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Where do you stand on dropped nosebands? They’re pretty traditional.
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I think they are not flattering to a horse’s face 
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I was there. I saw the horse in person. It wasn’t that distracting. I personally wouldn’t do it, but to each their own.
I actually disliked her cream/white colored boots immensely and found them terribly distracting.
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This is my personal, entirely subjective opinion. I think it does look pretty tacky. On the other hand, I love dark breeches, and deep jewel-colored coats in other shades than black or blue (like dark purple or green). I guess, again on a personal level, I like a little more room for self-expression and color choice (because some horses look better with different colored rider coats and breeches IMHO) but this does seem Vegas to the point of distracting. A purple shad on a paint with a few discrete jewels on the browband I think looks great. But this…
I also thought the clip job was “a lot.” I have a friend who does some wonderful, more subtle clip personalization (like a heart, or a pirate symbol for a horse named Jack Sparrow). But this isn’t to my taste. Still, taste is very subjective, and she could certainly ride me even at my best out of any arena!
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I don’t think “highly” of them (pun intended lol).
Then it will be like braiding…you either learn, or you pay someone to do it for you. Not that I think anyone has to worry about this in the near future. 
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Hope you’ve sent missives to all the actually Classical schools out there who start their youngsters in them!
It’s silly to cry “Tradition” when you don’t actually back tradition 
It’s ok to have an opinion all by yourself and not need to paste it onto something you don’t fully subscribe to but which you suspect others may respect 
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If you don’t approve of them it seems pretty simple to not use them yourself. But it sounds like you choose to look down your nose at those who do, which really isn’t cool.
FYI the clip job and rider outfit isn’t my personal taste at all. But my personal taste doesn’t matter when it comes to someone else’s choices.
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Do you consider these “excessive”?
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I wonder if that’s hard to keep clean. Guess it depends on the finish.
Or is that an underpaid, I can’t quite make out.
SRS performance/show saddle.
I think there’s a cover over it when in use.
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I love the SRS’s saddles. I’ve always wanted to sit in one.
ETA: I don’t think people even know what dressage purists are anymore. A dressage purist is the type to not lead by the reins as to preserve the mouth. Not a regurgitation of popular things people say to make themselves feel important. Classical dressage is NOT anti-leg blocks or dropped nosebands. Those things are actually quite classical.
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How else does anyone expect to sit the airs?
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Don’t you know? They just need to learn to ride better. Sarcasm intended.
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Yes, but what is a dressage thread without some “get off my lawn” vibes? Such a thing can’t be allowed to happen.
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Despite her thigh blocks, her scores would indicate she does indeed work on schooling in addition to clip art and her sense of style.
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I guess I’m going to straddle the two opinions here. I get really impatient (sorry hunter riders) with people who act as if the sky will fall of every single person doesn’t wear pale breeches and a boring black or blue coat and black boots every time they go in the show ring. A lot of us (and our horses) don’t even look GOOD in those colors, and I think riders need to be given a little leeway to determine what makes them feel confident and flattered. This is a sport, not a job interview, and every other sport allows a little personalization. Also, pearl-clutching can be alienating–a friend of mine was taken to task because her saddle pad was too shiny during a schooling show (and no, it wasn’t glittery, just had a slight sheen).
On the other hand, if you wear an over-the-top outfit, I don’t think I have to sit on my hands and not make a peanut gallery comment, because if you dress like a Vegas show, on some level you must want a little attention. Do I think it should affect the rider’s placement? Not one whit. The best performance by horse and rider should win. But as they collect their blue, am I going to comment in private on the white lizard Elvis boots? Yes, I am and I’m not gonna say, “Oh, just let people enjoy themselves.”
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I think there’s a difference between commenting that you don’t like the outfit choice, or laces on the boots, or etc and bemoaning the death of dressage as we know it and saying that people need to spend more money on lessons and less on outfits or thigh blocks as did the above poster. This rider’s scores indicate that in addition to spending money on boots, they spent plenty of money on lessons as well.
Here’s the type of comment that bemoans the end of dressage…
“All of this …. ( all the attention on outfit and clip) isn’t that surprising given that dressage today in competition isn’t even remotely close to “classical” anymore. Personally, I find the whole thing ghastly- but I also find most “show riding” ghastly these days. We definitely have lost our way when it comes to riding dressage as it was intended. But, if it’s legal, then so be it. It begins to feel a lot like a circus act . Halloween is over.”
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I’m rather new to dressage as far as showing. I’ve been a fan and have followed the top riders for years, though. I always felt that dressage is a form of riding and communication between a horse and rider. I think it’s less about competing with other riders as it is about competing with myself to be better than I was, and to teach my horse to be better than he was. If I accomplish that, I don’t think it matters what I wear. I don’t feel like that is a decline in dressage. Again, just thoughts from a newby.
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Dead right!
There are folks who do hair and makeup to go to the barn. There are others who wear barn boots and horse hair covered pants to the grocery store. Neither is wrong. Both are forms of expression. Neither indicates level of proficiency.
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Ha, I do both! I wear makeup to the barn…and it’s in my backyard! Just part of who I am. But I also wear my barn jeans to the store when I have to. 
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