Cold Hands

Yesterday I got kind of heavy, and talked about how the death of an upper level eventer reminds me of all of the insecurities and inconsistencies I feel about my riding in the context of my sport. Lately I have been both an insecure and inconsistent rider; I've had some bad experiences with Arya, and I haven't been riding much, so the general result is that I'm kind of an anxious sack of potatoes. Even if I don't know if I am going to be showing next year, I still need to keep myself and my horses in shape, because it does all of us worlds of good to do work. If I am going to have horses, I should do this thing right, right?

To the meat of the post, I would like to admit something silly for all the internet to read: Every time I hear that "Slow Hands" song, all I hear is "Cold Hands" which is honestly, much more applicable to my life right now. Cold hands are decidedly less sexy than "Slow Hands" wants to make hands out to be, but whatever.

I've always had poor circulation. I've always struggled to keep my hands warm, and sustained some frostbite damage doing weekend lessons outside year round in my middle and high school days. I also struggle to balance gloves/mittens that are warm enough with still being able to function. My favorite mittens for driving are utterly useless for anything other than standing around, or doing large motor tasks like driving, opening doors, etc. They're thickly knit, with fleece inside, and leather palms. They're not waterproof, and I have basically no dexterity.

My favorite riding gloves, for the longest time, have been the SSG Pro Show Winter gloves:

For riding, at least, they have a good mix of warmth and dexterity. I can still close my fingers on the reins (very important) and not totally freeze. They aren't warm enough for the depths of winter, but they work out famously around the freezing mark, and worked out well enough even when riding in the unheated indoor at the last boarding barn (though I was tacking in a heated barn). When the going got really cold at our previous boarding situation (unheated and uninsulated barn and indoor, with an outside walk in between) I would either double up on the cheap, knit gloves from places like Target, or use these (once I found them at a local tack shop): 

They are the Ovation Syntac Thinsulate Winter Glove; and they're pretty good. I have had some quality problems with them; the lining has come apart in the fingers and they don't wash up as well as I would have hoped, but they are, at least, quite warm. 

But then again, I wasn't doing chores at these boarding barns; while I can go inside to warm up, I really need a good pair or three of gloves. I have tried, though it was probably several years ago now, the Heritage Extreme and the SSG 10 Below gloves, and found them too bulky to do anything in. I plan to dig them out and give them another go with chores (since I don't have to do up bridle buckles, etc, when I'm doing chores) but I have a feeling I am going to continue to struggle with them. I also feel like I should have gone a size down with each of them, but we shall see if those are just old perceptions. 

Do you, my lovely readers, have favorite winter gloves? I need both work and riding gloves, so I am happy to hear about anything and everything; especially if they are waterproof! I'm planning to talk about some of my favorite cold weather products in another post, too - I do have some favorites, and will happily talk your ear off about dressing to ride outside in winter. I'll probably do a follow up post if/when I survive a winter on the northern tundra. Clearly my blood needs to thicken up, already, but I can't wait for my new Arctic Horse skirt to arrive... the Tongass is great, but I could use some insulation!