New hat, same old natty sweatpants and ‘Ugly Boots’

Over the years, I have started being a little more aware of what my appearance is in between rides. Not like I dress up by any means, but at least now I don’t wear sweatpants with holes in them anymore. Also, I have more-or-less retired my Camoflauge Cookout hat. (go ahead, judge me!)

One of my main take-aways from our trip to Hunterland last year was just how ‘done’-up’ everyone looked, even when relaxing ring-side. I saw trainers (owners? riders?) in pearls, elegant visor-wearers, and more collared shirts than a frat house could hold. The fashion on display was pretty impressive, and definitely made an impression on me. Fashion sense and horse sense were quite the combination!

Everyone dresses like a SmartPak model

On the other end of the spectrum, I can remember one rather eventful season in Intercollegiate dressage when we as a team decided we were going to up our standards with one simple rule: Thou shall not wear pajamas to shows.

Not that the No Pajamas rule would stop me from looking like a hobo (I don’t dress like this anymore, by the way, at least most of the time..)

These days, in between classes/events my typical horse show outfit is as follows: jeans, my Mango Bay belt, the waterproof shoes I fondly call my “Ugly Boots”, ideally a collared sun shirt and some sort of small stud earrings. I may not quite fit in with the fashion pros, but I’m not entirely embarrassing (I don’t think?). One of these days I would love to upgrade my Ugly Boots to Dublin or Dubarry River Boots, but for now, they’ll have to do.

We is goobers.

What do you guys wear to hang out in at horse shows? Are you of the all-breeches-all-the-time club? Diamonds and pearls? Or are you a horse show trend-setter?