Three years ago Brandon Gibson made headlines not just for winning Best Young Horse at Devon (Pa.) in 2012 with Arbor Day, but also for wearing bright red pants in the Dixon Oval.

“The pants really got more attention than my horse did,” he said with a laugh. “Then from there it became tradition. The three big shows I wear them always.

“In 2012 I wore Nantucket Reds, but everyone called them pink, so I was the boy in the pink pants,” he continued.

This year, he’s contesting the USHJA International Hunter Derby Championships with Select Sport Horses and Bill Rube’s Jus d’O, a 6-year-old Belgian Warmblood (Quaprice—For A Few Dollars More d’O, Dollar de la Pierre), and he decided to dress up for the occasion.

While his pants today aren’t nearly as bold as those he wore at Devon, they’re still more colorful than what is normally worn to a derby jog.

Brandon Gibson elected to wear pale pink pants during yesterday’s derby jog. Photo by Kimberly Loushin.

And how did he pick what to wear?

“As usual my wife pulled my outfit out, and I put it on! I really had no choice,” he said.

He doesn’t know how many different colors he owns at this point, but admitted that nothing is off limits.

“I’ve worn everything you could imagine,” Gibson said. “Yellow, purple, green, red, blue, orange—pretty much everything.

“Today’s my birthday so we thought we’d dress up and get some pictures. If you’re going to do it, do it big,” he continued.

What about for the actual derby finals? Will he be doing something crazy?

“No, I’ll be very traditional—white pants and navy coat.”

If you haven’t already, check out our blog about our favorite derby horses. Check back later for the full story on what happened during the classic round.