Performa Ride was born out of a need…. Our need to be comfortable when riding….
Performa Ride are genuinely made to help Australian riders for Australian conditions. It is impossible to turn your horse out for 3 months of the year to avoid the heat, so what do you do when it is 30+ degrees out, and you still have to ride?
Are Performa Ride riding tights cooler than traditional jodhpurs? Of course! But how much cooler? So we tested it – with our favourite new gadget – our thermal imaging camera!
The day: 30+ degrees by about 10am
The test: To be fair, I wore the jodhpurs first (a popular UK brand that is high waisted with a silicone seat) when I was at my coolest and had not ridden. I rode for about 10 minutes in the jodhpurs, then switched to Performa Ride.
My temperature before getting on was 37 degrees.
The high waist on the Jodhpur sits on your natural waist, but I got very hot very quick, and for some reason my thighs and calves felt like they were on fire. Which is unsurprising when the sun is beating down and you have been riding. Testing my calf after 10 minutes of riding showed a temperature of 44.6 degrees. No joke… 10 degrees hotter than the air temp. After only 10 minutes.
Time to get into my riding tights, which was an instant relief, not only are they far less restrictive, they are far cooler. My leg temp was down to 34.8 degrees. After 10 minutes of riding, my temperature only increased to 37.7
Which means that even after working the horse in the heat, the Performa Ride were 7 degrees cooler at the height of the heat. In the Aussie summer, that is a huge difference, and one that will get you through summer riding. If you are riding multiple horses a day, Performa Ride riding tights should be your go to riding apparel.
In the reality of doing horses, this means that you can ride your horse without that feeling, you know the one…. ‘Get me outta these jods!’ as soon as you finish riding. Often, the mere thought of un-tacking is unbearable in jodhpurs after you have just sweated your way through a workout. Performa Ride virtually eliminates that feeling – you can weed, fix fences or do the dreaded poop pickup!
Find your pair of Performa Ride Tights HERE