If your friend, who also owns a high end mobile tack trailer, ever says “You should try this on!” – be wary. If she also uses the word “amazing” while describing said item (especially if she’s even pickier and harder to please than you are), just go ahead and set your wallet on fire. You’re at the beginning of an addiction that will quickly spiral out of control.
Winston Exclusive Show Jacket
In my case the gateway item in question was a jacket made by Winston Equestrian. Some of you who read this blog regularly might remember the Brand Spotlight/Giveaway post that I did on Winston this past winter, where I mentioned the purchase. Now that I’ve received the jacket and have even picked up a few more Winston items, I figured it was time for a formal review.
I resisted trying on the coat at first, having been a self-proclaimed lover of tech fabrics and hater of wool for so long. The Winston coats are wool, so the first few times I saw them I didn’t really bother to take a closer look. When I finally acquiesced and tried one on in Luxe EQ, I was instantly sold.
Yes the fabric is wool, but forget whatever negative notions you might have about old-fashioned wool coats. This is not the hot, stuffy, stiff, dry-clean-only wool of yesteryear. It’s very lightweight, stretchy, washable, and still holds its structure well enough to be super flattering. Those of us who have a little bit to spare around the mid-section are well aware of how the modern tech fabrics can sometimes turn into sausage casings if the fit or fabric is just a tiny bit off. Wool offers a little more leeway, and can do a lot to help smooth out a midsection that really enjoys queso and donuts (raises hand). Winston has done a brilliant job of finding a fabric that gives you the flawless silhouette of wool but still has the same comfort level of a tech fabric; the best of both worlds.
Because I’m a crazy eventer and have to have everything in my colors, I ordered a custom Exclusive in navy with yellow piping to match my Samshield. While they do offer several off the rack styles, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to customize a coat to my exact specifications. I even got to pick the buttons (it’s the little things…)! When the coat arrived from Belgium I was not disappointed. The fit is perfect, the quality is high end, the finish is flawless, and it’s incredibly comfortable. Honestly, it’s lighter weight and more breathable than my Equiline tech fabric coat and I think it looks classier. Absolutely love it.
thank you Winston for being one of the few companies to put properly reinforced suit buttons on a show coat!
Vienna Show Shirt
I always keep an eye peeled for show shirts that are a little bit fun/unique without being overt (no fluffy ruffles or collars covered in rhinestones please). My other big requirement is that they must be lightweight and cool. This is Texas, it’s hot at 90% of our shows. It also has to be cut well, because no one wants a boxy show shirt with a mile of tail to tuck in.
This photo was taken before the Winston coat arrived, but you can see the shirt!The Winston Vienna shirt has turned out to be the perfect combination of all those things. It features a strip of navy and white striped fabric trimming the top of the collar, the two chest pockets, and the bottom of the sleeves. It’s a small detail that gives the shirt a little something special, but it’s subtle enough to not be super noticeable or flashy. The fabric is a really nice, lightweight, slightly-stretchy cotton that somehow manages to be significantly cooler and more comfortable than even my Tailored Sportsman Icefil shirt.
This shirt went through all 3 phases on Derby DayThe icing on the cake is the cut and fit of Winston’s shirts – they’re flattering on the female form without being tight or uncomfortable.
Winston breeches
The Winston breeches were the latest addition to my collection. I went to Luxe EQ looking to try on some white breeches, and since I was so happy with my Winston jacket and shirt, my curiosity got the best of me. Seeing as how they’re priced around $300 I normally wouldn’t have tried them on, but given how much success I’ve had with the rest of the line, I just couldn’t resist. And of course – they fit me perfectly, and when you find perfection in the form of white breeches, you buy it (on the bright side, at least the $450 Animos didn’t fit!).
As someone with a smaller waist and larger hip/thigh, I have a hard time fitting into a lot of the breeches that are cut more for the junior rider build. Usually they’re a little too straight for me and end up either gapping in the waist or strangling my thighs (an especially horrifying thing when it happens in white). Winston has managed to make a pair of breeches that fit a curvier shape impeccably.
The fabric is a really nice mid-weight, and the cut is low enough to be comfortable while still being high enough to contain all the important bits and wrangle the waist pudge. The sock bottom is excellent (death to velcro) and I especially appreciate that the whites have some contrasting gray stitching around the top and silver piping on the pockets. It gives them a really nice yet classy bit of flair.
Overall the Winston line has yet to let me down – besides riding clothes I also have one of their sweaters that I wear to work a lot. My only real complaint is that I’m too poor to buy mass quantities of it. It’s high end, for sure; the pieces are all extremely well constructed and made to last, and the fit is second to none. No cheap fabrics, loose stitching, or questionable fit here – it’s obvious that a lot of thought and effort goes into producing the line (which is made entirely in Europe from European fabrics).
While the price tags on higher end clothes like these are a lot for the majority of us to stomach, they’re the kind of “grown-up” garments that can be wardrobe staples for many years to come. They aren’t the shirt that you wear for 6 months and sell, or the breeches that last a season before popping a seam. I’ve owned lots of those. It feels good to know that now I’ve got some really high quality pieces in my wardrobe that are timeless, comfortable, and classy. Almost makes me feel like I actually have a handle on this adulting thing…
Now that it’s stopped raining in Texas and our fields have dried up, we’re back to being able to ride outside of the ring as much as we want. This is a happy time, because Henry and I are both big fans of doing as much work outside of the ring as possible.
as Henry demonstrated last week with Hillary
He’s still well-behaved in the confines of an arena, but he’s a little grumpier, a little more sullen, and a little harder to motivate. When the footing is good in the fields, we really only go in the ring to jump, since, ya know… that’s where the jumps are. So we might only ride in the ring once a week or so.
If it’s a dressage ride I usually take him out to the smaller field right next to the barn. In prepping for the 3 Day we’ve added a long walk or long trot before/after pretty much every ride, even dressage days, and it all seems a lot less monotonous going round and a round a field instead of round and round the ring. Plus Henry really likes to pretend to spook at random things, especially bushes, and who am I to take that joy away from him?
For straight up conditioning rides and gallops we go down the street to the big hay field. I’ve got that place down to a science – one lap at a 220ish mpm trot is exactly 5 minutes, and it’s a lot easier for my brain to handle 8 or 9 laps than it is to embrace the reality of a 40-45 minute trot. I can’t even imagine trying to do that in the ring, I think I’d stab myself in the eye out of sheer boredom and Henny would probably decline to continue carting my butt around.
As an eventer, riding outside of the arena is obviously pretty essential. You have to be able to control the horse in a wide open space, get yourself and your horse used to traversing varying terrain, etc. Plus you just need SPACE to gallop. Can’t do 450mpm gallops sets in an arena. Not without being really freaking scary, anyway. Most of the eventers I know ride outside of the ring at least a few times a week.
HENNY RUN!
But I also know a lot of people that rarely, if ever, ride outside of the arena. Many because they just don’t need to, but for some people I know it’s a fear issue. Like the lady I knew forever ago who wouldn’t even walk a single step outside of an enclosed area – she would even mount/dismount in the ring and always close the gate. I guess that’s a control thing? And then there are the horses who seem to genuinely lose their shit outside of the ring. Granted, I’ve never had one, but I’ve heard of these mystical creatures.
How often do you ride outside of the ring, and for what purposes?
It’s official – we’re one week away from leaving for Coconino.
the left – me on the outside; the right – me on the inside
We’ve already talked about the tremendous task that is packing, and right now I’m choosing to bury my head in the sand and pretend I don’t have to worry about that yet (omg), so let’s not talk about it again. But as I’ve tweaked Henry’s work routine a little bit this week to prep for the long trip followed by two weeks of showing, it got me wondering what other people do to prep for shows.
stand around and look magnificent?
Most of the time I don’t really do anything drastically different before an event, I just scale it all back a bit. Usually a few days before we leave I pop Henry over some fences, more for my sake than his, and put in a dressage ride or two, but mostly I just focus on keeping him happy and feeling good. I don’t like trying to fit a bunch of lessons and work in at the last minute; I want him to get to the show and be happy and interested in what we’re doing, not mentally/physically burned out or tired and sore. I feel like if I’ve done my job on a day-to-day basis in preparing him, there’s no need to cram a million things into the last week or two.
his mental health is ever-precarious
Of course for this show we’ve done way more conditioning than we’ve ever done in the past, so while I will keep up with his normal schedule of conditioning rides, he had his last really long one on Monday and now they’re getting scaled back a bit. We’ll do a couple more dressage rides and he’ll have his last jump school this weekend. The day before we leave he gets a day off and a massage. Otherwise we’re gonna hack out in his sidepull, go on some long walks, and take a little bit of a breather before the whirlwind starts. We’re as prepped as we’re gonna be.
It takes a lot of work to look this good
Which approach do you prefer – a lighter workload the last week before a show, or lots of cram sessions to try to sharpen things up? And more importantly – why?
In my continuing efforts to make Bobby and Halo more fabulous, I’ve been fighting the bonnet battle for a while. When I first met Bobby he pretty much refused to put anything extra on Halo, saying that “he doesn’t like having stuff on him!”. So he went boot-less, and breastplate-less, and obviously bonnet-less.
Now that he’s past his 6 year reign of Beginner Novice and going around solidly at Training, we’ve spruced him up a bit. Everyone remembers the custom saddle of course, and the real leather bridle. He’s also got a full set of both XC boots and stadium boots now, and Trainer basically forced him to buy a breastplate. He’s so much more legit. Yet he has still staunchly refused to come around to the magic of a bonnet.
Bobby is out of town right now, and he left me with the task of working Halo while he’s gone. Yesterday as I was tacking him up I noticed that he was just swarming with flies despite being doused in fly spray, so naturally I thought “I’M GONNA PUT A BONNET ON HIM! BOBBY ISN’T HERE TO STOP ME!!!” <insert much cackling>. So I did. And you know what? Not only was he cute as hell, he had zero flies or gnats bothering his precious (giant) ears.
I immediately sent pictures to Bobby, who admitted Halo looks damn adorable in a hat. Once again I’m right. Halo needs one. Everyone tell Bobby that Halo needs one!
Just one with like 2″ longer ears than Henry’s bonnets have. Halo’s big ol’ donks were testing the limits of spandex.
His colors are black and red, so I was thinking either black with two rows of red cord (stealth mode bonnet) or black with red trim and white cord (bling bling bonnet). Obviously no rhinestones or beads, because while I have succeeded in making Bobby hella fabulous compared to the sad state I originally found him in, there are limits to my magic. I’m not a freaking miracle worker.
Peer pressure, people, let’s do it! Halo needs his own hat!
breedrideevent.com 