Pony Tail Sportswear - Lopin' Ain't Easy

It's not every day that someone asks you to review underwear on your website. Okay, it's never. However, when boss-babe Kaydee Johnston, owner and founder of Pony Tail Sportswear asks you to review her padded underwear for equestrians, the answer is definitely always yes. Plus, I've been preaching the good word for a long time about buying and wearing brands that are made for competitive women... so how am I going to turn down a brand that's for competitive women's behinds?! But, spoiler alert, I am no Victoria Secret angel, so you're just going to get this review from regular 'ol me instead, no wings included.

This is what Pony Tail Sportswear looks like. Disclaimer - that ain't me, or my booty.

Anyone that has loped a cutting horse has probably experienced chaffing and soreness. A combination of a rough gait, with a super hot horse, ill-fitting jeans and any form of sweat can be a miserable combination. I used to think that people were whining when it came to the aforementioned "loper behind", until I moved to Arizona in January of 2014. I hadn't loped for about a month over the holidays and we headed to a show straight away where I was loping 8 hours a day, in heat that I was not acclimatized too. Ya'll, I was sweatin', and not to be too TMI, but my behind has never been so raw and sore to the point where I couldn't sit down. I remember googling ailments and more often than not cyclists tricks and tips came up. (Including a powder product called Monkey Butt - if you're prone to chaffing, invest in it.) So when Johnston told me about her product after serendipitously meeting her at a show, I could kind of "get it", kind of like padded bike shorts for cyclists. However, I was slightly horrified because those are like PADDED, I wasn't about to ride around looking like I had a diaper on! The horror! I remember being in Texas where a loper had a padded insert for her saddle and she was butt-shamed left, right and centre over it. There was no way I was prepared to fall to the same fate. Johnston assured me that her product was made for riders - one of their slogan's, after all, is "look good, feel good, ride all day!" She told me to put a pair on and just get to riding, and to honestly let her know what I thought.

Bet you can't tell I have my Pony Tail Sportswear on!

Some trivia about Pony Tail Sportswear... It was originally made to alleviate the problem of sore sit bones. They say they want you to ride with a technological advantage and technological it is:

They are made from luxury performance fabric imported from Italy. They feel like silk honestly, with 360-degree stretch performance that provides total comfort for the rider and prevents chafing.

They are also made with a moisture wicking material. Anti-microbial fabric continuously draws moisture away from the body keeping skin dry and comfortable.

The product has a no bunch lace and exclusive stitching design. (Obviously the lace version is for women, unless you're a guy and you're into that, no judgement, you do you.)Silicone backed lace and exclusive Pony Tail Sportswear stitch design prevents sport underwear from riding up or bunching.

Pony Tail Sportswear has advanced impact protection AIP. HyPUR-cel polyurethane open cell foam (with a thickness of less than a stack of two quarters) is uniquely bonded to our Pony Tail Sportswear fabric protecting the sit bones against impact from riding. Engineered to be completely breathable and provide excellent resilience for repetitive use.

~ From Pony Tail Sportswear

Obviously there are men's versions, but uhm... I can't really speak on the problems ya'll have when you ride, so we're just going to do a talk about myself and the women's version. However, they have lots of male reviews on their website, and sponsor a lot of big time male riders, so they must be on to something good in that... ahem.. department as well.

My super awkward attempts at being a Victoria Secret Supermodel, VS - hit me up.

Side note - attempting to model underwear in a semi-classy way is not easy. If you ever find you have to model underwear, undoing your belt and opening up your pants for the world to see will probably result in your photographer looking at you horrified saying, "no, no, this isn't working, this is not a good look. Stop posing like that, we need to rethink this."

Double side note - the 2017 Limited Edition Pony Tail Pink colour coupled with the lace is so cute. Like, you think you are going to be wearing this super weird diaper thing, and all of a sudden your in these silky, really flattering, super cute pink shorts that are apparently suppose to keep your behind feeling really nice. Pluses all around.

Triple side note - I went and rode with a friend and looked over at her and said, "i'm wearing them", to which she was like "oh my gosh - you aren't?!" to which I responded "yeah I am! Feel my butt, you can't even feel them!" which is all a true account of my Pony Tail Sportswear experience. You can't see them through jeans, and you can barely tell yourself that you have them on.

Lopin' around in my Pony Tail Sportswear

Review Time!

Well, Johnston was right. They feel awesome, you can't tell you have them on, nor can anyone else for that matter and they protect your behind while you ride. I expected sliding and bunching and weirdness but they stayed firmly where they were suppose too, providing a nice soft cushion for my rear. Another thing I thought about as I rode was what if they cushioned my sit bones too much, was it possible for there to be too much cushion? Like, if I went to stop, could I still feel my butt hit into that saddle? The answer is yep. The Pony Tail Sportswear really doesn't interfere with your riding, or how you feel, in any way. I mean, they sponsor some big dogs in the cutting game - like Clint Allen and Travis Rempel, so if those guys are winning in them, then little old me can ride in them too, they aren't going to interfere with my beginner unicorn game that's for darn sure.

There is a sizing guide on the website and Johnston stressed I wanted them to fit tight, like yoga pants, that they shouldn't be loose in any way. I hover around a 4-6 waist jean, and am 5"6 and probably 130 lbs. I went with a small, but realistically should have gone with a medium. I'm right in between their sizing chart and was clearly having a skinny-feeling day when I ordered them so I was all, yeah I'm a small let's do this. I'm not a small. I have nice strong riders thighs and the lace bottom was just a little tight on the broader circumference of my legs, otherwise everything else fit very well. So, that's really my only negative about the experience, and it was my own judgement-call/fault.

As they promised, there was no excess sweating in them, and another plus is they kind of have a bit of a shape-wear aspect to them if you pull them up a little. Nothing wrong with tuckin' in that spare tire that seems to always become highlighted by stupid show shirts, am I right ladies?

Also, they have super cute tanks - how adorable is the slogan, Lopin' Ain't Easy?, like stop it Pony Tail Sportswear, ya'll are just speaking my language all day long!

So there you have it - i'm a new fan and supporter of padded underwear - who woulda thought it?!

Props to Neato for being my padded underwear model horse for this blog post.

#CuttingHorse #ProductReview #PonyTailSportswear #PerformanceHorse