There are those on the internet that equate equestrians to the sports version of crazy-cat-ladies. Think I’m joking? Here’s a quote from a (admittedly deplorable) website cautioning against the “crazy horse girl”:
And finally there are girls who really, really love horses. Like, a lot. For these girls, horses are a way of life. They frequently wear their riding boots to class, get teary-eyed talking about the stables, and almost universally possess a weird talent for drawing their favorite horses on huge sheets of charcoal paper. Three-fourths of their Instagram are horse headshots with captions like “Riding is life” or “Thunder is the sound of hoofbeats in heaven”. These girls are unequivocally crazy.
A quick look at my Instagram feed and it’s quickly obvious that I fall into this category.
Yup, crazy horse girl alert
But let’s say I’ve met a new person, one who hasn’t yet have accessed my social media account. Your typical stranger in a bar scenario, or the person sitting next to you on a plane. Would they know I was an equestrian just to look at me? How proudly do I let my freak equestrian flag fly?
Typically, I avoid wearing anything obviously horsey out and about, unless at a specifically horsey venue. Tempting as it is to wear that super cute sweater from Nordstrom’s, I just can’t bring myself to wear this to work or elsewhere, lest I become tempted to start cantering down the halls.
Can’t wear this….
Or else…
Not that I am ashamed of being an equestrian, but I prefer to keep my obsession love just below the surface to those that don’t know me. And my avoidance of equine themed sweaters doesn’t mean I exclude all wearables- I personally enjoy wearing subtly equestrian items, such as this Snaffle bit bracelet, or a purse made out of saddle leather.
But of course, that’s just me. Instead, I choose to plaster social media, my personal spaces (house post coming soon), and in general conversations are all sated with equestrian references.
It’s my choice to hide the crazy horse girl within from complete strangers, and allow more personal touches to celebrate all things horsey. What about you guys? Do you proudly wear your equestrianism on your sleeve? What public shows of equestrian do you make in your life? Where do you draw the line as “just too much”?
Red on the Right 
I’m the same way – I tend to stay away from overtly “horsey” clothing in favor of more subtle things like a snaffle bit ring or other jewelry. People around me already know I love horses, I don’t want to become the crazy one who wears horse sweaters too! (Although you’re right – that Nordstrom one is so cute!)
I don’t really care about making a non-horsey first impression on people! I’m not going to go out of my way not to wear something overtly ‘horsey’ for fear of being seen as a ‘crazy horse woman’. I unabashedly wear my riding clothes out and about, enjoy wearing tasteful equestrian jewelry, my car is plastered in horse stickers with a license plate that proudly proclaims PONY POWER, and if you don’t like dogs or horses, you’re going to be bored to tears by my social media accounts. Because I’m a crazy horse person. People can deal with it. 😛
Haha I definitely wear my riding clothes out- the grocery store is most convenient when coming back from the barn! But besides being in actual riding attire I tend to keep the horse motif minimal on my non-barn days 🙂
PS you win the award for best license plate!
I typically don’t wear horse related tshirts anywhere. I have a very distinct style for my personal use, same with work.
Haha that could have been my post in 2 sentences, if I’d decided to be concise. 😛
Aside from my completely equestrian-themed social media accounts, my office is basically a shrine to my horses, dogs and husband. It kind of wigs some of my co-workers out, haha. My walls are covered in ribbons and photos and my shelves have trophies and the occasional figurine. For me, it’s a reminder of why I spend so much of my time commuting/sitting at a desk — so I can support the lifestyle that allows me to do what I love best in my free time. I also have a pretty laid back work in terms of letting us decorate our own spaces, otherwise I would scale it back. I have quite a bit of equestrian jewelry as well, although I don’t typically wear it to work, just on other occasions.
I absolutely can relate! Don’t tell my husband, but there may be more photos of Foster in my office than of him. 😉
I don’t care what people think 😜
My breeches and boots probably cost more then their wardrobe lol!! So I’m dressed nice!!
I saw rock you!!
Haha Breeches + Boots > Normal clothes any day. I was just thinking to myself yesterday that I may have to buy a pair of jeans for the best time in a couple years… The last pair of breeches I bought? September. XD
I don’t really wear overtly horse themed things on the regular. I do laze in my PreppyEquestrian shirts all the time but I don’t generally wear them out in public unless they are under a pullover of sorts I would say.
I will tell people I ride but I don’t find myself incorporating that into my daily non barn wardrobe very often. Interesting topic!
I was admiring the PreppyEquestrian shirts the other day- but agree, for me these fall into the yoga pants day collection 😀
I definitely go more subtle. You would be able to figure it out based on some of my jewelry and most predominately, my feet tattoos, but other than that nobody knows unless I bring it up.
I lean to the more subtle for sure. It does not take long for my crazy to become apparent. I have some jewelry. I do not have many clothes with horses on them…mostly because I do not like them or I do not want to pay for the ones I do. However, I am constantly found in my farm clothes out and about…oops.
I have a similar bracelet. I also don’t really wear much horse stuff outside of the barn, but my house is plastered in horse art.
I don’t really wear horsey jewelry or clothes…and honestly I’m struggling to think if I even have any horsey shirts…other than my Downton Abbey Hunt Club shirt, which other DA fans seem to like regardless of the horsey reference. I do, however, look quasi homeless after a trip to the barn in the evenings. Sometimes I wonder if I need a shirt that says, “just left the barn…this is why I look this way” to disclose to people at the grocery store why I looked like a hay covered hobo in the aisles. 😉
Man, I’m just legit a nutcase. My license plate says LEG ON and has a picture of a horse on it, I have a USHJA bumper sticker, my office has a poster that says “Ireland: Magical Land of Horses” that I got in 7th grade, I wear breeches and boots to work more often than anything else, and I love wearing horse-themed jewelry. I’m seriously all-the-way-crazy.