So 1) I’m pretty sure I have the same f-bomb socks. They have a girl and a horse I think.
2) My mom just gave me a pair of hedgehog socks…that I love.
3) I have black socks with yellow duckies that say “nothing to duck with” on the bottom!!
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I’m trying to get back into hunters and I get where the OP is coming from, but saddle pads aren’t my gripe. I come from ages of riding dressage, and most of my friends are eventers, so color and bling and extra stuff all seem pretty normal to me. I love expressing myself through style however, when you have 10-20 horses in a flat class together, I see how it can be a problem.
Go to a USDF show and watch the warm up ring. It’s a lot for the eyes. People still typically have black jackets, but rhinestones, contrast piping and patent leather are everywhere. Boots, saddles, bridles, coats, stock ties, saddle pads and now girths (GIRTHS!?) are super intricate and shiny. I can watch a 6-figure imported horse with the most amazing movement, and yet I find myself fixated on the riders navy, patent leather boots. So when you have a ring full of horses, a big goofy square pad really is that distracting.
I recall people getting relatively wild with the chokers for their ratcatchers in the 90’s. Most people had a whole collection of chokers. Some would have monograms, some would have other little embroideries, there would be ribbons sewn around the choker. And the fabric for ratcatchers could have fun plaid patterns. In my opinion, that’s the perfect amount of “crazy” for the hunter ring. It is limited to a little triangle and it is far away from the horse.
There are aspects of “strict hunt attire” that deserve criticism (don’t get me started on the hair!). But pads aren’t one of them. If you don’t like fitted pads, can’t find one that fits your saddle or don’t want to buy one, don’t use a pad at all. That’s even more old school and traditional that a fitted pad.
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Ha I have the f bomb socks too…
Where in the world do I get f-bomb socks??? I need a pair for every day of my life!!! Especially for work! :winkgrin::lol:
Yes but their website does describe preferred attire for formal hunts vs weekday hunts
https://dreamersnschemers.com/
Dreamers and Schemers socks are the BEST for wackadoodleness! And the f-bombs. 
They even do custom socks!
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I was referring to be breed shows where conformation and breed type is part of the scoring and square pads are traditional in Dressage as a fitted pad is in Hunters. Also OP is asking about the show ring where we are trying to please the judge, not Field Hunting but even there it’s about what the Master deems appropriate.
On a personal note, don’t care for square pads with Hunt Seat saddles for anything but schooling, too much pad, not enough saddle and sometimes the forward flap at the point of the knee roll sits ahead of the pad hem. But then again, never had the best horse in the class so depended on the details to present the best picture possible to the judge. At hone ? Heck, schooled in everything from a Navaho to a square quilted pad with embroidered name, Jumpers too. . But in a Hunter class under a judge where every detail counts, fitted pad only.
Our local tack store carried them for Christmas…my trainer gave them to me…seemed appropriate for the times Sullivan bucks me off and I walk back to get on muttering the “fbomb “ LOL
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I love eventing because you can express yourself with whatever colors you want. That being said…
I went through a bunch of George Morris’s rider and horse critiques one day, and as he pointed out certain things, I really noticed the difference between the horse and rider teams that were dressed conservatively and the ones with more colors. You wouldn’t think so, but it really does make a difference in showing off the horse. The pictures where the horse was groomed really well, and the rider was just wearing a plain black coat with tan or white breeches, plain tack, fitted white pad, nothing crazy…the horse popped out so much more. And as you want the judges to be looking at the horse, not the rider or the pad or anything, in hunters, you don’t want anything that will distract from that (so I imagine). I have much more appreciation now for plain, well fitting tack and dress.
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Not frustrated at all, in fact I love the conservativeness of the Hunters. It’s beautiful and classic and allows the horse and rider to shine on their own. Crazy colors have their place, just no where near the Hunter ring where attention to professional tradition matters so much. It’s what makes it so beautiful!
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Some hunts are more relaxed about it than others–and more relaxed at some times than others. My hunt will let guests go out in conservative show attire (black or blue jacket with a very subtle pinstripe or windowpane check, pastel/light colored shirt), but if you join, you are expected to dress “properly” after your first season and, during that season, you are expected to be gathering the items necessary to dress appropriately for the next. Exceptions are given for big ticket items like boots for another season or so. But you should really ask for the extension–to be polite.
We would probably not allow a guest to hunt in a Western saddle (though a land owner probably could get away with it), but I suspect that some hunts out in the western parts of the states are fine with it.
Our exceptions to the attire rule in the field are that we can wear hunt-branded rain parkas (a specific one–not just any black raincoat) in the rain–and only in the rain–and are allowed to wear hunt branded polo shirts in the early-season hunting (once the Masters have released us from rat-catcher) because of the heat and humidity.
Square saddle pads though? HEAVEN FORFEND!
