What We Wore - Then and Now

At a recent street sale, my son picked up an oil painting featuring an 18th century English Hunt scene.

I felt a wave of nostalgia when I took in the velvet hunt cap. But then I remembered that those helmets had none of the safety features we count on today like MIPS and other technology that reduces rotational force.

The classic novel Black Beauty, by Anna Sewell, opens on a hunt scene in which a young man is thrown from his horse and dies. It was a terrifying children’s read, as some classics are. I bet that rider wished he had a modern helmet with today’s safety features.

Feeling Nostalgic

My first show coat is now eleven years old. It’s an R. J. Classic, in perfect condition but I don’t wear it because the polyester fabric doesn’t breath. Instead, I wear coats with airflow netting and a hidden zipper, so I don’t have to fuss with buttons.

Perhaps a painting is the best place to keep old school riding gear.