On one of the only really wet days this summer I went to a cross country event. I was not riding but naturally wore my riding mac anyway - it’s the only waterproof I’ve got! While walking round the course a lady a good deal older than me came up and said how nice it was to see a proper riding mac again.
We got talking and I asked her if she had one of her own. She said she no longer had one and did not know they were still available but had of course had them when she was younger and had “always enjoyed wearing them!” Seeing my interest she told me that after leaving school she had done an equestrian course at Porlock on the edge of Exmoor and that it was very wet down there, which I knew. She went on to say that 25 years ago it was far wetter than now and if I looked at photos of people riding or hunting on Exmoor I would see that they very often had mackintoshes on.
She told me that the clothes list for the college included
1 full length riding mac (2 recommended)
But she could not understand why pupils might need two and just took the one she had already. After a week she realised why two macs had been recommended. After a rainy day all wet tack, clothing and, of course, mackintoshes, were put to dry in a warm but not hot room. The heat was kept down to avoid ruining the tack and to avoid perishing the rubber in the macs! However, while the outside of all riding macs put in the drying room overnight were dry in the morning, if any mac leaked or rain had got down the neck or in through the crutch area, the mac was still damp inside in the morning. If there were two wet days running it meant putting on a damp mac next day which was misery.
At this point I had to break away to go and watch a friend going round the course. It was still pouring as she finished she told me she wished she had a mac like mine as her “said to be waterproof” jacket kept out no rain at all. We dried off her horse and were grabbing a quick picnic out of the back of the Landrovere when the aforesaid lady came up again and said she wanted to finish the story.
She said she had gone to the local saddlers in Porlock at the first opportunity to buy another mac. (There’s still a saddler there, I think!) She had been amazed at the number of macs in the shop of all sizes and the shopkeeper had told her he sold more riding macs than every other sort of riding coat put together. As they were talking a man came in to buy a new mac for himself and one for his 14 year old daughter who had come down to Exmoor for a riding holiday with him. They had both got soaked once already despite having riding macs and wanted new and better ones. The owner showed us all two qualities and she tended to opt for the lighter one which was a lot cheaper (£32 against £39 - big difference in those days) but both the other customer and the shopkeeper said she ought to take the better one as it would last longer, had a wider skirt, was heavier material and above all had a higher better fitting collar. She was persuaded when she saw that the collar had a storm fastening on it which buttoned across on to two buttons, one tight and one very tight “just like yours does today!” she said pointing at my mac collar fastened against the driving rain.
Additionally the male customer bought the more expensive mac not only for himself but also for his daughter who had to have the smallest size in that quality which was still really too big for her but which her father said she would grow into. They were only made for grown-ups.
I asked her if she had ever worn both her macs at the same time which she thought only a slightly strange question. She hadn’t but in retrospect thought it might have been a good idea. She did say, though, that a boy pupil who was a very keen hunter often wore a mackintosh hunting apron under his full-length riding mac and swore that gave him better protection than anything else! Interesting.
Imogen
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