Sponsors
These companies sponsor my rides and provide the working gear I use every day: the saddles, the pads, the bridles the horseshoes, the packs and boots the hat and the face creams, my home, tent, sleeping and cooking gear.
It is to these companies to which I now stop to thank…
To Outfitters Supply, who has been riding with me for the entire 7 years providing the durable, clean looking saddle packs. Light weight and sturdy hobbles, snaps, feed bags and water buckets, and the pack saddle. It is one thing to use your packing equipment for a weekend ride or for a 2 week trip into the wilderness. It is yet another thing to expect packs and saddles to hold up to daily use for months and months and months.
I am still not convinced after all these miles that my sponsor’s really believe me when I tell them just how much I appreciate their products. These products are an integral part of my everyday life!!
The Tucker Saddles. I write often enough to let Tuckers know how it feels to ride 1000s of miles with their saddle’s. But the saddle also doubles as a chair or a back rest at the end of a day. One saddle (the High plains saddle rode with Honor and I for over 10,000 miles. 10,000 miles of problem free comfort for both me and Honor.
I also use the Skito saddle pads which are custom fitted for the horses. It has not always been like this. I have used all sorts of padding. The padding and the way I pad for long riding is very, very different than a roping horse might have under its saddle or an endurance horse or a trail horse. It takes trial and error but the advice and suggestions from the folks at Skito have been a leap forward for me in providing an accurate fit of the saddle pads for the horses I ride.
Then there is the gear that I wear! Sun-body Hats. When Jimmy Pryor (owner of Sunbody Hats) mailed out the hat I am presently wearing (the one that Hart was interested in eating until the wind caught it and playfully ran off with it never to be seen again).I emailed Jimmy and said” I didn’t feel like a long rider without the hat!” This hat protects me from sun, shades my eyes, cools my shoulders and… looks great!!
I will ”step” down from my hat to my Ariat Boots to say thank you. When I first began these adventures I picked up shoes as I went, always at 2-nd hand stores. Anything from tennis shoes to ill fitting work boots. These days I walk 7-10 miles in my Ariat Ropers every day with out having sore feet. I use steel, horseshoe like cleats, that prevent wear and tear on the heels. Not only do I now have new boots as I need them, shirts and gloves are also sent out by Ariat. I no longer look like a wandering vagabond as I did in those early years. The frosting is provided by
Climb-On skin care products. Lip gloss, skin creams, mosquito repellent. After a long 30 mile day of wind and sun my skin is parched, looks like leather feels like sand paper. I may ride 1000s of miles every year but my face does not have to look like it!!
Outfitters Supply has been riding with me since 2005 when I began long riding. I
picked up a black Trail Max saddle bag in Missoula, Montana on my 4 month journey
to New Mexico. I was so impressed with the durability of the packs that after returning
from my first 2000 mile ride, I went in to introduce myself and let them know how
impressed I was with their saddle pack (Three other packs had fallen apart on that first
ride.) The rest is history as I am now into my the 5th year and nearing15,000 miles
that I have been using Trail Max gear from Outfitters Supply. Not only do I use their
front and rear saddle packs on Hart, but also Outfitters Supply has fit the saddle pack
and panniers on Essie Pearl. I will be using the same style saddlebags and panniers as
I have in the previous years. They cannot be beat. No one uses a saddle pack and gear
as much as I do in a given year, unless it is another long rider. The zippers and
stitching, the fabric and leather, are put to a most grueling test. My hat is off to you,
Outfitters Supply.
Many thanks and smiles….Bernice
To someone who walks/rides 1000′s of miles in a year, a pair of boots can mean
comfort and ease or tormented feet and legs. I wear Ariat Boots because I
know, without a doubt, I am wearing boots that:
1.) I can ride and walk in.
2.) are high quality leather that can be kept waterproof with good care.
3.) I can slip into but will still fit well, accomodating my wide, high arched foot.
4.) and that look good!!
I am not merely walking from the barn to the house to the car. In a given year I
will be in these boots day after day crossing on anything from rocky mountain
trails to desert power line roads or paved country roads, trekking in mud, snow
and rain. I am not interested in changing shoes from riding to walking. I do not
need another pair of boots in my packs taking up space. I need boots that I slip
on in the morning, step into the saddle, ride 10 miles, step down, walk 10 miles,
and repeat that in the afternoon.
My Ariat Boots are as important to me as my Tucker Saddle and my Outfitter’s
Supply Pack Gear. As I begin this year’s ride with a new pair of Barn Yard Twin
Gore H2O, my feet say ‘thank you, Ariat’.’
Montana Mountain Horses
BRED FOR ENDURANCE and, versatility. These horses are mountain hardy with calm,gentle dispositions
Great for riding,driving and packing but also shine in dressage and sports eve.
Contact: Swede Granstrom at his Wild Horse Mountain Horse Camp
210 Fjord ln
Forsyth, Montana 59327
or
Dottie Smith at 307-620-0302
I’m proud to have FindARanch.Com riding with me as a sponsor. If you are looking for that
perfect Texan ranch, do not hesitate to call Tyler Wright! “Help’n you find your Texas Ranch”.
Glad to have you riding along Odie and Tyler.
In Loving Memory of Odie Wright
It’s one of the most frequently asked questions I hear. Understandably so,
as the Sunbody Hats are indeed striking. I wear a 6-inch Gus with a low
crown and a stampede string. It is one of the many Classic Old West hats
that Sunbody offers. My 6-inch Gus offers much needed protection from
the sun, holds up to relentless wind, keeps the rain off my back and
shoulders, all the while continuing to look great!
I prefer a good palm hat to a felt hat as they are cooler and will hold up to
rain and wind much better. As a long rider, a hat is an intregal part of my
attire. Although this is the first year Sunbody has sponsored one of my
rides, it will be the fourth year I have ridden with a Sunbody Hat on my
head. I am delighted to finally have them on the website.
Equine
Veterinary
Services
J. Craig King, DVM
937 Leyendecker Road
Fredericksburg, Texas
Phone: (830)990-9052
Veterinarian Nancy Haugan with Theodora Rice making a house call.