Full Seats

I've decided I might as well try some full seat breeches out. I've avoided them because I just didn't like the feel of them - they have less give in the butt region and I want my butt to be able to move, lol! But, watching videos from shows, I've noticed my driving seat crops up as I slip around my saddle. I've always had a driving seat, but most of the time it's manageable and doesn't really show up when I'm riding at the barn, only when I'm tense and nervous at shows.

So now I have the "I wants". I've been wanting new white breeches forever anyways, since my white cotton breeches are going on like 7 years at this point (it's a miracle they're still alive). Bonus is that more breeches come in white full seats than knee patches.

I mentioned my thoughts to a friend and they gave me a pair of Kerrits full seat tights that they don't use and I actually kind of like them. My first thought wearing them today though was "thigh sweat!" but it's not that bad and I kind of like how sticky they are, though it will take some getting used to. Unfortunately they're not really show worthy with being tights and all, plus they're a beigy-green.

This is what I have now but diff color

So the hunt begins. I think I'll ask for a pair for my upcoming birthday because I'm not particularly wanting to spend $100+ on breeches at the moment. Ideally, I'd really like FITS breeches because I like how there's more range of motion with the patches and you don't get that "binding" like some other breeches might have. Pretty sure my parents will not be on board with spending $240 on breeches (they hate buying me horsey presents to begin with).

Requirements:

• Somewhat low rise. Doesn't have to be super low rise, I just don't want them coming up to my belly button. 
• I like the 2" waist band a lot of breeches have nowadays so I can use a wide belt
• I would prefer a grey seat, staining shows up less
• Some sort of elastic or sock leg bottoms would be appreciated because I hate velcro
• Seat has to have some kind of "stick" to it because some of the faux-suede seems slippery to me

Any suggestions? Here are my top choices:

Tredstep Symphony No. 3 Rosa Breeches - no full seat, but they look really nice, I like the reviews and how they appear to fit.

Kerrits Sit Tight Supreme - they're tights so they're a little thinner material, which is ok, black seat is a little too much contrast for me, but at least you will never see stains from the saddle!

Romfh Sarafina Full Seat Breeches - these are my top pick, but of course the most expensive. They have everything on my check list and I like the look of the fit a lot.

Tuff Rider Piaffe Full Seat Breeches - these are my second pick because they are a lot cheaper and appear to have everything I want almost except they have a slightly higher waist and velcro ankles. But if my parents don't get me breeches, I may be getting these for myself...

And just to make this post even longer, Jetta has been great these past two rides! Not amazing or perfect by any means, but she's trying and wasn't an absolute brat so I count that as a success. We are really needing to work on our lengthenings, stretchy trot circle and leg yields for the upcoming show. Plus trot-canter transitions, fine tuning our turn onto the diagonal at the canter (we've been almost missing it sometimes) and our halt. It's been a lot to think about!

We've been doing our canter spirals and today when I put her on a 20 meter circle she knew exactly what I was going to ask and when I asked for the 15 m circle she shortened her stride a tad and rocked her weight back a little, then the 10 m circle was almost perfect because she was actually prepared for it! Usually it takes 2 or 3 revolutions to get that nice 10 m canter circle before we start to spiral back out.

I did a lot of riding squares today, in making our corners sharp by asking her to pick up her shoulders and move them, almost like doing a pirouette and actually did a couple baby ones on corners where she acted like she didn't want to do the quarter turn so I ended up asking for a full turn. While I wouldn't say I actually know what I'm doing when it comes to pirouettes, I'd like to think I know the basics of training a horse for them so at least I'm (hopefully) laying a good foundation for Jetta's future. I was delighted when I tried the exercise at a canter and got a quarter turn that felt like a baby pirouette! I think this exercise will really help with our movement where you turn onto the diagonal at a canter in order to do a downward transition at X since sometimes I feel like we almost miss the turn...

And, we are still schooling some second level stuff too, including sitting trot work which I've majorly been neglecting. And to my complete surprise it hasn't been that hard! I was thinking that there's no way I could sit through a whole test, but now maybe I should make it a goal to sit a whole first level test by the end of this year just to make the transition to second level easier. While I can't sit Jetta's fancy trot yet (yes, I do think Jetta has multiple trots and I do categorize them, lol) I can sit her respectable trot which at this point would be fine to show her with, though it's my goal to be able to sit her fancy trot through a whole test.

Saw this on Matt the Cowpony's blog and thought it was appropriate!