Most Embarrassing Place You Wear Your Riding Clothes

[Laura F.]

Hi Everyone,
Do you ever stop off at the grocery store or drug store on you way home from the barn, STILL in your riding clothes? How about going out for lunch after a ride?
Where is the most embarrassing place you ever wear your riding clothes?

[Hailee McW.]

I used to always stop in at Tim Hortons after a ride, but now I usually go for a coffee or a sandwich at a smaller coffee house by the mall. I get some weird looks, especially if I've been slimed by hay,but most people in my city know that there are a lot of horses around so it's not too weird.

[Barbara F.]

I wear my riding clothes EVERYWHERE! Also, I wear a hard hat when I ride, so if I stop off for groceries on the way home, not only am I in my breeches and knee socks, but my hair is flat and my bangs are off to one side from my hat. Very attractive!
Hhmm, perhaps I should at least do something with my hair!!

[Sonia]

HAHA, I've been there too! I started wearing a baseball cap after a ride, it at least disguises it to the world even if you know it's a disaster.

[Chris - resident queen of shops]

I try not to go out in riding clothes much but last time I stopped by my vets office they gave me a funny look as I had on breeches & sequinned gold ballet pumps - I can't drive in riding boots & the pumps where the first pair of shoes I picked up!

[Barbara F.]

LOL, what a lovely fashion statement!

I forgot to mention in my earlier reply that I also usually end up with some sort of large green blotch on my shirt from who-knows-what. Also very lovely!

[Jackie]

I can relate to this ..the green blotch, usually I haven't noticed it until I see people take a step or two away from me in the store.I usually wear a baseball cap to cover the helmet head lol. I haven't tried the sequins though LOL

[Hailee McW.]

:] I tried something new today! I went to a restaurant after my ride, and not only was I covered in horse hair but also fur from the dogs at the barn. My hair was crazy, my shirt coated in hay and my feet shod in dirty paddock boots. I think a few people probably covered their dinners in fear of getting muck in them.

[Chris - resident queen of shops]

Do people feed haylage in the US/Canada? If not, it's a type of pickled hay & the smell is really pungent. I swear I can clear the queue at the supermarket checkout if I've opened a fresh bale before I go shopping.

It's even worse if you don't have riding clothes on. If you do at least other shoppers will think you are a crazy horse lady - better than wondering why you smell so much if you are shopping in "normal" clothes!

Ah, the joys of horse ownership!

[Heidi]

Pickled hay? I don't think I've heard of such a thing before, but it sounds like a good idea? How do they pickle it? What's the cost compared to regular hay? Why do they do it, and what do they use to pickle it? Who makes it? I'd like to see if I can get it around here!

[Fiona Hill]

It's not exactly 'pickled'. It is made from the same long grass that hay is cut from, but instead of baling with string and leaving in the open air to dry out, it is wrapped tightly in lots of plastic to seal in the moisture. The bales are stored for use in the winter (same as hay) but still in the plastic, and so when it is opened it will have been kind of slowly fermenting in its own moisture. One of the problems is that it can go mouldy if the air gets to it while it is still in the plastic and then it smells really rancid, but even if it hasn't gone off it smells really strong and Chris is right, there's nothing quite like the smell of haylage to clear a shop!

Horses seem to prefer the taste to hay - but there are all sorts of old wive's tales about the advantages and disadvantages of feeding haylage. Obvious benefit - not dusty like hay so reduces the risk of coughs. Disadvantage - it is 'stronger' than hay in nutritional value and retains more of the natural sugars from the grass, so you have to be careful about feeding too much. However, the flip side of this is that it contains more water, so some people say you should feed more because more of it is water! Another benefit, to the farmers who produce it, is that it is easier to make - they produce big round bales and you don't have to store it under cover because it comes in it's own plastic wrapper. Although of course, the plastic can (and does) get punctured and then it gets wasted coz you can't feed mouldy haylage...

You'd have to look it up to find out the scientific truth about the pro's and con's but these are the ones I know about. In terms of the cost, I guess it's cheaper than hay, especially at the moment in the UK where the summers have been so wet recently.

[Hillary Kennedy]

Oddly enough I have actually gone shopping for school supplies, clothes and then out to eat all while I was dressed in my breeches, half chaps boots and spurs LOL! Boy did I get weird looks cause there aren't to many horses left in my area LOL!

[Carol-Anne]

I always seem to have to drop by the grocery store after riding in my breeches etc covered in hay, hair, dust etc. - usually my face is dirty and my hair is a mess - I get strange looks from patrons :)