Winter riding must haves?

Well, you will never have the trim polo n breech summer look in winter! But I think you can look bundled up in clean, well fitting, athletic or outdoor gear in colors that suit you and the horse.

PNW here where we do go below freezing but mostly contend with cold rain.

I ride outside most of the time and have a huge supply of low volume layers. From October to April it’s some combination of base layer long underwear top n bottom, cotton thermal, microfiber, merino wool, or microfleece. Then on top lightweight wool pullover, hoody that’s fleece inside, slick outside, then down vest, parka, long rider rain coat, waterproof jacket as needed. Regular breeches over the long underwear or kerrits fleece winter breech. Heavy wool socks and Ariat insulated waterproof paddock boots and half chaps if needed. No scarf. Fleece gloves with gripper palms.

I think outdoor and sports gear translates better to riding than regular clothes. Though it is nice to find a purpose made riding parka as most ski or snowboard jackets bunch up around the middle when you try to ride in them.

Color is also important, seriously :slight_smile: it can be hard to look tidy if you are bundled up in clashing brights or pastels. Choose a color family that suits you and your horse and darker breeches not beige can look more pulled together with winter gear.

If you are riding and teaching you might want a knee length down parka (North Face or North Face knockoff :slight_smile: ) to stand around in.

The plus side of winter clothes is that they hide muffin tops, panty lines, and all the other wobbles that are on display all summer!

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This year I will be riding outside! I bought a snowboard helmet on the advice of a friend who winter bikes…snowboard helmet has integrated liner and ear covers for warmth.

I’m very curious about the winter riding skirt, saw them online last year. Please give us feedback on how it works IRL! (Warm? Bulky? What does your horse think?)

I don’t think they’re still made, but seven years ago I bought a Polartec fleece form fitting body suit made by Carol Davis at Webfoots. It has a full length zipper in front and a back fanny zipper for easy bathroom breaks. It’s my must have go to, best thing I ever bought. I never need a heavy coat when I wear this body suit.

Also, a silk balaclava - so thin that it won’t interfere with helmet fit, but surprisingly warm!
http://www.bogong.com.au/lowe-silk-balaclava.html

For heavy weather, Mountain Horse Mountain Riding Pant full seat.
https://www.horseloverz.com/english-…yABEgJubfD_BwE

Tuff Rider fleece breeches

Smart Wool or LL Bean wool socks

Fleece tights

Smart wool. Best stuff ever.

I love these. https://www.doversaddlery.com/smartwool-mid-zip-neck/p/X1-200698/

They work fantastic as a bottom layer. A good vest and wind breaking jacket is often all I need when riding then a warmer jacket in the barn.

And 2nd to these. I can wear them at a winter schooling show or clinic and look good…but they are warm enough that I wear them everyday.

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I HATE COLD, Love my Kerrits fleece breeches, down vest, down jacket, soft shell jacket under my Mountain Horse winter coat and 10 below gloves. I feel like the Michelin man, but layers do peel off after/if I warm up. Hotties in my boots and my gloves.

Well, I live in Canada, so we do wind up with temperatures around 5f. I don’t care how puffy I am. I have silk long underwear from Eddie Bauer that fit very well under my breeches. Something similar on top, followed by a turtleneck of some type, a fleece pullover, a vest and then my wax jacket. The jacket is usually off by the time I bring him in(he lives outside 24/7) and get all my stuff out. This year, I bought alpaca socks which are very cozy but it hasn’t been that cold yet. Sometimes, I just wear good socks and my paddock boots and sometimes I wear winter riding boots. Typically, I whine about the cold for the first 15 minutes and then I’m ok. I do love the heated seats and steering wheel in my car though!

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Get those foot warmers like hot hands and put them on your socks. I put my tall insulated boots (can’t remember if I have ariats or mountain horses) in the car, open end pointed towards the heating vent, on the drive over.
Fleece lined tights are the best!!,

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Oh my gosh- those riding skirts look amazing and warm!!! Thank you!!

So what happens with those skirts if you fall off? If it gets snagged on a branch? If it’s really windy do they stay put? Looking at them, they make me nervous that they could be a safety hazard.

I have a fantastic pair of thick horze full seat breeches and they are super warm and comfy. On the cold days (below ten and single digits) Ill put a pair of under armor long underwear underneath and it keeps me very warm. Under Armor really is the best for base layers. Turtle necks for warmth and long underwear bottoms. Must have!!! they can be pricey but so worth it. I love my Horze breeches.
Also pricey but so worth it and can get a decent one for under $200 is a heated jacket. I can’t believe I ever lived without it. It allows me to wear less clothes and keeps me warm between horses.

Well, with the cold snap that we have had, I’ve pretty much been living in my riding skirt, even just to do barn chores. I had ended up getting the waterproof one that is now available at Riding Warehouse, (even though I coveted a wool one!) because it cost less and seemed more practical and easy to take care of. That thing is seriously worth its weight in gold. I have gone trail riding while it was snowing, and it has kept both myself and my horse warm and dry.

devvie_continued, I had the same thought as you, as I am not one to even put my quarter sheets over my legs as I have seen someone else get caught up that way. Fortunately, my feral little yak’s winter antics haven’t managed to get me off yet (knock on wood!) but the cool thing about the skirt is that they have a loop on the inside that you step your leg into to keep the skirt close to you. I am hoping that if anything were to happen, the skirt will part ways from the saddle with me pretty easily, and not leave anything to get caught. If I get a chance to test-pilot it unexpectedly, though, I’ll report back :smiley:

THIS!! I tried these on the weekend (breezy -22C here) and it was amazing how much a tiny $1 toe warmer improved my quality of life.

This may be a silly question… but when you use the hot hands warmers do you put one in the toe of the boot outside of the sock? I’ve tried the hot hands like insoles and they do not work at all. I’ve been having a heck of a time getting my toes to stay warm… but everything else is ok. A touch cold, but not feeling like it will fall off. My feet worry me ever since last year when I think I may have gotten close to frostbite (not a riding thing, but it took months to feel normal again).

Are there any good gloves for Reynaud’s Syndrome? My feet wear German Falke Wool socks, and almost never get cold, but I have a pair of polartec sock liners. I wear silk underwear (or Cuddle Duds) on my truck and legs, and wear turtlenecks under my outer garments and regular breeches.

But my hands! I have several different insulated gloves and use handwarmers in the them, but my fingers still get so cold the pain is terrible. Does anyone make electric gloves that (maybe) use a button battery to send warmth to fingers. I have found that it is impossible to ride in mittens.

And they do, but they are very expensive. And none that I have found actually heat all the way to the finger tip; they pretty much have heat where a hand warmer would provide heat–and that isn’t good enough.

Have you tried these?

https://www.amazon.com/HotHands-Toe-Warmers-Odorless-Activated/dp/B0007ZF4PE

If I don’t have these on my socks I am absolutely miserable. I’ve tried all kinds of sock combinations and really the only thing that works for me are the Hot Hands Toe warmers.

For my hands, since I don’t have access to an indoor, I do a fair amount of hacking out around the barn at night and resort to regular mitts. I use from LLBean leather (deerskin) mitts with double lined wool mitts inside of the leather mitts (sold together). I find the leather mitts makes it easier to grip the reins.

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@Larbear No, I haven’t seen those ones before. I’m definitely going to be trying them out, those look a lot better than stuffing the hand ones in the toe or the full insoles.

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I use www.allthingsalpaca.com . Kimberly Fouse is very nice, with whom to work. The heavy duty socks cost about $22. Since I wear a men’s size 10 shoe, I always get a man’s large.

Thanks, I’ll check them out!

Yes those are the ones! Amazing. They are thinner than the hand ones, with a sticky back. My boots are very well insulated - when I take them out of the pack I shake them a little to activate them before I stuff them back in.

I wear my regular Costco construction socks, stick a hot toe on the outside by my toes and continue on with my day. Amazing how toasty toes make your day so much better (low of -26C tomorrow!). Definitely worth trying and I was surprised that they stayed warm for about 8 hours.

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