62 SIDELINES AUGUST 2013
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
“My Story” is a first person account of
life in the equestrian world. Would you
like to write your story for Sidelines
Magazine? To be considered, send
a brief description of your story to
and we had a growing need for that. I taught myself how to
become an embroidery digitizer, which for many years was a
lucrative business until the internet and offshore production hurt
that business as a whole.
Looking for a new direction, I began experimenting with the
idea of dye-sublimation and decided to invest and build a new
business called Noble Haus, Inc. (
). Using
this new technology has allowed me to take my graphic arts
background and expand in new directions including a casual line
of performance clothing inspired by the equestrian world.
Today I produce clothing lines for many well-know names such
as WEF, Grand Prix, Guy Harvey, Caspian Casuals and many
others. Some of the most exciting new items we have introduced
are fully dye-sublimated jockey silks. I kept watching the sewers
laboriously cutting and sewing all the little pieces and patterns (oh,
have I mentioned the fact that I can’t sew a stitch?) on the jockey
silks which could take days to complete...and thought why can’t
we print these?
With dye-sublimation you can print anything digitally in unlimited
colors. So we tried the first set of silks which was met with
resistance by the old-timers on the track who disliked change and
wanted to keep the traditional type which were all appliqué nylon.
We found that with dye-sublimation we cut the time down from
three days to three hours from start to finish! The results were
amazing, vibrant, clean and light. The jockeys raved about them
so much that now we can hardly keep up with the demand.
In addition to the jockey silks we have introduced fully sublimated
horse blankets. These make great awards blankets, and we have
done them now for several years for racetracks such as Arlington,
Saratoga and even one for the potential Triple Crown Winner
“I’ll Have Another.” In the last Kentucky Derby and Preakness I
created and designed sublimated silks that “Itsmyluckyday” wore
finishing a close second in the Preakness.
Horses are a passion that is evident in my designs. I always use
my own photography or drawings to inspire my clothing. I feel that
my riding and training background helps my eye when I’m shooting
because I’m able to see and understand the best position for the
horse to be in for the final image. Many of my images start out as
photographs but after I’m done manipulating
you can’t tell if it’s a painting or a photo.
Currently I am working on a new line
of performance fabrics on riding apparel
using a patented fabric designed for the
body to stay cool. It will be called the Noble
Equestrian Collection and will be available
at
in the fall. We
have also outgrown our small warehouse in
Pompano Beach, Florida and are moving
to a 6,000 square foot building that will
accommodate our growth. I am very excited
about the move and how far I’ve come in
this short time. It’s my customers who keep
driving me forward and the horses that
inspire my art.
Robyn, left, with her parents, Jerry and Betsy, at Noble’s Jockey
Apparel. Jerry was a jockey and Betsy a horse trainer when they
started their jockey apparel company. Betsy started by sewing
pants for Jerry and the business took off from there.
Photo by Andrew Duany Photography
Robyn created and designed sublimated silks for “Itsmyluckyday” who wore them to a
close second in the Preakness. In this photo, he shows how much he enjoys his horse
clothing!
Photo courtesy of Robyn Noble
About the writer: Robyn Noble is a native Floridian who resides in Lighthouse
Point, Florida but spends a lot of her time at the show grounds in Wellington. She has
lived all over the country and has ridden many different disciplines, including being
a wrangler in Pebble Beach to doing eventing while living in Texas and Georgia. Her
extensive equestrian background has led the direction for her clothing line.
