The spring three day season is upon us! With Bromont being this week, Blenheim next month, and all other events scattered in between, riders everywhere are scattering around looking for the perfect jog outfits. This is a task harder than you would think! These riders spend almost every waking moment decked out in fashionable riding clothes so how are they going to put together a fashionable non-riding outfit?
For those of you who aren’t familiar with jogs, they are a required phase of FEI eventing. The rider presents their horse in bridle and dresses in formal attire to jog the horse out for soundness checks (and the chance to win a best dressed award)! You’ll see everything here from hats to dresses to suits and everything in between! I’ve groomed for jogs, gone shopping for jog outfits, and even jokingly put a few “what not to wear” jog outfits together in the past.
So let’s get started on my 5 tips for jog outfit success:
1. Bright Colors: While in every day attire you might cringe at the thought of a bright yellow, pink, or orange dress, they look incredible on the jog strip! Go for a bright color with a muted accent color. ( Like orange and navy worn here by Allison Springer!)
2. Dress for the weather: If you’re doing fall jogs or early morning spring jogs, you might dress differently than you would in the middle of the day in Texas jogs. Have an appropriate jacket or sweater to compliment your outfit but an alternative for if it’s too cold!
3. Statement jewelry: The committee judging your outfits isn’t so close to you that they can see that individual gold chain on your neck. Go for a bit of a chunkier necklace to compliment a high neck line! Just make sure it doesn’t overtake your entire outfit!
4. The “Isshoe”: The ever annoying task is finding shoes for jogs. To go for a classic flat? Or rock heels like the incredible Marilyn Little? Whatever you choose make sure you can RUN in them! And make sure they compliment your outfit. (Personally, I would opt to go for the muted accent color to match!)
5. Hair– If you have the perfect hat and you think you can keep it on your head while you run, then I totally recommend wearing one! They look awesome on the jog strip! But if you’re not a hat person, hair can be one of the hardest things to decide on what to do with. Personally, I feel you should either go for straight hair or neatly back in a braid or french twist. These two styles look the neatest and don’t detract attention from your horse.
Make sure you polish your best accessory–your horse! And you should look fabulous!
–Emily Przyborowski