Style Points: For The Winning Rider

by Richard Hudgins
rhudgins@twhbea.com

The competition is the stiffest it has ever been in the Walking Horse industry. It is becoming more challenging than ever to win at the large shows and the Celebration.

If you have a top horse, you need top attire to complete your overall winning look. Today’s attire is strategically designed to enhance the gaits and magnificence of your horse. The trainers have always known that the attention needs to go to the horse and have throughout time worn traditional navy blue, black, or brown saddle suits and worn hats.

Today’s attire is form that has a function. Do you want to make your legs look longer? Do you want to look slimmer, steadier in the saddle, shorter from the waste up if on a small horse, etc…? These and many more things can be accomplished with proper show ring attire.

Riders in the know have used for many years tailors such as Carl Meyers and Le Cheval in Lexington, Ky., and R. J. Becht in Cincinatti, Ohio. But for some reason or another, these tailors have seemed out of reach to many Walking Horse riders. Perhaps this is due to price and distance. These riders have had to rely on off-the-rack suits from various tack stores that do not give as sleek of a presentation as a custom suit does.

Then enters Marsha Shepard, a native of Massachusetts, to the Walking Horse industry. Shepard has a long and varied background in the American Saddlebred and Morgan show horse industries. She’s been a world champion amateur rider, trainer, and instructor. And for the past 15 years, she has owned and operated Marsha de Arriaga, a custom riding and driving apparel store that has outfitted more world champion riders than could be easily calculated. A chance meeting with Bill Carrington of Markel Insurance at a Morgan show many years ago led her on the unlikely journey to Shelbyville, Tenn. After Marsha’s husband died, she and Bill became close friends and later began to date.

While visiting the Celebration with Bill Carrington, Shepard fell in love with Walking Horse exhibitors and the town of Shelbyville.

“I just love it here,” Shepard said. “It is so quaint and quiet. When exhibitors in other breeds see my ads shot on the square in Shelbyville they often ask if it is a movie set. I tell them that this is the town I live in now!”

Shepard still travels to Saddlebred and Morgan shows to sell her apparel. She also makes many barn visits in the winter where she outfits multiple riders for the coming season.

The unique aspect that Shepard brings to the Walking Horse industry is a permanent location on the square in downtown Shelbyville. Riders from the area can come to the shop on a day that is convenient for them and riders from out of state can easily find the time to come when in town for the Celebration or other events held in Shelbyville.

Expert advice and service is now easily available to the Walking Horse masses on any budget. Those wishing to really put on the ritz can have Shepard custom tailor a suit for them from head to toe. Others wishing to be economical can let Shepard help them select a suit in stock and have it altered to a perfect fit. Still others can bring in their existing suit and have it updated with new accessories.

Men have always worn hats in the Walking Horse industry and now the majority of lady riders are wearing a hat as well. In fact, 89% of the winners at the 2004 Celebration were seen in the winner’s circle with an appropriate riding hat.

Shepard has 10 different styles of hats to choose from and has the expertise to help you select one that works with your face and looks the best on you. Hats make the statement that you are prepared and came ready to show.

“Coming from a background where no one enters the ring without a hat, it looks like something is missing to me when I see a rider without one,”
Shepard said.

To showcase the innovative attire that is now easily available to Walking Horse exhibitors in Shelbyville, the WHTA Youth Council staged a fashion show Saturday May 28 during the Fun Show. Attenders enjoyed tea and dessert while viewing and learning about the many correct attire options.