Equestrian gift?

Daniel Moore

Daniel Moore

Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Messages
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I know we have some horse-lovers here (calling MattShade :D ), so I'm asking for some advice. My girlfriend is big into horses and with Christmas coming up I thought there might be something I could buy her that she might want for them. We agreed on a Christmas gift price cap of $20, so theres the rough price. Anyone have any ideas? :confused:
 
Does she have horses of her own? I'll have to think about it. Your right, I do have horses, but I've had em long enough, and been responsible for the barn work long enough that I'd be really excited over a new shovel for cleaning stalls. So I'm probably not the best to get advice from on this matter :D Your girlfriend does NOT want a scoop shovel (if she does, you need to introduce me to any sisters she has ;) )

One thing I can do for you even if I don't come up with any other ideas. I've been forging letter openers out of horseshoes. They don't harden well enough to be a good knife, but they make a neat letter opener. Email me your address and I'll stick one in the mail when I'm shipping out knives to customers here in a few days.

Aside from that, I'll have to do some thinking. You might look through www.rods.com , or www.statelinetack.com they're both tack shops I deal with fairly often and they carry a lot of holiday type stuff this time of year on top of the usual equipment.
 
Ok here's the obvious idea from a knife nut. Get her a small multi tool or SAK. If she doesn't already have a knife.
Most of the equipment used for riding has parts held together with chicago screws. Takes about a 1/4" flat blade screw driver to make adjustments, tighten things up etc. Most folks don't realize how handy a scrwdriver can be until their equipement falls apart and they're a mile from the trailer or barn. Was at a horseshow a few weeks ago and a girls bridle fell apart right before she was supposed to go into the arena. I loaned them my gerber to put it back together and they went in and won the class.
A knife is always handy too, doesn't have to be a one hander or anything special. A good sharp blade has a lot of uses. I don't know how big the screwdrivers are on the smaller multi tools, but if you could find one with a decent screwdriver and knife blade thats small enough she can carry it comfortably, or at least keep it nearby, she will get a lot of use out of it. Wire cutters are a plus too for opening bales of hay, but thats not overly important and might make the tool too big.

If you explain the idea and thought behind it she might appreciate it. Dont' know, some folks just don't like knives or maybe she already has one.
 
Well Matt, it is her horse, and she is the type that would like a scoop shovel- not many girls around here muck out a horse stall every day, but she's got quite a work ethic for that stuff. She's REALLY into horses. I might get her horse some bell boots, the ones he has now are cracking. He's an ex-racehorse, 6 years old, thoroughbred. And sorry Matt, her sister is 11 :D I'll consider a multi-tool, but she doesn't have too much appreciation of that stuff ;) Women- always limiting you to a practical number of knives :yawn: :( :D I think that a Vic. Tinker might be good, or maybe a similar model with scissors. I'm going to tag along with her on a walk to a horse supply store, maybe I'll notice her looking at something and pick it up another time.
 
Bell boots would probably be good. They don't last forever and some horses just can't go without them. It protects them from stepping on, or hitting their feet together. Professionals choice is the brand I usually go with, but there are some other ones that are good too. I think I had a pair made by Davis that held up pretty well and were a lot less expensive.
 
NeedleRemorse said:
Well Matt, it is her horse, and she is the type that would like a scoop shovel- not many girls around here muck out a horse stall every day, but she's got quite a work ethic for that stuff. She's REALLY into horses. I might get her horse some bell boots, the ones he has now are cracking. He's an ex-racehorse, 6 years old, thoroughbred. And sorry Matt, her sister is 11 :D I'll consider a multi-tool, but she doesn't have too much appreciation of that stuff ;) Women- always limiting you to a practical number of knives :yawn: :( :D I think that a Vic. Tinker might be good, or maybe a similar model with scissors. I'm going to tag along with her on a walk to a horse supply store, maybe I'll notice her looking at something and pick it up another time.
Click to expand...

for a SAK, I would suggest an alox model, specifically the Soldier. Why? Because the large screwdriver on the bottle opener is actually larger than all the red cellidor models (I think it's the same size as on the much bigger one hand trekker, I have to look). The awl has got to have many uses for Horses as well.
I'm not sure of the other alox models have a larger flat driver or if it's just the Soldier.

Does this make sense? Matt?
 
There is actually a Victorinox Equestrian with a picture of a horse and a horseshoe on it.

You can't get any cheesier than that.

It's on Victorinox's website under Sporttools.
 
Lazy bugger 44, you could have at least posted it.. JK M8 :D

53611_l.jpg


On sale here for $22.75, close enough.

http://www.quickknife.com/herbence2teststore1/53611.html
 
klattman said:
for a SAK, I would suggest an alox model, specifically the Soldier. Why? Because the large screwdriver on the bottle opener is actually larger than all the red cellidor models (I think it's the same size as on the much bigger one hand trekker, I have to look). The awl has got to have many uses for Horses as well.
I'm not sure of the other alox models have a larger flat driver or if it's just the Soldier.

Does this make sense? Matt?
Click to expand...

Yep that makes sense. Just depends on how big the thing is overall. Most people, especially women, don't like to carry something thats too big or has too many gadgets in it :confused:

The equestrian one looks cool. Has a little bit of a hoofpick, decent knife and the screwdriver might be alright. If they'd take the corkscrew and saw out it might be alright. I just don't see much use for them unless maybe on a long trail ride and they make the knife really thick.

To be honest if she's not interested in knives, the bell boots might be a really good gift. Practical, and it helps take care of her horse.
 
I was going to second a Vic equestrian. I have a tinker that I carry out to the barn, and between cutting open bales of hay (ours are baled with string), and dismantling headstalls, it has been really handy. And, I get a lot of use out of the punch. I ride western, so there isn't a ton of cheaper stuff to get IMO; I know that state line has a few bags-saddle bags and horn bags htat are super useful and not that expensive. I'm guessing that your GF jumps, though? I don't know that much about hunt/jump, but like Matt said, barn supplies are great. I use a wonder fork to clean stalls, and they're cheap and good. Salt block holders, horseshoe hooks (hooks made of horseshoes) saddle racks can all be had for a reasonable amount of money. Buckets and bucket holders, these are things that can wear out (with my horse, who eats like it's the only food he's ever seen). Gloves, Reins (getting expensive). My parents have a set of nice braided english reins that I may be able to get a hold of (cheap)if you're interested in some kind of trade. I hope this helps, joe

The American Quarter Horse-the First SUV
 
Dijos said:
The American Quarter Horse-the First SUV
Click to expand...

Damn Right! Except, I show in the reining so I suppose mines more like a sports car :D She's built like a dually though ;)
 
GPA titium helmet...heheh...
Sexy helmet for the rider...unlike mine which makes me look like a skateboarder on a horse.

There are all sorts of stuff but for $20 you're not going to get much. Most probably she'll have all of the equestrian stuff in the first place.

You don't really need to get something equestrian.
 
have a shovel chrome plated for her :)


might be a couple bucks more than 20, but a streamlight twin-task AA flashlight might be nice! low power should be good in the barn around the animals, and brighter setting useful, too, of course.
 
There are lots of cheap, but useful, things you can get her for the horse. A lot does depend though on what she is mostly into, this will give you a good guide to the most appropriate thing for her. Matt is into reining so there are probably things specific to that which would make a nice gift. I am into endurance and that has it's own little world of stuff. My wife is into natural horsemanship training so there are things for that. If your girlfriend is into showing or dressage you could get her a small kit of handy items from your local tack shop. The best plan is to go to a tack shop, tell them what you're after and they can show you a pile of stuff that would be appropriate.
 
Matt Shade said:
Damn Right! Except, I show in the reining so I suppose mines more like a sports car :D She's built like a dually though ;)
Click to expand...
Reining?! That's wayyy beyond me at this point..Fun to watch, though.


Also, can we get an update, needle?
 
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