Questions from a rusty horseshow mom

[HJECG]

Hi to all. I am a mom of five widely spaced kids. My oldest daughter is now age 27, and from age six to sixteen, she moved up from local shows to the A pony circuit, went to Pony Finals several years in a row, and then did the A juniors H/J circuit. So I was a quite experienced horseshow mom for all those years.

But I now find myself a very rusty horseshow mom, as our youngest daughter got a much later start than her oldest sister. She’s 14, and started taking lessons only 18 months ago. I honestly thought she was going to be a kid who just enjoyed taking a lesson once a week and enjoyed spending some time with horses, but that turns out not to have been the case at all. It turns out that she absolutely loves it, and is showing some real talent, and definitely a lot of drive and passion.

So now I find myself ramping up to be a horseshow mom once again, and I am realizing that just as things always do, styles and fashions, and what’s considered appropriate attire and tack in the H/J show ring for juniors has evolved, and I’m definitely not yet up to speed on everything in the same way that I was back in the day with our oldest daughter.

This year, our 14 year old competed in small, local shows where honestly there were kids wearing a bit of everything. I think we actually had her turned out quite nicely, but she’s progressing so well that her trainer thinks she will be ready to move up to some significantly more competitive shows in our area in the spring, and I want to make sure she doesn’t make a teenage horse show style faux pas in the ring because I’m still basing the shopping we do for her on the shopping we did for her big sister well over a decade ago.

So at the moment, I have two specific questions, and I am hoping some of you might be kind and patient enough to answer them. I am sure I will have others going forward.

1: Back when her sister was showing, all the girls absolutely had to have a GPA for their show helmet. I am guessing that another brand or brands are now seen as more widely preferred in the ring. Obviously, safety, safety, safety, always comes first, but among appropriately safety-rated helmets, what are teenage girls wearing on their noggins at higher level H/J shows these days? And am I correct that the days of bling are now over? (For both belts and helmets?)

2: Are what we used to refer to at my older daughter’s barn as monogrammed “baby pads,” which I know are also often called dressage pads appropriate to be placed under your horse’s fleece fitted saddle pad when you go into the H/J show ring these days? Or is that look only seen in show jumping?

Thanks for any and all feedback on these questions!

[Peggy]

Welcome!

2. Only jumpers when in the show ring. Everyone at home.

3. I am not a teen and ride in the jumpers, so I’ll let someone else go into detail. But you definitely see a variety of brands, though some are more popular than others.

this is a 1 but it gets turned into a 3 when posted

[Renn_aissance]

Our teenagers usually WANT a Samshield, but what their parents buy for them is more typically a OneK, TraumaVoid, or Charles Owen, which are usually less expensive and may be safer. There have been advances in helmet technology since your eldest graduated the junior ranks- look up MIPS for concussion reduction.

Bling is out. Now if you’re super cool, your helmet has metallic piping around the venting. Either OneK or the Tipperary helmets do a rose gold which, personally, I covet, but they don’t fit my head and my horse is retired. Nameplate belts are also out- my sister is trying to bring them back in at her barn and not having a great deal of luck.

Baby pads are for schooling. Monogrammed ones are still stylish. I see more plain letter initials than flowery styles.

[outside_leg]

By far the most popular helmets you see in the H/J and we scene are samshields. I know some here don’t like them, but I’ve always found they fit me well, and the price is right if you buy from Europe. I also see a few Kasks and fewer Charles Owen’s. You don’t see many GPAs these days.

For hunters and eq in the show ring, you need a shaped fleece or sheepskin pad. For schooling, a half pad and baby pad work. For jumpers, the half pad and baby pad also work. Note that a true dressage pad would be too large for these purposes. You want something marked close contact or all purpose.

[fivestrideline]

1. Samshield is the popular helmet, but OneK is a close second. Kask, CO, Tipperary, pretty much anything non-velvet is going to fit right in. MIPS is great, if you can find one that works.

2. No baby pads in the show ring, unless you’re doing the jumpers. Fitted fleece pad or (less common) half pad.

Bling is out, and so are colored shirts - at least the visible parts.

I’ll add, and this may not be news and is just from my observations:

• lots of black coats, though dark navy is common too. More colors are making it into the hunters (green, light blue, even eggplant), but black and DARK navy always work. Most coats are softshell or mesh, and shorter than they used to be (I think too short is tacky IMO)
• breeches are still tan, but some are so light they’re almost off-white. All kinds of brands, but lots of people are doing silicone knee patches instead of suede-look.
• air vests are very in, which may be part of the reason black coats are popular (most air vests are black). A vest is a safety choice, so no one should buy one to fit in, but they’re very common to see in the show ring.

However, the judge doesn’t care what brand of clothes your kid is in. They care if rider and horse are clean, neat, and safe. Better to be a bit outdated than dirty and unsafe!

[CBoylen]

Your child I’m sure follows everyone on instagram and will tell you all the trends. That is what has changed. My backyard kids know what the kids are wearing. They can’t afford it, but they know.

[Rumorhasit93]

Adding something else to consider…boots! Although you’d be hard pressed to find anything that pulls on these days, zippers are the only way to go. And they’ve become more robust, don’t fret! Parlanti (I personally don’t love the quality and for eq they make your leg look stumpy IMO) or something with a Spanish top (?) such as Fabbri or Tucci will look much more elongating and elegant. People ride in other brands, too, these are just popular/my picks (the latter two).

Welcome (back)!

[HJECG]

We did already go ahead and invest in good tall boots, and WOW what a wonderful difference from when daughter #1 got her first tall boots. Now they all have zippers, even the very highest quality ones. No more agonizing boot pull sessions that exhaust your kid and stress her out even before she has to go into the ring.

And actually, that’s part of a whole bigger picture of major improvement in show attire since my older daughter was showing. Now show clothing is made of fabrics that actually recognize that equestrian sports are a SPORT. I will never forget my older daughter (and this was NOT that long ago) nearly sweating into passing out on hot days at shows wearing those thick Tailored Sportsman breeches, a starchy cotton show shirt, a light wool show coat (it may have been light wool, but it was still wool, and had almost no give), leather gloves… It was awful, honestly.

For this year’s first local show season, we got our daughter the lightest, stretchiest, most breathable show jacket from Kerrit’s - and it’s machine washable! Unheard of a decade ago! And no more constant ironing and starching of show shirts. She has a white show shirt that’s made of a fabric an athlete in any sport would wear. Same with show breeches. They’re no longer thick and bulky and hot.

There have been huge improvements in all of these areas. So that’s all just fantastic.

[HJECG]

So if you do get the Samshield, if you get the one with the Rose Gold trim, is that considered conservative enough for the H/J ring? Not too flashy or blingy?

[Rumorhasit93]

My friend has one and shows in the hunters. I have a shiny samshield with the alcantara stripe AND the tiny Swarovski crystals for the hunters and I do well on the A circuit!

[MHM]

Honestly, there are a lot of variations these days. As long as the helmet is black, not purple or fluorescent pink, odds are it will be fine.

The most important aspect is to get one that fits well, and the best way to do that is to go to a tack shop that has a wide selection and try on Every. Single. Helmet.

Welcome to the BB, and welcome back to the horses!

[LCDR]

Can you imagine what George Morris would be saying about all these changes?

[mika0116]

The right helmet is the one that fits the best with the right safety ratings and is black.

The brand, the little details, the trim, the crystals or not is completely secondary.

The make and model or the helmet (again if black) will not make a difference in the ribbons, but will make a difference between a TBI and not.

Samshields are not MIPS, if that matters to you…

~ Signed someone who has ridden for more than 20 years & came off this year FLATTING warming up and my TraumaVoid MIPS (or maybe it was my CO MIPS - I own both and that helmet got the harness cut off and immediately disposed of before I was recovered) saved my life. I walked away with a trip to the ER a moderate concussion & level 3 separated AC.

Otherwise, welcome back. Struck breeches are my fav show breech.

Clean, simple well fitting tack is also top priority.

Edited to say I actually think the CO MIPS was the helmet I was riding in that day

[HJECG]

MIPS absolutely matters to me. I haven’t yet done all the reading up I need to on the improvements in helmet safety because my daughter has, as I said, only been taking lessons for 18 months st this point, she’s really just at the cross rails point when it comes to jumping.

But she’s definitely got talent, and she loves it and is progressing at a very fast clip.shee asking every day to start getting to jump the “real jumps.” So the Ovation schooling helmet we have her in now (that I bought her for that one leisurely lesson a week on the flat I initially assumed was all this kid was going to want to take - I didn’t even think she would ever jump at all) is not going to be suitable at all much longer - even at the barn.

With daughter #1, I once watched her large pony refuse a jump, my daughter come off over his head, and then the pony decided to come on over the jump after all. One of his front hooves came down hard directly on her head.

We immediately took her to the local Children’s Hospital (she wasn’t showing any signs of injury, but we wanted her checked out for concussion), and they found that her titanium GPA helmet had a huge crack in it. I know helmet safety has improved a great deal since then (this was probably 15 years ago), but at that time, this was considered one of the safest if not the safest helmet you could buy, and the doctor who looked at that helmet and examined our daughter that day (she was fine, thank goodness) told us that the helmet saved her life.

So I am hardcore when it comes to helmet safety. The safest helmet will always come before the trendiest one when this mom is shopping for her kid.

[Annie10]

You definitely want MIPS

[outside_leg]

On the topic of MIPS, not all helmets are created equally. Some MIPS helmets underperformed non-MIPS helmets in the Virginia Tech research: https://www.helmet.beam.vt.edu/equestrian-helmet-ratings.html

[HJdaydream]

Ovation has a new helmet that actually looks quite nice in person- for MUCH less then some of the others with the same look. It has something called ERT technology, which I won’t comment on because I know nothing about it but maybe others who do can chime in.

https://www.doversaddlery.com/ovation-vantage-ert/p/X1-360135/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAlsy5BhDeARIsABRc6ZuYB_oNyPzKHPOdtfWnWuYwAKmJ06r1LXRlxByBl67ggvkPcYcbJX4aAp_cEALw_wcB

I’m in my 30s (so far from a teen) but show in the hunters at A/AA shows. Samshield is definitely the most popular helmet, but Kask is quickly gaining in popularity. Navy and dark green hunt coats are the most popular. I’ve seen other people on this thread say black but IME not many are wearing black these days. Some of the new airvests can now be worn under certain coats. Very light tan breeches, lots of silicone knee patches. Equiline, Samshield, and Ego7 are probably the most popular brands. Everyone is living for perforated shirts at the moment, also with mock turtle necks. Brands such as Dada and Equestrian Club are everywhere at the shows. Beaded belts with stars and other designs on them (LuxeEq & Quail Hollow Tack sell them) are coveted by most. Elastic belts from Ellany are also super popular and much more wallet friendly. You can’t go wrong with Dreamers & Schemers boot socks for a teen. Ogilvy and Equifit baby pads for schooling, Ecogold for shaped hunter pads. Hope that helps!

[fivestrideline]

@HJdaydream

I’ve seen other people on this thread say black but IME not many are wearing black these days.

Must be regional - which wouldn’t surprise me! Lots of black in the Eq around here (and in the Maclay this year), which is where I spend most of my time that isn’t jumpers. A lot of the navy is so dark it’s almost black anyway.

Agree on the Equiline and Ego7, though you still see a lot of TS. I think the needlepoint belts will go out of fashion soon, but the elastic belts make such a better look to me (crotchety oldster in the making here ).

ETA: if kiddo is on social media, they know what’s in. Kids tend to be very conforming - not every kid, but most want to fit in. With horses, this can easily turn into a money competition. It sounds like OP has a handle on safety first, and I think that neutral, classic colors and well-fitting gear will always be in fashion.

[HJdaydream]

I’m sure you’re right- I’m in Zone 7 (Texas). One of the show vendors actually casually mentioned to me last weekend that she hadn’t sold a black coat in 2 years which is why it was fresh on my mind. I agree though, a lot of the navy looks nearly black anyway!

[ParadoxFarm]

@outside_leg

On the topic of MIPS, not all helmets are created equally. Some MIPS helmets underperformed non-MIPS helmets in the Virginia Tech research: https://www.helmet.beam.vt.edu/equestrian-helmet-ratings.html

I was just going to post this study. Yes, dollar amount does not equate to top safety all the time. There are some very reasonably priced helmets on that list.