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The Correct Horseback Riding Apparel for All Disciplines
03/30/2009
No matter if you’re a show jumper or a barrel racer, it’s important to get the correct horseback riding apparel for you, especially if you plan on competing:
No matter if you’re a show jumper or a barrel racer, it’s important to get the correct horseback riding apparel for you, especially if you plan on competing:
Western
The standard for Western horseback riding apparel is the most relaxed and informal of all of the equestrian disciplines. Traditionally speaking, Western horseback riding apparel centers around the cowboy boot. Hitting the mid-calf and with a pointed tow, the cowboy boot was originally designed to prevent a rider’s foot from becoming entangled in the stirrup should the rider fall off his horse. Well-fitting jeans and a durable long-sleeve shirt are also the standard Western horseback riding apparel. Spurs, chaps, and cowboy hats still exist among some western cowboys, but you don’t normally see those types of Western horseback riding apparel much, especially on the equestrian level (rather than on a working ranch level).
In competition, the Western rider prefers horseback riding apparel that’s bright, bold, and full of personality. This is where the spurs, chaps, and cowboy hats all make an appearance as typical horseback riding apparel. The long-sleeve cowboy shirt is in a bright color, occasionally with decorations like fringe or rhinestones that would be verboten in any other discipline’s horseback riding apparel. Because the Western competition circle is intended to dazzle and create a stir, jackets with silver and embroidery a typical fixture in the male horseback riding apparel, while women favor more glitz and sparkle. Belt buckles, scarves, and bolo ties are all silver, often ornamented with semiprecious stones like turquoise.
English
The horseback riding apparel for English Discipline, by contrast, is very conservative. Knee length boots in brown or black is the first piece of hose riding apparel that most people purchase, followed by pale jodhpurs, a white long-sleeve button-up shirt, a black or white tie, a hairnet, an equestrian helmet, and a jacket. The jacket, unlike the Western horseback riding apparel, is snug, well-fitted at the waist, and unadorned. It is almost always black or brown.
Dressage
Dressage is a branch of the English School of horseback riding apparel, only taken to a more formal level. Instead of jodhpurs, white breeches are de rigeur in dressage horseback riding apparel. These breeches have a leather seat which improves friction with the saddle and decreases the chance of sliding. In addition, dressage horseback riding apparel includes a black belt, a white long-sleeve shirt, a black tie, and a gold pin. The accessories in dressage horseback riding apparel are almost always white or black: riding gloves are white, the coat is black with metal (usually gold) buttons. In certain upper levels, the coat becomes longer—either to the top of the thigh or the back of the knee. This is a type of horseback riding apparel known as shadbelly, and is often paired with a top hat and a yellow vest. Boots are, as with English riding, tall—but unlike English, dressage horseback riding apparel prefers black boots. Interestingly enough, dressage shares one horseback riding apparel in common with Western riding: spurs. It seems the riding disciplines aren’t so different after all.
