As I remember it, there was a piece of cloth, like muslin fabric, stitched into the crotch seam on the inside. I always thought it was weird. Was it a barrier of some kind? Like to prevent crotch sweat stains on the seat of our saddles?
Or maybe it held the crotch seams together, due to the limited stretch of that infernal fabric.
As you can see, this has troubled me for some time. 
I remember it as more of a gusset which makes sense to the crotch of pants that don’t stretch well and that you know people will need to move in… but I can’t recall as vividly as you do, LOL.
The cotton fabric provides a solid base for the machine to grab and it acts as a stretch “stop,” to reinforce where all those seams meet. It tells all the pieces of fabric to get together and stay that way.
Yeah, 60. South Florida. It made perfect sense with lined jackets. Had the same rule, rode with someone not unknown then and now. Do. Not. Care. I’m old. It’s hotter now. Jackets changed. Fabrics changed. Times changed. I kept up. 
I think I love your parents. I hope you do too.
Stress on the seam. I sewed a lot in high school (really, my dad would let me buy fabric but not clothes. Clothes were expensive in those days.) So I understood that. Never thought that it was a commentary on womanhood.
Ha! Was hoping just yesterday that I could attribute my struggles to post without irons to my deep saddle and its cushy knee rolls!
And clearly I did not sew much. (Or at all). Thanks for the explanation.
True to all of that!
I guess I was super lucky in that we were about a 30 minute commute.
The other change I just realized is that, these days, most of the trainers in my area all have ‘civilian’ jobs. I guess that’s probably changed barn traffic patterns a bit, too.
Yeah . 54. South Florida here too. Now I’m in N FL but it’s still hot af 8 months out of the year ugh
Another Road to Maclay tidbit -
Maggie McAlary kept her Big Eq horse at home in New Hampshire for much of her early junior career. She and her Mom trailered him to Heritage on weekends for lessons.
We owned one of the horses that Chase Boggio rode, Nemo, for the last couple years of his life. He was a lovely, giving horse that took care of his novice adult lady, and still jumped to win in the performance hunters with me.
And thus it become possible for someone like me when I was 15 to be a bona fide horse trainer.
Hey, I’m with you! All of my rides get the breastplate! My trainer is now rocking my custom Bevals chaps now that I have “sadly outgrown” them.
Most of them do. In grad school, I spent some time nannying a pretty average pony kid who rode with one of the very BNT programs outside the city—definitely not a finals-type kid, but we made the drive 4-5x a week. Kids work on their homework in the car. (And then there’s me now, a pretty average amateur who drives 90-120 minutes five days a week too. Us gluttons for punishment are out there.)
For sure! I am fearless and resourceful because of them.
Those cotton mesh coolers were/are the worst. Literally impossible to keep clean. You took them out of the packaging and I swear they had a stain before even buckled a surcingle or chest strap… and the heaviest things ever if they happen to get soaked. Don’t miss those one bit.
I just tossed mine in the car for chilly days. They have a few cracks in leather, but I like the vintage look.
I had a velveteen helmet with a clear harness! With the tag “not a safety product” or something like that…lol.
“Item of apparel only”!
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse. You can opt out at any time.
For Customers
Company
Terms of Use
