most) and it arrived amazingly quickly. I got my Mom to help me measure myself according to the instructions on the web site, ordered the size indicated, and it fit perfectly.

I love this vest. It’s soft and flexible and after you’ve had it on for a while, it molds to your body shape. I swear it fits me better every time I wear it. Once I’ve had it on for a few minutes, I forget about it. It does not interfere with my riding on the flat or over fences in an English all purpose or jumping saddle. I feel much more confident wearing it.

However, nothing is ever perfect, and that is true of my Outlyne vest, as well. While it is great for riding in my English saddle, it’s not so great when I want to go western. When I ride in my western saddle, the back of the vest often bumps against the cantle and when I lean forward or lean down, like to open a gate, I tend to bump the front of the vest against the saddle horn. Also, I live in Florida and now that the temperature is starting to rise, wearing the vest is hot. It’s not so noticeable when I’m just trail riding or riding for fun, but in a riding lesson, where I’m steadily working without much of a break, I really get hot.

My second protective vest purchase was an impulse buy right after I had one of those hot riding lessons. I spotted a Tipperary Ride-Lite vest in my size and on sale. The Ride-Lite is from the opposite end of the spectrum of protective vests. It is not certified, is much lighter weight than the Outlyne, and is marketed to the beginner or recreational rider. It’s shorter so it doesn’t offer as much tailbone protection as the Outlyne, but it doesn’t bump against the cantle of my western saddle nearly as much, either. It also seems, if not a lot cooler, at least somewhat less hot than the Outlyne vest, although the final verdict won’t be in until we hit mid-July or August.

How do I feel about the Ride-Lite? Well, to borrow an already overused phrase, it is what it is. On the one hand, it doesn’t mold to my shape like the Outlyne does, but on the other hand, it’s so much lighter that its overall stiffness isn’t really an issue with respect to fit and comfort. Indeed, it fits me well and is comfortable to wear. If I hadn’t already been wearing the Outlyne, I would probably feel better about the level of protectiveness offered by the Ride-Lite. I feel confident that the Ride-Lite is likely to provide some degree of increased protection in a fall, but it certainly doesn’t inspire the level of confidence I feel when wearing my Outlyne. I can’t criticize the Ride-Lite on that account, though, since it wasn’t designed to provide the same level of protectiveness.

Overall, I’m sold on the idea of wearing a protective vest for riding. I joke that I wish I had an exciting story to tell about how I broke my ribs. You know, one that starts with something like, “My horse and I were galloping toward a 6 foot wall…” But, the truth is, I wasn’t doing anything but trotting along in a familiar field on a well-broke horse that I’ve ridden dozens of times. I came off over her shoulder in a spook-and-spin, in the same kind of fall I’ve had many times over the course of my riding life. So, I’ve put my vest in the same category as my helmet: wear it every time. I figure that if I got used to wearing a helmet, I can get used to wearing a protective vest, too.

Vicki wearing her Airowear Outlyne vest

UPDATE: Several weeks after I finished writing this blog post, I had another fall. I was wearing my Outlyne vest and I am happy to report that it performed perfectly. On the part of my body covered by my vest I had no broken bones, no bruises, not even a sore spot. Now, if someone would just start making some protective pants…