Welcome to EN’s Product Review series! Who doesn’t love shopping, especially when the object of your search is new gear for yourself or your horse? As an enthusiast of all products equine, I LOVE trying out new gear. Please join me as I narrate my personal journey of trying out all of the products featured. While I will make no recommendations, I hope you have fun reading about my many adventures of trying new products, and that hearing about my personal experiences helps you on your own quest for new gear. Go Shopping.
The Santa Anita Sheet features a double front closure, two short bias surcingle straps, and a tail strap to secure it during wear - Photo by Lorraine Peachey
This is the time of the year when the long hot days slowly slip into balmy nights, for the most part. In my neck of the woods, it’s really not uncommon to have days in the 70s, 80s or 90s (cue the humidity), and then have nights cool down into the 50s or 60s. Which especially tend to happen after a summer storm rolls through the areas.
I am a huge fan of the late summer evenings, when dusk really doesn’t set in until 8 or 9 p.m. Since I live the life of a corporate professional, my days are spent in the office. Which just means that my evenings are spent being outside as much as humanly possible. So evenings are when my horses go wot work. It’s pretty nice actually, because that is the time when the day starts to cool off.
Even though the boys get a pass from working in the heat of the day, they still get sweaty. Really sweaty and downright gross, which just calls for a nice bath or hose down afterwards. I mean, I wouldn’t go for a run and get all sweaty only to NOT shower. That’s just a little cray-cray. The boys usually have some additional turnout time to mostly dry off before I bring them into their stalls, where they stay overnight.
On nights that are cooler, I’m concerned about them catching a chill if they are not totally dry. Which is where a nice stable sheet comes in handy. This season, I’ve been wearing the Santa Anita sheet from Triple Crown Custom on my young gelding, Rufus. Roo is currently undergoing his foundation training, which means long, sweaty workouts, especially if he is being really opinionated on a particular day!
Though Roo’s Santa Anita Sheet has an elegant looking Triple Crown Custom logo embroidered onto the left side, the Santa Anita Sheet can be fully customized in detail, color and embroidery for each individual’s taste – Photo by Lorraine Peachey
Something that I find to be very important to me when I am making decisions on what products to bring home is that they have to be what I am looking for. I just don’t like to settle for something other than what I truly want. Because if say, “I like this, BUT,” or “I like this EXCEPT FOR,” that is usually a sign that there is something about whatever I’m looking at that will always bother me. Always. Bother. Me.
Horse blanket shopping is hard. Especially when you’re like me, and have one horse that take sizes in the 80s. It might make for excellent bargain shopping at tent sale time, but when the bargain blankets left are only in black or brown, it puts a damper on things.
One of the things that really drew me to Triple Crown Custom is that instead of looking through pages of different sheets and blankets in different colors, I looked through a single page containing a modest number of different models.
Picking a certain sheet or blanket does not automatically limit me to only one or two colors. On the contrary, it was absolutely lovely to work with TCC in order to have them put together a creation that was customized just for Roo. It’s certainly no secret by now that I’m a fan of all things red, white & blue (basically the more stars and spangles, the better).
So I worked with TCC to tell them about my patriotic tendencies when it comes to my barn colors. And I also told them about Roo, providing both his description of his coloring and measurements. In this way, I was ready to be surprised with a sheet that was designed especially just for Rufus. And because the Santa Anita sheet was made to order for Rufus, and was crafted right here in the USA by Horseware Ireland, there was a short wait that I feel was worth it.
Because each Triple Crown Custom order is a unique creation that is specially made for each horse right here in the USA, lead time takes about 4 to 6 weeks from the time to order until it arrives – Photo by Lorraine Peachey
After the Roo’s custom TCC Santa Anita Sheet arrived, I totally freaked out. Really. I loved that the base color was a nice, bright red, because it looks just amazing with his dark bay (almost black) coat. Coupled with the blue trim and white piping, the sheet just truly dazzling.
Though Roo’s sheet has an elegant looking Triple Crown Custom logo embroidered onto the left side, the Santa Anita Sheet can be fully customized in detail, color and embroidery for each individual’s taste.
The Santa Anita Sheet is made from a poly-cotton outer, which is smooth, yet during feeling to the touch. The inside of the shoulders of sheet is also lined with smooth feeling black colored nylon-type material in order to help prevent rubs. It also features a classic contour cut, which helps it to fit the curve of Roo’s back just so when he is wearing it, to give a crisp and clean appearance.
The Santa Anita Sheet features a double front closure, two short bias surcingle straps, and a tail strap to secure it during wear. I like this combination, and find the hardware to feel of nice quality. The buckles are easy to fasten and unfasten, and I like the simplicity of using the tail strap. Through all of the use so far, the straps and hardware still look terrific, and have proven to be durable.
I like that the poly-cotton outer fabric of the Santa Anita sheet is also made to wick away moisture quickly from the coat. This makes the sheet a terrific choice to wear on Roo after his evening workouts, because it serves two purposes.
Firstly, it helps to pull moisture away from his coat so that he can finish drying. And secondly, it helps to keep him from catching a chill — both of which the Santa Anita sheet accomplishes very well, while making Roo look fabulously stylish.
The Santa Anita Sheet also features a classic contour cut, which helps it to fit the curve of Roo’s back just so when he is wearing it, to give a crisp and clean appearance – Photo by Lorraine Peachey
The Santa Anita Sheet can be custom ordered from Triple Crown Custom by picking your own colors and embroidery. You can check out the Santa Anita Sheet here (along with some of TCC’s other offerings). Because each order is a unique creation that is specially made for each horse right here in the USA, lead time takes about 4 to 6 weeks from the time to order until it arrives.
