Pleasantly Surprised: a Horze breeches review

Oh, Horze. That company name, it’s so bad in the American market. But initial awkwardness aside, my experiences with the company’s products in the past have been a bit hit or miss. The prices were always right, but sometimes the quality left me wanting. I had only tried one pair of their breeches, and that was a couple years ago. The fit was weird on me and I didn’t like the fabric, so I sold them and that was the end of my Horze breeches experiment.

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until now!

Lately I’ve noticed that it seems as though they’ve started upgrading the fabric on some of their basic models. The Horze Grand Prix breech, which used to be a cotton blend (which I hate with the burning passion of a thousand dumpster fires) was now showing as 93% polyamide, 7% elastane – very similar to a lot of my favorites. They also upgraded to a silicone knee patch, another favorite feature of mine. Ok Horze, you win… I’ll give you another shot.

The price for the Grand Prix breech is really reasonable at $99 from Riding Warehouse (or $89 each if you buy 2 or more) for the knee patch or $109 ($99 each if you buy 2 or more) for the full seat. Plus you can get 10% off those prices with coupon code FB10, or 15% off for USRider members with code USR15 (you have to supply your member number to use the USRider code!). Solidly in the under-$100 category! I went with the knee patch, because I’m always a bit worried about silicone full seats being TOO sticky for me, and a nice chocolate brown since it’s one of the few conservative colors I didn’t already have.

brown horse, brown gloves, brown saddle, brown breeches, brown boots – I like brown

My first impression was that the fabric is VERY similar to the Romfh Sarafinas. It’s nice and stretchy, not too thick, not super thin, and quite comfortable. I like the fit a lot too, it’s more of a mid-rise and nicely tailored for the female figure – NO WAIST GAP. I got size 42, which they equate to a US 30, and the sizing is right on par with all of my other 30’s. At 5’5″ with a very average length inseam, the hem hits right above my ankle. Very short-legged riders might find them to be a touch long, but they could be a good option for those with a longer inseam. The breeches have a stretchy panel built into the bottom that allows them to be nicely fitted to the lower leg. Extra fabric on the lower leg is a huge pet peeve of mine, they absolutely must be smooth under the boot, and these are.

They have a euro seat, which is basically a must-have feature these days, and to my relief the branding is VERY subtle. There’s just a small flag looking tag under the waist on the back, a small metal tab on the front that says Grand Prix, and the metal buttons at the fly have a Z on them. Don’t worry, they don’t say Horze anywhere visible. The styling really makes them look a bit Pikeur-esque (ie more expensive than they are!).

I’ve been using and abusing these breeches A LOT, and they’re holding up remarkably well. They wash well, and the fabric helps them stay pretty clean between washes. They’re quite comfortable both in and out of the saddle, and they don’t sag or slide down or get funky in the crotch. So far they show zero wear.

I also like that the silicone knee patch is quite mild. It’s made up of a bunch of little dots of silicone, which makes the grip less intense than a larger strip of silicone. I doubt the full seats would be overly sticky. The grip on the knee patch version feels quite similar to a regular suede patch when you’re in the saddle.

If you’re in the market for a good budget breech, I’d definitely give these a shot. They’re not far off the price of something like the ever popular Piper breeches, but they are light years better in the quality and fit department. The fact that they come in white and tan make them a great low-budget show breech option as well. I definitely want to add a white pair to my collection next!

18 thoughts on “Pleasantly Surprised: a Horze breeches review

  1. We’ve have lots of Horze breeches in the Tack store where I work, well lots of Horze stuff in general, but there is definitely nice Horze stuff and junk Horze stuff. These breeches are very nice, particularly at the price point. They do run a bit long like you said. Horze stuff can also be kind of funky size wise (either runs small or large, not consistent across the brand). The GP breeches we have (we have primarily tan) are kind of in between size wise for me. I can typically size down in most of the Horze stuff, these breeches included.

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  2. We’ve been selling a ton of these since they came in earlier this spring. They have been a huge hit with the older dresage ladies that want a higher waited breech.
    I think I am going to pick up a pair soon since I only have one wearable pair of full seats.

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  3. I have that brown pair but in the silicone full seats! I absolutely love them. I reach for those almost as often as I reach for my Aqua Xs. The full seats are sticky, but honestly I don’t think overly sticky. I do actually like these! Oddly enough the fit of the brown is different than the fit of the plaid Grand Prix breeches that I have, even though their both technically the same. I’ve had both pairs for a while now, but I still love them! They’re holding up well.

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        1. The old fabric was mostly cotton and the new fabric has no cotton, so there should be a big difference between the new and old! At least to me, because I hate cotton blends so much.

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          1. I think it’s the newer fabric actually because I didn’t want cotton either. It just feels a bit heavier. Could be because the fit is a little tighter than the regular. Either way, I still love them!

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  4. I like the look of these, but I seriously do not need any more breeches. I’m somewhere in the 20 pairs range. Which is SUPER USEFUL right now and all.

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  5. I ADORE Horze breeches, they just work so well with my body type. The B Vertigo breeches in particular are nice.

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  6. Ive been wanting to branch out from funky crotch, waist gaping Pipers but always nervous. Might have to try these. Just hoping the waist will have enough give for my post baby waist.

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  7. I’m the opposite – I LOVED the old version and have many pairs in my closet, but the new ones didn’t work for me at all. The fabric is too stretchy and lightweight, and they fit weird. Maybe I should have tried going down a size? I don’t know, but I was super disappointed.

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  8. I could have used this post one week earlier….Just bought my first pair of Pipers because the hype finally got to me, and they finally came out with plain colors like all-black without any funky contrasting piping. Anyway, I love the fit of them and the fabric is really nice, so I took the tags off them and rode in them and……OUUCH!!!!! Wtf why did they not do a flat seam in the crotch??? That damn seam is so painful! I am so bummed.

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