Mountain Horse Belvedere Jacket: review

If you are looking for a stylish ladies jacket to keep you warm this winter the Belvedere jacket is a good choice

I loved the electric blue colour of this jacket (it also comes in black or sunrise pink) and has a tailored feminine cut – it is a touch longer than other winter jackets I have had previously but is still short enough to comfortably ride in. The soft down fill keeps you lovely and warm without being overly bulky.

The jacket features a generous size removable hood with faux fur trim to keep the wind out on cold days. I would have liked it if there had been one or two more fastenings to keep the faux fur on the hood as on windy days the removable fur felt slightly insecure. However I really liked the fact that both elements of the hood could be removed as I preferred to ride without the hood on windy days and the faux fur wouldn’t be to everybody’s taste. The jacket has good sized pockets which are perfect to keep your mobile phone, keys etc. safe while you’re at the yard. One feature I particularly liked was the extra high fleece lined collar which really helps keep the cold wind out. The jacket also has Lycra cuffs to make sure you have no gap from the sleeve of your jacket to your gloves. There are also magnets on the front panel that goes over the two way zip, these are much more stylish that traditionally popper fastenings.

I throughly tested this jacket by standing out in a field for three hours on a cold Saturday in January to try to find out how my horse was escaping from his field. This jacket kept me nice and warm and I especially appreciated the hood! I have also regularly ridden in this jacket and also wore it to a jumping clinic it is perfectly comfortable to ride in.

The medium sizing came up as I expected and I would say would equate to a UK 12-14.

This jacket is machine washable and on the whole has washed well however a few threads have appeared on the seems but nothing that would hinder the effectiveness of the jacket.

In summary if you are looking for a stylish ladies jacket to keep you warm this winter the Belvedere jacket is a good choice. It may be priced at the slightly higher end of the market but I feel the jacket has enough additional features like the lovely extra high fleece collar, the cut and overall look to justified its price.