Posted on November 12, 2014November 13, 2014 by Carl Gardner

2nd Annual Sun Series HT Awards

Join us at Copper Meadows this weekend!

Thank you Copper Meadows Eventing and the greater San Diego eventing community for another great year!

Four Star Eventing Gear (us) is giving back to the community that has helped us build a successful business by donating gift certificates to 3rd pace, across all divisions. Besides the 3rd place gift certificates, all HT competitors across all divisions will receive a special offer on gear sold at our Copper Meadows pop up shop. Our gift certificates are good for one year and are valid on ANYTHING at our Pop Up Store or our online store for 1 year. No restrictions on what you can use them on, no BS – only great eventing gear. You don’t have to be present to receive your gift certificate (you already earned it) but you must be present on Sunday to take advantage of our special deals.

Elementary will receive $50
Beginner Novice will receive $40
Novice will receive $30
Training will receive $20

The awards banquet will be held on location, November 15th immediately following the Look B4 You Leap clinic. Our Pop-Up Shop will be setup for the 1 Day show the next day (Sunday, November 16th).

About Copper Meadows

Copper Meadows Eventing is a 65 acre 3-day eventing facility located in Ramona, California. The facility is located about 45 minutes northeast from the San Diego airport. Copper hosts two annual 3-Day Events that are recognised by FEI and USEA. Once a month Copper puts on a multi-level clinic and one day horse trial.

633 Montecito Way,

Ramona, California 92065

Phone: 858-610-1693

Email: CopperMeadows2@Gmail.com

About the Sun Series One Day Horse Trial

Copper Meadows Eventing started the Sun Series HT at the beginning of 2013. The non-rated one day shows are a chance for horse and rider to compete in all three phases of eventing in a low pressure, economical and safe environment. The results of the 1 day shows are tallied up at the end of the year and the winners of all the divisions are presented with prizes at the year end awards ceremony. Prizes are provided by Copper Meadows, Four Star Eventing Gear and a number of other sponsors.

Posted on October 28, 2014 by Carl Gardner

Pop-Up Shop: Galway Downs

Pop-Up Shop Deals @ Galway Downs!

October 30th 2014 – November 2nd 2014 // www.GalwayDowns.com // Eventing Scores

Come say hi to the Four Star Eventing Gear crew at Galway Downs… and buy some great gear at less than internet prices. Our hours will be sunrise to sunset Thursday through Sunday. We’ll be at Galway Wednesday afternoon to setup so if you need something, come on by, we’ll hook you up. It’s not “cheap” to set up our Pop-Up store at shows but we would like to offer a few deals to our customers:

Cash Vs. Credit:

Take 3% off purchase when you pay for it with cold hard cash. Credit card purchases do not incur any fees but you can save a bit of money (more than you earn through points) by paying cash. We accept all major credit cards including Amex.

Large Purchases:

Every purchase over $1,000 receives an additional 10% off – pay that with cash and you will get 13% off! Yes – you can combine this offer with all product discounts, pre-orders and backorders. Spend more… save more 🙂

Discounts on In Stock Products:

Some of the products we carry can be really expensive to ship. Considering our “free shipping over $75” policy, it can be much less expensive for us if you pick up these items from our Pop-Up Store. Here is a list of products that we’re happy to pass on the shipping savings:

– Jacks Whirlpool Boots with Compressor

$25 off (regularly $585)

– Whirlpool Boots without Compressor

$10 off (regularly $385)

– Finn-Tack Cooling Wraps

$10 off sets of 4 wraps (regularly $130, now: $120)

– World Equestrian Brands

Take 15% off all Vespucci & Amerigo products that are in stock at the show (we have LOTS to choose from!) Save 10% off all backorders. Save 20% off all Pre-Order Mattes pads!

– Sun Bum Sunscreen

Save 15% on all Sun Bum Sunscreen products

Discounts on Pre-Orders

We’re opening accounts with multiple manufacturing companies over the next six months. Ask us about opening order deals and save up to 40% off retail! Custom Mattes pads are 20% off when paid for at the show.

Discounts on Backorders

Want something from one of our suppliers that we don’t’ have in stock? Save 10% on all orders made at the show.

Posted on September 15, 2014October 10, 2014 by Carl Gardner

Pacific Indoor Eventing (“PIE”)

Pacific Indoor Eventing Inaugural Event

You’ve seen it at the Canadian Royal Winter Fair, now coming to Southern California – Indoor Eventing! As an introduction to eventing, the PIE series will host a traditional jumper class and an indoor eventing class at the same height, designed to get riders and horses comfortable in the arena, and slowly introduce eventing obstacles (naturals) in a friendly way. In traditional Eventing fashion, dinner will be served at the end of the day.

When: October 11th 2014

Where: Sycamore Stables, 26282 Oso Road, San Juan Capistrano, CA. 92675

Entries: Open through October 6, 2014. Send entry to Lynn Arnold, 375 Ramona Expy #43, Perris, CA. 92571

Class start at 12″ – 2′ with a max of 3 cross-country obstacles (naturals), then move up to 3′ 11″, with more eventing specific questions added as the height increases.

You can download your PIE Entry form here. Download the PIES rules here.

PIE Goals

The Pacific Indoor Eventing Series is designed to ignite passion for eventing with a new and unique style of event. This new event will act as a supplement to the local hunter / jumper shows as well as traditional 3-day events. PIE aims to provide continuing education to current Eventers and provide new education to future eventers.

About The Course

Canadian FEI ‘S’ cross country course designer James Atkinson will design the tracks.

Sponsorship

Four Star Eventing Gear has decided to sponsor this series because the goals fit in with one of Four Star’s missions of helping to expand the sport of eventing. Our contribution will be spent to help keep costs low for competitors and provide some prize money to winners. Money that is not used for these causes will be donated by PIE to support TROTT. Our mobile tack shop will be setup at this first event to help new eventers find some good gear to keep themselves and their ponies happy and safe on course.

TROTT – The Pacific Indoor Eventing Series is proud to sponsor TROTT by donating the profit from this event. Training Racehorses Off The Track (“TROTT”) is a program started by Bonnie Adams and headed in San Juan Capistrano by Auburn Excell Brady – the organizer of the Pacific Indoor Event Series. TROTT is dedicated to providing off track Thoroughbreds with opportunities for new careers beyond the track. At her training barn in San Juan Capistrano, Auburn works with multiple TROTT horses, giving them new skills for a life after the track.

Posted on June 27, 2014 by Carl Gardner

Sunscreen For Horses and Riders

Sunscreen For Horses and Riders Now Available!

In June we started carrying Sun Bum Sunscreen and CoTZ Face sunscreen for horses and riders because us eventers are out in the sun more than any other equestrian*. Regardless if that statement is true or not, those 3-day riders in Southern California know what the sun does to you besides making you hydrate more at the rider party.

There are a lot of sunscreen companies out there – Neutrogena, Banana Boat, Bull Frog (advertising like mad right now on FB) etc. We chose to work with Sun Bum and CoTZ because of not only the quality of their products and cool branding (Sun Bum) but because of how easy they are to work with. Like our business, they’re not a big, old school corporation that requires you to jump through a bunch of hoops before they will open an account with you. They’re ethical businesses that produce great products.

Go ahead and a a bottle to your shopping cart at checkout – we’ll ship it to you for free if the total comes out to be $75

Use Face Sunscreen For Horses

We had a couple customers at the last Copper Meadows 3-Day Event come up to us asking for horse sunscreen. While Sun Bum is not labeled for use on horses (they actually don’t test on animals at all) we suggested the rider use the Sun Bum Pro Face Stick with SPF 30 on their horses nose. The face stick is easy to apply and the Sun Sum Pro is mineral based so it cuts down on the likelihood of an allergic reaction. We didn’t hear any negative feedback from the rider so we’ll assume her horse’s nose didn’t fall off. What’s great about using Sun Bum Pro is that it’s a sunscreen for horses and riders.

Sun Bum Quality

Sun Bum has two different versions of their product – the “Originals” and their “Pro” line. Both versions are broad spectrum, protecting you from UVB & UVA rays from the sun. The Originals are not mineral based and the Pro version are – that’s the primary difference. The Originals smell like you’re on a tropical beach somewhere sipping a fruity adult beverage. The Pro version smells like an unscented mineral bath.

rubs in quick, no nasty residue
multi spectrum protection
water resistant for 80 minutes

CoTZ Sunscreen Quality

Another high quality sunscreen, CoTZ is dermatologist recommended (anything over SPF 30 is recommended) and 100% free of chemicals, fragrances, oils and preservatives. We like the lightly tinted quality to the CoTZ face sunscreen. It makes putting it on right before your dressage test a little easier – you won’t have to worry about having nasty white streaks across your face.

Retail University

If you ever decide to get into retail prepare to learn a lot about products you probably never knew as a consumer. What are the differences between sunscreens? Well, spend some time looking to buy hundreds of dollars worth of the stuff and you will do some research into finding out the answer to that question. Most of the cheap sunscreens you buy at the last minute are filled with chemicals and don’t actually protect you from all the sun’s radiation. Look for a sunscreen that is rated to block AVB and UVB rays from the sun. If you want to avoid chemicals, go with a mineral based sunscreen.

* This statement is a total guess

Posted on May 15, 2014October 1, 2014 by Carl Gardner

Equine Emergency Evacuation

Be Prepared For an Equine Emergency Evacuation

As another series of fires hit Southern California, horse owners are either scrambling to figure out a plan or executing their existing equine emergency evacuation plan. The fires have luckily not changed the daily schedule of our horses or our business but that can’t be said for some of our friends. As we watch the fires fluctuate between containment and expansion there has been a lot of good information being passed around about preparing for an equine emergency evacuation. We would like to share some of that information with you while we wait for another opportunity to help our neighbors down here in San Diego.

Quick Resources:

Register your Cell Phone for Reverse 911: San Diego (consider setting your address to your barn’s address if you don’t have your horse at home)
Current SoCal fire status via Google Map Engine
Southern California Equine Emergency Evacuation FB Page

Southern California Equine Emergency Evacuation Preparation & Execution

This Facebook Group has put out a good document on how to prepare for an equine emergency evacuation. It’s been altered slightly from it’s original publication format.

Preparation:

Pre-training of your horse:

multi-trailer loading and unloading (load horse in several different trailers)
multi-handler (horse should load / unload for different people)
horse should be trained to stay calm around chaos
handler / owner should be able to operated under pressure and chaos while staying calm

Documenting your horse:

laminating sign with horse picture, owners name, emergency contact name, Vet’s name & any special needs. This is to be used at a possible evacuation site. Hole punch it and attach some twine.
ID Band for horse: Fetlock band with owner’s contact information / similar information as above.
ID Band for horse’s halter: ID band for the halter with similar information as above. This information should be easily accessible – unlike the fetlock band which has it’s limits to accessibility.
Ownership book / FEI passport: Vet records, registration, picture of horse, special needs, owner’s & emergency contact information

Logistics:

Have a pre-set agreement with at least 2 people who can evacuate for you should you not be available
Pre-route two emergency routes & meeting places
Be sure your trailer is always safety checked & ready to go
If you don’t have a trailer, have at least 2 other ways to transport your horse (be sure your horse(s) have a reserved spot on a trailer ride out of danger!)
Have a “we’re leaving” point defined before you’re officially evacuated (this is based on experience)

Communication:

Register cell phone for Reverse 911 – set your address to your own property only if that’s where your horse lives – consider setting the address to your boarding facility
Know who to call if you need help evacuating your horse (yes, this is repetitive from logistics section… it’s important)
Know who your local officials are – local fire, forest service etc.

Emergency Bag in Trailer / Readily Available:

Bandanas
Halter & lead
Water
Banamine
Electrolytes
Camera
Small dose of any required meds (keep them current)

Execution:

1) Have everything you need in a central location or in a single bag the minute you know there is a fire that COULD reach your area.

Extra keys
Horse ownership book (defined above)
Cell phone / charger
Know / review your evacuation plan as defined above to make sure it still makes sense considering your current situation

2) Put your ID bands on your horses BEFORE the fire gets to your area / you begin moving

3) Contact your emergency back up person(s) and be ready to activate once you know of a fire – BEFORE it reaches your area.

Secure your spot on a trailer ride out of danger
Get food / water ready to load onto trailer

4) Prepare your own trailer

Load 3 days worth of water & food

5) Keep up on news / evacuation orders for your area

6) Be ready to move!

Posted on March 9, 2014March 9, 2014 by Carl Gardner

Copper Meadows XC Quarter Mark Contest

Create a Quarter Mark, get a chance to win $100 at the March Copper!

Four Star Eventing Gear has teamed up with Sabella and Jacks Manufacturing to help riders at the March Copper Meadows H.T. sparkle their way to optimum time. We’ll be setting up a booth in the competitor area that will be equipped with Sabella glitter gels and sprays as well as template stencils and stuff to make your own unique quarter marks.

What is a Quarter Mark?

Quarter marks are designs on the croup of a horse created by combing its hair in different directions. Sometimes clear gel / hair spray is used to enhance the designs. We’re taking this old tradition and adding some bling!

What we will be Providing

We will provide hard plastic sheets you can use to cut out your own custom quarter mark (like the moon above). We’ll also have various pre-cut stencils. What’s most important is we’ll be proving several bottles of Sabella spray glitter and Sabella glitter gel. We have every color they make so you will find what you need to match your team or individual eventing colors.

How Do I Enter for a Chance to Win?

Simply “Like” us on Facebook. At the show, create your artwork and have your friends take some pictures. Share those pictures on Facebook during or after the show and we’ll gather them all up. We’ll have a “like” contest a week or so after the show (once we have everyone’s pictures).

The most FB likes on a single picture, wins! (so get your friends involved)

So… How Easy is it to Clean up?

It’s simple to clean up from both your horse and from yourself. You will be back to normal after your hose-off after cross country. Be sure to try out some EquiFUSE products for the best possible clean after XC.

Any Creative Inspiration?

Sure, we have some ideas for you – some of these are plain ole traditional quarter marks without any color…

Some ideas from Sabella
Ideas from around the interweb…

pirate quarter mark — Pirate Quarter Mark

big quarter marks — Traditional Quarter Mark

gold diamond quarter mark — Diamond Quarter Marks

clover quarter mark — Clover Quarter Mark

About Sabella

Sabella Equestrian Products is based out of New Zealand. The 100% Kiwi owned company specializes in glitter products for horses and riders.

About Jacks Manufacturing

Jacks is a US based manufacturing and wholesale distribution company that was founded by Greek immigrants back in 1971. Jacks provides Four Star with the very popular Jacks Whirlpool boots and Jacks Ice Boots among other high quality items. Jacks donated a majority of the Sabella products we will be using.

About Four Star Eventing Gear

We’re a startup equestrian retailer specializing in three day eventing tack. Founded in February of 2013, Four Star was founded to provide high quality eventing tack at reasonable prices and with great customer service – something that’s been missing in the old school tack slinging business.

Questions? Shoot us an email!

Posted on December 24, 2013December 24, 2013 by Carl Gardner — 1 Comment

Hi-Pique Eventing Watch Operating Instructions

Hi-Pique Watch Instructions come with every eventing watch sold, but if you have lost them or need further instruction… this post is for you.

Click on the image then the top right expand button to view

Hi-Pique Watch Specs

The hi pique chrono has many features that differentiate it from other eventing watches.

12/24hr clock
Count up time, max 59 min, 59 sec before it circulates run time
Count up to every 57 second 3 short bi sound
Count down program time Max 59 min, 59 second
Count down at last 15 to 03 second. Gives 1 short beep sound every second and between 2 and 0 seconds, gives two short beep sounds every second… Then automatically starts counting up (to your first minute marker).
Low battery detection at 2.5 volts DC
Battery type: +VE CR2032

Function Keys

Mode
Clear
Min (minute)
Sec (second)
Start / Stop
Reset

How to change the time

Hit the mode button until you are on the Time screen. push and hold the “Clear” button for about 5 seconds. The time will begin blinking. Use the “Min” button to change the hour. Use the “Sec” button to change the minutes. Once you have what you want, hit “Clear” again to save.

In the startbox…

If you want to have the time start before “Have a nice ride”, you can program the watch to count down from up to 59 minutes… That’s not too practical so we suggest 10 seconds.

Count down from 10 seconds before “Have a nice ride”… Then count up.

From the time screen, click Mode. You should see all zeros with a little “count-” in the top right. Hit the “Sec” button 10 times (or whatever you want to count down from). When the start box official gets to 10 seconds, punch the “Start/Stop” button. Your watch will count down to go time. It will beep once each second until you are 2 seconds out – it will beep twice for each of those two seconds that remain, letting you know you’re close… At zero, your watch will begin counting up to your first minute marker… and beyond.

This is a nice feature, especially if you have a nervous beast and need to keep both hands on the wheel. Once the count up begins, the watch will sound off minute markers like normal.

Posted on November 28, 2013November 28, 2013 by Carl Gardner

10% For The Sport Thanksgiving Promotion

We’re giving back to Eventing this Thanksgiving Weekend

From now until Tuesday, December 3rd, 10% of all revenue (not just profit, a full 10%) will go to a not for profit organization of your choice that supports the sport of 3-Day Eventing. Let’s give back to the sport we all love so much with a Thanksgiving promotion that gives thanks!

Some Charities That Support Eventing

If you’re looking for ideas about who to send that 10%, here are some ideas we came up with. Feel free to shoot us an email if you have other ideas. We’ll incorporate more organizations into our next campaign.

USEA Endowment Trust
USEA Area Affiliates
Amy Barrington Fund
CANTER Affiliate (choose your state or “National”)
SCES – Southern California Equestrian Sports

At checkout, select from any of these eventing charities or choose your own not for profit 501(c) / NGO

Enter Your Choice @ Checkout

To select your charity, add stuff to your cart and go to the checkout page. At the bottom of the checkout page you will see a form field that looks like this: “Order Notes”. Enter your selected charity into this plain text box. The example below would donate 10% of the Eventer’s shopping cart to the CANTER organization in California. Complete your order and we’ll cut the check!

Not Sure What To Get?

Gift cards count during this promotion! Buy a $100 gift card and we’ll donate $10 to a charity of your choice. Gift cards never expire and can be used at shows or online. They’re even good for pre-purchase specials we sometimes have. Stock up now!

By the way… our customized riding crop makes one of the best gifts, EVER!

Posted on November 21, 2013November 21, 2013 by Carl Gardner

Tri-Zone Boot Innovations Results In Eventing Gear Improvements

Eventing Gear Improvements

World Equestrian Brands, LLC is continually making eventing gear improvements. This goes for those products they distribute as well.

In late 2013, World Equestrian Brands announced the redesign of the Equilibrium Airlite Allsports II and Open Front II boots, resulting in eventing gear improvements for the stadium jumping ring.

From the press release:

“The boots have always been very popular, however the design changes and details are a home run”, states Robin Moore, owner of World Equestrian Brands. “The Allsports and Open Fronts will continue to provide the proven protection from concussion and penetration they always have, however the look has been refined, with the beautiful addition of patent leather in key areas, as well as a new interior layer that is super soft and protective.”

The Tri-zone brand is built on a core principle of zoned protection where it’s needed most. Made of a three-layer Tri-zone system, the inner layer is made of soft impact-absorbing EVA which is formed into perforated pillows for maximum comfort and heat dissemination. The middle layer has a strong flexible shield that protects the vulnerable tendon area. The outer layer is made of EVA mesh which acts as additional shock-absorbing material that allows heat, moisture and water to escape freely from inside the boots.
The boots come in black or white. The two model choices are the Tri-zone Airlite Open Front II, featuring the Airlite system’s scientifically-tested protection, a new look and the redesigned patented TPU strip along the back plus double-closure Velcro system; or the sleek multipurpose Tri-zone Airlite Allsports II, whose versatile design serves well for flatwork, jumping, hacking out, or even turn out. Allsports feature all the elements of the Tri-zone Airlite system plus a double Velcro system for security and a handy grip tab for easy removal.
The Tri-zone Airlite Boots are distributed exclusively by World Equestrian Brands, LLC, which is committed to providing world class, high performance equestrian products with hassle-free, personalized service backed by an experienced team of riders.

Four Star Brand Eventing Gear is always looking for eventing gear improvements. That’s why we carry the new Tri-zone Airlite Boots and many other World Equestrian Brand products, including Amerigo, Equilibrium, EA Mattes and Vespucci.

Posted on October 1, 2013 by Carl Gardner

Amy Barrington Fundraiser Eventing Clinic @ Galway Downs, Temecula CA

Help Get Amy Barrington Back On Course!

October 11th – 13th 2013

Event rider and trainer Amy Barrington was hospitalized on September 4th, 2013 after falling from a horse in a schooling accident. She sustained traumatic brain injury. As of September 9th, Barrington remains in the intensive care unit at Spartanburg Regional Hospital in South Carolina. Amy is well loved by many of the East & West coast Eventing circuit as a great trainer, rider and friend. Please help the Schlappi / Barrington family during their time of need by participating in this fundraiser clinic.

Clinic Cost: From $150 – $235

$35 covers grounds fee at Galway Downs

The rest goes to the Amy Barrington fund

$235 clinic cost includes both days of training, use of the facility and stabling on Saturday night. Cross-country access is reserved for riders and their horses at Preliminary and below; CCI horses entered in the Galway Downs Event and the clinic will have a special show jumping course located on the grass arena to be used in the Fall event, but will not have access to the cross-country course. A dressage arena will be set on the grass for test rides.

Clinic Options:

2 days XC and / or SJ (non-FEI horses): $235
2 days dressage test ride and / or SJ (FEI horse): $235
1 day (XC only, non-FEI horse): $150

In addition to your eventing clinic purchase, you may also choose:

Dressage test ride (Fri / Sat / Sun): $25 each
Dressage lesson (Fri / Sat): with Niki Clark at $100 each
Donation to the Amy Barrington Fund: variable
Saturday night BBQ dinner (6:30pm, Galway Downs office): $35

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Trainers Available

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Amy Barrington Fundraiser Eventing Clinic

Completed forms and payment should be sent to: Carolyn Hoffos, 633 Montecito Way, Ramona Ca. 92065. Checks made out to Niki Clark.

[button link=”https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BxVynPJiYKggZ0VHbjVPQlMwZ00/edit?usp=sharing” style=”download” window=”yes”]Download Entry Form[/button]