Just order me black, please!

Dressage fashion, as is competing in dressage, is an acquired taste. Riding fashion is steeped in tradition and seemingly unchanging. Materials are unchanging as well -- leather, cotton and wool along with the addition of synthetics made to look like the big three. Those that use the highest quality materials, European manufacturers, create styles that while expensive look good the longest and they last.

Traditional dressage competition clothing is easily recognizable; white breeches, black coat, crisp white shirt with stock tie, white gloves, black boot and black hat. There are very subtle difference between the lower and upper levels of competition in the sport. The average cost of this "uniform" is about $500. Many in the upper levels spend more.

In other words, the competition uniform is boring. It is a difficult sport to sell to television because of this. The lack of individuality is supposed to lend objectivity in judging.  As most competitors know more than anything the uniform of dressage really leads to good deal of sweat and filth. A sport that seems so effortless actually takes so much effort that after each test competitors find themselves soaked in their own sweat and covered in dirt.  I have to wash every stitch of clothing I wear after each show and send my coat to the cleaners.

My first riding uniform consisted of a pair of  Vietnam era Corcoran Black Jump boots.  I had bought them in high school. They were so well made they lasted 30 years. I loved them. What was not to love. They cost me $15.00 used and were comfortable.

I was aware that my fellow equestrians made fun of me for wearing them, but they were rugged and the right price. They did not break down in muddy winters like other shoes that split and cracked after standing in corrosive horse pee. I wore these examples of fine engineering (designed in 1941 for paratroopers) for eight years straight. Then one day they died -- they dissolved into dust.

My first breeches were Pikeurs. They were full seat in tan with tan leather. I thought they were cool. I bought them on sale in Oakland, California at a Western tack and riding apparel store. They were on deep discount -- apparently there weren't popular with the hip hop crowd and probably not favored by the Western riders. I bought them for $80. This was before I received a million horse catalogs. It was only later that I learned these were top of the line and worth more than my horse. I wore these until the leather died one day when I bent over.

The next pair of boots I bought cost a whole $175. I was so shocked by the cost, I wore them for 10 years straight. When they finally wore out, moldering in the corner of the tack room, they were as soft as a pair of slippers. The leather hung on my legs. There were holes where the boot pulls had been. I leveraged them on over my feet with my thumbs. I loved these boots. My trainer begged me to buy a pair I could wear for shows. She was tired of seeing my boots pool around my ankles.

When I bought Ted, my first real dressage horse, my trainer let me know that I needed "decent" tack -- bridle, saddle and boots. She picked a top of the line bridle that would make Ted look lovely on the dressage court.

I looked all over for a used saddle that would fit Ted and me, there was nothing that would fit his petite dimensions -- more narrow than my Arabian horse, yet longer and deeper, like a thoroughbred. I had one choice in the dressage world -- a Custom Saddle. I charged it. (I must confess that it is the best ride I have every had and it really fits Ted.)

After bridle and saddle were secured, I looked around the barn for boots. Everyone was wearing boots made in Holland, so I sold my Arabian and bought a pair. When they arrived, they looked formidable. They were very stiff as advertised. I had to drop my stirrup leathers three holes. The outside of the boot was higher than the inside. This style turned out to be deadly to the skin on my legs. They hurt the backs of my knees so much, I had to buy lifts to break them in. I still have scars. Each time I wore them, I had to soak the back seam with water to get them to relax a little bit. The lifts in the foot bed would get soaked as well and I would slosh around like I was a pirate without a boat. I couldn't feel my horse when I rode. Two years later, I can wear them and still the foot bed won't bend.

Over my years as a rider, I also did a good deal of backpacking, so I also receive a lot of outdoors catalogs. Mostly I find products in the outdoors arena not useful as a rider, but the one thing I've noticed that there is a whole world of innovation going on outdoors apparel. Colors are fresh and the designs are new and exciting.

I recently bought a pair of Keen sandals and it got me thinking about style, color and functional design. I was surprised to find the sandals were durable, came in interesting styles and colors, and they didn't hurt. Wouldn't it be great to buy a Keen equestrian boot that was a terrific color, cool in summer, the cost was reasonable and they didn't destroy your legs?

When I look over the catalogs for riding apparel, I don't see much innovation. The colors are still the same, white, black and tan. The cuts are still the same, despite the fact that there are more aging riders than ever whose bodies are slowly getting squat and square. The only manufacturers that produce products that will last longer than a year are European.

Innovation in riding apparel amounts to using synthetics in breeches, gloves, shirts and underwear. New design elements are low-rise breeches, piping and v-back seams, pink shirts, contrasting colored full-seat breeches or plaids. Please. Any real designer would know that the contrasting colored full-seat and plaid breeches are just going to make the rider look fat. As for the rest, I don't bother to open the catalog any more. I just call and order black.

 

Comments

[Latte]

Oh boy does Meowmy agree with you!!! She rode in her boots this weekend for her dressage lesson and now has a horrible line of rubs at the top of the boot on her leg. She usually wears half chaps because she isn't showing and just can't deal with the boots.

Oh, and Custom Saddlery is our local tack store!

[Rocky]

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