Famous Last Words: Equestrian Style

I thought to cheer you all up (and after that thrillingly long hiatus) I’d share a few funny possible equestrian ‘famous last words’:

• “Oh he doesn’t need ear puffies, he was fine yesterday”
• “I don’t think I’m going to lunge him today, I’m sure he’ll be fine after that month off!”
• “It’s going to rain? Quick, open that umbrella!”
• “Oh its fine, your boyfriend can ride him without a helmet, experience, or supervision. I’m sure he’ll be fine.”
• “Well I saw it work in this movie once, so I’m going to try it.”
• “This guy at the dude ranch told me it worked with his horses, so I’m going to try it in my clinic with George Morris.”
• “I’m sure you can text and ride, it’s not like that’s as unsafe as texting and driving.”

Got any great ‘last words’ to add? Tell me int the comments!

Givenchy ‘Tisci’: A ‘Sexy Take’, But Not On Horseback Riding

As Givenchy launches its new line ‘Tisci’, equestrians like myself struggle to understand how this new collection could possibly claim to be ‘equestrian’. In a recent article, the collection claimed to reference ‘sporting polos’, ‘horse blinders’, and ‘jodphurs’. In my previous article about equestrian fashion, I laid out my opinions regarding the mindless ‘equestrian fashion’ parade of unrealistic and dysfunctional fashion being produced as ‘equestrian’ garments.This new ‘Tisci’ line is no exception. Here are some ‘looks’ from Tisci’s latest runway show.

The only reference I can see in this 'Tisci' line garment are the dizzingly obvious 'riding boot' riff that seems to be abysmally popular for brands that wish to wave the 'equestrian flag' and distinguish themselves from other fashion brands. A boot, is a boot, is a boot...is not uniquely 'equestrian'. Image courtesy of Idaho Statesman.

Equitation: What People Think I Do

In the wake of the highly popular meme trend of “what ___ thinks I do” images that have been appearing across the internet, I decided to write my own opinion piece of what non-horse people think I do. To provide an example of what I mean, here is an example of one of those images:

Image courtesy of Horse Forum.com

Equestrian Fashion: What It Is And What It Isn’t.

As an equestrian, and a very stylish one at that, I would like to preface this entire post by saying that this article is not aimed at any of my close friends, colleagues, peers, or anyone I know well enough that could be offended by this posting. That being said, here is my most humble opinion of ‘equestrian fashion’.

Equestrian fashion is at its core a fashion perpetuated by mainstream equestrian culture. This encompasses everything from cowboy-looking apparel to equitation stylings, and every musing in between. Major brands such as Polo Ralph Lauren, Dolce & Gabbana, and Antonio Melani have become successful marketing the equitation-based styling as ‘equestrian fashion’, leading major magazines such as Cosmopolitan and Vogue to dub this look as ‘equestrian’. But what is equestrian clothing? What makes an article of clothing ‘equestrian’? At this point in the conversation, it is only fair for me to say that society’s fashion gurus and I begin to disagree.

Because clearly, sticking a giant horse next to a random chick in heels, automatically makes those heels 'equestrian'. Image courtesy of The Equinest