IIRC (and it’s been a while). It was a holiday. Wine was likely drunk. Many posters broke rules. Erin the moderator came back and discovered the mayhem. Posted some salty posts and then banned a lot of people.
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I agree with @Rackonteur and think you look fab! Love me some brown tall boots. I for one would not be upset if the not-skin-tight breeches look came back into style!
This thread reminded me of all the ratcatchers I had as a kid. Most were purchased secondhand and had other people’s initials embroidered on them 
and they came in a lovely variety of colors/patterns.
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I believe the rule that said everybody had to wear an approved helmet when mounted on the showgrounds went into effect in 2006.
My (custom) de Niro BOOTS cost more than either of my first two horses!
Same, same, same plus ebay and Poshmark and Maryland Saddlery and Tried Equestrian. At least once a week I ask my mother “WHERE was the internet when I was doing this the first time around?” A few places had consignment racks when I was a kid but finding what you needed in the size you needed was always hit or miss.
Someone mentioned a windowpane check on a shirt? Just so you know I can do vintage and modern. For my last show of the year, I wore an old-school cotton shirt in pale, pale green with a subtle check… under a mesh jacket (picked up secondhand natch). I am a recent convert to the mesh jackets, after binging on all the fancy, ‘dry clean only jackets’ turning up used and cheap. I have funny arms, though, and am too lazy to tailor my acquisitions. I found the mesh and stretchy ones fit me so much better that way.
As for full chaps, you’ll pry them off my cold, dead legs. If you dig through big eq kid coverage on the COTH site, I remember seeing a photo caption in an article about one of the boys where he was identified as being in full chaps If the juniors and big eq kids are discovering full chaps, it’s only a matter of time, my friends.
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Which was when I stopped wearing my hunt cap. 
I don’t know about that one. There might be a few random young converts, but I think the instant gratification of the half chap purchase is going to be hard to overcome.
They can only watch TikTok videos for 30 seconds, but they’re going to wait 12 weeks for their custom full chaps to arrive??
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Full chaps are now like rust breeches: everyone swears they are coming back in style, but they never actually do. 
That made me think of another change. Most people now school in tall boots and breeches at home. Even half chaps have gone out of favor.
Growing up, even in big show barns, we usually schooled in full chaps and jeans; full chaps and shorts in the summer. Before full chaps were standard, it was just jeans. And gasp, a lot of the time we wore sneakers instead of putting on our paddock boots. When half chaps became fashionable, we usually put those on over our jeans or even khaki pants.
But as someone said upthread, you can’t be that reckless when your ultra expensive saddle is made of buttery soft leather. I saw a picture of someone riding in full chaps and sneakers the other day and I thought, “she must be my age!”
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Ehhh… there were more than a few wearing them at Aiken a few weeks ago when it was super chilly. I think it’s making a comeback.
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Right now a ton of hay costs twice as much as my first horse.
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Three words come to mind: chafing, pinching, and peeling… shudder
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I rode in short shorts and sneakers in both an English and a Western saddle. Teenage skin must be different.
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Also teenage brains. Lol.
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I still remember the epic thread “A Question For Merry…” Colin and VTrider. And others.
Remember the meltdown when ASTM helmets were required? The arguments that a custom Patey was safer? Ye olde days.
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Mine, too! I have two pairs that I’ve been wearing for decades. They’re warm, they glue you to the saddle, and they’re the ultimate motivation for keeping your weight steady over the years. What’s not to love? 
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You can tell bc with a long sleeved shirt the cuffs show
“How to fade a Patey” <-- a thread I recall being on the H/J board the day I joined COTH
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Beezer (my sister) is doing great. Rather than showing horses, she shows her Jack Russell terriers all over the western U.S. Her adorable OTTB that she got from CANTER is retired on a friend’s farm in Washington. I miss her dearly, but we have gobs of fun chatting on the phone.
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Yeah, I remember that. ALL of that. I also historically had a problem with pinching with my knee. The scars from doing that in jeans took years to fade. I also remember people using polo wraps to fashion half chaps.
I found a photo of me in the 80s riding in Schooling Sweats (they don’t still make those, do they?) and sneakers. No socks, of course
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I think the “cheap” Ariat tall boots now cost about what my first horse did.
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