I have never really cared whether I'm in full seats or knee patch breeches. I've shown in full seats but schooled in knee patch for years and I just never noticed a difference.
That is, until recently.
Riding Warehouse had some of those Ovation Aqua-X full seat breeches on clearance that several bloggers have raved about, and they had the cutest cross hatch silicone pattern on them, so I figured I'd give them a try. I'm running woefully low on Irideon tights these days anyway.
At first, I didn't notice much of a difference between full seat and knee patch in the saddle, except that in the fullseats I got hopelessly stuck to my leather truck seats.
I had ridden in those breeches for the entire Mary clinic, and I didn't realize until I wore my insulated winter knee patch tights to my lesson a couple weeks ago just how much I've been relying on the silicone to keep me stuck to the correct place in my jump saddle, which I do have to fight the slightest bit to keep my leg in a good Dressage position.
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| Wearing them for Mary |
Between being sore, and wearing what felt like frictionless pants, I almost didn't have a prayer of keeping my leg in the right place. Yes, that would be less of an issue in a proper Dressage saddle, but this is where I am right now. I promptly went home and bought a pair of silicone full seat winter breeches, because for the first time in my life, I'm a convert.
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| Same breeches, but in black |
Beyond that, what do I think of these? For starters, they seem to run big. I'm normally a 22 or 24 in breches, but the smallest these come in is 26 and that fits me great. (For comparison, I'm a 22 in Ariat and SmartPak, 24 in Equine Couture and Cavallo, child's XL in Irideon tights and a 30 in the (old?) Gho Dho sizing).
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| Size 26 |
The length is hopeless on a short person, but not so off that they're unwearable. They go all the way down to my ankles, and the calves are pretty baggy, but neither one of those things is a problem in the saddle. They gap just a bit on me at the waist, but I have a fairly extreme hip/waist ratio so that's not surprising. I never wear them without a belt.
I do think the fabric tends to stain easily, but I've been pretty vigilant about my ScotchGuarding and so far, so good. The real star though is how cool you stay in these breeches while riding in the heat. They did such a good job, I replaced my 10-year-old-but-still-look-great TuffRider show breeches with them, which are great breeches but the furthest thing from "cool", and with how many times I showed this year above the 90 degree mark, it seemed like a worthwhile (still on clearance!) investment.
Bottom line: A great option if you ride in hot weather! Pay attention to sizing.
What: Ovation Aqua-X Full Seat Silicone Grip Breeches
Price: $82.88 on clearance at RW (I paid $75 with my US Rider discount)
Sizes: 26-34
Colors: Black, White
Wriggling out of your truck whilst in silicone FSs is definitely an awkward struggle, but worth it!
ReplyDeleteIt's ridiculously difficult, especially when your seat is as close to the wheel as mine is!
DeleteI recently bought these too from RW =)
ReplyDeleteNice! What are your thoughts so far?
DeleteI'm glad you found some you like so much!! Okay so I have to admit I've never scotchguarded my breeches and I feel like I need to get on that ASAP.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing. For whites, I do it after every ride/wash cycle religiously. Show pads too! For my every day colored breeches, I should do it more often than I do - maybe every 3-6 months. I still think it makes a difference.
DeleteI went through the same thing many years ago now. I’d only ever ridden in knee patch breaches and at first didn’t like the stuck feeling from full seats. Then I got a pair of full seats that I really liked and rode in them a bunch and now full seats are all I’ll wear lol
ReplyDeleteYep, I think I'm on the verge of making this transition. The only annoying thing is hardly anyone makes silicone winter full seats! Just Horze, and they were super long on me, and Kerrits, which run small so I ordered the wrong size at first.
DeleteI love silicone. I find the breeches to be more comfortable than suede seats and they stick better.
ReplyDeleteYeah I agree. I hope the longevity works out, that's all I'm worried about with silicone.
DeleteI love my full seats but haven't tried the silicone ones yet.
ReplyDeleteThey make a bigger difference than the suede ones I've ridden in in the past. I never really noticed going from knee patch to regular full seats, but the silicone is a whole new ball game that I imagine you either love or hate.
DeleteAs a silicone full seat devotee, I will have to try these. I went from knee patch breeches to Kerrits, and from Kerrits to Smartpak Knit Pipers and now my Kerrits winter breeches feel too slick. It probably doesn’t help that I’m not quite in fighting shape, but LOVE me some sticky full seats, even in my new dressage saddle that I don’t have to fight with. Addict for life, for sure.
ReplyDeleteSo good to know. Do you have the kerrits winter silicone full seats? Those are on my list to try.
DeleteI need to find a pair - all of mine are the sit tight and warm with their usual full seat material. It’s definitely got more grip than many suede full seats, but not anything like a Silicone. I likely will be doing a winter breech run down on my blog since I realized I own quite a few now and have two new styles (B Vertigo and Smartpak Knit Piper winter weight) as recent additions.
DeleteGood to know. It's so surprising to me how few silicone full seat winter breeches are on the market! There are only two that I know of, Kerrits and Horze.
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