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Buying guide

Gifts for riders: start with what does not need fitting.

Buying for a rider is easiest where the item does not have to be fitted to the rider or the horse, or checked against a competition rule. This guide explains which items fall on which side of that line, according to the bodies that set the rules, and suggests gift categories. See also the beginner riding gear guide.

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Get instruction

This page explains what governing bodies, standards bodies and veterinary bodies publish. It is not a substitute for instruction from a qualified coach or riding school, and it does not replace medical or veterinary advice.

Before you buy: what is better left to the rider

Three kinds of kit are hard to buy as a surprise, for reasons the bodies themselves give:

  • Helmets and body protectors. The BHS recommends that hats be fitted by a BETA-trained fitter, and both the BHS and The Pony Club advise against second-hand hats. Which helmet standards a rider needs depends on the body they ride under and the date: the FEI's list changes on 1 January 2027 and again in 2028. Body protector rules depend on the BETA label's year and level. These are choices for the rider, the coach and a fitter. The helmet guide and body protector guide explain why.
  • Saddles. The Society of Master Saddlers distinguishes a saddler, who is qualified to make saddlery, from a saddle fitter, who is qualified to fit it, and says the welfare of the horse is paramount. Saddle fitting is a qualified person's job, not a gift-buyer's.
  • Stirrups for competition. US Equestrian's GR801.6 disallows stirrups with certain upward-facing projections, with enforcement from 1 December 2026. The safety stirrups guide sets out the rule.

Nothing on this page says a product is certified, safe or allowed at a competition.

Our picks by category

PICK 1

Equestrian books

Books need no fitting, and riding has a long written tradition. Wikipedia (secondary) dates Xenophon's On Horsemanship to about 355 BCE in one article and about 350 BCE in another. A search summary of Wikipedia says Federico Grisone's Gli ordini di cavalcare of 1550 was among the first horsemanship books after it, while a summary of a US Dressage Federation history gives 1552; we read neither directly. Sources differ on the date of La Gueriniere's Ecole de Cavalerie: Wikipedia gives 1731, a search summary of another page 1729. For any instruction title, the edition and date matter, and no book replaces a coach. See classical riding schools.

Best for: Readers, new riders and anyone interested in the history

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PICK 2

Saddle pads

A pad is a lower-stakes gift than a saddle, but the dress rules still touch it. The 2019 FEI dressage text makes saddle pads optional and asks for white or a plain conservative colour, with no stripes or multiple colours. US Equestrian's 2026 dressage booklet asks for white or a conservative colour and limits logos to 200 square centimetres under listed conditions. These are competition rules; we found none for everyday riding.

Best for: Riders who already own a saddle

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PICK 3

Riding gloves

Mostly a colour question in the rules. At CDI3* and above under the 2019 FEI text, and in FEI tests at US Equestrian competitions, the rules ask for white, off white or the coat colour; the FEI eventing dressage test also allows black. Equestrian Australia makes gloves optional at CCN1* and below. Size is personal, so the rider's own size helps.

Best for: Riders who compete in dressage, or anyone who rides in gloves

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PICK 4

Show jackets

The FEI Jumping Rules (2026) allow a competition jacket of any colour with outward-facing buttons; the FEI eventing dressage test allows any single colour approved by the rider's federation, with no stripes; the 2019 FEI dressage text asks for black or dark blue at CDI3* and above. US Equestrian dressage allows any single colour. The discipline decides what fits the rules.

Best for: Riders who already compete, when you know their discipline

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PICK 5

Breeches and jodhpurs

FEI jumping asks for white or light fawn breeches in competition and FEI eventing dressage white or off white. US Equestrian dressage permits white, light or dark colours but not bright colours or patterns. These are competition rules; we found none for everyday riding.

Best for: Regular riders, in a size they have confirmed

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PICK 6

Grooming kits

No governing, welfare or veterinary body we found publishes a grooming kit list, so we do not say what a kit should hold. The grooming kit guide explains what those bodies do publish.

Best for: Horse owners and sharers

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PICK 7

Horse rugs

World Horse Welfare names stable, turnout and fly rugs and warns that over-rugging can harm a horse's health and welfare. Whether a horse needs a rug, and which, is the owner's decision with their vet, so this is a gift best agreed in advance.

Best for: Owners who have already decided their horse needs one

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PICK 8

Hi-vis riding wear

Our research did not cover any body's guidance on high-visibility wear, so we make no claim about what it does. The riding on roads page sets out what the Highway Code and the BHS say about horses on roads.

Best for: Riders who ride out on roads

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Sources

  1. The British Horse Society, hats and helmets (reviewed 2 January 2026)
  2. The Pony Club (UK), Hat Rule, no changes for 2026
  3. BETA, body protectors
  4. FEI, Accepted Testing Standards for Protective Headgear, effective 1 January 2026 (copy hosted by an Australian campdraft body; the FEI's own page could not be opened)
  5. Society of Master Saddlers, saddler or saddle fitter?
  6. Society of Master Saddlers, about us
  7. US Equestrian, changes to GR801.6 safety stirrups and saddle attachments (FAQ)
  8. Wikipedia, On Horsemanship (secondary)
  9. Wikipedia, Hipparchicus (secondary)
  10. Wikipedia, Federico Grisone (secondary, search summary only)
  11. US Dressage Federation, history of riding (search summary only)
  12. Wikipedia, Cadre Noir (secondary)
  13. IOBA, early dressage literature to 1800 (search summary only)
  14. Equestrian New Zealand, FEI Dressage saddlery and dress rules (2019 text)
  15. US Equestrian, Dressage Attire and Equipment booklet (1 May 2026)
  16. Equestrian Australia, National Jumping Rules 2026 (reproducing the FEI Jumping Rules)
  17. Equestrian Australia, Eventing Rules 1 January 2026 (reproducing the FEI Eventing Rules, 27th edition)
  18. World Horse Welfare, rugging horses: when does your horse need a rug?

Keep reading

Grooming kit

Why we found no governing or welfare body's grooming list, the FEI rules on care kit, World Horse Welfare on rugs, biosecurity as Ontario and the FEI describe it, and where horse care is taught. Kit by category.

Riding gloves

Where gloves are optional, where they are required, and the colours the FEI eventing and dressage rules, US Equestrian and Equestrian Australia set, with the coat colours they are matched to. Gloves by category.

Classical riding schools

The Renaissance riding masters, the Spanish Riding School from 1565 to UNESCO, the Cadre Noir of Saumur, and the Iberian schools.

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