Cob Jockey

My old horse show garment bag was the last thing that wasn't working about my show setup.  It was an eBay score probably made in the 1980s that hung so far down on me, even folded in half, it made it hard for me to walk.  When I found myself actively trying to avoid using it, I knew it wasn't working for me anymore. So I replaced it with a convertible garment duffel:

There are straps at the bottom to keep your clothes taut so they don't fall down and wrinkle.

 As well as a side pocket meant for shoes, where I keep my stock tie:


 And a couple of inner pockets where I put things like stock tie pins:


As an unexpected bonus, it's the perfect size to store my tall boots inside as well, making it a single grab-and-go bag for all my show clothes.  Any taller than me though and this won't work for you!


The only thing I wish it had was a hook for hanging.  I could solve that pretty easily with a carabiner through the handle though, or by getting dressed with it hanging in my trailer's dressing room depending on how close I'm parked to my stall.



Bottom Line:  Necessary?  Not entirely.  Improvement to my show life?  Definitely.  Knowing all my show clothes are kept in one place in an easy-to-carry bag is a major de-stressor when packing for shows.  Grab and go!

What: Convertible Garment Bag with Shoulder Strap, Modoker Carry on Garment Duffel Bag for Men Women - 2 in 1 Hanging Suitcase Suit Travel Bags
Price: Currently $40.99 with coupon, I paid $32.99 during an Amazon lightning deal
Where to Buy: Amazon

Okay stylish Dressage people, coming at you with a question today: what is your 'coats waived' show outfit?  Specifically, what color is your shirt?

Mine is white, and there's a story behind that.  I wear it almost superstitiously after getting kicked out of the warmup at my first Dressage show ever in 2012 for wearing a solid navy show shirt I borrowed from Austen.  And yes, it was a non-rated schooling show put on by the local GMO.

Early 2017 look

As if I looked like I knew what I was doing anyway, out there in a 15 year old brown jump saddle and field boots on a green pony, nervous as hell trying a new sport for the first time.  Then to be sent back to the barns to change shirts and have my warm-up halved on top of it all - it was a terrible way to encourage newcomers to try Dressage.  I wouldn't try another straight Dressage show for years after that, not until I basically had to.

Luckily Austen happened to be traveling with a brand new white show shirt, so I raced back to the barn and changed in record time.

I don't think "white shirts only" is true, at least not anymore, because I see people a lot more fashionably dressed than me at shows when coats are waived.  But the rule book is pretty ambiguous about it, so I'm asking you guys: What do YOU wear?

A few weeks ago, I was in Grand Rapids, MI for work for the week (a fairly common occurrence) and decided use a free evening to hit the only local area tack store, Millbrook Tack.

This place is MASSIVE.  It's 20,000 square feet, and chock full of luxury English brands, as well as a gigantic western section I didn't even get into.  They had brands and items I've never seen in a tack store before - not that my area of the Midwest has that many tack stores.



I was like a kid in a candy store, but I was there on a mission for just one thing I had seen on their website: socks.

Several (four?) years ago, I bought a 3 pack of Ovation slimliner socks from a mobile tack store at a random horse show I wasn't even riding in at the Hoosier Horse Park - and I quickly couldn't live without them.  Remember when I got my half chaps they were so tight they cut off my circulation?  They're basically custom fit to my legs now, but I still can't fit much underneath them, so these socks are perfect.


When they started to wear out, people told me to try Zocks, but I just don't like that slippery, non-breathable feeling.  The Ovation slimliners have a thin cotton sock and a see-through top that's not slippery, it almost feels like cotton too.

Nope.

Others told me to try Peddies, but they're way too big for me, and I'm left with the foot part going past my ankle and the top part sticking out over my boot.  They were also far thicker than my favorite socks.  I also tried Ariat's thin boot sock, and a few other random brands.  Not even close.

Nope.

After four years of wearing three pairs of socks for every ride during the warmer months, they were definitely starting to wear.  But I couldn't find them anywhere, despite my really good Google skills!  So I continued to wear them well after they developed holes.


More holes:


So when I saw this picture on Millbrook's site:


My jaw hit the floor.  Kingsland, my favorite apparel brand (that I can't afford so I only own one item of theirs but I love it) makes virtually the same sock!  And Millbrook had them in stock!

In summary: I bought them, and they're almost the exact same as the Ovations, but even better in terms of quality and comfort.  The first chance I had to wear them was at the Indy Dressage Classic, and to Mary's credit, she didn't punch me in the face when I said, "These socks are amaaaaaaaazing!" for the seventeenth time that weekend.

Not to wax poetic too much about socks, but this is the culmination of a couple years of struggle for me: do I keep wearing holey socks, why can't I find more of these socks to buy, why don't I like any other socks as much, why am I so picky about socks.

Pros:
- Pretty much the same sock as my beloved Ovations
- Better quality fabric used on both the foot and the leg vs. the Ovations
- Probably better longevity based on fabric quality and construction
- They fit me better than the Ovations did
- Very breathable fabric
- The toe seam is on the tips of the toes instead of the top of the toes
- Price is almost 3 times what I paid for the Ovation socks ($11 for a 3-pack), but totally reasonable at $29.95 for a 3-pack

Toe seam on the tips of the toes.  This really makes a bigger difference in comfort than I thought it would.

Cons:
- I can't wear them in winter?  I really can't think of a single thing to dislike about them after riding in them for a month.  They're perfection in every way.

They had two 3-packs in stock, and I didn't feel like I could spend $60 in one sitting on socks, even on the greatest socks in the world, so I bought one...and then later bought the other 3-pack online, because I can totally spend $30 on socks twice but not $60 on socks at once.  Ha. Ha.  And hopefully rotating six pairs through instead of 3 makes them last forever.

What are your favorite socks?

Dear people reading this on work computers: save this one for later.  We're taking a time out from my backlog of posts about shows and meeting bloggers because there's a big sale right now on a product that has made my riding life better lately - and it's underwear.

I feel like I'm crossing some sort of blogging line by reviewing underwear, but I promise this is 100% riding related.  I started this quest mainly to look good in breeches/tights, cause that's what's important, right?

(These have to be the weirdest product review photos I've ever taken.  I'd say 'don't judge', but I'm about to put pictures of my butt in breeches on the Internet, so clearly, I am not afraid of being judged.)

Confession time: I hate thongs.  I make myself wear them with work clothes and breeches in order to look socially acceptable, but I really find them unpleasant.  So I recently went on a review-reading mission to see if science has conquered the non-thong, non-boyshort VPL problem.

My stumbling led me to a corporate attire columnist who personally tried and reviewed all of the top no-VPL options out there, and she came to the conclusion that the Soma Vanishing Edge line (various styles) is where it's at.  Their defining feature is a silicone edge that keeps them in place without seams on the edges.

I got a pair and immediately put it to the test with the absolute worst VPL highlighters out there: my skin-tight Irideon riding tights, size childs large.  Survey says?

I took a butt selfie.  Oh my, it's so weird in here.

There's a faint line going up to the hip, sort of on the side, that's only just barely visible in the skin tight Irideons.  And it's completely invisible with any of my work pants, or my beige or white show breeches.  They would definitely be no VPL in your standard Tailoreds or Tredsteps or Pipers with more structured fabric and cut than the Irideon tights.

So sorry.

I was also wearing them here (these are my beige show breeches, Tredstep Symphony No...3? 4?:


And I have no pictures of my butt in white breeches from the show two weeks ago, but I wore a light beige pair under my white breeches and they were completely invisible.  Have a gratuitous cute pony photo, I promise I'm done with the butt shots:


Pros:

1. No VPL - seriously.
2. Comfy material
3. Comes in tons of styles, cuts and colors: from up-to-your-belly-button to sleek and sexy low-rise bikinis, with and without lace.
4. Easy keepers: machine wash warm regular cycle, tumble dry. 
5. Comfortable after long rides in both my jump and Dressage saddles

I'm posting this today because Soma has a 5-for-$37 sale going on right now if you're interested in trying them, making them around $7 (they're regularly $16-$19/pair).  I was able to combine the sale with a 20% off coupon and get them for $5/pair.

What's your secret weapon when it comes to avoiding VPL?  Or do you even care?  Is this the weirdest thing you've ever read? Back to regularly scheduled content tomorrow...

I have a confession to make.

I have lost two pairs of show gloves, two stock ties, countless hair nets, a belt, and one stock tie pin over the past three years because of my total lack of show attire organization.  And also because of this:


This is my old/previous show clothes garment bag, given as a team gift to freshmen on the equestrian team in college.  It's exactly what it looks like: a bag.  No pockets.  So my post-show ride ritual is to...throw everything I'm wearing in the bottom of the bag.  Which in a lot of cases, literally means I'll never see any of it again for some reason.

When I took stock of all the stuff I'd have to buy this year - again - I realized it would be cheaper to buy a more organized garment bag than to continue to lose stuff.  It also cuts down on my show nerves to be so organized I never have to search for anything.  To eBay I went, where I paid $20 for this very used bad boy:

Jaguar makes garment bags?  Who knew.

It has everything I need to (hopefully) never lose all the stuff I just re-bought ever again and maybe make my show life easier.  Shoulder strap or handle, for hauling it from the trailer:

The front pocket has room for both of my tall boots in their bags (one of the relatively few perks of being 5' with a size 6 foot, yo):


A teeny tiny pocket for my stock tie pin:

Yes, new, sigh.

Two big pockets on the inside.  Gloves and hairnet go in the one on the right (also, there's only one glove pictured because...I don't know where the other one is.  I'm hoping to fix that situation before Saturday.):


Stock tie and belt go in the one on the left, with the stock tie inside its packaging, so maybe it will not only not get lost, but also stay nice:

Yes, also new.  #3 since 2013.  I am ashamed.

The main compartment has this really nice locking mechanism for hangers to make sure they don't fall off the hook, if you use wire hangers.  I don't.  Still works.


Finally, it has a heavy duty metal hanger attached with a chain for hanging, which will undoubtedly be easier than hanging the several plastic hangers off the stall like I had to with my old garment bag.


Anyone else taking steps to get organized this show season?

Like a lot of people, my calves are different sizes.  Ever since I got kicked in the knee by a different horse while cantering (have I shared that story?  It's a good one) and was not put on crutches for my recovery period, I've had one calf much bigger than the other.

Last year, I paid $50 on Ebay for nearly new Ariat Heritage boots to replace my seven year old Devon Aires.  I bought them in my half chap size, knowing that my half chaps took a painful, right leg-numbing year to stretch out.  I swore I would wear the Heritage boots a lot and break them in fast.

And then every night before a show I'd go "Crap...forgot again."  And I'd ride with one boot partially unzipped in the show, because I like ruining great pictures.  And I don't like my foot going numb.

Ruined.

But this time the night before the show, I had had enough.  I decided to try the bathtub method to stretch the right boot.

I filled a bathtub with warm water, and got into it wearing the boots, thicker socks than I normally wear, and show breeches, and submerged the boots.  I wasn't able to zip them at first, then I was and my foot went numb, then I unzipped them, then I zipped them again...and my foot didn't go numb.  I wore them until they were dry.

They really did stretch.  And I actually managed to get and keep them zipped for the duration of the show.

No white!

What the bathtub method does to them long term, I'm not sure, I don't think I'd do this with expensive boots, but when you're working with $50 eBay boots, anything goes.

Not a bad look for $50 boots, free breeches, and a $30 jacket.

I used my ice day today to get the amazing Welsh dragon buttons Austen bought me for Christmas onto my show coat:


She might have paid more for those buttons than I paid for that coat, which Connor's breeder found new-with-tags on eBay for $25.  Definitely my favorite steal-of-a-deal that I can in no way take credit for, it wasn't even listed as a riding coat, so it's amazing that she found it at all!  Now it is appropriately, especially Welsh:

As far as how to sew on buttons, you just loop thread all over the place until they don't fall off immediately, right?  I give them six months, with my sewing skills.

Thanks, Austen!  Connor and I will be representing our breed just a little more thoroughly in 2014!

I spent New Years in a vacation home in Michigan with my husband and I's college friends, which included Austen of Guinness on Tap, and another fellow eventer/CrossFit friend.  We watched football, Rolex Show Jumping, and George Morris while the snow fell outside.  It was perfect.

While we were there, we exchanged Christmas gifts.  I'll let her share hers if she wants, but I am going to share what she got me: Pewter Welsh Dragon buttons meant to go on my show coat:


They are so beautiful, and it was such a thoughtful gift.  I love classy breed "logo" details, and I can't wait to represent the Welsh breed a little more thoroughly - right down to the buttons! - in 2014.

Now to find someone to sew them on for me...

Dear eventer friends (and Dressage folk too): speak to me of stock ties.  I am studying photos of eventers, but I'd also like specific product recommendations and you guys are my go-to gurus!

I think I need to get one, but as a former hunter, this piece of apparel has always mystified me and never been something I needed before.  Are they still in style?  What do I need to look for when I buy one?  Pre-tied or self-tie?  Pin, or no pin?  Shiny material, plain cotton material, Coolmax?  Do they really get hot enough for it to matter?

And while we're at it, can I pick your brains about show shirts too?  The only shirts I've ever shown in are long sleeve pastel ratcatcher shirts with embroidered collars for hunters.  What do you wear under your jacket for the Dressage phase?  How about when jackets are waived?  I have a Coolmax shirt that I won on Behind the Bit, but it's blue and shortsleeved, and not okay for when jackets are waived.  Is there a shirt that can do double-duty as a jacket-on and jacket-off shirt? Does any shirt technically serve that purpose due to the stock tie?  Is it better if the shirt has the loops for the tie?  And what do you prefer to wear on the XC course?

So many questions!