If you are friends with me on FB, you've already seen this...but the the highlight of my week so far has been buying this beaut...
Oh fuck yeah. Bet you can guess where that went....
I'm still laughing at this and I'm sure the lady who made it for me is too. She simply couldn't believe it when I asked her to make it and asked me approximately 6 times if I was absolutely sure I wanted that. Yes ma'am, I do. Gimme that shit.
B is less than impressed, but its fine, because his human counterparts are still cracking up about it. Kind of ghetto still with the duct tape, but whatever, it matches stuff.
I've ridden with a neck strap for quite some time now, and its still habitual to put one on for every ride regardless. B has settled down quite a bit from his shenanigan days, but you never know when you could need it in an 'emergency'. Back in the day when he was a total asshat and would throw a rear coupled with a buck, I would sometimes use it to stabilize myself. Quite literally, save myself from his ridiculous oh shit moments.
A fond memory I have of one of our many winter rides together was when he pulled one of those, and then bolted and I was literally left hanging off his side. Without the neck strap I would've been toast. I tend to like the strap better than mane anyways, and its always in the right place if I should ever need to reach down and grab it. Additionally, if somehow, your bridle comes off or breaks or your reins snap (has happened to me), the strap is there for whoaing and leading purposes. Trust me on this one.
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| Grabbing said strap over fence |
Last ride I actually instinctually grabbed for it when his exuberance failed my strength and he popped me out of the tack yet again over fences (will I ever learn to ride this beast?). I like just knowing it is there, for any reason, if I may need it. Cool thing is it just chills when I don't use it (which is most of the time) and now looks extra sharp with the brass plate, despite the ghetto duct tape that I will be removing soon. Eventually I'll get a new old leather and replace it, since this one is getting ratty, but its my trusty tool.
So what I want to know this week is if you use an oh shit strap, or prefer mane? Or, is there a piece of special equipment you simply cannot ride without? Not talking about a breastplate or certain pad, I mean like maybe a fav pair of extra grippy breaches, or a lucky crop or even spurs? Tell me dear readers, what do?!
My neck strap has a plate that says Holy Shit. That thing is my safety blanket. There is no jumping without it. Mine is an old flat rein because I found the stirrup leather to be too bulky.
ReplyDeleteTHATS AMAZING
DeleteI've seen several people on fb that did that to their neck straps too. I think Dom Schramm posted a pic of one at a clinic once and it really took off after that lol.
ReplyDeleteWell I haven't seen any others, so I guess I'm totally out of the know
DeleteThat is so awesome...I always ride with a breastplate and use the wither strap during my "oh shit" moments
ReplyDeleteEight inches of mane! But her mane only falls on the left near the withers, so I'm really only getting a few inches. It's a great handhold.
ReplyDeleteI get anxious riding horses with normal manes now. Kinda crazy.
I'm totally a mane person. I tried using an old belt as a neckstrap for a while, but it always seemed to be in the wrong position. My breastplate is the same way! The neckstrap always seems too far up, while the breastplate seems too far back. Mane it is!
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've ever used one
ReplyDeleteI may have to try a neck strap. The first day I was supposed to walk Lame Horse under saddle we didn't take a single walk step. He threw me on his fourth giant buck and went trotting about the pasture.
ReplyDeleteWe haven't had any such antics since but I don't trust him either.
Fun! I just use the neck strap on my standing martingale because SOMEONE thoroughly earned the right to go in one every ride for the foreseeable future.
ReplyDeleteSigh.
I do the same with my running martingale, because I don't have a standing martingale and my horse sometimes tries to break my face with her face.
Deleteomg that is the funniest thing haha - i've never seen it or even thought of doing that but obvi now i have to jump on that bandwagon too!
ReplyDeletemy trainer requires all riders use a neck strap while jumping. and since my mare wears a martingale she's basically always got one anyway. i'm honestly not much in the habit of grabbing it but have been trying to be more conscientious about it. like this weekend when i ate shit after getting jumped out of the tack (for no goddamn reason omg fml) i made damn sure to cling on to that strap like it was my job for the rest of our jumping efforts.
So I've tried the neck strap thing in various forms (a stirrup leather, a training yoke, and now the neck strap on a nunn finer breast girth) and with my mare, there's no riding ever without some sort of safety strap. The nunn finer breastgirth with the optional neck strap is the closest thing I've found that works because I let my horse graze during breaks (not all breaks, but fairly frequently). How do you keep a basic neck strap from flopping down over their ears without tying it to the saddle or mane? I'm so curious about this because while I like the breastgirth, the neck strap isn't high enough on her neck for me.
ReplyDeleteI rarely let him graze when tacked up unless he's being completely bonkers at a show and then I'll just slip it off his neck so it doesn't flip down
DeleteI always call my bridge breastplate the oh shit strap. Like Amanda I have seen them around - I think there is even a # floating around. Everyone needs a little security blanket now and again! :)
ReplyDeleteI have a strap that clips to the breastplate that makes me feel safe and happy :)
ReplyDeleteI use a crap strap on cross-country, every time! I had one that was the perfect length, and it disappeared after the last (shit)show - somehow when folks unloaded my stuff for me while I was injured, it vanished. I am thinking I'll make or commission one of those paracord ones, though, in royal and white ... it'll have to have a little tag on it that reads OH CRAP.
ReplyDeleteOver fences I grab mane, on the flat I have a monkey strap that links the top rings of my breastplate over the wither. It's long enough that I can ride with my hands normal but provides stability
ReplyDeleteMy mum uses a monkey strap on her saddles but I just grab mane :)
ReplyDeleteI love this!! I do ride with one...and actually do a lot when I flat to make sure when I feel that nasty urge to grab the reins, to use my neck strap when my mare gets too quick.
ReplyDeleteI've never ridden with a neck strap - I just grab mane when I need to keep my hands anchored to something! Or occasionally if I'm riding tricky terrain on the trail I will just hang on to the front or back of my saddle to stabilize myself. If we're headed down a steep, rocky trail, I generally have one hand on the cantle and the other on the buckle!
ReplyDeleteI've never ridden with a neck strap, but they do sound super handy... and I LOVE the nameplate yours got hahahahaha
ReplyDeleteMy trainer took mine away when we first started working together over the winter because I kept snatching it coming up to a jump, and it basically turned into Bobby's cue to freak out together with me and do stupid shit in front of the jump. Yeahhhh, we had some issues that needed working through lol.
ReplyDeleteMy trainer has a strap connected to the d's on all of her saddles. That is basically the "oh shit" strap but I love yours!
ReplyDeleteI love that!!! Too funny. That's the first time I've seen it done. :)
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've ridden with a neck strap. If I did I don't remember. I have used the bucking strap on the front of a dressage saddle or the horn on my Aussie saddle though. I've been wanting to make a neck strap for when riding bareback because Chrome has no mane but I keep forgetting. Thanks for the reminder. :D