We all have our vices. Some women collect purses. Some collect shoes. I have a closet full of western show outfits in various colors. For some reason, I have a weakness for them. Maybe because of the Swarovski crystals, the multi-hued material, or because they are related to horses. Either way, I love to spend my money on show clothes. Since there are no local shops that I can buy show clothes from (see About Me), I have bookmarked online websites that I like (and can afford) that sell western show clothes.

It took me along time to determine what show clothes looked good on my horse and were appropriate for Arab class A shows. In this post I will share what I have learned with you and what sites I feel have good clothes that are reasonably priced.

Note: This article is for mostly Western Pleasure outfits and possibly reining and trail class. There are no Showmanship or Horsemanship classes in the Arab show world so I don’t buy clothes for those classes.

Four Questions
Before you rush out and start shopping, there are a few questions you should ask yourself:

1. What type of shows will you be attending?
2. What is the color of your horse?
3. What is your age and figure?
4. What is your budget?

Type of Show
When I first started shopping for show clothes, I looked at outfit styles online and read about the current trend in western show clothing–less black and white and lots of color in shirts and chaps. I saw many show clothing sites that featured shirts paired with matching chaps in almost all colors of the rainbow. So I found a blue outfit I liked and bought it without checking to see what exhibitors were actually wearing in the shows I attended. When I attended my first regional Arab show, I saw that most of the adults wore black or sand chaps and a colorful shirt. No brightly colored chaps. Whoops. I didn’t consider that most of these outfits online were for the Quarter Horse or Paint circuit, not regional Arab Class A shows. I assumed the outfits would be the same, which was a wrong assumption to make. The lesson I learned was before you buy, go watch a show and study exhibitor outfits–the styles, colors, and if they are custom-made or off the rack.

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