Dressing For Dressage: Lower Level

Lately I have seen many photos from live shows (including NAN) of dolls dressed inappropriately and still winning in dressage. After crying myself to sleep a few nights in a row, I decided this would be a perfect subject for my blog! Before I begin, I just want to note that even though almost all the pictures are of me, I do not take responsibility for any of those horrific faces I am making in most pictures. I never noticed them until now LOL. Also, please click on the photos to see them larger! They are quiet big and may appear blurry on here.

Starting with the bottom up:
Footwear: “Dress Boots” are typically used in dressage. These are standard tall boots, almost always black, and do NOT have shoestrings. “Field Boots” are also common, but are seen more in Hunter than Dressage. They are basically the same thing, but they DO have shoestrings.

This is obviously not me; it is my trainer George Williams. Here he shows a perfect example of dress boots.
Breeches: Contrary to popular belief in the model horse world, any color other than white breeches are RARELY seen. Yes, occasionally you get the quarter horse Hunter person who wears tan breeches and uses brown tack or the pony cluber who wears tan breeches, too. But there is no reason what-so-ever for a doll to be wearing tan breeches in dressage! If you doll is not appropriately dressed, you might be better off not even using one. Almost all dressage breeches are full-seat, meaning the leather not only covers the inside of the calf, but covers the butt as well. It is sometimes common for young riders to NOT have full seat breeches to help them learn how to sit the trot.

It is hard to see full seat breeches in a picture because they just wash out. So here is an example of how the leather is shaped.
Gloves: Dressage gloves are typically white. It may be common for young riders with shakey hands to wear black to draw less attention. But, by first level everyone should be wearing white gloves to show how steady and quiet their hands are.

Here I am in the olden days wearing black gloves. Also note the gold buttons on the cuffs of my jacket.
Coat: Dressage coats are almost ALWAYS black and almost ALWAYS have four buttons. Navy blue coats are sometimes seen at low levels, but they should always have four buttons to be considered a dressage coat (opposed to three buttons typically seen in Huntseat). Lower levels require short coats. They usually have 3 flaps and sometimes have piping.

Stock Tie: Lower and Upper level dressage riders wear stock ties. A stock tie is basically a piece of fabric that hangs from your neck and is bunched up to look “poofy”. Stock tie pins are used to “poof” the fabric and keep it in place. The gold pin seen on mine is the stock tie pin.

Hair: The most common way for riders to wear their hair is in a hair net off the bottom back of their head. Full head hair nets and tucking hair into the helmet are not as common.

Headgear: Currently, there are no rules requiring riders wear approved helmets. After Courtney King-Dye’s accident, it wouldn’t surprise me if helmets are soon required. Usually Intro to 2nd level riders wear regular helmets, or hunt caps. Third and Fourth Level riders are more likely to wear “Derby Hats”, but hunt caps are still common.
EDIT:USEFjust passed a rule requiring all riders under 18 or those competing at USEF levels (Intro through 4th Level) have to wear a helmet. So if your horse is competing at Prix St. George or above, you are fine. But if it is showing at Fourth Level or below, -by the new rules- your doll should be wearing a helmet with a chin strap! Thank you Cassi for this link!

My friend Sara wearing a hunt cap.
There aren’t any rules that say you can’t wear a green hunt coat or brown boots. But, for anyone who rides any discipline of real horses will know that there are certain fashions and trends that stand out in each discipline and are followed without rules. Why dressage people love to wear clogs and polos, I don’t know. But it is a trend and people tend to follow it. ALTHOUGH, there is a rule stating that colors must be conservative. So, I highly suggest not trying a pink coat ;). I don’t know if this would relate to or work for models, but riders are always allowed to wear their military/police uniforms.

If I am leaving anything out, or you have addition questions, please FEEL FREE to e-mail me or leave a comment! Or if you need addition reference pictures, I only have a couple thousand from dressage horse shows ;)

NOTE:Thanks to my blab friends, I wanted to add a few key details. THESE ARE NOT RULES. You will not be disqualified for wearing tan breeches at a dressage show, but it is VERY *common* to wear white. I wrote this blog with the intentions of education and styles and trends, not the rules. The above descriptions are from my experience. That means this is for traditional dressage shows in the US. Such shows as eventing, specific breed, and pony club dressage shows may be more casual or have different "in-styles". Also, this does not cover dressage shows outside of the US. I hope have a section about those soon.