EquinnoBlog

Posted by ~Lea Mallett on 2016 Feb 11th

Equinnovations Equine Aids is officially LIVE!

Anyone who knows me, knows I'm passionate about all things "horse". Even as a toddler being hoisted up on my dad's trusty steed Danny Boy (and even the brat pony Sparkles I could only ride up and down the alley leading to the chute a few years later), the love was immediate and deep. There is no better smell on the face of this earth than that of a horse's neck. Next to the fuzzy heads of my babies, that is.

I grew up herding and checking cattle on horseback (in a ripe old high back saddle on my first equine soulmate Patches) with my dear dad on our beloved family farm in northern Alberta. Later on, even between pregnancies with our eight beautiful babies, I managed to find someone, anyone, with a horse and squeeze in my horse fix here and there... but it wasn't until in my early 40's that my insatiable longing to have my very own horses again became a blessed reality.

Finding ourselves in a little rural community in central Saskatchewan with a farmer's field bordering our property on the edge of town, I began to dream & scheme of the possibilites... and thus started hounding the farmer to pretty please rent a few acres to us. Well, I can vouch that relentless persistence does indeed pay off! He finally acquiesced when it became rather apparent that I was a lady with a serious mission coupled with fierce determination... and a cooperative husband who had NO idea what he was getting himself into!

Nearing full term and getting ready to pop with our last baby Bradley, we quickly set about fencing that few acres--complete with a corral in our side yard (never did ask town council if that was allowed!)--and bought our first two horses... who quickly taught me how very LITTLE I really knew about buying horses! Or tack. Or horse care. But what I DID have was tenacity and a voracious hunger to learn and experience all that I could about being a better handler, rider and steward on my journey with these magnificent creatures.

MaconExtra on Belle

A year later, we had our feet wet enough playing "quasi-farm" that we felt empowered enough to dive in and do the real thing. After six months of heavy duty searching, we found and fell in love with what we dubbed "Glory Lane Acres" in the middle of podunk Saskatchewan. We've poured many hours of elbow grease in to making it a great little farm to raise our kids, grow our own food (yes, we have a milk a cow, gather eggs and even butcher chickens amongst other things!), and of course live out my heart's desire on a wonderful horse property. My soul comes SO alive on the farm--yes indeed, that saying is entirely true that you can take the girl outta the country, but you can't take the country outta the girl! My country-girl roots run very deep indeed.

Here on our little "oasis in the desert", the journey of discovery and sheer euphoria has not only continued at full steam ahead, but my passion for connecting with my horses has morphed to a level that has brought me to a place of seeking the most natural communication I can possibly have when I ride and work with them. Various treeless saddles, bareback pads, bitless bridles and even some home-brewed inventions of my own have made their way into my tack room, and bit by bit, the treed saddles and bitted bridles have either gathered dust or been sold.

And so as a counter-cultural western rider on the prairies of Canada with the entrepreneurial spirit of a pioneer in uncharted territories, I now share with you those treasured things that I have searched long and hard for, personally use (or would use) with my own horses, and am able to wholeheartedly endorse.

You will be highly unlikely to find the products on this site at local tack stores or Peavy Mart, as much of them I have gleaned from the UK. Nor for the most part will you find items from local tack stores or Peavy Mart here--goodness, why do what's already being done...? I've always kinda been a different duck that way.

Anyhoo... if you bite the bullet and invest in any of these great products and love them even half as much as I do, watch out, you'll be a convert... and so will your horse! I could almost bet my life on it.

Enjoy the ride!