What colors would you put on a sabino chestnut and white appaloosa?

Question

HI, I now own the loudest horse in my life, a sabino chestnut and white appaloosa gelding . he has blaze, stockings, and a huge white blanket. his coat is the same copper color as a new penny with a small amount of roaning in it, very pretty.

I was at a show yesterday (showing him halter only) and stayed to watch some of the Western classes. some people in the stands where commenting on what some of the riders where weiring, mostly that the colors where wrong! I had never even thought about colors, I have always ridden under either black and white for dressage or done some stuff in hunter and gold, but I have pretty much always had bays . I want to ride this guy western, but have no idea on colors for him. all of his sheets are navy, and he looks pretty good IMO, but I need more options! any guidelines? I am currently buying him a western saddle, so pad colors would be great.

Answer 1

Pick a color that will draw attention, like a bright red on a liver chestnut will draw a lot of attention because the two colors clash and catch the eye. A copper and white horse will probably need some careful choosing on color, I would probably go with a lime green if it looked good on him. Make sure your outfit matches his! A red outfit and green halter/pad won't look good!

Answer 2

check out the hobby horse color wheel. it might help you out.  i have a different colored shirt and pad for each horse i ride.  black show pads (with a felt or neoprene pad underneath) go great with almost every outfit.

good luck showing!

Answer 3

on that color, stay FAR away from reds, pinks, and oranges... it doesn't look good at all, although some people can successfully pull it off. i like blues and greens- especially TURQUOISE. here's a chart that's very helpful! http://www.hobbyhorseinc.com/08_dress_fo...

the easiest way to post pics is to upload them on flickr (with yahoo so all you have to do is activate the account, you don't have to create one) and then copy/ paste the link! very simple.

http://www.flickr.com

Answer 4

It would be great if we could have a picture. That way we'd be better able to tell. If he is the color of a copper penny, then hunter would look good on him. But if you can find a bright, fluorescent color that looks good on him, it would look interesting and splashy in front of judges, especially in showmanship, halter, and pleasure classes.

Answer 5

Colors are about drawing attention. If you're riding a dark brown or bay horse, the judge's eye will slide right over you, so use color to catch attention. Your horse is loud, you're not going to need bright pink to catch the judges attention. Let the horse do the eye-catching. Pick something on the same color intensity as the chestnut, but something that isn't going to draw attention away from your horse. Depending on your coloring, I'd pick a white shirt with some silver on it (buttons or maybe a bit of lace or piping) a black hat, black boots and a black and red based saddle blanket. It worked for me riding a bright paint mare. I never had any negative comments about my costume drawing attention away from my horse.  

Answer 6

Matching your horse's color to his tack is a matter of personal preference.  I don't care what people in the stand were saying - one person can love a certain look, and the next person will hate it, and neither of them are necessarily wrong!

Having said that, there are some colors that work better with some horse tones.  I would first look at Hobby Horse's color wheel, that will give you an idea.  Also, look through horse magazines and note what sorts of turn-outs catch your own personal eye, and note those, maybe even clipping those photos for personal reference.

Are you a conservative person, or flashy?  Since your horse is flashy himself, you may want to stick to simpler outfits.  Some people will tone their chaps and blanket to the horse's tones, so they go with sand, whisky or rusty tones with a chestnut horse.  Then they will pick one other color and work with that.  To me more conservative colors that would work well for your bright chestnut are dark green, blacks, sands, dark purple, royal blue.  Others love the "pop" and "wow" factor that you sometimes see in Western classes.  You could probably get away with neon tones, too, even bright yellow, neon green, even orange.

The only colors that I would avoid with a bright chestnut are red, and pink.  And I've even seen people who use those tones and get away with it.  The main thing to do is - match your saddle pad really well with your own outfit, buy good quality stuff, and enjoy your own personal set of style and colors.  You don't have to be the same as everyone else in Western, even at the big Breed show level.  Just go to a few more shows and you'll see what I mean!

Have fun.  Your boy sounds lovely.

Answer 7

hey try purple it goes great with my nice chestnut

and my friends appy goes nice with aqua blue and purple too