The Use Of Riding Gloves

Personally, I go through periods of using gloves and then not. If we have a cold day and I'm looking for a bit of extra warmth I'll grab a pair to ride with but some days I just want to feel the reins directly on my hands.

Other days I like the extra grip they give, and when I do wear them I find myself not having to shorten my reins quite as much. I'll always wear gloves when competing though.

When I do reach for my gloves they need to be a good pair, otherwise, they get thrown back into my helmet bag, into the garbage, or they get demoted to work gloves.

I find that there is a bit of a divide when it comes to wearing gloves, most women I know who ride always wear them, but of the few male riders I know, a lot of them are happy to ride without.

Why We Wear Horse Riding Gloves

If you're a newbie rider this bit is for you, if you're a seasoned long-timer feel free to skip to the next part.

• Gloves provide us with better grip, and allow for more consistent communication through our hands.

• Riding gloves can protect our hands from blisters and calluses while riding.

• Gloves provide additional cushioning and support for our hands.

• We often wear gloves for competitive riding where a certain dress code is expected.

What Gloves Do I Wear?

I have a few different pairs of gloves and use each of them differently according to the type of work I'm doing, and whether I'm at home or at a show. I've gone through countless pairs of gloves in the three decades I've had in the saddle but here are a few of my favorites, most of which I continue to buy and use.

SSG Digital Palm Gloves

I'm starting with the Digitals as SSG riding gloves have been part of my show career for over a decade now. These are still my number one choice of show gloves for when I step into the ring with my stallion, especially when we're in a Grand Prix.

I love the lightweight feel of them, which also makes them great summer riding gloves, the reins don't slip through them easily, and they also look great which is important when I step into a big class. The white dots on the photo below is rain, I have every faith in these gloves for all weather.

I also often end up with SSG riding gloves to wear for schooling at home once the show gloves start to show signs of wear. Unfortunately, this is their only downfall, they don't hold up very well to the rigors of riding multiple horses daily for months on end.

Pros: Really nice lightweight feel, very breathable, great for competition, cheaper than Roeckls

Cons: Won't last longer than a few months if used all day, every day around the barn.

SSG Digital Gloves

Roeckl Roeck-Grip Unisex Gloves

I had a pair of these given to me by another trainer a couple of years ago. I really liked them and put them through their paces both schooling at home and for some competition.

The design is beautiful and they really do feel like a second skin, they're also nice and breathable which is great as we get some very hot summer days in my part of the world.

Unfortunately, they didn't hold up very well to the constant use, I got about nine months out of them before they were unusable, which isn't bad for how much I used them, so for the average rider they would last much longer.

Pros: great comfort and feel, very stylish

Cons: on the more expensive side, I would have liked them to last longer.

Roeckl Unisex Gloves

Farris Flexgrip Riding Gloves

I have a student that Farris reached out to and sent her a pair of free gloves to try, they ended up being too big for her so she gave them to me.

I love the fit of these gloves and they look great, really nice modern design with breathable material. And coincidentally they match my watch perfectly.

But all that said, they're terrible to ride in simply because they have less grip than using no gloves at all, and to give them a fair trial I rode three different horses all with varying style of reins including rubber and braided.

The reviews on Amazon give them 4.2 stars out of 5, I would give them a 2 rather than a zero simply because they're a nice feeling glove, I actually use them for coaching now on warmer days because they're so lovely to wear.

Pros: beautiful, stylish nice fitting, breathable glove

Cons: not a glove I would choose to ride in.

See The Reviews On Amazon

See also:

Your First Big Horse Show; How To Prepare