Happy New Year Means Happy Horse Show Shopping!

Blog by: Silvia Panza, Fancy In The Sand

Silvia Panza is a competitor from Italy who loves everything having to do with horse show fashion, which she writes about on her blog, Fancy In The Sand. If you’d like to have your blog post shared on EquineChronicle.com like Silvia, email B.Bevis@EquineChronicle.com.

The holidays were a wonderful period to start horse show shopping. But, Christmas is gone, and it’s time to plan for the 2019 show season. With planning comes the need of new items and, consequently, shopping. Having more free time during the holidays allowed you to spend more time surfing the social networks. There you could see the most wonderful items you could have imagined. But, how can we avoid spending a fortune to fulfill our needs?

Personally, I make a list that includes everything I need/want. Everything, really, even if it’s a brush or a new set of polo wraps. Then, I set three priorities:

• #1- Items I absolutely need
• #2- Stuff I would need sooner or later
• #3- Things I don’t really need, but I like them sooooo much.

Once I have my lists, I start from the one with the highest priority, just to be sure to be ready before the first show.

One of the thing that’s often on my list is a good quality hat. I think a good quality, clean, well-shaped hat can really make the difference. People see you in the show pen for a few minutes. They don’t know your story, your love for your horse, your hard work, or your passion. A shaped hat immediately gives a professional impression. If you’re an adult rider, your head isn’t going to grow anymore, so a good hat is a great investment that will last many years. I purchased my hat in 2009, and I still show in it.

If you want to refresh your wardrobe without breaking the bank, you should think about zip up shirts. These kind of shirts are coming back powerfully, and they have several advantages. First of all, you can wear them at every show and for every discipline (except Ranch Riding if you choose a blingy one). With more or less bling, according to your taste, you can wear them alone, under a vest, or a long bolero.

If you have a black vest and would like to refresh your look, you can do it easily. You can even choose a color you might not have ever worn, just to try out how it looks on you and your horse. Moreover, they are really comfortable and fast to put on, because you don’t have to button all the buttons.

And you? What’s on your shopping list this year?