Why wear horse riding gloves?

There’s lots of reasons why riders choose to wear gloves when they ride a horse. One of the main reasons you wear gloves for riding is for comfort. If you do a lot of riding reins can be quoite harsh on your hands, and gloves will help to cushion you and prevent blisters.

Another reason to wear gloves when you ride is for warmth. The changeable English weather can be quite harsh to the skin of your hands, particularly if you spend a lot of time outdoors and in the saddle. We stock a great selection of warm, thermal and waterproof gloves designed especially for riding, so your hands are protected but you still have great feel on the reins.

Another reason equestrians wear gloves is for grip. This is particularly important for cross country, jumping and when you’re riding a strong horse. There’s loads of great grip gloves now available, that take advantage in modern material technology to offer a fantastic level of grip on the reins, even in wet weather conditions.

Do I have to wear riding gloves?

You don’t have to wear riding gloves for most equestrian sports, and some riders just don’t like the feel of gloves. Dressage competitions are the exception to this – if you don’t wear gloves at a British Dressage competition you will incur penalty points.

Which riding gloves are best?

There’s loads of different riding gloves available, and which gloves you choose will depend on your own personal preference.

Some of the best thermal riding gloves include the Woofwear Precision Thermal Gloves, Roeckl Polartec Gloves, Uvex Sportstyle Winter Gloves and the Ariat Tek Grip Insulated Gloves.

Waterproof gloves are a massive bonus in the wet weather, and some of the best include the Woof Wear Waterproof Riding Gloves, the Roeckl Waregem & Roeckl Warendorf Riding Gloves, and the Le Mieux Waterproof Lite Riding Gloves.

Designed to give you the ultimate grip and feel on the reins, even in the rain, through the waterjump or on a sweaty horse, these grip gloves are among the best on the market. The best grip gloves include the Uvex Ceravent High Performance Glove, Uvex, Tensa II, Roeckl Rock-Grip, Woof Wear Competition Glove,s Woof Wear Event Gloves, and Ariat Tek Grip Gloves.

The best summer riding gloves give you grip and comfort, whilst being breathable and cooling. The Ariat Tek Grip, Woof Wear Eventer, Roeckl Laila Suntan, Le Mieux Protouch Mesh Gloves and Uvex Ceravent are all great warm weather riding gloves.

There’s loads of really great affordable gloves on the market that are fantastic for everyday riding and horse riding lessons. The classic cotton pimple palm gloves are a great option for when you’re starting out, and there’s also some great cheaper options available from Shires, Mark Todd, Toggi, Woof Wear and Roeckl at Eland Lodge.

Can you wash riding gloves?

All gloves are different to care for, and whether or how you can wash them depends on the materials they are made from. Many modern synthetic riding gloves are fine to put in the washing machine at a low temperature, but it’s always best to check the care instructions before you start cleaning your gloves.

How do I measure my glove size?

If you’ve not come across glove sizing before it can be a little confusing to begin with, but actually it’s really simple to measure you hands for riding gloves. Get a fabric tape measure (if you don’t have one of these, you can use a piece of string and ruler), wrap the tape measure all the way around your knuckles (include your palm and the back of your hand), then read the round measurement in inches. Round your measurement up to the nearest inch or half inch – this number is your glove size!