What to Consider When Buying A New Pair of Riding Breeches!

With the price of everything on the equestrian market, horse girls often order for their horse before they order for themselves. Which is exactly why I was riding in a pair of hand-me-down riding breeches that had too many holes to count! Knowing I needed to upgrade my riding wardrobe, I began to search the internet for riding pants, having NO IDEA what I was looking for! I felt overwhelmed and really considered just sticking with my beloved but ragged pair of breeches. 

There were so many options to choose from! From color and texture to riding leggings (which I didn’t know existed) to schooling breeches. Did I want Full Seat or Knee Patch…. I honestly didn’t know! I had never even ridden with Full Seat breeches before and wasn’t even quite sure what they were! 

Luckily, a fellow equestrian & blogger, *check out her blog- The Backyard Horse Blog,* directed me to a really cool online store with lots of information that helped me narrow down my options and focus my attention on what I wanted to purchase. *I ended up ordering two pairs of riding pants from the website. One pair was Full Seat (navy color) so that I could give it a try and the other was a pair of (wine red color) Knee Patch riding leggings!* 

If you’re looking to buy a pair of riding breeches and are feeling slightly overwhelmed like I was, here is a hopefully helpful post I put together to help guide you on your mission to finding the best riding breeches for you! 

Full Seat or Knee Patch? 

First, you need to know what kind of seat you want. Riding Breeches have two types of seat styles, Full Seat or Knee Patch. As the name of each style suggests, the difference in the styles is the location of the grippy material on the pants that helps you grip the saddle. Historically, Knee Patches and Full Seats were made of leather material. This is becoming less popular and options for synthetic leather or silicone patches are gaining popularity. Silicone Full Seats and Knee Patches give a more modern look to riding pants and provide a greater variety of color & pattern options. While synthetic leather obviously provides a more traditional look and feel. 

When deciding what seat style you need, make sure to consider which discipline you ride and your riding goals. If you plan to compete make sure to check the dress code requirements and recommendations that apply to your discipline or competition. Knee Patch breeches are much more common for show jumpers or those who ride hunt seat as the grippy patch on the inside of the knee best helps them to get out of the saddle in the two point position. Full Seat breeches provide grip between the rider and the saddle from the seat to just past the knee or mid calf. They can really help a rider to literally connect to the saddle. Which is why dressage riders prefer Full Seat breeches, they help them to stay in the saddle while performing their gaits. 

Pleasure riders like myself have more freedom to choose what seat and color we want to ride in. The Knee Patch allows for aided movement out of the saddle while the Full Seat helps keep a rider in and connected to the saddle. I purchased a pair of each, and can testify just how well silicone grip keeps a rider in the saddle! For trail rides and pleasurable adventures, the Full Seat allows me to relax and not sit as heavy in the seat to stay on when trotting! I know that I will be using both pairs of riding pants as they are needed! 

Color Considerations

If you ride in your own backyard or for your own pleasure, what color breeches to wear is completely up to you! This is not always the case if you compete or take part in a specific discipline. Certain competitions have certain guidelines as far as color and type of riding breeches required, similarly certain disciplines have traditional colors. Show jumpers usually wear classic white riding pants with a Knee Patch. Hunting classes & equitation riders traditionally wear beige breeches with simple Knee Patches although lighter grays, khaki, and other earthy tones are allowed. Dressage riders tend to wear Full Seat breeches in either white or other light colors. Before you buy riding breeches, check to see which colors are used for your discipline!

When considering what color breeches to buy, many riders like to coordinate their color with their horse! That’s not really a concern for a country girl like me! *also I have eight horses so matching every one isn’t really practical!* But if you do want to look dashing along side your beloved equine, check out this neat resource that will help guide you on your search for a coordinating color scheme!

Riding Leggings

Some disciplines and competitive riding require certain colors or styles of dress, pleasure riders however have the freedom to choose their own style & colors. And I choose riding leggings! 

A new addition to the equestrian world, riding leggings offer the look & comfort of athletic leggings or yoga pants, but with added grip and durability! Coming in both seat styles and a variety of colors, riding leggings are a more comfortable and laid back alternative to breeches while still holding an element of class and professionalism!!

When deciding if you should purchase riding leggings, one thing to consider is if you want belt loops. Many leggings do not come with belt loops, however; many riders prefer the look and esthetic of wearing a belt. If you want the classic equestrian look, belts, boots, & all; be sure to buy a pair of leggings with belt loops! If you’re looking for a less formal, but still attractive pair of riding pants, you should really give riding leggings a try! Looking to buy a pair of riding leggings? Check out Riding Wearhouse or BOTORI Equestrian.

Pockets- a Must Have 

There are many, many phone holding gadgets and gizmos on the equestrian market. And while I am sure that they all work to some degree, why spend more money on a phone holding pouch when you can buy a built-in phone holder in your riding breeches called pockets! Many companies are now making their riding breeches with pockets in the side of the upper pant leg. *If you have ever tried to ride with a phone in your back pocket, you will know that it simply doesn’t work! I consider pockets a must have and made sure that both pairs of breeches I purchased had them. The pockets were big enough and deep enough to fit my fairly large sized cell phone, but also tight enough to keep my phone secure during my whole ride! At the beginning I was very worried that my phone would slip out, especially while trotting, but no such thing happened and I soon forgot my phone was even there!* Another thing I love about having pockets in your riding pants is that it keeps the phone with you. If you ever ride far from home or by yourself, having a phone on you at all times is a good idea! You never know what can happen, and if your phone is connected to your horn or saddle bag, you won’t have it on you if you fall off or dismount the horse. Having pockets is more than just a safety reason, they keep your phone (or whatever else is in your pockets: treats, keys, ect..) on you and accessible!

Be sure to take all of the above into account when ordering a pair of breeches! Knowing what you want beforehand can really save time when you sit down to place your order. I hope this post helped to make your search for riding breeches as stress free & easy as possible! *I ordered my leggings from Riding Wearhouse. I found their site informative, easy to navigate, and filled with tons of options and brands! The shipping did take longer than expected (probably pandemic related), but overall I am very pleased with both the website and the products I received!* 

***Please note that the options expressed in this review are my own and are unsolicited & uncompensated!

Tails & trails,

Reese

A BIG thanks to my friend Kenzie for kindly taking these awesome pictures! Photographer in training & aspiring blogger, check out more of her work on her blog: Jewel Among the Stones!