Tag Archives: country

Stay warm in the country with wool clothing, heaters, and horse hoof pads!

Keeping your Horse Warm this Winter

- posted by Rose Marion

Now that we’re in the thick of winter, the fishermen are excitedly measuring how thick the ice is on their favorite lakes and reservoirs. (view ice fishing tips here!)

If you’ve got horses or livestock, and you don’t have heaters, it’s a tough time of year! Make sure you have the best winter you can with these tips to stay warm no matter how rural your road.

Keep the Horse Warm

Water

If you don’t have any equipment at all, you’ll be going out each morning to break the ice with a pitchfork. But you have kids to do the work for you, right?

Well, the kids will thank you for investing in a heater or de-icing system. Get a bucket heater from Smith & Edwards here – you can even get yours delivered!

Frozen horse trough

Horse Blankets

There are all kinds of horse blankets out there, and we like the Equibrand especially. Keep your horse warm and dry from the snow and rain with a blanket that moves with them. This makes for less cleanup work for you, too!

Equibrand 10K Cross Trainer Blanket

If you’re venturing into the snow-filled hills on horseback, make sure and ask your farrier about ways to protect your horse. When you’re shoeing your horse, you have several options that prevent snow buildup under the horse’s hooves. See available hoof pads and boots here.

Snow buildup is extremely cold for your horse – plus, kt makes each tread slippery, instead of sure. Plus, the compacted snow adds pressure on the frog, so there are a few styles of hoof pads to keep your horse snow-free.

The Mustad no-snow tube-style hoof pads compresses, and pops back, which prevents the snow from building up on the hoof.

Horse Snow Hoof Pads
The other style, the Snowball black plastic hoof pad, presses a bubble down into the snow, keeping it away from the hoof and giving your horse a surer step.

Keep Yourself Warm

Many vests & coats are designed to stand up to windstorms and blizzards that would make your eyes tear. Look for wool vests and jackets that will give you years of use and provide maximum natural warming.

We love the Wyoming Traders line of wild rags. These 100% silk wild rags will keep you warm without weighing you down. We just got some new Aztec patterns in, and we’ve got both youth sizes and adult sizes in polka dots, solids, paisley, and more.

Silk is warmer than wool, it gets softer with wear, and naturally wicks moisture away.

Breaking ice in the trough - Wells is wearing a Stormy Kromer hat, and both boys are staying warm with wild rags!

Breaking ice in the trough – Wells is wearing a Stormy Kromer hat, and both boys are staying warm with wild rags!

If you don’t have a felt hat, look at a good Stormy Kromer hat. We carry these hats in store and they are so popular! Made in a wool/nylon blend with 100% cotton flannel, these hats are made in USA and are called “an icon of the great American outdoors.” This hat’s been around for more than 100 years, and it’s still made of six hand-stitched panels.

Don’t let your fingers freeze! Draw on your foam-lined Yellowstone gloves – an old favorite for standing up to barbed wire, these elkskin and deerskin gloves have a foam-lined option for winter.

Colton Egger - Cutest Cowboy in Texas

The Littlest Cowboy in Texas and his Wild Rag

- posted by Jerica Parker

Whether you’re working out on the ranch, or goin’ out on the town, a young cowboy or a timeless one, some things just never change. Just how Wranglers have been around for what seems like forever and they have never lost their style.

As for the Egger family, passing on these timeless traditions to their kids, as well as adding some of their own, is a must.

Colton and his guitar

We recently had this cute little family buy some of the 100% silk Wild Rags we sell here in our store. Afterwards, they sent us some beautiful photos they had taken of their young son, Colton, by Sallie Scott with Country Grace Photography.

Colton Egger posing with his wild rag!

Colton’s set up camp and he’s ready to play!

The photos turned out so cute! This little cowboy is a natural. And he’s got on a Wild Rag! If that doesn’t convince you they’re good looking, I don’t know what will.

The Eggers aren’t the only family loving these scarves. Marty Thompson, our Western Tack manager here at Smith and Edwards, and his family also love them. His cute kids know a couple different ways tie a Wild Rag to be the slickest lookin’ cowboy around. Click here to see Marty’s son Wells show you How to Tie Wild Rags.

Besides being good looking, Wild Rags are really very practical. They can keep you warm in the cold, and wick away the moisture in the heat. Use them to filter out dust in their air and breathe through it, or to filter out dirty water to drink. And those are just some of their many uses!

They come in many different designs and colors, you can choose whichever fits you best. Here at Smith and Edwards, we happen to have a wide selection of Wild Rags to choose from. Click here to see Wild Rags.

Colton at the river

So enjoy your own! Just like the Egger family, you can send us photos of how you use your Wild Rags! Just send us an email at info@smithandedwards.com. And just like Colton, you can be toughest and most handsome cowboy out there.

Colton in his straw cowboy hat

Special thanks to Colton Egger, his dad Clint, and photographer Sallie Scott of Country Grace Photography!