In which a tack catalog inspires some philosophical stuff

(My posts will be photo-lite for a week or so because I finally turned my dinosaur of a laptop into a paperweight.  Jim graciously lends me his machine, but it's the same age as my former dino, and I'm trying not to paperweight-ify it)

The State Line Tack catalog arrived yesterday. 

I love tack catalogs.  I browse through them endlessly, gawking at the shiny stuff, the leather stuff, the plastic stuff, the purple stuff, the bottles and bags and boxes of stuff. 

Looking through the catalog got me thinking about STUFF, and about endurance riding.  When I started riding endurance, I figured I needed THE RIGHT STUFF:  the right saddle pad, the right saddle, the right packs, the right electrolytes...and so forth.

Now that I've done endurance for a while, I find that I don't buy much stuff anymore.  I did a whole post last year about stuff I bought that I don't use anymore.  (That post is HERE).   If I buy stuff these days, it's usually a replacement for something I use frequently that has gotten emptied out, worn out, broken, or torn. 

However, I know some people who seem to spend more time shopping than riding.  There's a woman in my region always seems to be seeking the "endurance magic bullet":  the STUFF (whatever it might be) that will make her into a good rider.  She's bought Arabs, expensive Arabs, gaited horses, and horses that have done 100's (although she has not yet gone farther than a 50).  She's bought (and then sold again) custom saddles, treeless saddles, synthetic saddles, saddles with biothane parts, saddles with free-range organic Italian leather parts (I might be exaggerating slightly on that, but not much).  She's used every kind of horse shoe and boot and barefoot trimming technique I've ever heard of.  She's used Mylar bits, bitless bridles, sidepulls and hackamores and I haven't kept track of what else.  The list goes on...but after expending an amazing amount of money and energy, the list of her actual rides is remarkably short. 

That doesn't work for me. 

After thinking about it overnight, I've concluded that I've only made a two "endurance purchases" that actually made a big difference in my (self-defined) success rate as an endurance rider.  I think my list may surprise some of my readers, as it doesn't include a saddle, or special horse shoes, or even a particular kind of horse.  I have preferences about those things, but they aren't the items that have made the biggest impact. 

The big-impact items are:

*  HORSE TRAILER

Before I had my own rig, I was very limited in the kind of riding I could do.  I've always kept my horse where there are at least a few miles of trails that I can access "out the back door," but a ten mile trail gets really boring when that's all that's available day-in, day-out.  Before I had my own rig, I had to catch rides with other people, and thus was dependent on their schedules and training agendas.  Before I had my own rig, the only trainer available to me was one I could get to without a trailer. 

With the trailer, I am able to ride out more frequently, and choose my riding partner(s).  I can also choose to ride without a partner. I can (and do) spontaneously decide to go for a ride without having to plan ahead much.  I can meet other people at trailheads, or I can offer a ride to somebody I want to ride with; Jim and I like to ride together, but not necessarily with a large group, and not having to borrow a trailer lets us do that. 

Because I have my own trailer, I can choose the events *I* want to attend, rather than being limited to tagging along on the events that other people want to attend.  I can choose the event(s) that fit my training goals.  And, because it's my rig, it only impacts me if I decide to stay home at the last minute because of finances or weather or just "because." 

*  RIDING LESSONS

I mentioned above that, before I had my own rig, the only lessons available to me were those that I could get to without a trailer.  That's a huge limitation.  I could read books, I could watch videos, I could audit clinics...but I am a kinetic learner.  I learn by "doing."  For years, the only instructor available to me gave me some good basic stuff...but I needed more, and I couldn't get it.  That was really frustrating. 

This instructor also had some gaping holes in her training and knowledge, and it was hard to work around those.  Her horses always had sore backs (even the non-endurance horses).  She tried different saddles, different saddle pads, different feed strategies, different chiropractors, but the sore backs were chronic.  You can see where this is going, can't you?  Yep: the soreness was caused by the riders. The riders were all taught by the same instructor.  The riders all had the same posture problems. The instructor couldn't see the problems, and so she didn't work to fix them. 

When I taught karate (many many moons ago) there was a regional testing of students twice each year.  At that test, from the front of the room, we could pick out each instructor's students without glancing at the scorecards.  Mr X's students had a quirky sidekick.  Mrs Y's students had a unique hand posture in slow forms.  Mr Z's students tended to lean forward while sparring. 

The same can be observed in the students of riding instructors.  Some have posture issues.  Some have leg position issues, some have horses that consistantly spook at nothing...and so on.  

At the karate tests, we would discuss what we saw in the students and then after returning home we would work to fix the problems other instructors had seen.  A really good equestrian trainer will evaluate his/her own students (or ask somebody else to evaluate them) to find the consistant problems, and then work to correct the problems.

I knew that I needed to find somebody to correct my posture problems and help me keep my horse's back pain-free.  I found an instructor whose students don't have those issues and now I (mostly) don't have them either.  (My posture is a work in progress; Fee's back is strong and not sore). 
 
So now here's the question for readers:
What have you done, bought, or learned for your horse or yourself that makes a big difference?  What didn't make much difference? 
 
For non-endurance people, same question.  What makes a difference and what doesn't? 
 
The comment box is open and waiting for your wisdom.