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This is a sponsored post. I may receive payment and/or free products in exchange for my honest review. All of the following thoughts on the product are my own.
Equestrian girls often fall into an alternative type of female category. Yes, we might like to dress up now and again, but more often we like to spend our time getting our breeches dirty and a little sweat beneath our helmets. Like any girl, we love to buy things, but swoon more often over the latest accessories for our horses rather than for ourselves.
Click to see the saddle soap I received
Recently I’ve been seeing more of these monthly subscription boxes rise in popularity for twenty-something girls like myself. Each box comes chock full of self-care items, like candles, lotions, makeup, and so on. We work full-time now, so we can spoil ourselves a little, right?
Funny enough, I had been wondering for a while if there was a monthly subscription service for horse lovers when SaddleBox reached out to me to review their October box! I was thoroughly amused at the timing, to say the least, and very excited to see what they had to offer.
Perusing SaddleBox’s website (SaddleBox.net), they offer monthly subscription boxes that you can sign up for with no cancellation penalty, as well as gift a box or series of boxes to a beloved horse enthusiast. The website is visually very clean and user-friendly, and gives the impression that they care about thoughtful details, like a hand-written note in every subscription box and videos and photos of their horse-and-rider ambassador duos.
So, even before receiving the box, I was pleasantly surprised to see a young company already so involved in customer satisfaction.
Now, for the Review…
I received the box promptly in the mail, bright turquoise with their fun logo right on top of the box. The items were encased in brown tissue paper, concealing the first item: the handwritten note from SaddleBox. I found this to be a thoughtful touch from a company intending to have a highly personable aspect to their product.
As for the rest of the items, I will be reviewing the box based on balance of products by category, quality & thoughtfulness, and value.
Balance of Products by Category:
Per the SaddleBox website, your monthly subscription box will come with “treats, grooming products, tack and more.” Naturally, I expected to receive at least one item from each category. In fact, the box arrived with a nice balance between each of the categories:
- Treats (1): One Sweet Alfalfa Scone Horse Treat
- Grooming Products (3):
- Epona Jewel Tool Groomer, Soft Face Brush, and Epona Horseshoe Hoof Pick
- Tack (2):
- More (2):
Check out Corona ointment at Amazon
Quality & Thoughtfulness:
As for the quality of each of the products, I was impressed that all the items were a respectable standard quality, if not better. My favorites were the following:
- Cotton Lead Rope: I’m absolutely in love. I may be extremely picky about my lead ropes, but I appreciated the fact that it was both very soft and pliable, and also had a decent weight to it so that it was functional for a bigger horse. There’s nothing worse than a stiff or flimsy lead rope.
- Spurr’s Big Fix Hoof Fix: I was very impressed by this addition to the box. This is a more niche product that is not merely cosmetic or routine. It is a product that I can get a lot of use out of and will actually aid with Chip’s commonly cracked hooves in the winter time.
- Epona Grooming Tools: I found both the Jewel Tool Groomer and the Horseshoe Hoof Pick to be charming because of how unique their designs were. They were definitely not your standard curry comb or hoof pick. The ergonomic factor of the Jewel Grooming Tool was noteworthy, aside from the fun maroon color and jewel-cut detail. And I loved the novelty of the hoof pick’s handle being a horseshoe.
- SaddleBox Alfalfa Scone: I wouldn’t expect a subscription service to have a personalized touch like creating their own line of handmade horse treats, but they have gone the extra mile doing so. Plus, the scone was still soft and fresh. As you can see in the video, it was very tasty by Chip’s standards.
In addition to the quality and balance of products, the box possessed a hand-picked quality to it. The items weren’t just thrown together and none of them were generic, which I believe is essential to a subscription box that wants to stand out among consumers.
Value:
I was pleasantly surprised not only about the number of the items but the quality of the items in the box. SaddleBox claims on their website that there is $60 worth of horse goods in each box, and that was surely the case here!
After tallying up the average retail value of each of the items, the total did come in right around $60, give or take a couple bucks. If charging $34.95 didn’t already get you ahead by $25, they also ship for free—setting you ahead around $30 per box for all the items provided.
Overall Impressions
I would liken SaddleBox to my horse-crazy best friend who sent me a care package from afar. But imagine receiving such a care package every month. There’s no telling what will be inside each box, and that is half of the fun. You already know your horse will be spoiled, but on top of it, you will be surprised with the types of goodies that arrive.
This introductory experience with SaddleBox was overwhelmingly positive. The only suggestion I would make would be to perhaps add seasonal touches to the boxes. For example, it being Halloween this month, perhaps adding a Halloween-themed horse treat. And with the holidays swiftly approaching, a peppermint-flavored or snowman-shaped horse treat would be a fun touch.
Speaking of the holidays approaching, I would definitely recommend gifting a box to a horse-crazy friend or family member. This is a great way to send a personalized horse-related gift. It is also a reasonable way to spoil your own horse on a monthly basis, with many fun, thoughtful, high-quality products.
Most importantly, each month you can count on having a handful of horse products that don’t have dirt on them yet!
P.S. Enjoy this article? Trot on over to:
- 18 Gift Ideas for Horse Owners Who Seem to Have Everything
- Shelby Dennis & Milo’s Equestrian Gift Guide
- 12 Gifts Barn Owners, Managers & Workers Will Actually Love
- Horse Rookie Equestrian Gift Ideas
- Head-to-Tail Buyer’s Guide to the Best Horse Riding Gear
The post SaddleBox Review: More Junk or Hidden Gems? appeared first on Horse Rookie.
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