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If you are going to be taking riding lessons or just riding in general, I have created a list here to make it easy for you to see what horseback riding equipment you’ll need.

Note: I do have helmets for students to use if they aren’t ready to purchase one. The only thing you might need to purchase are riding boots if you don’t already have some.

Horses are a lot of fun and I love, love, love to ride. However, they are large animals that can easily hurt us by accident. Wearing the proper attire and learning how to work with your horse in a safe manner can dramatically decrease your chances of getting hurt and ensure that you can enjoy your time with your horse. Please note, that accidents happen no matter how prepared we are, but we can do several things to help protect ourselves better.

Riding Helmet ASTM/SEI Approved

First of all, it is legal in Oregon to ride horses without a helmet. However, we require all riders under 18 to wear proper protective head gear while riding on the premises for your safety and for liability purposes. Programs such as 4-H have required 4-H members participating in any 4-H equestrian activity to wear proper helmets. (see their rules below, these are what we go by). Many other equestrian activities require helmets as well.

Troxel is a very popular brand that I have personally used.

Ovation Deluxe Schooler A bit more expensive but very comfortable and high quality.

You can also find excellent used helmets on Facebook Marketplace or at local tack sales

Effective January 1, 1996, all Oregon 4-H members participating in any 4-H equestrian activity, regardless of riding seat, will wear the minimum performance standards imposed by the American Society of Testing Materials (ASTM) F1163 and includes certification and labeling required by the Safety Equipment Institute (SEI). Such headgear will be secured with the harness engaged and be properly fastened when mounted on an equine or in a vehicle (cart, buggy, etc.) being pulled by one or more equine.

Oregon State University Extension Service

Riding Boots

Riding boots are another very important part of your horseback riding equipment/attire. They serve a certain amount of protection for your toes in case your foot happens to get in the way of your horses hoof. But more importantly riding boots are designed to lessen the chance of your foot getting caught in the stirrup and being dragged in the event of a fall.

Horse riding boots should

• Have a smooth sole with no break from heel to toe so that there is nothing to catch on the stirrup.
• No less than 1/2 inch heel, which serves to keep your foot from sliding through the stirrup and getting caught.
• Light tread, again so the boot can slide easily out of the stirrup in case of a fall.
• Fit the stirrups you are using. Again, your foot can get caught if the boot is too big for the stirrup. It is recommended to have a 1/2 inch gap between the stirrup and the widest part of the foot.

My Riding Boot Recommendations

A great quality leather riding boot can be expensive, however there are some excellent budget friendly boots out there. If you are just starting out, especially if you are buying for your child, I would definitely start with a lower cost boot. If buying for a child, they are going to outgrow their boots in no time so it’s best to get something low cost, just make sure the boots fit properly and are comfortable. There’s not much worse than wearing uncomfortable boots!

I’ll start with some budget friendly boots below, some I have tried and some I haven’t. Then I’ll list my favorite higher end riding boots.

Laced, Zipper or Pull on?

When shopping for riding boots, you’re going to come across all 3. Generally western boots and dressage boots are pull on, but you’ll find a range in between. Paddock boots tend to be zipper or laced. I personally like laced boots because I like to be able to adjust the tightness. My legs are also thicker and many of the zipper and pull on boots tend to be geared toward thinner legs/ankles. Every zipper boot I’ve tried would not zip up lol. So it’s laces for me, but even if I had thinner legs, I’d probably still prefer laces since I can adjust the tightness and comfort level. It all depends on your preference.

I haven’t tried this brand personally but they are very affordable and have great reviews. Plus, if they don’t fit right, you can always return them.

Dublin Foundation Ladies Laced Paddock boots
I just bought a pair of these for myself in December 2023 and as of writing this article I’ve had them 3 months. So far they have been excellent and I wear them regularly when I do lessons and when I’m riding. They are very inexpensive at just around $45-$60 on sale at several stores online, and so far have held up just fine and are comfortable.

Ariat Paddock Boot
I also have a pair of Ariat paddock boots. These are more expensive but they are leather and once broke in, they are very comfortable. I’ve had mine for about 7 years now and they are still going strong even with getting wet and muddy at times (I do clean and condition them sometimes, though probably not as often as I should).

Today let’s talk about water glassing eggs. If you have your own chickens you’ve probably had the experience of an over abundance of eggs at some point followed by hardly any eggs (especially during winter). You’ve probably wondered how you can effectively preserve your abundance of eggs! I’ve had chickens for about 7 years now. I started out with a small flock, then grew it to about 300 at one point when I had my egg business. I now have a smaller flock again. (See why I quit the egg business)

Through all this, I wished I had a way to preserve fresh eggs to use when my hens were not laying as much. This past fall and winter, I actually had to go buy eggs at the store. I had downsized my flock a lot last year, down to about 50 hens and they all quit laying in the fall! I had zero eggs from them for about 6 months which hadn’t happened before. Yes there’s the theory that the government did something to the feed or that some big feed companies were skimping on the nutrition. It did make me wonder, but I tried changing feed a few times and adding some supplements but nothing seemed to help.

The Egg Conspiracy of 2022?

Here’s the thing… I normally had been changing out my flock every year so that I never had hens over 1.5 years old. They produce best between 6 months to around 1.5 so for an egg business, you want to keep higher production rates which means you bring in new chicks each year and get rid of the older ones once the newer ones start laying.

I didn’t change out my hens last year so they were pretty much all about 2 years old or older going into the fall. Plus I had cut my flock way down and production has always dropped a lot during the winter even when using lights.

Anyway, long story short, once the days started getting longer and warmer all of a sudden my girls started laying like crazy again. Im still using the feed I normally use so I don’t buy the whole feed conspiracy (not saying it wasn’t a possibility).

Lets Preserve All Those Eggs!

Now that I’m getting a ton of eggs again, I’ve decided to try a different way of preserving them. I’ve used the freezer method, but it’s just not the same as fresh whole eggs. Freezing takes a lot more work and I don’t like taking up space in the freezer if I don’t need to, along with having to thaw them.

I had heard about water glassing eggs a few years ago but for some reason I just didn’t try it out until now. It’s very simple to do and you can just set them in the pantry when done along with the rest of your canned goods. Apparently the pickling lime seals up the egg shell even more, basically making each egg air tight and able to last 12-18 months without going bad.

I will give a disclaimer. This is the first time I’ve water glassed eggs so I will be sure to give an update in a couple months when I use the first ones and then I’ll update you again in the winter so you can see the quality after a few months of being in the pickling lime.

Ingredients For Water Glassing Eggs

Water

Fresh, clean eggs. Clean from the nest, not washed!

The Process of Water Glassing Eggs in Pickling Lime

You’ll want to collect your eggs and only use the ones that are clean. Do not wash them! Do not use eggs that have been refrigerated!

If you wash them, you will wash off the natural coating that is already there. They just need to be clean as in no poop or dirt. My cleanest eggs I find are the ones from the hens that always get out of the pasture and lay in the hay barn lol. I collected the cleanest ones and saved them on the counter until I had enough to use for water glassing. The dirty eggs I just leave on the counter and wash and use for cooking right away or put them in the fridge if I might not use them within a couple weeks or so.

Take your 1/2 gallon mason jar and set it on a kitchen scale and zero it out. Add one ounce of pickling lime, then pour 1 quart (4 cups) of water into the mason jar and stir. It will not dissolve all the way but that’s ok.

Next, start adding the fresh, clean eggs pointy side down (as much as possible). I used some tongs to set each egg gently down in the jar. A large pickle jar with a wider mouth would make this even easier! I’m going to use one of those next time! I’ve heard of people even using a 5 gallon bucket to water glass lots of eggs.

I was able to fit 13 or 14 eggs in each 1/2 gallon mason jar. Once all your eggs are added, just screw on the lid and set in a cool dark area of your pantry. In a box on the floor is a great place.

Now That We’ve Saved the Eggs…

When you use the eggs, you can just take what you need from the jar or container and close it back up with the leftover eggs in it. I’ve read that you need to wash the eggs thoroughly before using them as to get all the pickling lime off of them.

I will post updates on how my eggs are doing starting in a couple months so you can see the quality as they sit longer. From what I’ve read, the eggs are supposed to look and taste just like when they are fresh. I’m curious to see how they do being hard boiled as well.

Have you ever water glassed eggs? What’s your experience and do you have any tips? Leave a comment below!

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Hey there! Remember one of my first posts, when we first started our farm? Well, we are nearly 6 years into it since we moved here. Can you believe that? 6 years already! When we found this place, my plan/goal was to create a horse facility. I had one horse at the time, and I wanted to get back into giving riding lessons, plus work on furthering my own riding career specifically in natural horsemanship training and dressage.

Things haven’t quite gone exactly as I hoped and I’m not where I wanted to be by now. We’ve taken some detours trying to make money with the farm selling chicken eggs, grass fed beef and pastured organic whole chicken. Those things have helped some. It’s not a lot of money but it’s helped pay for a few things. Last year I was finally able to get my area for an arena cut out and sanded. We were also able to buy an old horse trailer that my dad has fixed up (it’s just waiting to get the floor put back in now).

3 summers ago I started giving some lessons to a friends children, but then broke my ankle late 2019 (not horse related) and had a long recovery period. Then with Covid shutdowns and quarantines I didn’t get to give any riding lessons in 2020. Last year, however, I got to add a couple more students over the spring through fall and I thoroughly enjoyed working with these kids! I feel like it’s baby steps, but things are moving in that direction.

The problem with only having an outdoor arena, especially here in Oregon, is that you really can’t do much riding during the rainy season. So pretty much October through April or May I have to shut down the riding lessons. That makes it difficult to gain and keep students. Plus I can’t really do any of my own riding for nearly half the year. I could haul somewhere to ride but we just got our horse trailer last year and it’s not quite finished being renovated yet. It is also very difficult to find a stable that will allow you to give lessons using their facilities. Not to mention they are going to charge quite a bit to basically rent the arena, and it costs money in gas to haul my horse there if the student is using my horse.

So this year we found out that we can refinance the mortgage and get enough cash out to at least pay for materials for a 60x120ft roof only arena. We received one quote on materials so far and I have to say, it was a bit of a shock. I realized that the price of lumber is still up right now but the material quote for just a roof only, no sides enclosed at all is $51,000. Yikes. We are able to get a little over that with the refinance, but we had some other things we were hoping to do with part of the money too like adding a master bedroom to our 2 bedroom house so that the 2 boys that are still in the house don’t have to share a room anymore and we can actually have a comfortable master bedroom. We have 3 boys and none of them have really ever had their own room except our oldest for a short time in our old house.

So, we will be able to get just enough money to buy the materials for the arena and then we have some friends/family that know what they are doing and can help build it, but we do need to make sure we have enough to pay for the help.