BE ban coloured tack

Naturally said:
I agree with the ruling, (keeping it smart and some traditions upheld) but am intriegued by the suggestion that driving ponies wear coloured tack, anyone have a good piccy or two?

My concern about using plastic tack would be the comfort of the horse, and how do they cope with wear? Somehow I envision cracked reins more with plastic than well kept leather because you can't 'maintain' plastic but that could just be me having no experience of it! :)
Click to expand...

They wear great or endurance riders wouldn't use them and they aren't really plastic. :D I bought my bridle second hand and it still looks fab, ditto all our zilco harness which is years old. The only thing with it is, if it does get a bit of damage, you can see the white on the inside, whereas with a little mark into leather its still leather colour so you don't notice it, IYSWIM.

I'm wrong about HDT, most of the actual harness is black zilco like ours, although I think you can get other colours now. The horses are covered in matching colours including most having bright headcollers under bridles.

http://stonemole.files.wordpress.co...rse_carriage_driving_championship_windsor.jpg

http://timspurgeon.photoshelter.com...qDhh9qF7.0IMqFZ129a_fHpOzbyx4F4R3nIHPf&GI_ID=
 
I'm a biothane convert.

Re Comfort. They're designed for endurance. Of course they're comfortable. They're far more comfortable for the horse as you don't get the sweat sucking up into the leather.

Re Safety. The good ones have built in weak points that give under strain. I can verify from personal experience that they do. Better than leather in that respect.

Re Time saving. Clip, clip, and it's off, breastplate and all. Much easier at the end of a ride when time is against you. Plus you can bung them in the washer and they come out good as new.

Re Reins. My reins are like a leadrope so are much kinder on your hands. I find leather reins really wooden to ride with these days. Again, they've got built in break points.

Re Durability. I don't treat my bridle very well at all - it gets wet, and wetter, and covered in mud, and yet it's 8 years old and still comes up good as new after a run in the washer.

I don't get the tacky argument, especially for XC day. You've got riders wearing the brightest most garish colours imaginable on their hats, bodies, saddles and horse boots. What on earth difference is a coloured bridle going to make to that?! I can see that you'd want to look posh for dressidge/SJ though.

ps My bridle for H is black but my reins and breastplate are royal blue with black. I've kept with the royal blue and black for Wolf as he's the same shade of bay but I've got him a royal blue and black bridle.
 
Maesfen said:
I agree completely with you and I won't run and hide about it either.
Coloured tack is downright tacky and cheap looking just what you expect gypsies to have, let alone makes the rider look very amateurish. Is that the impression you really want to give out?
Click to expand...

Oh yes,how right you are. Surely it is only little girls who dress up their ponies is this awful stuff..matchy bandages,numnahs and browbands? It looks ridiculous.
 
Lets face it, the fact we even have anything to do with these 4 legged disaster areas is ridiculous enough :D i can't think there's anything more indicative of a persons state of mind than their involvement with horses in the first place!!!
 
It's a weird saddle (can you not tell?) so no saddle pad in the world will fit it perfectly.

Here's another one for the win. Who was slagging matching polos and saddle pads?

208529_504477620745_7559_n.jpg
 
I just don't see the point in complaining? You're allowed your bling and the likes, but they've just said that actually they'd rather you stuck to plain PC-esque tack. If you're 'individuality' is going to be so compromised by this rule (and I don't believe in the 'it helps you pick out the rider' thing either- I can pick my sister riding a plain bay TB wearing totally bog standard dressage gear out of a large collecting ring without a second glance!) then why not use something like Pink Equine's tack, with the binding?

I think people like to grumble. How many on here will genuinely be affected by this rule (which already stands in both PC and RC comps as far as I'm aware)?
 
Lolo said:
How many on here will genuinely be affected by this rule (which already stands in both PC and RC comps as far as I'm aware)?
Click to expand...

Yes, but on the flip side, how will BE be genuinely affected by coloured tack? :)

I think you pay so much to be a member you should be able to wear what you like, as long as its rated PG :D
 
I'm the first person to admit my love for coloured numnahs and browbands, but coloured tack.. nope, not for me!

I think that dressage you should have to compete in the traditional colours, but where cross country and maybe some levels of showjumping are concerned - whats the problem? If you like it, use it.

Personally I think I'd have stopped using coloured tack around the age of 12, but that's just me :D
 
BoolavogueDC said:
I find this really hard to argue either way.
Part of me likes standards and I like the fact you could always rely on these events to see people dressed smartly. I don't personally feel like brightly coloured tack IS smart, however I recognise that's personal.

Part of me says, if it's not tack/turnout being judged then why does it matter?

Part of me then starts to question why it matters in any sphere and then my mind blows up :D
Click to expand...

:eek::eek:

You've chaaaaaaanged Kitty. So reasonable and fair these days :p:p:p
 
Although I don't think the odd coloured bridle does any harm, I agree with the ruling. Otherwise its the start of a slippery slope, they have to draw the line somewhere or it will end up with dressage ridden in coloured jods, silks & tack. My 7yr old loves having her pony & herself in pink or purple matchy matchy, but understands that's not on for outings, same as lots of little kids. If young kids can accept rules I fail to see why adults can't.
 
littlelegs said:
Although I don't think the odd coloured bridle does any harm, I agree with the ruling. Otherwise its the start of a slippery slope, they have to draw the line somewhere or it will end up with dressage ridden in coloured jods, silks & tack. My 7yr old loves having her pony & herself in pink or purple matchy matchy, but understands that's not on for outings, same as lots of little kids. If young kids can accept rules I fail to see why adults can't.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a good idea to me. I would even start showing again!
 
Maesfen said:
I agree completely with you and I won't run and hide about it either.
Coloured tack is downright tacky and cheap looking just what you expect gypsies to have, let alone makes the rider look very amateurish. Is that the impression you really want to give out?
Click to expand...

I agree and I'm not going to run and hide either. As for wanting to look smart in traditional turnout for showing and some people saying it is because we want to belong to some higher class that is just pure rubbish, sorry it just plain is. My sister in law purchased a highly expensive pair of white jods at the weekend because "it is what all the show jumpers wear" personally cannot stand white jods. They make my arse look fat - beige all the way for me!
 
Hi
set


The best quality synthetic tack is made of BioThane, a webbing covered in PVC or PVU,it will not crack or delaminate. The edges are rounded and will not rub. BioThane only needs washing, and the stiching checked ( the same as in leather tack ), it needs no soaping or oiling. It will not go hard like dry leather tack, and Beta BioThane feels and looks the same as well maintained leather. It is stronger than leather, but well designed tack will have break where stitched.
 
Lol beausmate, I had more of an image of adults turned out like my daughter, pink jods & longsleeved shirt, pink & purple hat, purple gloves, purple gilet, pink saddlecloth, pink & purple browband & pink & purple ribbons plaited in to mane & tail. Obviously worse when she has hi viz too for hacking. Only the tack & jod boots aren't pink/purple.
 
Love it. I'm 'cheap', 'tacky', 'gypsy' (really, researched my family tree & whilst there was one Irish line generations back that's news to me), etc. Yet that's all fine because I'm an endurance rider.:confused: That's fine to call endurance riders cheap, we're happy in our choices.

Endurance does tend to be cutting edge, like feeding & watering horses during extreme exercise, sudden cooling to reduce heart rates for examples. All of which would be against 'traditional' lore. We do tend to look at things as they are, rather than get stuck in a rut because it was deemed to be traditional. If that means we are cheap & tacky for wearing coloured tack & enjoying expression (even if we lok like blingy kids, & by the way yes we do wear coloured jods though they aren't jods as the knee seam rubs so we tend to wear riding tights), so be it. At least we are happy & have competitions that welcome everyone, & don't turn people away for what they wear (even if OMG they are wearing tweed & leather).:D

My point is if you want to be traditional that's a personal choice. To ban someone because of a pink bridle is rediculous. The colour does not have any bearing on a horses performance. It is about personal choice. People doing BE events are not doing HOYS. They are totally different disciplines.

The good news is I could go BE with my green saddle! Even if not the green bridle to match. What about my green breastplate, plastic stirrups & white reins??;)

CluthaIMG_6144.jpg


PICT2135.jpg
 
Last edited:
I don't like the garish coloured bridles that have been discussed, purely because I think they look cheap and tacky. Someone quite rightly pointed out earlier that you just can't get decent leather bridles in different colours.

We make belts and dog collars and stuff, and we stock a big range of Sedgwicks and bakers Bridle butts. We have red, british racing green and a midnight blue. OH has threatened to make me a lovely midnight blue one but I'm still waiting. Point is that decent coloured leather costs money and therefore a coloured bridle in decent leather, handmade, would cost ALOT of money, which I'm not sure people would be prepared to pay for. So I stand by my point that current coloured bridles look cheap and tacky!
 
littlelegs said:
Lol beausmate, I had more of an image of adults turned out like my daughter, pink jods & longsleeved shirt, pink & purple hat, purple gloves, purple gilet, pink saddlecloth, pink & purple browband & pink & purple ribbons plaited in to mane & tail. Obviously worse when she has hi viz too for hacking. Only the tack & jod boots aren't pink/purple.
Click to expand...

Ow! Even the thought of that image is making my eyes hurt!

I think coloured tack would be fine for xc, but a big no-no for dressage, which is, after all, about elegance as well as performance.
 
If she's happy & enjoying her riding what's the harm? She wants to look like a pink christmas tree, fine.

I just don't expect to be dictated to by people clubbing you with no sensible reason just the 'tradition' argument because they've been hammered with it all the way up & now see no other sides. Not all traditions are right or good. It's personal choice.
 
I'm rather on the fence about this one.

Equestrian sport is probably one of the last remaining sports to uphold tradition, we always look smart, reserved, elegant. Hair in nets etc. I like this, I can't really tell you why, I just do. I think it is a sign of respect to the sport, and to the horse. What was that quote from Thelwell? "A scruffy rider is an insult to his horse".

On the other hand though, we are in the modern day, and I can't really see a problem with individuals wearing coloured tack. In a sport such as eventing, surely it doesn't harm safety or performance?

I know Mark Smith quite well and train with him reguarly - he is all about pushing the boundries!! It is always in the interest of the horse though.
And the pink reperesnts Breast Cancer awareness - surely that can't be a bad thing?
 
Zoejl said:
Hi
set


The best quality synthetic tack is made of BioThane, a webbing covered in PVC or PVU,it will not crack or delaminate. The edges are rounded and will not rub. BioThane only needs washing, and the stiching checked ( the same as in leather tack ), it needs no soaping or oiling. It will not go hard like dry leather tack, and Beta BioThane feels and looks the same as well maintained leather. It is stronger than leather, but well designed tack will have break where stitched.
Click to expand...

This is not the case, wintecs use biothane as girth straps on their saddles, I have lost count of the number of girth straps I have replaced with rawhide because the biothane has cracked across the stress line of where the buckle tongue sits, must be 80-90 at a guess possibly more.
As well as bridles made of biothane that have cracked, just punching a hole in the biothane for the buckle tongue to go through is not how it should be made, it needs to be sealed too or it will crack.
Biothane is not as good as quality well mantained English leather and never will be.
 
Charlie Bucket said:
I know Mark Smith quite well and train with him reguarly - he is all about pushing the boundries!! It is always in the interest of the horse though.
And the pink reperesnts Breast Cancer awareness - surely that can't be a bad thing?
Click to expand...

Maybe he can make a pair of breasts from foam & wear them under his plain coloured jacket??:D

Doubt anything in rules about that;)
 
As for arguing that 'it doesnt affect the horses performance'.....well, i really don't think my horse would come out the stable if i put a bright pink bridle on him, so clearly it would affect his performance!! :p
 
Not sure I'd ever go for a bright pink bridle, but I think Pip6's subtle green and white one is rather nice.:cool:

Perhaps if the tack was cheaper thieves would be less inclined to nick the stuff.:rolleyes:
 
lcharles said:
As for arguing that 'it doesnt affect the horses performance'.....well, i really don't think my horse would come out the stable if i put a bright pink bridle on him, so clearly it would affect his performance!! :p
Click to expand...
Tchah your horse has no sense of style :p

I will, if pony is ever unbroken enough to ride again, treat her to a bridle in exactly the same colour as her barbie headcollar :D


IMG_1197.jpg
 
I love the tradition and dressing up element of eventing. I love that everyone makes such a massive effort and it looks so smart and you would never find me putting on a coloured bridle on my horses either..but I don't think endurance riders look tacky as they have a totally different kit list! However, apart from my personal preference, I can't honestly think of one good reason why coloured bridles should not be allowed!!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top