# Are bib overalls for riding?



## jonbailey (May 7, 2018)

You would probably need a farmer hat, work boots and gloves too.

I'm a bit cross at Ben Davis in their offerings of overalls. They don't have blue denim, brown, tan, khaki or pinstripe. Just black bibs or white for pairs and carpenters. The black bibs would look nice with a red plaid flannel shirt or a red plaid Pendleton wool shirt, though. This outfit might also look dressy on a black mount with black tack, black saddle, red blanket and an Amish farm hat for deer hunters.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Strange question to ask... are you doing research or looking to buy this outfit for yourself? Either way, I can't imagine ever riding in overalls. They're good for chores, but wouldn't have the right amount of give and stretch for riding. I ride in breeches, but lots of people wear pants with some stretch or even jeans. 

And I recommend wearing a helmet for riding - not a "farmer hat" (not really sure what you mean by that - maybe a straw hat?).


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

I haven’t seen anyone ride in overalls, although I will admit that overalls are not overly common here. However, my culture is one of cowboys and farmers. Cowboys in this area wear a cowboy hat, button up shirt, wranglers and boots (with some additional brand choices), and farmers often wear wranglers or levis, boots (hiking type or cowboy), and a ball cap.

Another note is that here most farmers do not ride. Horses and plows are not used anymore in my area, so horses that are worked are ranch horses.


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

I rode in my bib overalls when I was a kid. I found them to be very uncomfortable. The light weight material and baggy style allowed then to twist and bunch up. 

I see young kids ride in them still.

There is much more functional clothing for riding than bibbed overalls.

I have, and will, ride in my insulated bibs. When it's cold enough to need those, over jeans or breeches, with long johns, any bulkiness is worth it!


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

I always wore my bib coveralls when it was very cold @boots . I’ve traded now to ski pants. I like them better because they seem to move better than the carharts.


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## LoriF (Apr 3, 2015)

Although you can ride in anything (or nothing), I don't think that bib overalls would even make my top 20 pick list for riding clothes.


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## boots (Jan 16, 2012)

Knave said:


> I always wore my bib coveralls when it was very cold @boots . I’ve traded now to ski pants. I like them better because they seem to move better than the carharts.


I have a relative that wears ski pants. Really bright colored ones. Sure says it's partly to stay warm and partly so we can find her more easily if she comes off. 
Her's are slippery, though. 

I haven't looked at enough of them to see if they have other material.


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## Knave (Dec 16, 2015)

boots said:


> I have a relative that wears ski pants. Really bright colored ones. Sure says it's partly to stay warm and partly so we can find her more easily if she comes off.
> Her's are slippery, though.
> 
> I haven't looked at enough of them to see if they have other material.


Mine are not slippery, although I could see where many would be. Those slippery ones tear easily too, so they aren’t really practical for work (my girls had them). Mine are more canvassy though I guess. They are Columbia. I imagine they have the slippery ones too.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

I hate riding with ski pants. Too bulky. When it's cold (and it gets really cold here!), I wear an underlayer of Merino wool, a pair of winter breeches (they have fleece on the inside and are quite thick), and my riding skirt (made by Arctic Horse) which is amazing! Warm, but goes over top of your legs and the saddle so they don't add any bulk. They stay put thanks to a velcro strap. They make some in rainproof material too, which would be very hand if you had to ride in the rain a lot! If you get a long one, they even cover your saddle and part of your horse's back. I wouldn't live without mine.


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## jonbailey (May 7, 2018)

Acadianartist said:


> Strange question to ask... are you doing research or looking to buy this outfit for yourself? Either way, I can't imagine ever riding in overalls. They're good for chores, but wouldn't have the right amount of give and stretch for riding. I ride in breeches, but lots of people wear pants with some stretch or even jeans.
> 
> And I recommend wearing a helmet for riding - not a "farmer hat" (not really sure what you mean by that - maybe a straw hat?).



It might a strange question to ask to somebody who isn't a hunter and a rider. Some hunters actually wear overalls in the field, even special cammie ones. Yes, a straw hat is exactly what I mean. I can't imagine any farmer without bibs and a straw hat. I'm trying to formulate an idea in my mind for clothing that would be ideal for a a horseback hunter that would be functional and yet fashionable and different. Helmets look geeky. I don't see cowboys in John Wayne films wearing them. I like the idea of overalls because they keep dirt and debris from getting inside next to your skin. Don't farmers ride horses? Often farmers wear bib overalls. They seem to have enough give and flexibility to wear them while mounted on a tractor. 

Hunters sometimes have to get down on the ground to fire their guns in the prone at a game animal. Overalls are by nature a protective over-garment.

I have this dream about hunting deer someday on horseback but don't know what to wear. Would the cammie outfits typically worn by sportsmen outdoors be good for the hunter on horseback? These are military-style fatigues. Hunters often like to wear camo anyway to be tactical when ambushing a deer.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

jonbailey said:


> It might a strange question to ask to somebody who isn't a hunter and a rider. Some hunters actually wear overalls in the field, even special cammie ones. Yes, a straw hat is exactly what I mean. I can't imagine any farmer without bibs and a straw hat. I'm trying to formulate an idea in my mind for clothing that would be ideal for a a horseback hunter that would be functional and yet fashionable and different. Helmets look geeky. I don't see cowboys in John Wayne films wearing them. I like the idea of overalls because they keep dirt and debris from getting inside next to your skin. Don't farmers ride horses? Often farmers wear bib overalls. They seem to have enough give and flexibility to wear them while mounted on a tractor.
> 
> Hunters sometimes have to get down on the ground to fire their guns in the prone at a game animal. Overalls are by nature a protective over-garment.
> 
> I have this dream about hunting deer someday on horseback but don't know what to wear.



I didn't mean to be rude, it's just that I assume people on this forum are riders, but I thought you might be researching for a book or something. That happens here. 

Yes, hunters wear overalls (my husband hunts deer), but no one I know would try to ride in them. They would bunch up in all the wrong places. There are lots of over-garments that would be preferable to overalls - any coat long enough to go past the top of your pant waistband will provide lots of protection. The difference between hunting and horseback riding or even hunting from horseback, is that in most cases, hunters have to sit still in one place for a long time. My husband hunts from tree stands or blinds, and it can be cold and miserable because you're not moving. Get on a horse in all that gear and you'll soon be sweating up a storm. Things will be rubbing in places you don't want them to rub. You will quickly become hot and sweaty, then you will get cold. I have never hunted on horseback, but I expect you'd spend most of the day riding with the shooting part only lasting a few minutes -- if you get lucky that is. So you'd want to dress more for the riding than for the laying on the ground to get a good shot. You want clothing that can breathe, but also keep you dry and protect you from the wind. 

As for helmets being geeky, well, if you don't care about what happens to your brain if you take a fall, then that's your decision. But some cowboys do wear helmets. While they may not be the most flattering of head gear (on that note, I don't think overalls are exactly attractive, personally...), they keep my brain inside my head where I prefer to keep it. 

If you ever do go hunting deer on horseback, you will most likely have to do it with a professional outfitter and you can bet they will have some ideas of what you should, and should not wear on such a hunt. Probably best to ask them for advice on the matter than show up wearing all the wrong attire. Just because you see something in cowboy movies doesn't mean that's how they still ride.

And no, most farmers don't ride. Ranchers ride. I've never seen one ride in overalls. 

Don't believe everything you see in movies.


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## Hondo (Sep 29, 2014)

In the hills were I've been riding in the recent past, bib overalls without a coat over the top would be hazardous for getting hung in the brush and pulling the rider off.


That said, I've ridden in insulated bib overalls but when cold enough for them, a coat is on and zipped up. A problem develops on days where the coat needs to come off later on. On those days I would not wear the bib overalls but long handles instead.


When riding a horse deer hunting, coveralls in bright orange would be a very very good thing. Cameo not so much. Recent thread about various riders and horses getting killed during deer hunting season.


I'm recommending you do some deep think on this.


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## Cordillera Cowboy (Jun 6, 2014)

.[/quote]
It might a strange question to ask to somebody who isn't a hunter and a rider. Some hunters actually wear overalls in the field, even special cammie ones. Yes, a straw hat is exactly what I mean. I can't imagine any farmer without bibs and a straw hat. I'm trying to formulate an idea in my mind for clothing that would be ideal for a a horseback hunter that would be functional and yet fashionable and different. Helmets look geeky. I don't see cowboys in John Wayne films wearing them. I like the idea of overalls because they keep dirt and debris from getting inside next to your skin. Don't farmers ride horses? Often farmers wear bib overalls. They seem to have enough give and flexibility to wear them while mounted on a tractor. 

Hunters sometimes have to get down on the ground to fire their guns in the prone at a game animal. Overalls are by nature a protective over-garment.

I have this dream about hunting deer someday on horseback but don't know what to wear. Would the cammie outfits typically worn by sportsmen outdoors be good for the hunter on horseback? These are military-style fatigues. Hunters often like to wear camo anyway to be tactical when ambushing a deer.[/QUOTE]

Your idea of what farmers wear is about 50 years outdated. I saw it, minus the Old MacDonald hat, when I was a kid in th 1960’s. Even then, it was the old guys. Men of my grandfather’s generation wearing overalls day to day, even to church. The younger farmers tended to dress in jeans and work shirts. 

But to your original question, you can ride in anything you want to. Witness riders all over the world riding in breechclout, shorts, baggy Middle Eastern pants, etc. when visiting the older farmers I mentioned, I would often notice photos of those men, or their relatives mounted on horseback wearing overalls.


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## AtokaGhosthorse (Oct 17, 2016)

Annnnd yet I know people who ride in overalls or Carhartt overall type coveralls in the winter. All the time. They're not for me, I hate wearing overalls for any reason at all, but if it works for my friends? You do you. LOL


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## QueenofFrance08 (May 16, 2017)

We ride in Carhartt style overalls in the winter. Not my favorite of riding attire but it keeps a person warm. I have an Arctic Horse skirt I love as well but my husband wears overalls.

I often wear DH's camo hunting overalls to do chores in (deer season is long gone by the time it is cold enough to need overalls for chores) as they are softer and easier to get on then Carhartt ones. One afternoon while feeding I pulled out the bareback pad and took Chico for a spin around the yard in them and I was amazed at how much stick I felt I had. When the ice melts (in July or so....) I'll have to give it another shot and see if they're as magical as I remember.


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