Teach Me Tuesday: Riding Gloves

While I'm very openly a snobby tack ho, I am not at all even a little a clothes horse. I buy what's cheapest and wear it til it dies. My very advanced age and lack in interest in a gym membership means that I wear nice-ish breeches, but that's it.

I do like to ride in gloves. I use $20 noble outfitters gloves. They last me a decently long time and don't hurt my soul to pay for.

But everyone is different. Are more expensive gloves better? Would Roeckls magically make me close my fingers and hold on to the reins? Do the blisters on your bare hands remind you to sit a little straighter?

I don't know. Teach me about gloves.

Staying Alive: Riding Through Winter Weather

As any winter-activities (in COLD climates) knows, the trick to staying active in the winter is LAYERS. Good layers. I've been keeping Courage in consistent work with sub-20f temps, and here's how:

Mostly I freeze to death.

HAHA actually it's true.

I also layer up. Here's the key elements of my winter wardrobe:

i want this color

BASE:

A good base is absolutely critical. On top, I really love the Noble Outfitters Hailey Long-Sleeve Crew. It's light weight and perfect for layering. It has long sleeves (YAY LONG ARMED PEOPLE REJOICE) and thumb holes that keep it in place. I'm seeing it listed for $30 online, but I'm pretty sure I paid $20 somewhere. I have two and they're great.

so hideous

On the bottom, I have the Kerrits Geothermal capri. This picture is hideous--I have cute black with a pretty design on it. The cut is kind of awful--The waistband comes up to my ribs and I am long-waisted and long-torsoed. The great thing about these is they don't add bulk under your boots and the elastic under your knee keeps them from sliding up and being useless. WIN.

NEXT:

I guess this is the mid layer? On top, I go with the FITS shirt I got on consignment a few years back for like $15. It's got this hideous grey pattern. I can't find it available now, but it slides right over my silky base layer and adds some warmth without bulk. I like that it's soft and stretch and moves with me. I cannot stand stiff clothes that restrict motion.

she's happy because this vest is awesome

THEN:

Again on top, at this point I go with the Kerrits Cross Diagonal Quilted Vest ($80 new, but I had a gift card!). This is a really great vest--it's cute, it's reasonably flattering, and it has stretchy side panels that let you jam ALL THE LAYERS under it because it expands. The front zips up like a mock scarf, which holds your real scarf in admirably. I definitely do not regret this purchase.

Noted: I frequently stick a light weight tech coat that's stretchy in between my shirts and the vest. I got it free from a friend and it closely resembles the Romfh Princess Jacket, but I have no idea what it really is.

ugly pants

On the bottom, I go with Irideon Wind Pro Fleece Lined breeches. Fun fact: I kind of hate these pants. They're bulky and shapeless and unattractive, but I've had several different brands and they're all kind of the same. Also, shapeless means stuff fits under them easily, so that's a plus. A bigger plus would be pockets, but apparently that's impossible. Just don't hold stuff in the winter, obviously.

I do have over pants that I bust out if I'm doing barn chores, but I LOVE BOARDING and I don't do those right now. It's not the prettiest look ever (and I really, really want winter boots), but it gets the job done for me.

What are some awesome winter riding pieces I should know about? Any suggestions from people in the cold frozen northland?

Product Review: Noble Outfitters Ready to Ride Glove (and bonus!!)

Gloves!!

The kind folks at Noble Outfitters contacted me a while back to do a review of their Ready to Ride gloves. I'm always in need of gloves, so I was all in. Then the package showed up at my house... not only did they send me beautiful brown riding gloves, but they tossed in a pair of Suregrip Gloves AND a pair of Xtreme Soft Boot socks. Woohoo! I love new things and I REALLY love surprises, so it was definitely a good day.

Brown gloves. So perfect.

First things first: The Ready to Ride gloves. I wanted these in brown because I have a thing with brown. My last set of brown gloves were the heritage brand gloves. They held up pretty well, but they always kind of stunk and we a little stiff. The Noble Outfitters gloves COMPLETELY outclassed my old set and I'm not even just saying that because they were provided to me free of charge for a review.

Plus my horse looks great

Here's what I really love about these gloves: THE VENTS. The back of the knuckles and along the backs of the fingers are stretchy fabric instead of the leather-look material. Not only is this a little bit cooler, but it allows the glove to be very fitted and still move with my hand. Bloody brilliant, I tell you.

If I was being waaaaay over the top ocd picky, the velcro doesn't meet up over the back of my hand absolutely perfectly, but hey. We're talking about an afford glove that's pretty enough to show in. I'll take it. I'll be buying another pair when I wear these ones out. I mean, I've had them for about two months and they still look new. I will definitely buy these again.

Even arty shots of hands

Next up: Suregrip Gloves. These gloves are in way too fun of a pattern to pass up! I kind of love just looking at them. I was even admiring them at a horse show the weekend before my own pair arrived. Because I wanted to do a thorough testing of both sets of gloves and produce a review in a timely fashion, I stuck these ones on Redheadlins to try out for me. She rides multiple horses a day and isn't afraid to take up contact, which is to say, she used the SHIT out of these gloves.

And guess what? They are still eye catching! She says they grip all different rein types really well. They're fun to put on and wear and they're light weight and not too hot in the summer. They fit well and look good. They are starting to show a little wear, but she uses them pretty hard.

Releasing like a champ

And who doesn't love a good pair of socks? The Xtreme Boot Socks were a fun surprise for me. I'm always squirreling away socks, but I'm really picky about how they fit. Specifically, I HATE HATE HATE socks that slide down, bunch up, or move around. These socks are AWESOME.

They're about $12/pair. They justify that price by having enough structure to stay exactly where you put them while still being lightweight and vented enough that I don't feel like my legs have been embalmed when I take them off. You know what I mean.

All in all, I was really impressed with the gear from Noble Outfitters. Everything is solid and as-advertised at a reasonable price point. It's a bit like a gateway drug--now that I've tried the gloves and socks, I'm poking around their website to see what else I need.