Things that probably aren’t allowed

My husband has been wearing his safety vest while riding Eugene. He’s actually owned this vest for years, but it’s been sitting in a box in our shed because it didn’t fit. Since my husband is basically incapable of returning things despite significant nagging from me, it stayed with us. He generally rides without a vest and will borrow mine when he’s doing something risky, like trying sale horses.

With us wanting to ride together, he needed to have his own vest. The vest actually fits around him, but it’s too long; it hits the cantle of the saddle when he’s riding. He also likes the design of mine better so we looked at them at Rolex and even had him measured. He did measure for a short. They didn’t have any in stock in short so we left thinking he might order one.

And then we got back from Rolex and I didn’t really want to spend $300 on another vest, so I did something that I am sure is not allowed. So I want to be clear: do not do this. This is just a description of what I did, not advice I think anyone should follow. I am sure this voids any warranty  – written or implied – for the vest. That said, here’s what I did:

I cut two inches off the bottom.

I started by measuring and cutting two inches off the bottom. Then I rounded out the edges:

I pulled the cover back over the cut foam and pinned it:

Flipped the cover inside out and marked the cover at the pin marks with wax pen:

Removed all of the pins and laid the cover flat:

Then I drew a solid line connecting the pin marks and pinned the fabric together to keep it from bunching or moving:

Then I removed the pins, flipped the cover back to right-side out, and put the foam back in:

As much as I do not think anyone should do this because it’s probably not safe and warranties and etc, etc, I’m really glad I did it. It worked and saved a ton of money and my husband is happy with it.

Has anyone else ever modified their riding equipment? Not necessarily vests, but boots, breeches, chaps, or anything else?