Nobody Needs 50 Matching #ROOTDs
My Instagram feed is chock-full of horsey friends both near and far. It’s a wonderful platform to connect to so many other horse-loving people like me. It’s helped establish friendships with people all over the globe. But lately I’ve noticed a trend I just can’t get behind, among the many people I follow on Instagram. It may seem harmless at face value, but collectively, it’s contributing to a much larger problem.
IMO:
Why are we so obsessed with buying matching outfits? Saddle pads can easily be exchanged for a number of tack items, but it’s generally the starting point that rolls into matching sport boots, polo wraps, high-tech sun shirts, and designer breeches, even a specific shade of field boots to complete “the look.”
It’s all fine and dandy to spend your money how you want, and if having 50 color-coordinated outfits for you and your horse makes you feel good, that’s great. But the constant need to post a new, glamorous #ROOTD (‘riding outfit of the day’) or share a lustful post about the new “collection” from a high-end riding brand only adds to the unapproachable reputation of horse sports.
There is no reason why any horse rider needs 50 matching outfits, even if you own 50 horses. Despite how good your Instagram selfie might make you feel, I think it’s important to take a step back and realize how it affects those around you, and the many eyeballs that find it in a social feed. If the pandemic has taught me anything, it’s that I’m so turned off by this never-ending consumerism appetite that we somehow ‘rebrand’ as influence and status on the internet.
There’s so much to love about the horse world and the people in it. But a bunch of women posting selfies in their magenta, then gold, then sooty brown getups doesn’t do much to make us seem very welcoming to those who want in, but can’t afford to keep up with what’s ‘trending’ right now.
This hot take originally published in the Heels Down Spark in March 2022. Get more conversation starters in your inbox every weekday morning by subscribing to the Spark now.