Dover Saddlery Closeout Sale!

Okay, excuse the poorly lit cell phone pic but I just had the best shopping experience in my life! Considering it was all horsey-based, the amount of money I spent in comparison to the amount of stuff I got is really incredible.

LOOK!

I'm visiting my love in southern New Hampshire this weekend, and while he was at work today I decided to go pick up Cheyenne's new winter blanket.  Imagine my surprise and glee when I stumbled upon their bi-annual closeout sale where things were PAINFULLY cheap. I almost found myself buying bridle hangers and buckets even though I'm really all set... 

Here's what I got, from left to right in the picture, some prices slightly off because whatever:

McAllister Mediumweight Turnout Blanket, retail $125, paid $65: My sincere hope was for a pretty purple or pink blanket, and I clung to one purple one for the first part of my shopping trip but it was heavyweight which is really not necessary. This is a dark navy, maybe black, with red accents. Not my first pick at all, but let's be real: this thing is gonna be covered in shit, pee and mud. 

A small pink riding crop, I don't know what it retails for, but I paid $3.98: Woe is me that I do not know the brand nor the retail price, but as I'm sure we've all experienced, whips are kind of insanely priced! I cannot BELIEVE how cheap this one was -- and it was pink! Tough decision between pink or purple, but one of my dressage whips is purple and variety is the spice of life, after all. Unfortunately some threading at the bottom is coming undone, but a snip and some glue will fix that. This is for schooling, anyway. I've been using my dressage whip whenever we do jumping. It's good to have different whip options, and at that price it barely mattered that I was adding it to my collection! 

Ashley Ladies Pull On Breeches; retail $40 each, paid $25 for them both! Listed as $20, the lilac pair rang in as $5 and the cashier said "okay, whatever".. fine by me! I don't show that often and in my daily life, I like quirky fashion so something like breeches which I can often be found wearing daily should, to me, stand out. I'm always deathly envious of little kid's breeches with bright colors and fun patterns, so when I found these I could hardly contain myself. I grabbed the biggest size, and didn't even try them on before buying. Lucky me, they fit like a DREAM! They're fleece, too, so they'll be great through spring time. I am so excited to have fun breeches that fit this well and am tempted to go back and buy several other pairs... They had an awesome deep red pair that unfortunately did not go up to my size. I'm doing some further research on these breeches as for the fit, comfort and color, I would be more than willing to pay full price. 

Downside is, I keep buying hot pink or purple things; I bought a pair of hot pink gloves early in the summer. This means my coaches are able to nag me better about my positions since they're so brightly displayed. Now I really have to live up to some standards! 

Dover Saddle Pads, retail $20 each; paid $10 each.  One white outlined with pink, the other a deep navy. To be honest, I thought it was black! But this is nice, as Cheyenne's dark coloring makes colors stand out, so the navy is probably a better bet. I now have four saddle pads. White is always frankly a pain in the ass, as Cheyenne is a dirty, sweaty, shed-dy horse and pads will be in need of a cleaning after one ride. But that's okay, the pink outline is awesome and having so many pads in rotation means less time spent cleaning the two I have. Now I've got a full load and will have fewer "oh crap, I left my pad at home in the laundry room!" moments. 

I cannot get over what an awesome haul this was! I went in expecting to begrudgingly pay over $100 for a blanket. Instead, I paid only slightly over that for six items. Let's say the whip was about $20, which is what they usually are. All of this stuff is $265 retail, and I paid something like $113? AWESOME.

I'm going to pay better attention for the next closeout sale so I can arrive with a list of needs. I went back in after to get a pair of slip on paddock boots because I am woefully lazy, but none in my size and budget. THAT'S OKAY. I'm more than happy. 

This Dover store has been something of a depends-on-the-day situation in terms of customer service. The cashier was awesome (my favorite thing in the entire world is finding out a product rings in cheaper at the register), the staff were friendly and helpful for the most part, though some were frazzled. I have ever gone here and felt like I was being sassed or had somehow interrupted someone's day, but today everyone was in good, helpful spirits. 

Yay!!!!