Road to Tevis #37: My first experience with riding tights

Believe it or not, my first experience with riding tights was last month, at the Coso Junction xpride (supposed to be in Eastern Mojave, but COVID). I’m a jeans person. I’ve ridden in jeans for as long as I can remember. Yes, I’ve had my favorite breeches (all time faves: the corduroy Pikeurs my mom got me when I was a teenager). And yeah, sweats are good, especially when they are getting too ratty to wear in public. But jeans are best, because they have pockets and beltloops and if you get off and go somewhere, no one knows you were riding horses. I know lots of people prefer Wranglers to ride in, but I am a Levis girl (I prefer bootcut).

I galloped racehorses in jeans. Of course, the only real source of friction when you have short stirrups is the ankles, and we all wore ankle protectors (see my blog about preventing chafing). But of course, when you gallop the babies, you use longer stirrups, and half chaps. Or just jeans. The truth is, we all developed serious calluses (that came after serious seeping wounds). This happens even if you wear breeches. Or, probably, tights. No one wore tights on the track, at least not what is now known as “riding tights.”

My first experience with riding (in) tights was not with riding tights! — The only tights I ever wore on a horse as a child were NOT riding tights! (Johnsondale,CA., 1983, filming Goldy)

Back in the States, my introduction to endurance meant an introduction to riding tights

For the first four years after returning to the USA after years abroad (see my About Me), we lived in Arcata, CA. It took me a while to find a place to ride, and when I did, I had plenty of old breeches to wear when jeans wouldn’t do. It wasn’t until we moved to Norman, OK., and I had my very own horse again, did I see the need to purchase new riding clothes. One pair of cold weather breeches, and that was it. Back to using old jeans, or the breeches my sons outgrew.

As a teenager I was most likely to wear sweats when I didn’t wear jeans to ride in. Above, I am riding Abacus Bold Patrick.

My friend Melissa, however, was a great advocate for riding tights with pockets. She was also the person who got me into endurance. I had been vaguely interested for as long as I could remember, but I was always busy doing other equine sports. But now, I had an Arabian, and a friend to train with…

Anyway, I believe Melissa’s tights were Irideon or maybe Kerrits, though I am not sure. I do know that her tights had pockets on the thighs for her cell phone. When I was wearing breeches, I was envious of those pockets. Not so much when I was wearing jeans. I resisted the temptation to buy some, in large part because my stay in Oklahoma was always going to be temporary. I didn’t want to accumulate stuff that I would later have to move.

But my first experience with riding tights didn’t happen until March 2021, when I’d been back in California for nine months…

I cannot remember what the topic of the AERC FB page comment thread was (maybe I even started it myself!), but at some point in February, someone recommended PerformaRide tights. And they had a sale going on. Performaride is based in Australia, but they offer free shipping worldwide for orders over 200 AUD (~$150 US).

Now, it’s not as easy to spend $150 on Performaride tights as it is on the more popular US brands, such as Kerrits, but I managed to do it. This was primarily because I wasn’t sure if I was an XS or a S. Well, I know I am an XS, per measurements, but I don’t live things squishing me (which is why I’ve hesitated to try tights). So got both winter tights and the double-pocket nonstick tights (mine have beltloops, so these are not the same) in small and extra-small. Performaride also sent me their Pho Po Phone pocket belt and some compression socks, which I will briefly review below.

First, more about riding tights…

Riding tight options

Phone pocket

What caught my attention about riding tights was the phone pockets on the thighs. I haven’t tried on enough different tights to know how different pocket placement feels, but I have observed that some are lower on the thigh than others.

Also, some have a phone pocket on each leg. The double-pocket PerformaRide tights I bought do, and I like this feature. First, it allows lefties to carry their phone on that side (the winter tights have their single-pocket on the right). Second, I could carry other stuff in the pocket if need be.

Fabric

Here you have to decide between heavy and warm (for winter) and lightweight and cool (for summer). Of course, there is a lot of variation. You might also want to think about durability. A heavier fabric, even for summer, will last longer.

There are also compression tights. They would probably drive me mad (I can’t stand things squeezing me, especially when it’s hot). But many people swear by them, and say they help with old injuries and tiredness.

Knee patches and full-seated

Like breeches, riding tights can come with knee patches or be full-seated. This just means reinforced knees and/or full seat. Knee patches protect the area from chafing (see my post on how to deal with chafing).

I’m not sure what the purpose of full-seated breeches is, except maybe to give the rider more grip on a slippery saddle in the days before weird sticky material (such as silicone) could be added to just about any fabric. Or maybe for warmth… the few full-seated breeches I have worn repeatedly have been winter clothing. That extra layer does make a difference.

Belt loops

One thing I really love about my lightweight PerformaRide tights is that they have belt loops. Not that I will ever wear a belt! But I can snap the carabiner on my phone strap to them for extra security. (See my post about Carrying a Phone while Riding.)

Sticky-butt

Many tights come with grippy material on the seat, supposedly to help you stay in the saddle. I guess. I am very skeptical that any amount of sticky is going to save you from disaster if your balance is off and your legs don’t do the trick. That’s what the mane is for.

Some saddle seats are slippery, but I’ve dealt with that another way. When I was racing in my big galloping saddle (better when I rode at high weights), my racing breeches would slip a lot on its seat. I made saddle covers out of non-adhesive shelf liner (such as this; it’s also useful to put under your saddle blankets to keep the saddle from slipping on a round horse).

I prefer not to feel stuck to the seat of my saddle, so if possible I avoid full-seated breeches (the leather ones especially tend to stick) and, now, tights. However, I somehow ended up with sticky-butt on my PerformaRide winter tights and it hasn’t killed me yet. They do stick way too much to the saddle when it gets warm.

Performaride tights review

After I ordered from Performaride, I received an email asking me to let them know if I did a review or blog about my new tights… Of course! (Someone must have noticed that I blog about everything that is going into my Road to Tevis experience!) So even though this isn’t a review-focused blog post, I will include a mini-review here.

Colour Block Winter Horse Riding Tights

I first used my winter tights (the XS) at the Coso Junction (was Eastern Mojave) xpride, in the beginning of March. It was really cold. It SNOWED on us! (See my blog post about the experience.) An excellent test for the Performaride winter tights-and they were great. My legs were not cold (my hands and face were) on the ride. I did slip a pair of winter hiking pants over the tights when I was at ride camp. That’s a nice thing about tights, they fit under everything.

Overall, I can recommend these tights! Below I will list some pros and cons.

PerformaRide Colour Block Winter Horse Riding Tights .... my first experience with riding tights — PerformaRide Colour Block Winter Horse Riding Tights

Pros

Warm!
Comfortable; they are lined with fuzziness. I actually slept in them the night before the ride!
Relatively inexpensive (remember, the prices are in Australian dollars)
Good, deep phone pocket that seems to be holding up well to repeated use.
Affordable!

Cons

Sticky-butt. I don’t like this… but! Other people will. Also, PerformaRide has non-stick winter tights (though they are out-of-stock now).
The fabric is pilling slightly after only a few washings. (I did not actually look at the care instructions, so this may be avoidable.)
The colorful part is so low down that half-chaps cover it completely. This isn’t a big deal for me, but if you are buying for the color, it might be a problem.

Double Pocket Non Stick Riding Tights

I’ve only worn these a few times (primarily so I could write about them knowledgeably!), but I like them. I will be using them on Saturday when I ride in the Twenty Mule Team 65. I will edit this review as necessary next week!

My first experience with riding tights — I love the belt loops and double pockets of these lightweight tights!

Pros

Perfect for warm weather! Lightweight and comfortable. They could also go under jeans if you just wanted an extra layer.
A phone pocket on each hip! As noted above, this allows people to put the phone within easy reach of whichever hand they prefer. It also gives you an extra place to carry stuff.
Belt loops– yes, this way I can hook my carabiner too. And if you want to wear a belt, these are for you.
No sticky butt! (but they do come that way if you prefer…)
They come in lots of (solid) colors.
Affordable!

Cons

The bottom of one of the pockets already has a hole in it. My phone isn’t going to drop through easily, because it’s held snugly against my leg, but this is definitely not great to see after one use. (These were the XS ones. I will try the S; it’s possible that it’s a single-product defect).
Fabric is quite thin, so might not offer as much protection as some people like. I will use half-chaps for long rides where I’ll be trotting a lot.

These Performaride tights have a pocket on each thigh. (My very dirty horse-helper is my Morgan gelding, WSG Beroni.)

Pho Po Phone pocket belt

Because I did not order this phone belt, I had no plans for incorporating it into my riding routine. This means I haven’t used it as intended–as a phone pouch. I have been using it to carry money and chapstick. It works perfectly for that, and it should work well for phones.

I use the Pho Po belt to carry money and chapstick…

Pros

I love the elastic waistband. Every single fanny pack I’ve ridden in has ended up stretching or loosening and bouncing around at some point. Usually after many miles, but it’s a pain to stop and tighten. This belt is not going to to this.
Small compartment and small enough for small people like me.
Has a place for wired earbuds. I use wireless now, but many people do not.
Can be used to carry small things discretely… but expands enough to hold the largest mobile phones.

This little belt seems small, but a large mobile phone fits in it well.

Cons

I haven’t found any yet, but of course, it just depends what you are looking for!

Resources

AERC Facebook page comment thread about tights from May, 2020 has many suggestions and links to places to buy different brands of riding tights, including:

Riding Warehouse list of best women’s riding tights.

Selection of riding tights on Amazon (you can then purchase them on the original site, if you prefer).