The upside of not owning...

I struggle everyday with not having a horse. But it is definitely helping that I have Hugo to play around with twice a week (so long as the weather cooperates). Although there are many drawbacks to not having my own horse, there is one definite upside. Spending money. Not that I have a lot of it, but when I do need a new riding accessory I can more easily afford to splurge now and then now that I am horseless.

Recently I sold the jumping saddle that I had bought for Rose. Given the cash burning a hole in my pocket post saddle sale, I decided it was high time I replaced my uncomfortable and very hot back-up troxel grand prix helmet that I have been using ever since Rose stepped on and killed my nice IRH back in 2011. Wow, I didn't realize how long that it had been. Very sad indeed. Probably time for a new helmet regardless.

So I decided to splurge on the helmet I have been drooling over for YEARS! I managed to find it on sale at Adam's Horse and Pet Supplies, it had free shipping and I managed to find a 10% off coupon to boot. If that wasn't great enough, the helmet came with a very nice pair of free Roeckl gloves worth $45. I was stoked. Free shipping of course meant that I had to WAIT, and WAIT, and WAIT for  it to arrive. However, one magical day last week, while both Junior and I were sick, our awesome UPS man Sean showed up at the door with the happiest box of all time. That might be a slight exaggeration, but...ladies and gentlemen I give you the Charles Owen AYR8 Classic:

No guessing as to what is in this magical box!

Junior insisted on helping me open the box. He was excited to have a new box to play with!

Breaking it in!

Of course I had to wait to try it out until this past Monday, but that didn't stop me from gleefully wearing it around the house for a little while. I swear I only got healthy so that I could ride in my helmet! There is will power for you.

I am happy to report that the helmet met all my expectations. First, it fit my tiny round head. No headaches, no pressure points, even with my ponytail tucked up. I am not an oblong head person, so pretty much CO's are the only helmets that fit me comfortably. This was info I already knew, as I have an old CO GR8 that has been hanging around as another back-up. Given that it was made in 2008-ish, and was a hand me down...it's now being retired for good.

What I love about the AYR8 Classic is that it is velvet, has a button and a bow (I'm an old school hunter princess...that just will not change), a flesh colored strap instead of black (I really wish the clear ones were astm/sei approved, but flesh color is at least better), and best of all it has a great venting system. It was quite warm (about 70ºF) when I rode and I didn't sweat or get hat hair at all. Also, the lining is anti-microbial, so that will be nice too. At any rate, I love this helmet so far and I am so happy with my splurge!

Oh, and the Roeckl riding gloves it came with are great too. They are the first synthetic leather gloves I've ever used (I am a leather snob as well). At any rate, they are quite comfy and I can even use my phone through them. Bonus. They are definitely going to be my new schooling gloves for now, and I will save my leather ones for shows.

Happy trails and swooshing tails!
•Renee•