no bucking way – No Bucking Way

EGO7 vs Roeckl – The Glove Review

Hello Buckers!

It has been some time since I sat down and put some words into a blog for you all! It has been a hectic few months, form riding everyday to jumping almost every weekend, I did struggle to get back into the swing of blogging. I have been quite content on sticking to my Instagram posts, and well frankly I do miss writing down my opinions and putting my thoughts down in writing. Dangerous I know, arn’t you glad I don’t do this with a few drinks on me, god knows what I would come out with!

Anyways, getting back to the point, I have a lovely glove review below! I used to hate wearing gloves, until my hands began to start hating me for being raw and sore and just being full on horrific looking because they weren’t wearing any protection (hehe lol!)

I was gifted my Roekl gloves, as a present and I purchased the Ego 7 gloves out of curiosity, I dont know what it is, but it is extremely hard to find comfortable gloves to ride in… keep scrolling to see my thoughts below!

The Roeckl Glove

About The Roeckl Glove

“Roeckl Sports, premier equestrian glove manufacturer, is a family run business based on Munich, Germany, in their 6th generation of family ownership. Roeckl has a truly unique understanding of the sensitive relationship between horse and rider. While the rider is able to feel the shape and mood the horse is in, the horse also feels the rider. The rider communicates their intention with the body and especially with the hands, which is why riding gloves must never lesson the sensitivity. Top functional materials such as Roeck-Grip were developed by Roeckl for riding. Strong yet very thin, supple and elastic, while providing an excellent grip on the reins.

Roeckl’s excellent product artisanship and superior materials are evident in their riding gloves. They understand the bond that forms between a horse and rider, and so design gloves that foster that bond with exquisite “feel.” Roeckl Gloves fit like a second skin, allowing an elegant appearance, as well as extreme sensitivity on the reins.”

My Thoughts

Name one equestrian who doesn’t rave about the Roeckl glove? Il wait. While they are on the expensive side of riding glove, the price tag is certainly worth the price when you find yourself riding in a pair of these gloves. They seem to just mould to your hand from the minute you put them on, if they are new, old or worn they just fit so snug every time.

The wide variety of styles, colours and sizes as well as gloves for different disciplines is super impressive. Roeckl have really stepped up their game big time compared to their small range that they came out with a few years ago. There is nothing really I can fault massively with this glove, the wear and tear is long standing, I have my pair over a year now and I am only seeing small stretch marks on the side on my gloves which unlike any other glove they are certainly lasting their time.

They are comfortable, the fit is well and they are not too chunky on my hands when I am riding. Its a 10/10 from me. While they are on the slightly higher scale when it comes to the price range, it is an investment worth making! Just don’t loose them and you’ll be flying!

The Ego7 Glove

About The Ego7 Action Glove

“Ego7 ACTION Glove combines top grip technology with a classic fashion look and exceptional functionality. They are made of highly abrasion-resistant, superior vegan leather that provides a second skin effect, maximum grip and suppleness. Critical seams are double-stitched for extra durability.

The branded metal logo flap fastener across the back of the hand, the elasticated wrist ensures a snug, individual fit. These gloves fit perfectly to guarantee a real feel of the reins. Thanks to the innovative touch screen fingertips, they are cell phone compatible, perfect for daily use in schooling, training, competing and pleasure riding.”

My Thoughts

The “Action” Glove as it is described on the TRI website is a stunning glove to be fair, it’s fashionable, looks good and is not bulky and stuffy like many gloves on the equestrian market at the minute. These also go up in a number sizing format, they don’t just have a small, medium or large, which I quite like. It means you can fit your glove perfectly to your hand.

Me, like the awkward hun that I always am, I panic when trying things on in shops and struggle to pay attention to many things. This resulted in me half arse trying the glove on and ending up with a pair probably a size too big for me. And in typical Darielle fashion, she only realised after taking every single tag off and after riding in them thinking her hands would grow into them. Like Honestly, who even am I.

I can sadly say that I cant use my phone when wearing this glove, I do have a feeling that this is because they are slightly too big on me, which is a shame cause I am an awful divil for a selfie when on board. In hindsight, they are fully weather resistant, super comfortable and don’t give you that horrible sweaty hand feeling after a long hard training session. They are similar pricing to the Roeckl glove with a set price of €30 per set,

My only con, they need more colours, I would love to see a brown or a navy! I would recommend investing in a pair of these gloves even though one or two of the features mentioned didn’t technically work for me, They are smart, look extremely well in show gear, and their Vegan friendly?! What more can you want!

The Verdict

Up until recently, I would of hand on heart said their is zero comparison to the Roeckl glove, I wouldn’t of even bothered looking else wear or at another brand. But I have to say Ego7 have left me weak. They have set a standard and have delivered on a fabulous product.

Don’t get me wrong, the Roeckl glove will always be a firm favourite in my eyes, but I wont be shy recommending the Ego7 pair going forward, a save of €10 is a good save these days especially if your paying for a product of the same quality!

If you wish to purchase either glove, both are available and where purchased from TRI Equestrian. See links below!

Ego7 Glove – Ego 7 Action Glove (triequestrian.ie)

Roeckl Glove – Roeckl Chester Gloves (triequestrian.ie)

Keep an eye out next for my Flex-on Vs Acavallo Stirrup review, this one has been a hot topic in my IG DM’s!

Darielle

A Bunch of Jumpy Jumps – February Exercise 2

This week I am going to introduce you to a jumping exercise! It did not originally start out like the layout below, but with some great arena help my original grid progressed into quite an interesting workout not only for Dante but for me too. I keep my jumping to twice a week, alternating between grid work and related distance work for the meantime, I certainly killed two birds with one stone with this exercise!

Keep scrolling below to see the layout and “how to” on this weeks exercise.

The Set Up

For this exercise, see the set image below. It can be used as a flat work exercise or a canter pole exercise if you wish, for the brave I suggest you introduce some jumps to the mix! The distances are on the image below, please also take not that the poles without any triangles beside them, were not jumps! I like to keep a variety.

As always, the set up below is made for a horse, measurements may need to be adjusted for smaller horses or ponies. I would 100% recommend having someone on the ground to assist with adjustments for this exercise.

How To Ride This Exercise

As always, I advise that a good warm up is done prior to partaking in any of our exercises. For this exercise I focused on having a forward moving canter in my warm up, keeping an even rhythm around the arena, as this is what I will be looking to translate into this exercise.
This exercise can be ridden in sections first before progressing to the entire exercise. I began firstly by tackling the grid. This is set up with trot poles on approach followed with one stride of canter between each fence. The aim here was to land on the correct lead and to keep a forward even rhythm in the canter as Dante landed. To put it simply no breaking into trot or not taking off in excitement after the second fence.
There were a few times when he was landing incorrectly, this is when the pole at figure number 2 came in handy, and helped assist as the course progressed on. I used this pole as a base for a lead change across the diagonal.
This in turn then set me up perfectly to continue on to ride my related distance. Marked number 3 & 4 in the image below. Here we ran into some rushing problems between the fences. It was a four stride, and there were times we were getting 3… Sitting up tall after the first fence and wrapping my legs around him began to help as we done it a few times. I also found that the more I continued on with fences and poles and the less I brought him back to a walk, or a time out for me, the better he became at flowing easily through the exercises.
Before I introduced the 5th section of the exercise in I wanted to make sure he was travelling more smoothly over part 3 & 4. It was quite a sharp turn into number 5 with yet another lead change as we landed.
Once I was happy with all parts of the exercise, it was time to finally piece it all together. I get fidgety and flappy though corner and in between fences, so this was the aim here to basically sit on Dante and let him travel to the fences, no rider interference! It improved a lot as I rode it a few times, but this is an exercise that I will definitely be doing again, the variety kept Dante always thinking and the sudden turns and changes made me the rider really concentrate.
To test yourself even more as you familiarise yourself with this exercise, after you come over fence number 5, transition down to trot and bring your horse over the grid again, see if your horse really listens and reacts to your direction!

The Benefits of The Exercise

Improves your horses canter and adjustability
Sharpens up your leg changing aids
Stops your horse from Rushing
Improves co-ordination

Remember to always finish an exercise with your horse on a good, positive note. Once you are happy with how your horse rode this exercise, finish up, I always tend to leave the exercise up for 2/3 days in the arena and visit it again to see how we have progressed from the first attempt!

I love a good technical jumping session, and now with shows coming back into action over the next few weeks this will certainly keep you and your horse on your toes ahead of entering the show ring!

Be sure to give it a go for yourself & do tag me in any videos you take of you doing this exercise!

Darielle

Focus On The Poles – February Exercise 1

It has been forever since I have had the time to sit down and put together some of the exercises I have been doing with Dante over the past few weeks. Dante is on a 7 day working schedule and for our flat/pole days and likewise on our jumping days I like to be prepared with what I am doing so that our time isn’t wasted in the arena.

For the month of February, I shall be sharing with you guys a weekly exercise, a mixture of flatwork & poles, and some jumping exercises also. We are on lockdown here in Ireland, so I hope it is something you can do or use as motivation to get you through your week with your horse.

Keep scrolling below to see the layout and “how to” on this weeks exercise. There is also a video over on our Instagram page on how Dante rode the exercise, be sure to check it out.

The Set Up

For this exercise, see the set image below. You can use it as a flat polework exercise, or if you are feeling brave or as you progress over a few days you can turn them all into jumps. I never walked the distances out between to outer canter poles, this was in order for me to be able to adjust Dante to the stride I wanted him to do.

The trot poles in the middle are 5 heel to toe footsteps between, with the middle pole raised. These can be adjusted to 4/4.5 steps for smaller horses or ponies.

How To Ride This Exercise

As always, I advise that a good warm up is done prior to partaking in any of our exercises. For this exercise I focused a lot on transition work with Dante very helpful before we began, also making sure he was moving forward from my leg.
This exercise can be ridden in sections first before progressing to one large exercise, depending on you and I guess how your horse is going. I began by getting an active forward trot over firstly the poles on the diagonal, and over the outer poles, getting Dante flexing around my leg in the trot, as we move up into canter this will become extremely helpful.
Moving into our canter, I began by focusing firstly on cantering large circles over the poles at the top and bottom of the arena, focusing on having an even rhythm in the canter, making sure to also land on the correct lead as you move to your next pole.
Once you are happy with this, you can begin to piece all of the 4 outer poles together. As you can see from my video on Instagram, I had a mixture of raised poles and small cavaletti’s as well as flat poles in this exercise. Variety for Dante works, he rushes more as the poles raise, so this was great to get him to approach flat poles the same as small jumps. My aim was to get a steady even forward canter the hole way around the poles.
I haven’t mentioned the raised poles as of yet in this exercise, well let me add them in! They are used in this exercise to aid in changing your rein. I find this much easier to keep the exercise flowing so that you can keep the flow going instead of stopping and starting all the time. (As much as I would rather stop to catch my breath!)
To finish, the entire exercise should ride as follows. Pick up your trot, changing the rein over your raised poles on the diagonal, pick up canter in the corner, ride a circle of canter over all your poles. Change the rein again over the diagonal, trotting over your poles, pick up canter and continue on with your canter over your poles on the other rein. Finish your exercise by transitioning down to trot and over your poles on the diagonal again, and viola, your done!

The Benefits of The Exercise

Improves your eye for a stride
Improves your horses canter and adjustability
Sharpens up your transitions
Improves flexability

Once you are happy with how your horse is riding this exercise, remember to always leave your horse on a good note, now keep in mind that your horse needs to do what you ask it to do so don’t worry if it takes a few turns to get this exercise right. I normally leave it up for 2/3 days to get it perfected.

I found this exercise super productive & really made me focus during my riding session. Plans really do work once you put them in place, It’s great to have a schedule to focus on and to keep you motivated, especially in this day and age!

Be sure to give it a go for yourself & do tag me in any videos you take of you doing this exercise! Next week I have a lovely jumping exercise that is sure to keep you thinking on your toes!

Darielle

Equisub

In times of trouble, us Irish seem to always find a way to laugh or joke or to have some humourous way around dealing with the hard things. We do often use this as a way of avoiding or dealing with the crazy and troubling times we are facing yet again, can you actually believe it? No. Me neither.

The fabulous Lorna O’Hare from Equestrian Reality recently set up a Facebook page gathering and pulling equestrian retailers together, for some of us our online shopping dreams finally came true, but I thought why not reach out and give some of these Irish businesses an extra push and some extra online recognition. There is nothing more I like seeing than Irish supporting Irish, especially in the equestrian community.

So welcome our new “Supporting Irish Equestrian” featured section on No Bucking Way. This is my way to give back to these Irish companies and to support them in what I can only imagine has been quite a difficult year. Each week I will introduce you to a new business give you details and links to their sites not only in a blog post but over on our social media channels too.

For your Information – So you are aware some brands & companies I have worked with before and have promoted their products.

Let me introduce you to Equisub

How many of you have heard about the brand new offering from Equisub recently? Well if you have been living under a rock please remove it and come back to reality QUICK! So lets get straight into in, see below everything you need to know about the new Irish brand Equisub, not only have they got Subscription box’s but they also have gorgeous horsey Pjs.

EquiSub – Subscription Boxes

Equisub is a new online equestrian subscription box company. From monthly gift boxes, to once off gifts, they even have special children’s versions available, Equisub have something for everyone. To make things a bit more attractive towards your spend, they are super affordable with prices starting from only €35. Things just keep getting better, you receive full sized products from an array of different Irish brands, yes I said full sized. This means you get the chance to try out products in full, I don’t know about you but samples only leave you wanting more.

Orders are to be placed before the 20th of each month in order to secure your subscription boxes to be dispatched on time. All orders can be made here.

Equisub – Pyjamas

Yes there is more to Equisub than subscription boxes. Pyjamas. No regular pj’s at that but horse themed pyjamas! Any horse girls dream. They have a few different styles, from onsies to two piece items they even have toddler sleep suits. I was gifted one of their fabulous onsies at Christmas, which I was super impressed with, so comfortable and the best bit, a flap at the back which means going to the toilet was much easier (no need to strip down!) The most important question of course left until last… They don’t loose shape after a wash, WIN!

Available To Purchase – HERE

The perfect gift for your horsey friend for that special occasion, be it a birthday, anniversary or if your feeling generous as a thank you gift, I don’t think you will go wrong with an Equisub subscription box for that horsey man or woman in your life.

Be sure to check out their website for additional gifts such as horse themed slippers and throw over blankets. Keep up to date by following their socials on Instagram & Facebook

Be sure to check back in next Monday for our next Support Irish Equestrian addition, and for any companies who want to get involved be sure to drop me an email.

Stay Safe & Happy Shopping,

Darielle

A Winter Exercise Staple, Trot N Rock

Finally getting back into the swing of normal again, making a riding schedule and trying to stick to it has now become quite the challenge, I forgot how much I hated the winter. Trying to get on top of our exercises has also been something I have really missed.

This exercise, Trot N Rock was one I done quite a bit through summer months, or during the first lockdown shall I say, it was a great transition exercise as well as one that kept Dante’s mind very busy and occupied.

I always find it hard to plan and think of things to be doing exercise wise in the arena, without a plan in my head of what I need to be doing each day, I often find myself drifting in and out of plans. Creating these short effective exercises certainly helps, it also keeps my riding quick but effective, and well what more could you want now that the winter months are creeping in amongst us.

Keep scrolling for my Trot N Rock exercise, it is definitely one to start with so many benefits not too mention how quick and easy it is to set up.

The Setup

Well, for this exercise all you need for your set up is 3 trot poles, of course an arena or a quiet field would also come in handy. Quite simple. The distance between your poles can depend, for a pony 4 heel to toe footsteps, for a horse I tend to do 4 and a half heel to toe footsteps. Check out the vid below!

Your arena doesn’t need to be fully clear, but I would recommend clearing at least the half of the arena you are using. See below as to where your set up should be done and what it should look like before you start.

The Benefits

Helps improve Balance, Suppleness, Rhythm
Helps develop hind end muscles and horses core
Helps to develop horses eye, and improves his co-ordination
Helps keep your horses brain busy, less anticipation of the work he thinks he’s doing
Teaches your horse collection

How To Ride This Exercise

Step 1 – Do I need to tell you what step one is, or have you been living under a rock? The warm up is as critical as the exercise itself! No warm up, especially in the winter time will leave you with an accident prone and stiff horse… so be sure to get your 15 minute walk trot and canter in before you “jump” into any of our exercises.

Step 2 – This exercise is so much easier to explain, I feel like I have already made a balls of the images! Start first by picking up your trot, you are looking for a nice rhythm not too fast, once you find it start by going over your trot poles. Do this a few times and be sure to change your rein often. Don’t leave it too easy so that your horse can anticipate the left and right turns. Focus on your turns before and after your poles also, aim for the centre and focus on staying straight through out the 3 poles

Step 3 – Once you are riding smoothly over the poles in trot, adding an element of canter to this exercise is what we shall be doing next, and no you don’t need to adjust them to canter poles. Your poles are placed down the centre of the centre or half way up even, when you are comfortable to progress to your canter, the aim is to canter 3 loops around each trot pole that you have placed down as per the image below. I would recommend practicing this a few times before we piece everything together. Dante looked at the poles strangely when he had to go through them opposed to going over them, you will be surprised on the strange things out horses look at!

Step 4 – You are looking for an active forward canter, your can begin with large circles, starting near the centre of the arena, progressing to the small circle, or you can go the opposite. Whatever suits your horse. Balance and rhythm is something you need to keep focus on, Sitting up straight holding a contact and riding from the leg will all benefit you in keeping the above smooth. Once you have mastered this, it is time to piece all of our above steps together.

Step 5 – Lets piece everything together, starting in trot and finishing in trot. BAM, I surprised you with a twist there! Pick up your forward active trot like in step 2 above, begin by coming over your trot poles in the center of the arena a loop on each rein. As you come over your poles the second time track left, you are now picking up canter in your next nearest corner. Now you are piecing in Step 3 and adding in your canter loops. Continuing until you have your 3 loops around your poles, using the same corner you picked up canter as a marker to transition back down to trot. Keep your forward trot when transitioning down, as you need to finish off by coming over your trot poles one last time and tracking right. In your next corner transition down to walk or straight to halt. Whichever your prefer and Viola, The Trot N Rock exercise is complete!

And there we have it folks, I have always wanted to say that in a room full of people… don’t even ask why! This exercise is so simple yet it has so many benefits that I am sure we can all gain from. You might only do it once and finish there, but you hit all the nails on the head and even manage to get two rein changes in at that too. It is also an exercise that gives you a sense of accomplishment when you finish your ride. I don’t know about you but motivating myself to ride in the winter can be a tough one. The cold is not my friend especially when you have to walk up and down the yard in the dark not to mention having to keep turning on and off lights..

Anyways I want you guys to give this exercise a go, it’s one I will be bringing back into my winter routine that’s for sure. We also love seeing you guys doing our exercises, be sure to tag us in any of your videos if you add it to your winter riding schedules!

Be on the look out for more pole workouts coming your way, it’s going to be a winter pole fiasco, I can just feel it in my bones! Pole work, gives you goal work…

Speak Soon,

Darielle

ReinRite Exercise Series – The Turn Table

It has certainly been a while, writing up blog posts the last while has been something I have neglected, but I am back! You may have noticed that I have been using my reinrite products a lot in terms of bringing Dante back into fitness since lockdown. Before lockdown we rode in our ReinRite Training Aid once a week, this kept Dante on his toes, it also encouraged him to self carry properly.

I try to pre plan my exercises before I jump in the saddle, this way we get the most out of our training. Pole work is of course our number one focus. I came up with the “Turntable” exercise out of frustration of getting up and down and adjusting trot poles to canter poles and so on.

Keep Scrolling for the layout, the set up & how Dante rode it. Don’t be worried either if you don’t have a ReinRite Training Aid, the exercise can be down without also for everyone who prefers not to ride with Training Aids at all, I dont judge!

The Set Up

You will need a number of poles for the set up of this exercise, 7 to be precise. I also used my Jumpstart Showjumps Pole raisers to raise the poles, but they can be laid flat or you can use jumping wings if you prefer either.

See the images below for the layout in your arena. Preferably, I would have the rest of the arena clear to give you extra space to warm up.

The distance between the poles are as follows:

A = 2 strides, walking from the center of your poles, so 10 large walking footsteps

B= They are bounce strides, so I walked out 10 toe to toe footsteps.

The Benefits of Using Reinrite

Better Control over the poles
Can focus on your riding position in more detail
Your horse works correctly, and is encouraged to hold themselves correctly
I always find that while riding in the ReinRite it encourages me to hold the contact, without it on I have an awful habit of dropping it.

The Benefits of this exercise for Your Horse

Improves your eye for a stride
Control in the rhythm
Improves both horse & riders approach to poles
Works your horses hind end
Focus on the riders position
Bending & flexing your horse around your leg

How To Ride This Exercise

Step 1: As with all of our exercises, we recommend a thorough warm up before starting. This will insure that your horse will not pick up any injuries.

Step 2: I began this exercise in sections. Your aim is to get everything done in canter, but doing it in trot was the first step I took. Start with the curved poles. Trot around and over them off both reins, you are looking for a consitant flow in your horses rhythm. No stumbling over poles or half strides before. Once you are happy with the you can start bringing in you two outside poles.

Step 3: Continuing on from your curved poles, incorporate the two poles on the outside of your exercise. Again you are looking for a nice consistant flow with an even rhythm. Follow the image below, you will now begin to see why I called this the Turn Table exercise. Your horse is being constantly challenged in the direction they are moving! You should be able to count your horses “trot” strides between poles each time you ride from pole to pole. This is a trick I use for knowing when Dante is keeping a consistent rhythm in his movement.

Step 4: Once you are comfortable with the above, it’s time to progress to the canter. Ride the exercise exactly the same as in step 2 & 3 outlined above but only moving from trot up into canter. Once you are happy with how your horse worked, I gave Dante a short walk break to stretch out. It is nice to give your horse rests, and breaks to process the entirety of the exercise

Step 5: We are now moving onto our poles down the middle of the arena. This is the third part of this exercise, the last piece we need before we stick it all together. Picking up canter, ride into your poles as if they are not there, crazy I know but try it and see how it works! It is your job to ride your horse into the poles, it is not your job to lift your horses legs over them! So if they hit or knock then, just start again. Once you are happy with how your horse is working, you can then piece the entire exercise together.

Step 6: To piece our exercise together, I have put the image below as to how it works. Beginning by canter over your poles in the center, Turning left over your single pole which bring your around to your pole on the opposite side of the arena, finishing up over your curved poles. It sound like a lot, but it flows well once you get into it. It is a tough exercise so if your horse finishes well once on either rein I would finish off on that good note.

That exercise was quite a difficult one to explain considering the amount of turns it has, so if I have confused you work from the images! It is a very beneficial exercise and can be used to focus in on all those small things we want to improve in our horses way of moving.

Don’t forget, if you don’t have a Reinrite you can still give this exercise a go, it can be done with or without. If you want to simplify it slightly you can adjust the poles in the centre to trot poles and complete the entire exercise in trot. I always like to have variety in my exercises,I can never be certain with Dante’s moods so I try to cater for them all!

Let me know if you gave this one a try on your horse and if you did be sure to tag me so I can see!

Happy Riding,

Darielle