Equestrian Sports and Dress Codes

[MagicMelon]

I totally agree OP, I dislike very much these ridiculously out of date clothes we have to wear. Other sports wear clothes which are designed to help them with their sport (technical, flexible fabrics etc.) yet we still have to swelter in silly show or hacking jackets on hot days which lets face it aren't all that flexible (especially hacking jackets, I hate mine!). I understand jodphurs as they function fine and boots.

I find it a real joke that BE ban hat cams yet they are perfectly happy to allow / encourage coats with tails which flap around everywhere (wise on a fit event horse?!) and a ridiculous top hat - safety?! And yet they worry about a tiny camera on your helmet...

 

[LeannePip]

I find it a real joke that BE ban hat cams yet they are perfectly happy to allow / encourage coats with tails which flap around everywhere (wise on a fit event horse?!) and a ridiculous top hat - safety?! And yet they worry about a tiny camera on your helmet...

I don't think it is really comparable to helmet cams - the safety aspect being that if you fall onto a point of the hat cam you reduce the effectiveness of your hat which is designed to dissipate the force around your head and not onto a specific point. I don't think tail coats can be causing that much of a problem on 'fit event horses' or people would have spoken up long ago, i've never heard any one say; 'i'd love to have a god at a CIC/ CCI but you have to wear tails and surely thats a saftey hazard'

I personally enjoy the dressing up/ looking smart part of competing, and although sometimes it would be nice not to be dressed up like the Christmas turkey for a two minute test, given the option i'd probably still put all my clobber on!

 

[Cortez]

On the tradition vs modern front, most sports are not very old whereas we've been riding horses for at least 4,000 years. I spend 99% of my working life dressed up in historical costume, so wearing a hacking jacket doesn't seem all that much of a stretch.

 

[MagicMelon]

I don't think it is really comparable to helmet cams - the safety aspect being that if you fall onto a point of the hat cam you reduce the effectiveness of your hat which is designed to dissipate the force around your head and not onto a specific point. I don't think tail coats can be causing that much of a problem on 'fit event horses' or people would have spoken up long ago, i've never heard any one say; 'i'd love to have a god at a CIC/ CCI but you have to wear tails and surely thats a saftey hazard'

I personally enjoy the dressing up/ looking smart part of competing, and although sometimes it would be nice not to be dressed up like the Christmas turkey for a two minute test, given the option i'd probably still put all my clobber on!

Exactly, but the point is at least you're wearing a hat - in the case of silly top hats, I mean really how are they safe at all? And I'm talking as someone who has only ever fallen off in the dressage arena eventing so it does happen The tails thing is silly, people ride in them at home to get their horse used to them prior to competing. I remember reading that someone very high up dressage-wise had to pin his tails up on one of his sensitive horses. IMO, they're just unecessary and look awful. I watched some top level show jumping in Florida a few years ago where they all wore polo type tops, I certainly didn't think they looked scruffy, they looked like sports people who where wearing appropriate clothing for the weather and for their sport! On a hot day competing for example, why can't we wear stock shirts and lose the jackets? Just seems petty when they have no real purpose. I'm all for modernising our sport and for lessening the pompous attitude our silly gear creates! Now, I'm off to pack my dreadful hacking jacket, tie, shirt blah blah for working hunter at the weekend!

 

[AlwaysWorried]

I must admit, for me there's a degree of pride attached. I've always wanted to earn the right to wear tails in the dressage arena - a sort of badge of honour!