Show Gear on a Budget

For my day job, I work in education. I have a degree in art education and was an art teacher for four years. I now work in museum education, which means I work for a non-profit foundation. Which means I don't get paid a lot.
Thankfully, I do not own Tony, so I don't have to pay for his board, feet, or vet bills. I provide his grain and pay for any training/lessons/shows/outings/etc. That's huge, and I am super grateful to his owners (family friends I've known forever). It means I can spend a little on "extras" because my entire income isn't going into just keeping my horse alive. I still don't have much to spend on horsey things, so I've gotten really good at finding a good deal. My entire show outfit was bought at extremely discounted prices.

Let's start with the show coat. I was at the Chilliwack Horse Expo in B.C. in 2014, and there on the end of a rack at one of the first vendor booths was a beautiful show coat. It had new technical fabric, cute bit details on the zipper pulls, and just looked so pretty. First, I looked at the size. There were only two jackets, and one was my size! Score #1! Then, the price. Retail said $299, but it was marked down to...wait for it...$60! There was no way it wasn't coming home with me.

Goode Rider Ideal Show Coat

I own two pairs of white breeches. Who ever decided that white breeches was a good idea for horse shows? Ridiculous. Anyway, one pair is maybe Ovation, or Devon Aire, or a basic cotton breech of some kind. Bought from a friend for a low price. Like $20 or something. My other pair is my one pair of FITS. They're pretty see-through, so I have to wear wunderbreeches under them, but hey, they're FITS! Got those suckers for $90 from a Facebook tack sale group. I don't know that I love them enough to buy a bunch for schooling, but they are pretty nice.

Yay! I can be a baboon butt too!

I also have a beautiful pair of cream Pikeur Lugana breeches. They are so pretty, and I have a saddle pad and polos that match them. But they don't fit. Yet. I'm working on it. I can almost button them. 10 more pounds should do it. Totally worth it though, as I got them from eBay...brand new, still with tags on for $50!

Cream looks so good on the fluffy pony.

My show shirt is a basic Kerrits Venti I got from a Facebook group for $15. Yay cheap! I also have a Riding Sport one I got for the same price. Boring items...but you don't see them under the jacket ;)

Not me, but we feel the same way...I should be smiling, right?
I feel slightly uncomfortable with you taking my picture right now...  

Oh boots...I hate finding ones that fit. Also, I am cheap, There is no way I can justify spending $$$ on customs. I have wide calves, and my calves are actually pretty long. But my ankles are smallish. And my foot is not long, but kind of wide. But not wide enough to justify a wide foot shoe. Just not the easiest to fit. I had a pair of Ovation field boots that I loved (the zipper broke the very first day, so they refunded my money, and I had the zippers replaced...they went strong for 2 and a half years after that), but now they have a gaping hole by my pinky toe, and it was time for new ones. Found a pair of new Tuffrider Baroque boots for $50 on Facebook. Perfect price to take a chance on. They fit! They're a little clunky in the foot, and they're a little too big in the ankle, but the regular width ones fit because of the elastic panel. Score! I can totally tell they won't last more than one year, but for $50, I'll take it.

I do really love the super tall Spanish tops...they make my legs look longer.

This year, I was needing to buy a new helmet. My Charles Owen GR8 was in its last year, and my dog chewed the corner of the visor a couple years ago, so it was not a pretty sight. I bought an IRH that was ok (new, but had been sitting in a box for a year or so...$70...was a $250+ helmet), but it didn't fit the best. Tack of the Day had Charles Owens a few months ago, and I took a chance on a JR8 for about $100. It's fine. Just a helmet, you know? I've been coveting one of the blinged out OneKs for a while, but couldn't justify the price (see a trend? Yeah, I have no monies). So I blinged my own helmet with Swarovski crystals from Michael's and epoxy. I'm in love with it. 

This is a bad photo. It's actually super pretty. 

The only things I purchased at full retail price were my stock tie and white gloves. They're both very basic. I have a prettier stock tie, but I hate the way it fits, so it needs to move on to a new home. My stock pins are blingy brooches from Joann fabric. Yay bling!  

Total retail for all of my show gear: Approximately $1,700.

I paid approximately $450. The only things that were used were the FITS and the show shirts, and they looked barely used. No stains, no pilling, nothing. 

If you are patient, the deals are out there!