Silicon seat breeches and tights - should we be buying these?

[Muddywellies]

I can't stand feeling glued to the saddle in silicone seated breeches. When did it become so 'last season' to move freely in the saddle?? And goodness me, trying to get in and out of the car in them is interesting. I have a very large and well know equestrian store near me and I recently needed hew breeches. The sales assistant had to admit they dont stock many non-silicone breeches and found me 2 pairs to try. It's mind boggling.

 

[cauda equina]

I like being glued to the saddle
I am old and don't want to fall off anymore

 

[lannerch]

I wish my silicon seat tights would glue me to the saddle as somehow I still manage to fall off !

 

[Winters100]

We HAVE to start questioning the sustainability of everything we buy & use.

Of course you are right, but it is not that simple. Observing my own behaviour I see that I am very good in certain areas, in general the ones which I do not find difficult, such as buying very few new clothes, and very poor in certain other respects, such as driving a large car, which as most people I try to justify to myself as 'needed'. If we are going to be really honest then keeping horses and pet animals is probably quite bad for the environment. Certainly transporting horses for the reason of riding for pleasure or taking part in competitions could be seen as an unnecessary environmental burden. I begin to feel that the only solution to the environmental crisis is that everyone accepts living a much poorer life than we are used to, for example air travel becoming much more expensive, accepting that certain foods would only be readily available in season etc, but of course this would be a hard pill to swallow.

 

[Roasted Chestnuts]

I wear them but I ride with a fleece cover on my saddle so there isn’t any damage done.

The only time my saddle cover is off is comps so not very often at all

 

[SilverLinings]

Some saddles don't get panel damage from wire saddle racks but it's still best to warn against them. Most of these breeches and tights however have a large % synthetic fibres, from oil, so unless you're seeing out mainly natural fibres (only viscose and bamboo to my knowledge make better stretch fabric than cotton knit, of the natural fibres) then the whole garment is pretty environmentally unfriendly. Recycled good but as we know reduce and reuse comes higher up than recycle...

I only have two pairs of breeches that are less than 10yrs old, the rest (a mixture of breeches and johdpurs) are all 20-30 years old. Most of the older pairs are high % cotton, with the summer ones being bias cut woven cotton (a bit less stretchy) and the winter ones being a thick, dense, stretchy cotton knit. I also have one elephant cord pair, again high % cotton.

The two newer pairs I bought for competing and they are modern technical fabric as that was all I could find at the time,. They felt much more sleek and modern when I got them, but I after wearing them a few times I much prefer the older ones which are more comfortable, less sweaty and warmer in winter (and have lasted well). In this day and age it is a shame more manufacturers aren't looking at increasing their use of sustainable materials as they are perfectly viable.

After looking into the effects and vast quantities of micro plastics in the oceans (and in our drinking water) a few years ago I am much more careful to avoid artificial (non-biodegradable) fibres where possible as the damage they cause when washed as well as when discarded is huge. And I buy all my wool jumpers from charity shops so it isn't an approach that requires wealth. Manufacturers have a huge responsibility here too though.

As others have said though, the other consideration is landfill, and the longer we keep and use something the better.