Picking Your Winning Colors

I'll start off with black. The color that is most widely used in the show ring, partly because of being easy to coordinate with any color horse, and partly because it seems like a safe choice, especially to those who aren't very confident in their figure. But black is also very hot, shows dust and dirt quickly, and is overwhelming on some skin tones. Also, so many people wear black, especially in adult classes, that you may just blend into the background if you are wearing this traditional color.

Another set of colors that look good with almost any color horse, is the blue/green shades. Colors such as turquoise, teal, dark green or blue, and some shades of lime are easy to match to many coat colors. This is great for showman with multiple horses to coordinate with and also gives some safety for those who may be changing horses soon and don't want to have to purchase a new outfit also.

Many people, younger riders especially, are excited to wear the bright colors that are becoming popular, from head to toe. Colors such as blue, red, purple, pink, and orange may be lots of fun, but also pose some coordinating problems. Since these bright colors came back in fashion, I've seen many clashing pairs of horse and rider, where no consideration was given to how that color looked against the horse's coat, before the outfit was purchased. These bright colors look best on more neuteral and brown undertoned horses, such as blacks, whites, silver greys, bays, and some palaminos, buckskins and grullas. This isn't to say that if you have another color of horse that you can't wear a bright color. You just have to take extra care in matching them up before you are set on a show outfit color.

For those other colors of horses (chestnuts, sorrels, duns, and rose greys) earth tones often look classy. Wearing chocolate, tan, or whiskey may be an option that you want to go with if you can't test multiple colors on your horse before buying your outfit.

For those of you, like me, who show POA's Appaloosas or Paints/Pintos, you have another problem. Matching to multiple colors. Try to match your colors to your horses base color (or the color he has the most of) and then add another little rule to your list. If your horse is mostly white don't wear light neuteral colors; you will blend right into your horse's body. Try to go with darker or bolder colors that will stand out against all that white. If your horse has very little white you can just follow the same guidlines as for a solid color horse and things will work out great.

There are now some great choices out there for riders who want to minimize their figure and not resort to black. Colors like dark greeen, blue or purple, or chocolate brown, have the same slimming effects as black without the bore factor. Even a dark burgandy or maroon may be something to look into.

Most importantly though is to check your color of choice against your actual horse. Since there is so much variance in coat colors it is hard to tell how something will look until you put it together. So once you have decided on a color (or have it down to a couple of colors) go and buy a large towel or blanket/sheet in the color of your choice and lay it across your horse's back. Step back about 50 feet so you can see it from the same distance a judge would see from. You may want to have a couple other people give their oppinions on how the color looks with your horse, especially if you are biased toward your color.

Have fun choosing your color and then pick out an outfit that you will love to wear (because it really shows and makes you look happy while you ride). Then go out there with a coordinated, winning appearance and ride to win!

~Connie Colvin