Reequestrian Sees Demand for Riding Breeches Ahead of Show Season
The fall show season opens next month, and the resale marketplace Reequestrian says the item riders are looking for first is the one they replace most often: riding breeches.
The US-based platform, which lets riders buy and sell pre-owned English riding apparel directly to one another, reports that breeches are now the most searched and most listed category on the site as families prepare for the autumn circuit. The Pennsylvania National Horse Show runs October 8 to 18 at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, followed by the Washington International Horse Show from October 19 to 25, and the weeks before those dates are traditionally when riding families discover that last season’s clothes no longer fit.
“Breeches are the first thing a growing rider outgrows and the first thing a parent has to buy again,” said Kaitlin Malaspina, founder of Reequestrian and an equestrian parent herself. “Every August and September we see the same pattern. People need a pair that fits for the show ring, and they have a perfectly good pair at home that fits someone else.”
Why riding breeches cost families more every season
The demand is arriving in a sport that is expanding. US Equestrian, the national governing body, reported in January 2025 that its total fans and members had passed 500,000 and that its competing membership grew 8 percent to 83,000 in 2024, with 85,970 horses competing that year, up 2.7 percent on 2023. The federation licenses more than 2,400 competitions across 29 breeds and disciplines. The wider industry contributes $177 billion to the US economy and supports 2.2 million jobs, according to the American Horse Council’s 2023 Economic Impact Study. The same study counted 6.6 million horses in the country, and behind a large share of them is a rider whose clothes have to fit.
The cost of taking part has grown with it. The Aspen Institute’s Project Play survey found that the average American family spent $1,016 on a child’s primary sport in 2024, a 46 percent rise since 2019 and roughly twice the rate of inflation over the same period. Total spending on one child’s sports reached nearly $1,500 a year. The survey, conducted in November and December 2024, drew on 1,848 parents of active youth athletes across every state. Riding carries a cost most youth sports do not: a full wardrobe that must fit correctly and is replaced as the child grows.
A single pair of children’s knee patch breeches from a leading show brand currently retails at $179.99 to $209.99, before a show shirt, jacket, helmet or boots are added. A young rider who competes through a season and then grows two inches over the winter can need a new pair every year.
File: junior-show-outfit-outgrown-breeches.jpg Alt: Complete junior English show outfit laid flat next to an outgrown pair of riding breeches
Caption: A full junior show outfit, with last season’s breeches, already outgrown, at right. Photo: Reequestrian
Knee patch or full seat: pre-owned breeches reach the show ring
That arithmetic is what Reequestrian was built around. Verified sellers list their own items with the details a buyer actually needs: the brand, the label size, whether the riding breeches are knee patch or full seat, and how they were used. Buyers browse categories riders already think in, from breeches and jodhpurs to show jackets, tall boots and hair bows.
File: knee-patch-vs-full-seat-breeches.jpg Alt: Pre-owned knee patch riding breeches beside full seat riding breeches on a table
Caption: Knee patch breeches, left, and full seat breeches, right. Listings on Reequestrian state which is which. Photo: Reequestrian
The approach follows a broader shift in how Americans buy clothing. ThredUp’s 14th annual Resale Report, published in April 2026 and researched by GlobalData, found that the US secondhand apparel market grew nearly four times faster than the wider retail clothing market in 2025 and is projected to reach $78.8 billion by 2030, with Gen Z and millennials expected to account for 71 percent of that growth.
The previous edition of the same report found that online resale grew 23 percent in 2024, its second consecutive year of accelerating growth, and projected it would nearly double to $40 billion by 2029. Equestrian apparel is a small corner of that market, but it is one where the case for buying used is unusually strong: the garments are expensive, they are made to last, and the people who wear them keep growing.
Equestrian apparel has been slow to join that trend because general resale platforms do not describe it well. Breeches are sized on scales that differ between American, British and European makers, and a listing that reads “riding pants, size medium” tells a riding family nothing they can act on.
“The gear was always being passed around barns informally,” Malaspina said. “What did not exist was a place where a family in one state could sell to a family in another and both sides could trust the listing. That is the gap we are filling, and the numbers this season suggest riders were waiting for it.”
How selling outgrown riding breeches works
The selling side is built for parents with a tack trunk to clear rather than for retailers. A seller photographs the item, records the brand, the label size and the condition, sets a price, and the listing goes live to riders looking for exactly that. When it sells, the platform handles payment and the seller ships it. For a family that has just been through a growth spurt, that is an afternoon’s work to recover a meaningful share of what the wardrobe cost.
The timing matters because breeches are not one product. Knee patch breeches, with grip fabric at the inside of the knee only, are the standard for hunters and equitation. Full seat breeches, with the grip panel running from knee to seat, are worn in dressage and by many jumpers. A rider who moves between disciplines, or moves up a division, can need both, and a listing that names the type saves the buyer from a return.
Fit is the other reason a specialist listing matters. American brands size breeches on a numbered scale that runs roughly from 22 to 36, while British and European makers use their own systems, and a rider who takes one number in one brand can take a different number in another. On a general resale app, that information is usually missing. On a marketplace built for the sport, it is the first thing a seller is asked for.
What to check before buying riding breeches secondhand
For buyers, the useful checks are the ones a rider would make on their own gear. The knee patches or full seat panel should be intact, with no lifting at the edges and no bald spots in the suede or silicone. The waistband and belt loops should hold their shape. The zipper, whether front or side, should run cleanly. The lower leg, whether it finishes in a sock bottom or a hook-and-loop closure, should sit flat under a tall boot. None of that shows up in a stock photo, which is why Reequestrian asks sellers to photograph the actual pair and describe how it was used.
What pre-owned riding breeches mean for families this fall
For a parent whose child has just outgrown a wardrobe, the practical difference is a pair of breeches at a fraction of retail, listed by someone who knows what the size on the label means, and a place to sell the outgrown pair on when the next growth spurt arrives. A marketplace where every buyer is also a future seller does not make riding cheaper once. It makes it cheaper every season.
Reequestrian is woman-owned and operates across the United States. The company says it expects listings to rise further through October as riders finish the outdoor season and take stock of what still fits.