Well we don’t wear top hats anymore, so that’s a bit of a moot point. I’ve always done low bun in dressage, but have seen others do low pony or french braid and just put their coat on over the whole ensemble. It’s not too noticeable.
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The unsightly ear must be covered so the focus is directed to our pearl earrings, which obviously help our horses jump better. 
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Samshield makes a helmet with a different harness that leaves room for your hair. It’s called the dressage harness - easy to find overseas but probably harder in the states.
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For me, the ear flaps serve two purposes. In winter they keep my ears warm. 
Year-round, they help keep my glasses from bouncing around and shifting down my nose. (When I run I wear a headband over the frames for the same reason.)
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I’ve been doing dressage the last couple of years, and I hate the low bun. I do a long braid and tuck it in my jacket if I’m wearing one. Can’t even tell. I’ll be doing the same thing whenever I participate again in hunters and jumpers.
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Some ears are very unattractive, maybe that’s how the hairstyle became popular? Isn’t a bun uncomfortable? I think that would bother me, because it would have to be low on the neck not to interfere with the back of the helmet or helmet harness. I just keep my hair short enough that it can be kept neatly in a net but without having to tuck it under my helmet.
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I’ve always wondered where the ear flap style came from but mainly because I think it looks odd. Then again I think shadbellies are antiquated and look silly.
Maybe the ear thing came from the hairstyles of back in the day and showing an ear lobe was considered too tantalizing for the judge! 
I’ve never done the earflap and let my ears go free!
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Wouldn’t a French braid be just as bulky on the back of your head as if you flipped up a ponytail under your helmet?
I guess I don’t know how to do a French braid without starting up high.
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My show helmet is a wee bit loose and the French braid makes it fit nice and snug.
But you can always just start a braid just above the nape of your neck. Like one or two rows of it being “French” before it’s just a regular braid.
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Covering your ears while riding is not a tradition. (Unless you count an English riding, US-specific, unwritten rule from perhaps the 1980s a 'tradition"?) Ear covering did happen sometimes in the (mostly early to mid) 1800s was that women dressed their hair in the normal style of the day and added a hat as usual, then went riding (vs having special horse riding hair)
The normal style of the day then was heavily curled side pieces, thick braided buns at the nape, then you just pop a bonnet or top hat on with a big veil and away you go. Then you wore a corset and huge skirt, and you rode aside. Have a look at some pics.
So, the ear flap “tradition” appears to have been selectively lifted from 1840s-1860s hair styling, with nothing else kept intact. Or other time periods when covered ears were fashionable, and the style adapted for horse riders.
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I was recently reading a book on Victorian dress by decade as an attempt to cure my insomnia, which went into way less detail than the link you attached but did mention that the most “appropriate” and common colors for a lady’s riding outfit starting in the 1840s were… black, navy, and dark green. Plus ça change, baby!
Since we’re still working with a 180 year old color scheme it makes sense to me that ‘hunter hair’ originated in that period too.
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And I thought still copying the traditions of a few decades ago was bad enough!! I think we need to get a bit more modern than the 1800’s😂
The few times I’ve ridden with my hair in a French braid there has been a noticeable change in the fit of my helmet—for the wobbly worse. There’s no movement at all when my flat hair is neatly flipped up against my head.
There’s no way I could wear a bun with the harness on my hat, the bun would have to sit below my hairline not to interfere with the harness.
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Before I “knew better” (i.e. was informed of hunter fashion), I used to French braid my hair and then tuck the end up, similar to finishing a forelock or tail braid, then cover everything in a net and secure with a hair tie. My hair was just a bit longer than shoulder-length - that obviously wouldn’t work with extremely long hair. The French braid never interfered with my helmet fit the way that tucking my (very thick) hair under the helmet did/does.
These days I’ve switched to Ranch Horse shows, so I just put my hair in a low ponytail under my helmet. Simplicity for the win. 
Lately I have mostly done dressage schooling shows. Often I put in a low ponytail that is not interfering with my helmet. Then I braid that. So I have two hair bands; one at the top, one at the bottom. Works for me. I would do that for jumper classes as well.
That is me just schooling at home, so it’s not super neat here, but this is the general idea.
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I do this with my hair. I’ve also seen a few jumpers (not hunters) who have very long hair do the low ponytail, with hair ties spaced every few inches down to the end of their hair. Like this, but without so much “poof” between the hairties. I guess to keep it from tangling, but without the kinks from braiding?
@JenEM, my helmet, a samshield, has a harness that’s designed to allow for buns and low ponytails. I believe it’s marketed towards dressage riders but it’s the one most people here get as we don’t do hunter hair…
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My vote for a good compromise would be to do the braid down the back, under the jacket.
There’s WAY to much evidence about putting hair up interfering with helmet fit.
This is coming from someone who wears a 7 3/8 helmet with hair down, and had to have a helmet special ordered when I was showing as a junior to accomodate my thick nearly waist length hair. I think it was a 7 5/8, maybe a 7 3/4. My hair is now just barely shoulder length, and much thinner; I put it up in my helmet at a recent event and was rewarded with a killer headache.
If you start with a very low ponytail, you can preserve the hair half covering the ears just showing the stud earrings look that is traditional in hunters. If you have a layered cut or a lot of wisps around your face, add a hairnet or use styling gel.
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I have hair that’s about mid-neck and very thick. I’ve never even tried putting it up in my helmet. I go for a hunter hair look with the ear flaps and pearls in front, granny cafeteria lady in the back with it just tucked under. Very geriatric but I don’t care, and if I ever did go to a show, I would keep it the same.
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I braid my hair starting at the base of my neck (thus below the helmet), put a rubber band at the top and the bottom, and then fold it under, like an (eventing or dressage) braid on the horse’s neck, secure that with a rubber band, and put a hairnet (sometimes two, one “no knot” and one “one knot”) over the whole thing. When my hair was longer I folded it over twice. My only concession to “ear flaps” is to put the hair net(s) over my ears.
I really don’t care what the “hunter hair snobs” think, it is neat and out of the way.
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