I'm going horseback riding--what do I wear?

Factual Questions
1

I was a bit divided as to whether to put this in IMHO or GQ, but this seemed more appropriate.

For whatever reasons, I’ve never really been horseback riding before (at least, not outside of places like fairs). But in a couple days, as part of a mandated “fun day,” I will be doing some riding. And I really feel clueless about what I’m supposed to do, and especially wear.

I remember one of my friends who did ride said that shorts and horses were not a good plan. So I guess I’ll wear jeans. Any particular kind of shoe? Would sneakers be okay?

I’m not scared, I just don’t like looking stupid, so if you have any tips, feel free to offer them.

2

Jeans are, yes, a good idea. Actually any long pant is advisable–you just don’t want bare skin on the saddle/horse. Wear your most comfy jeans; you need a certain amount of flexibility in your movement.

If you are female (can’t tell quite from your s/n), I also recommend a sports bra. I learned this early on in my riding lessons–yowchie!

As far as shoes go, sneakers and tennis shoes are usually considered a bad idea as they can get stuck in the stirrup. Any kind of heeled shoe or boot is fine–my riding instructor often suggests cheap Payless work boots. I personally prefer the boot to shoe as it protects my ankle, which rests against the stirrup.

Most important thing to wear is a riding helmet. People have to wear them for bikes, and bikes aren’t known for spooking suddenly or rearing out from under you.

As far as shirts go, just be comfy–and wear something you don’t mind getting horse slobber, sweat, and hair on.

Enjoy! :slight_smile:

3

Are you male or female? Different crotches require different advice. :smiley: Females require jeans that are loose enough in the crotch that the big fat “blue jean” welted seam doesn’t embed itself in your…jeepers, there’s no polite synonym for “extremely tender place where all the important things all fold up together”. :smiley: If you spend an hour or two riding with a big blue-jean-type welted seam tucked up snugly in your…crotch…you won’t be able to pee for several hours afterwards, as it causes a certain kind of…bruising…down there. Here speaketh one who has Been There.

And if you are wearing rather tight jeans, when you get up in the saddle, try to pick out your seat, unobtrusively. Yes, I know it’s tacky, but we’re talking “extreme discomfort” if you don’t. :smiley:

Can’t speak for the guys, I expect one of them will be along in a minute to talk about…boy crotches… :smiley:

Moving along…The next big question is:

Are you riding Western or English? Big cowboy saddle, with the “horn”, or itty-bitty postage stamp saddle? It makes a difference in what kind of stirrup to expect, which makes a difference in what kind of shoes you can get away with. Listen to Ruffian, she speaketh truth, and I would add that a big wooden Western stirrup is more forgiving of less-than-desirable shoes than a skinny slippery metal English stirrup (if you don’t feel like going out and buying some boots just for one ride). The important thing for both styles of riding is that the shoe have a distinct heel of some kind, like oxfords. And with shoelaces, not slip-ons.

What’s the weather like there? Hot sunny days require a hat of some kind, and a long-sleeved shirt (preferably light-colored). Yes, you can burn on your arms even if you think you’re tan. A straw cowboy hat will do, but make sure it’s got a chin tie strap, or it’ll blow off the minute you lurch into anything faster than a walk. There’s a reason Clint Eastwood has that black dingle-dangle thing hanging down there, it’s not just for looks.

The riding helmet is an excellent idea, but if you’re riding Western, you’ll look like an effete English dork if you show up at Cowboy Bob’s Horse Rental wearing one. :smiley:

And yeah, I suppose you can wear a baseball cap, if you must… :smiley: But even a Wal-Mart straw cowboy hat is muchcooler, in both senses of the word.

Are you going to be riding on a trail, or going around and around in a riding arena of some kind? It makes a difference–what’s everybody else wearing? You can get away with workboots and a baseball cap at one of those “pay by the hour” Western trail-riding establishments, but if you walk into the Holy Equitation Riding Emporium for your 30-minute riding lesson wearing workboots and a baseball cap, and you’re surrounded by a dozen or so teenage Olympic riding team wannabes, all tricked out in their shiny boots and cute lil black riding helmets–well… :smiley:

4

I just realized that it sounds like I’m saying, “If you’re riding Western, don’t wear a riding helmet”, and then I’ll get busted by someone for giving you possibly actionable advice. :rolleyes: Like, if you decide against wearing a helmet to Cowboy Bob’s Horse Rental because you don’t wanna look like a dork, and fall off the dang horse, and then sue the Chicago Reader because someone on an Internet message board told you not to wear a riding helmet to Cowboy Bob’s Horse Rental because it would make you look like a dork, so you didn’t and now look what happened…

So.

Wear a helmet!

There.

5

I am female. I don’t know much–this is all through work. About half of our group is golfing–I don’t have clubs and have only been golfing once, so I elected to go riding. Plus, I get to sleep in 3 more hours than the golfers.

So I don’t know if it will be Western or English, but I highly suspect it will be Western. This is at a regional park, so I don’t think I have to worry about bein outdressed.

As to footwear–currently the only shoes I have with any sort of heel are
-slip-on casual shoes
-knee-high black leather boots
-hiking/winter boots

So should I go with the hiking boots? I imagine I’d cause quite a stir with the second option. With the hiking boots, I’m worried about getting my foot to fit in the stirrup. Let’s just say I have rather large, and wide, feet, and these boots are a bit bulky. Am I being overly paranoid.

As for the helmet issue–I think that to reduce the chance of lawsuits, they’ll provide one.

6

By all means wear a helmet and as heavy and stiff a leather shoe as you have. Tennis shoes offer no protection when a half ton animal with iron shoes decides to stand on your foot. Remember, once a horse steps down on one foot it has to put all of its weight on that foot in order to step off.

Because of the chaffing of saddle leather, especially stirrup leathers, a boot is better than a shoe. If you don’t have boots to protect your calves heavy stiff trousers, like jeans, are the next best.

If you are going to be out for any time and you have not done a lot of riding recently your butt is going to get sore, no matter what sort of saddle you are using. When your butt gets sore you will try to take the weight on your knees. If you have any knee problems you might consider elastic knee braces as a prophylactic.

I wonder if elastic, spandex type, padded croch cycling pants under your trousers would do any good.

I can’t emphasis the importance of a helmet too strongly. The other stuff is just a sore butt, stiff knees or, at worse, a few broken bones in your foot. The helmet might prevent your poor old brains from getting scrabbled.

Wear the helmet! It you don’t have a helmet, don’t get on the horse.

7

Go for the hiking boots (whatever you do, nothing sans toe-covering) If you’re going Western (which you most probably are, on a trail ride I’d guess) the stirrups tend to be large. I second the caution about the size of your jeans. Wear a pair that’s really worn in, with thin seams on all of your inner leg. Try stretching a bit before and after, too, even though it shouldn’t be too grueling. You’ll thank yourself the next morning.
Have fun!

8

OK - as a general summary wear:
your most worn in pair of jeans

collared shirt - to protect back of neck

sunscreen

hiking boots

tie your hair back in a low pony tail (if it is long) as that is most comfortable for wearing a helmet (braids etc can hurt by the end of riding).

a smile!! Horseriding is fantastic fun.

Take the chance to chat to the horse before hopping on and giving it a pat and maybe a titbit if you can (piece of carrot/apple etc). They aren’t as dumb as many people would like to think!!

Have a fantastic time!

9

You shouldn’t wear jeans. The seams will rub on the leather straps (sorry, I don’t know the correct english words for these things) and on your skin, and it will be painful if you ride long enough. Of course, your skin rubbing directly on the straps is worse. So, shaorts are definetely not a good idea.
Of course, pants designed for horse riding are the best choice. They have no seams, they are tight (so they aren’t pulled up while you’re riding which would result once again in your skin rubbing on the straps) and are reinforced at some places (still for the same reason).

Lacking this kind of pants, I would wear some sport pants (still don’t know the english word for them, sorry) tights and without seams.
And of course, you should definitely wear a helmet…

10

Horesback riding will likely be less stressful than playing golf.

Where I play golf sometimes, there is a bridle trail running alongside of the course. 99% of the riders wear a helmet.

And with the way I play golf, the horses should too.

11

It’s not generally the side seams that cause the problem, it’s the heavy welted crotch seam. I know for the same reason that DDG knows. Jeans are probably a bit more tolerable for western style riding - the saddle type & seating posture for that don’t encourage a riding style called “rising trots” (no, not trail food tummy :D), where you rise & fall in time wiht the horses motion - the jeans seam hurts a lot then. And you’re usually out for a good 3 or 4 hours. With no hope of relief. You’d be much better off wearing a pair of leggings, or tack suit/jogging bottoms that jeans. They still provide leg coverings, all the way down, but without any heavy seams at all - they’re the closest you’ll get to the comfort of jodhpurs without having to invest in riding clothes you’ll only ever wear once & that look daft (unless you’re going to be going in for international competition in the future) - not to mention that jodhpurs are pale cream & show up the dirt like crazy, and even recently curried horses seem to have a lot of dark brown dirt on them, so dark leggings/jogging bottoms would be best.

Definitely wear a helmet & double check that it fits & is fastened properly. If the strap is loose, change it. If it’s too tight, change it (ignoring safety aspects, you could end up with a headache & miserable).

Boots-wise - the heel is useful. If you think you’d be more comfortable in the leather boots, wear those, but note that you’ll be doing some wlaking around before & after, and during if you take a break to eat or anything, so you need to be able to walk comfortably in them, and also that whatever you wear will get dirty & need polishing - and if those are your best boots, you may not want to do that. Hiking boots you don’t tend to be as bothered about.

12

Sorry if I missed this somewhere above…

You might also consider a pair of gloves. If your hands are relatively soft, you could develop a blister. I always carry a cheap pair of leather work gloves ( I bought a pair for $.50 at home Depot last week).

So there I was, getting ready to ride for the first time. I do OK for about a half an hour or so, when I notice the blister the reigns has given me. I decide to tough it out. Bad Idea. The blister pops maybe 10 minutes later. I drop the reigns, yelp in pain. The horse bolts off, out of the driveway and down the gravel road. There I am, maybe a mile away from our farmhouse, 2 or three miles from the closest neighbor. The horse stops. He turns around. He starts to strut back home. I timmidly reach forward for one of the reigns, and the horse starts galloping again. Picture that. A 6 foot tall, 200 lb, 16 year old boy, sitting on a 20 year old horse, on the verge of tears, holding desperately on around the horse’s neck. He gallops up our driveway and, of all places, into the garage. I grab ahold of one of the beams above and pull myself up until my sister lures the horse back out.

Sorry to ramble on…

Tim S

13

Regarding jeans:

Some brands are better than others. Most of the professional cowboys I know swear by Wranglers, and swear at Levis.

I thought this was a joke until I actually owned a pair of each. Wrangler uses a different method of stiching on the inside seams that is much more comfortable than the seam of Levis. Also, Ws use a cloth that seems to have a softer texture on the inner surface than Ls.

I have no idea about any other brands.

14

What a hassle horseback riding is.

After reading these detailed suggestions, especially DDG’s looong and probably very useful, list, I will make my suggestion short:

Have you considered riding a motorcycle instead?

15

I ride in jeans, both English and Western, 99% of the time. Riding boots (high leather boots) are nice when riding English, but for one ride I wouldn’t invest in a pair. I wear either heeled boots, or heeled sneakers made specifically for riding. Boots are nice, but a lot of horse people (around here anyways) do ride in regular tennies - some barns have a policy on footwear - some don’t. I’ve done it myself (ride with tennis shoes) keep your heels down! Wear a helmet, lots of rental stables will provide these though, again I wouldn’t go out and buy one for a one time deal. Maybe you could find out a little more by calling the stable?

16

Wear pantyhose under your jeans. Or cycling shorts. They will keep you from getting saddle sores.

17

Ok, all this advice is great, but IMHO it’s a bit overkill.

For the first couple of months I started riding I wore a comfortable pair of jeans, a sports bra and a long-sleeved shirt, and hiking boots. No fancy pants, boots, or gloves. I would be riding for a few hours at a time, and I was FINE (albeit a bit sore in the muscles from keeping a straight posture and my toes pointed inward).

If you’ve never ridden before, in all probability you’re not going to be doing anything heavy. They’ll teach you the basics and you’ll probably wander around on the horses for a bit. Enjoy! The best advice I have for a beginner is to relax and move with the horse- the motions of walking will shift you from side to side, and the saddle will move a bit, but you won’t fall off. I promise. :slight_smile:

18

Yep, I’ve spent plenty of time on horseback (including going droving with over 8 hours per day in the saddle) and had no problems wearing comfortable, worn-in jeans. A new pair might not have been so much fun (and here’s an unexpected side benefit; the insides of my legs down to the calves have been permanently, painlessly depilated by horseback riding).

Jods or moleskins (that don’t have the inner leg seam) are good too, but if you’re only going the once, it ain’t worth the expense.

Low-heeled boots are a good idea - the heels will stop your feet slipping through the stirrups and getting caught, and there are no shoelaces to get tangled up in the stirrup iron.

Keep your heels down, and have fun :slight_smile:

19

You will have to wear a shirt with fring that runs down the sleeves and across the back.

Shees, don’t you people know nuthin?

20

So that’s why cowboys seem to favor Wranglers so preponderantly. I’d always wondered about that.