2025 Open Showmanship Trends/Off Breed Horse

[Paint_Party]

I agree with @endlessclimb. The black hat definitely is the safer, more versatile choice. The tan is nice, too, but with your black pants and showmanship jacket the black hat creates the more traditional, polished look.

As for the jacket itself, I ended up ordering mine from Etsy, too. I tried going with a well known supposed “custom” show apparel person and it was never right. I had to send it back twice. Then one of the horse show moms in the barn suggested Etsy. Guess what? It was nearly the identical jacket, fit me great (only required minor tailoring) and was 1/3 of the price!

I only do ranch, trail and lower level reining now, so I sold my showmanship jackets. But it was a fun experience and I did love getting all dressed up and sparkly.

[FjordBCRF]

Im set on the black felt. Rod’s has exactly what I’m looking for; they call the taco crease a Quarter Horse crease from what I can tell. Im a couple hours north of the physical store so I might just order it, but do have the option if we have a good weekend day for a road trip.

I hesitated for a minute with the jacket coming out of India, but the shop has a lot of high reviews and their size chart (if accurate) looks like it SHOULD fit me pretty well.

DH has NO idea what showmanship is. I told him it’s like a beauty pageant for the horse AND the handler…I don’t know if that helped or confused him more

[jvanrens]

Yeah, I can see why that would confuse him a bit. Maybe explain it’s about a horse and exhibitor working together as a team where there is next to no cues visible to the observer to do a pattern while looking good!

[Paint_Party]

@FjordBCRF

they call the taco crease a Quarter Horse crease from what I can tell.

Yup.

I used to practice the showmanship patterns in my kitchen and used overturned cups for the cones. Me and my invisible horse. Both my husband and my dog thought I was crazy.

[beau159]

@FjordBCRF

Very familiar with the posture and ins and out of movements

Now I am not the guru when it comes to showmanship, but the “posture” (especially hands) has been going a little bit more relaxed than what it used to be, just FYI. I would encourage you to take a few refresher lessons from a trainer, to get all the new details on what’s trending.

Also, dark leather is still “in”. The photo you posted for your combo has a light leather halter. Look at the halter you posted later from the equinechronicle ---- dark leather!!!

And yes to a BLACK felt hat, if you plan on wearing that type of show jacket.
(Or the teal colored hat if you feel bold … yes, color can be worn in the arena and it’s trending right now.)

Your turnout just really, really depends on where you are showing. We even have a very, very large AQHA show in my area that is outdoors and folks where jeans and straw hats. Yes, even for the showmanship portion. But for the indoor shows, they get fancier. But not the outdoor show! So I guess you kind of have to know your crowd. Of course, it never hurts to be overdressed. Remember - while you do want to look nice, if you out-perform someone dressed better, you will still beat them!

At my local shows where I do showmanship, I am usually too lazy to change clothes, so I just wear my jeans and shirt.
My horse and I took 2nd place on this day with this getup. Plain cotton pattern shirt. No sparkle. Jeans.
I did at least put on my nice hat ($800 beaver 20x) although it has more of a rodeo style shape and I ain’t changing it to the show pen taco!
But my horse did a really nice pattern, and so we placed appropriately. Even thought I wasn’t dressed up and my hat wasn’t shaped to the current showmanship trend.

[FjordBCRF]

@beau159

Now I am not the guru when it comes to showmanship, but the “posture” (especially hands) has been going a little bit more relaxed than what it used to be, just FYI. I would encourage you to take a few refresher lessons from a trainer, to get all the new details on what’s trending.

Also, dark leather is still “in”. The photo you posted for your combo has a light leather halter. Look at the halter you posted later from the equinechronicle ---- dark leather!!!

I’ve been watching recent videos and did notice it seems less stiff than I remember, which is very nice to see!

I really don’t give a hoot about dark leather being “in” for the halter or not I like the lighter leather because it nearly matches his coat color and will make it look more like he’s just wearing silver.

@Paint_Party

used to practice the showmanship patterns in my kitchen and used overturned cups for the cones. Me and my invisible horse. Both my husband and my dog thought I was crazy.

I love this!!