Showjumping jackets....your thoughts please!

_MizElz_

_MizElz_

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This came up in a conversation with a friend recently, so I thought I'd see what you guys think! :D

What are your opinions generally on the type and colour of jackets worn for unaffiliated show jumping? There appear to be no hard and fast rules about colour, and as well as seeing black, blue and hacking jackets it is not uncommon to see the odd red, purple or green one.

When I first got into showjumping, I wore a black jacket with a burgundy collar. When we then started to affiliate, I was given a gorgeous dark green jacket for my birthday one year, and I wore that to every show then, both aff. and unaff (we did Trailblazers as well as BSJA). It was quite common then to see jackets in a variety of colours across all levels!

Fast forward seven years or so, and people seem to have calmed down a bit on colour choice. I have only just got back into jumping - we've only done two SJ shows so far, both unaffiliated - and at the first one, I wore my green jacket again, mainly out of sheer elation that I could still fit into it and look half decent! :o:eek::D I didnt see a problem with me wearing it - although I did notice I was the only one not in black/blue/tweed at the first show.

I was then chatting to a friend the other day, who, unaware of my reincarnated green jacket fetish, said something along the lines of, 'People who wear fancy coloured jackets to local shows are just trying to be something they're not. Either that, or they're TOO good and shouldnt be jumping at a local show in the first place!' This was in response to a conversation about a local Jessica Mendoza-wannabe, who wears a lovely red jacket, Tretorn riding boots, kits her whizzy pony out in all the latest gear, and seems to sweep the board at everything from 2ft - 3'3...

Longwinded - I guess what I'm trying to ask is this: if you see someone in a coloured jacket at a local SJ competition, do you automatically assume they are either up themselves, or that they are jumping beneath their ability and are therefore pothunting?

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If its a younger person I think they see a famous or good rider waer it and they want to be like that person. I think the most people who wear red jackets are either copying Ellen Whitaker or Jess Mendoza :p

I don't see older people wearing them often but I actually find them quite intimidating and I think "woah they have a coloured jacket they must be amazing" and self confidence then goes out teh window :p
 
Kokopelli said:
If its a younger person I think they see a famous or good rider waer it and they want to be like that person. I think the most people who wear red jackets are either copying Ellen Whitaker or Jess Mendoza :p

I don't see older people wearing them often but I actually find them quite intimidating and I think "woah they have a coloured jacket they must be amazing" and self confidence then goes out teh window :p
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Mine started when I had an obsession with the Irish showjumping team :D:D:D

Interesting....I dont like the thought of being intimidating :(
 
Don't like them I'm afraid.

I wear tweed/shirt/tie at unaff and navy/cream stock at aff.

Red jackets (pinks) to me are for hunt staff.
 
A good tweed jacket will do all jobs and is very versatile and smart!pc/rc/sj/hunting/dressage at most levels! once you get intermediate eventing you need to wear a navy or black jacket for dressage. you really dont need to follow fashion!??? you need to leave the poles up!
 
monkeybum13 said:
Generally I think they have no taste :p

I really, really dislike red jackets on teenage girls etc :(
If worn by the top show jumpers then fine - in some cases they look really smart.
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Totally agree, I don't think red jackets should be worn by any female, let alone juniors (unless of course said female is an MFH), but I am very old-fashioned!
 
Red jackets are for men in the hunting field and look terrible when showjumping, so do a lot of the other colours. My friend who has hunted and showjumped for many years say its a disgrace as many people do not understand the meaning of the "pink" (red coat).

Although I have seen them wearing waterproof jackets for showjumping as well now, which is quite sensible as nice showjumping jackets cost a fortune.
 
my YO Daugter competes in royal blue and its suits becuase all the horses have blue saddlecloths ect and it just looks nice and simple but still posh
i want a red one, i like them and think there nice
most people would disagree but i guess its a matter of a opinion
 
Highly coloured jackets are certainly the norm at the higher levels. For more local shows something it bit less brash is better. There are some truely lovely grey / marron jackets that Equiport do which I lust over (and can never afford!). When you see young people in coloured - well expensive really - jackets you tend to think "PC Mum" and yes - think they are a bit up themselves. Those who pot hunt do tend to be a bit kitted out - although that doesn't mean that everyone who is kitted out in expensive stuff is automatically a pot hunter - it does cross the mind.

There is always the other side to this too.... if you make a total P*** of yourself and you are wearing a distinctive jacket people will remember you as the twit in the jacket who fell off or what ever.
 
Personally I'm pretty conservative, I would always aim for something that could serve more than one purpose, which one of the red etc plainly can't.

I always feel that people in garish jackets are setting themselves up for a fall, people tend to notice mistakes and remember them.

Plus I really find it rather chav to be dressed up like the conductor of the military band of some tinpot S American dictatorship....

Having said that each to our own...but I would go for something well cut, flattering (if such a garment could be constructed for me), of good quality and as many uses as possible.
 
In the early 1970's Caldene produced some stunning ladies matching hat and jacket combos in tradional blue and black but also maroon and green for SJ and brown for showing, with a bespoke service for those wanting something special.
The maroon and green jackets were beatifully cut for off the peg and did look good with white jods.
Red jackets on girls look stupid and short jackets no no no.
Bring back red jackets on men though.
 
Shay said:
Highly coloured jackets are certainly the norm at the higher levels. For more local shows something it bit less brash is better. There are some truely lovely grey / marron jackets that Equiport do which I lust over (and can never afford!). When you see young people in coloured - well expensive really - jackets you tend to think "PC Mum" and yes - think they are a bit up themselves. Those who pot hunt do tend to be a bit kitted out - although that doesn't mean that everyone who is kitted out in expensive stuff is automatically a pot hunter - it does cross the mind.

There is always the other side to this too.... if you make a total P*** of yourself and you are wearing a distinctive jacket people will remember you as the twit in the jacket who fell off or what ever.
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I love the grey/Maroon ones. They look so smart and understated.
 
Absolutely not. I dont think anything when I see someone in a colourful jacket. I assume they probably have a bit of money though (as generally they are more pricey than the usual black / navy standard ones). I personally dont really like the red ones on anyone other than pro's either, but dont mind if they're green, blue etc. If I didnt wear one of the BSJA approved jackets (ie. not a show jacket) then I'd definately buy one of those light grey ones, think they look really nice.
 
At Blair this weekend, I noticed a few of the young female riders wearing red show jackets - not many but they did stand out and whilst I thought they looked very smart, the girls in blue or black jackets looked equally smart. Funnily enough, overheard a conversation between two women standing near the entrance while the class were course walking and there was one girl with a red show jacket on - I thought she looked very nice but they didnt agree and were commenting as such - "red show jackets? at this level? who does she think she is? Whittaker wannabe? - I feel its a shame when others get judged harshly like that. The girl jumped very well and I have a cracking picture I took of her soaring over a jump. Who cares what she was wearing - she's 10 times the rider I am so she can jump naked for all I care :D
 
My show jacket is navy with a grey collar - I love it. For me, understated dark colors are much nicer and classier than bright ones.

I don't really care what other people do though, and seeing someone in a coloured jacket doesn't really make me think anything of them - I certainly don't find them intimidating or think they must be a brilliant rider - and whether they are or not can easily be seen by watching!

The only thing is that if you do wear a brightly coloured jacket, then you're naturally going to draw attention to yourself, so if you cock up or fall off, everyone is that much more likely to notice and remember.
 
Hevs said:
At Blair this weekend, I noticed a few of the young female riders wearing red show jackets - not many but they did stand out and whilst I thought they looked very smart, the girls in blue or black jackets looked equally smart. Funnily enough, overheard a conversation between two women standing near the entrance while the class were course walking and there was one girl with a red show jacket on - I thought she looked very nice but they didnt agree and were commenting as such - "red show jackets? at this level? who does she think she is? Whittaker wannabe? - I feel its a shame when others get judged harshly like that. The girl jumped very well and I have a cracking picture I took of her soaring over a jump. Who cares what she was wearing - she's 10 times the rider I am so she can jump naked for all I care :D
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spot on! :)

Who cares what people wear. As long as people enjoy themselves, their horses are happy and they're not actually hurting anyone then I just can't see the harm in them. Correct me if I am wrong but there are no rules under BSJA for prohibited colours are there? If not then I cannot see why people have an issue. Personal colour preference is fine, and not liking red/green/blue etc is fine and personal choice but to say people shouldn't wear a colour because they don't agree with it or they think it is the wrong colour at a certain level is not :)

It is a shame that people judge so harshly. It makes people really self conscious. When I eventually get out on my baby, It will be bad enough I will be C*****g myself I will be worrying about what
people on the sidelines are saying about my choice of clothes/colour/size of my backside :D and god forbid I should wear a BP :p :D

I really shouldn't be worrying about this but I know I will be.
 
I was always under the impression that coloured jackets were for those who were representing their country-navy/black/blue/tweed for everyone else thank you very much.
To me, the only people wearing green/dark green in Irish style should be those who have represented Ireland for their country. Same for e.g orange-the dutch I belive?
 
I don't show jump (although I wanted to at one point?!) but I tried on a gorgeous red caldene jacket on saturday - more because I liked the look of the fit than anything! But the red was gorgeous, I really liked it and I think maybe if I jumped, but affiliated etc. then sure, I might!
I do have a grey Tagg jacket that we spotted when I had my grey mare, all my show stuff was grey (numnahs/boots etc) so had to have :o I do love it although it needs to shrink a bit!! I like grey jackets, I think they're different (: Seeing a lot more grey tweed about though now? On a non-jumping related note, I think the grey dressage tail coats look STUNNING :D

I don't have an issue with coloured jackets. I'd rather see a coloured jacket than these odd new 'casual' BSJA jacket things?
 
When I see someone here in a green jacket - I assume that they have represented Ireland at some point ;) And most have as well!

But then I do live in Ireland :p

If it is dark green then you can just proclaim it to be a very very old fashionedtweed :p
 
I always think that coloured jackets are more for Pros.

And on a completely unrelated subject, Sol, did you try the tailcoats on at all? they had such pretty ones!
 
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T_G - I didn't! It was soooo tempting, but I didn't fancy the idea of anyone coming along and asking what level I compete at for me to have to mumble that I'm still only doing novice ;) One day though! :D (I can dream!!)
 
Mostly where I live (overseas) most people will wear black, and you see some in light grey. Nobody really gives a toss what colour your jacket is, buuuut..we do have a lot of pro's jumping in our local shows (because our local area is also the biggest equestrian area and the sort of African hub as it were for riding).

If I think about it though, generally yeah red or bright 'out there' colours are associated with the GP jumpers or pros who never seem to wear a normal colour.
We also have a bunch of women who wear grey with pink edging, but they are all top GP riders sponsored by a women's insurance company so no need to realise that they are clearly better than everyone else :D

I do actually like the red/purple jackets, but I think you need to be a very good showjumper to wear it :D Otherwise to me it's sort of like turning up at a prelim dressage show in top hat and tails..all the talk, and less of the walk.
 
Thanks for all the replies guys :D I'm glad it's sparked off a bit of a debate - it isnt something that gets brought up very often :)

I'm not going to stop wearing my green ;) I hope it doesnt look tacky....personally I love it to bits, and I love wearing it now because it makes me remember all the things we achieved back then :) A bit of a talisman, maybe! Even if we are only jumping 2'6 now, and not even getting placed :rolleyes::D I guess my burgundy collar stops it looking too 'Irish'....what do you think??

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I do understand the point that a coloured jacket makes you more obvious if you cock up - and I suppose that is just the price to pay. What I dont want is to have to pay out a load of money to have a black jacket made (I'm so dumpy that off the peg stuff just doesnt fit!) when actually, I love my green one and would still like to use it :D
 
i think black, navy, tweed (except pink, yuukk), red, green and lighter blue look nice, but i don't think purple, pink etc looks nice at all! and the jackets with a wide strap thing aty the back in a bright colour. i think i would look AWFUL with a posh hat, red jacket, bling stock shirt, bling white jods and tretorn/patent boots cos i ride a cob :D
 
Shay said:
Highly coloured jackets are certainly the norm at the higher levels. For more local shows something it bit less brash is better. There are some truely lovely grey / marron jackets that Equiport do which I lust over (and can never afford!). When you see young people in coloured - well expensive really - jackets you tend to think "PC Mum" and yes - think they are a bit up themselves. Those who pot hunt do tend to be a bit kitted out - although that doesn't mean that everyone who is kitted out in expensive stuff is automatically a pot hunter - it does cross the mind.

There is always the other side to this too.... if you make a total P*** of yourself and you are wearing a distinctive jacket people will remember you as the twit in the jacket who fell off or what ever.
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Yelp! I'm a PC mum and my daughter is turned out in which ever second hand hacking jacket fits her the best at the time....doesn't affect her performance, she's just grateful to have a jacket and a pony to love!
 
Well I always look like an eventer when I showjump, and personally I wouldn't wear a coloured jacket - it's tweed or my navy show jacket if it's hot :)

Having said that, my first OH looked pretty gorgeous in his red jacket when on the team (but I don't like red on the ladies much). My ex MIL was a SJ judge of some renown, and she absolutely loathed all the new coloured jackets, strange designs and (the worst :eek:) those funny shirt things:D But then she was very old-school lol :rolleyes:
 
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