P2 tack-whoring

First of all, I'm giving in on this damn new interface.  And I REALLY don't like it.  I've been holding out on the old style forever, so any converts out there, I'd appreciate you sharing what exactly is so fantastic about the new layout and how long it will take me to adjust... (waaaaaaaaaaaaah.  hate change).

More importantly, I figured I'd share the result of some late night internet trolling.  Unlike SprinklerBandit, who is going from a big headed horse to small... I am going from a small headed horse to big...
P's delicate, trim, little schnoz and it's appropriately sized tack does not flatter Prairie's big, huge, honking head.

Prairie doesn't have a total Block Head, but she definitely doesn't have the tapered little snout that P has and I'm sad that hardly any of my tack will fit (attractively) on the new mare.

We can make it work, but right now it sort of looks like P2 is wearing the horsey equivalent of high water pants in the halter and bridle departments...

I love those big, lusciously padded halters typically reserved for regal, FEI stallions.  But they are sneakily hard to locate (aside from asking Antares to custom make one... hmmm NO).

The closest I got was the version that Otto Schumacher makes (which also isn't cheap).  In theory you can custom order the OS halter in whatever leather/patent/padding combo your OCD heart desires.  I love this prospect, but I am simultaneously deterred by both the wait time (8 weeks) and the price ($240).

What I love about the OS is the extra wide padding, with lots of color showing.  It's just snappy.  I don't particularly love either of these color combos, but OS does have a lovely Havana padded with a lighter-Ostrich-patterned leather that looks flipping chic as hell.  (P1 would look like a dynamo in it...).

But this isn't about P1, it's about P2...  So I (unexpectedly) refocused my shopping and hunted desperately on ebay for an OS halter in a color I could handle... The lack of results was oddly deflating. I can't believe ebay let me down.  A deep dive on Google (including searching for "headcollars" in order to catch the European market) also didn't yield much.  A few tack shops in the UK, one in Germany and of course... ordering direct from OS.

Dressage Extensions stocks the black/black version which is droolworthy, but if I'm spending the $240, I would probably manage to contain my need for instant gratification long enough to get a fun and unique color combo...

You should see it on the right horsey head.  swoon. Or in Black with Platinum padding. bigger-swoon.

The Boy can attest that this pursuit has consumed endless nights of my random internet-trolling.  I managed to find a few good alternatives that offered the extra thick padding, a slightly wider noseband and a fixed chin (all things I wanted).  None of them came in cute colors (sad) but in my desperation I was starting to get less picky.

Dressage Extensions also offers this luxe halter by Sabre, which looks damn similar but clocks in at $199.. At first I was so price blind by my search-exhaustion that it sounded like a good deal, but I finally figured out that $200 is still way too much to spend on a compromise (even for me)

Pretty damn close right?? but still two-hundy-dolla..

 Finally after I googled something along the lines of "padded sale halter headcollar horse (no bikini) extra wide giant fixed chin hamster" I stumbled onto Rhinegold and their also similarly styled black, padded halter going for about $80. (for the record "extra padded halter" leads to some weird storefronts.. though admittedly their offerings were way cheaper than OS's....)

Another deep dive on eBay et. al. and I found a UK tack store selling Rhinegold's full-size version for £26.. Even with an absolute crap exchange rate, that's a sneaky-good deal, so I snapped it up and crossed my fingers that P2's massive head will smash into a Full.  I will cry if it doesn't.

please fit. please fit. please fit. please fit....

That's my update on recent tack-whoring activity- which I am proud to say I've been keeping to a minimum lately! In fact, I've been so good... maybe I deserve a reward... like new polos.. or brushes...