Brown Tack vs. Black Tack

I have brown tack just so if i want to I can do WH. However, my next jump saddle will be black. I just like the look of black tack :)
 
My horse is dark bay and black looks better on him. Chestnut looks better in brown. Coloured look better in brown. Piebald should wear black. Blue roan, black, red roan brown. Dun, black. No horse looks good in white, red or blue..... IMHO....
 
Brown tack becasue it is what came with my loaner and was the second hand saddle I bought for the horse previous to him.

I will be going on what saddles fit my new horse and whatever fits (almost certainly second hand) will be what we get. I prefer brown tack on anything with brown tones (roan, chestnut, bay/brown etc) and black on others but personal preference :)
 
Much prefer brown tack but black is easier to match other things to like bridles etc - I just always use different shades of brown!!
 
I like black, think it looks better on most colours. As long as it isn't hot pink/baby blue/white though, anything goes ha! x
 
TiddlyPups said:
Much prefer brown tack but black is easier to match other things to like bridles etc - I just always use different shades of brown!!
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This is why I always get black tack for all of mine! So much easier to mix & match, especially when you have horses with odd shaped heads (my pony has full size bridle with cob size cheekpieces and pony size reins!) Plus I find small scratches don't show as much, far easier to get black looking black than finding the right shade of brown leather colour! :D
 
Black. I remember when black tack first came on the market and I was the first kid to get black tack on the yard, so I've just always preferred to be "different"
 
Always have liked black tack - I think its just because it looks nicer and smarter than brown IMHO although brown can be nice on certain colours such as chestnuts :)
 
Brown can look lovely on some colours. I like both, used to halovely rally nice brown harness for a dun Shetland. Looked gorgeous
 
My two duns have brown tack - the gelding originally had black but when we upgraded his saddle he ended up with a havana one so just bought the bridle to match. Mare has brown because we had a brown saddle & bridle from my loan horse, and they fitted her nicely! Both colours would suit them though.
 
Strictly speaking, brown tack is 'correct'. Originally, black leather was considered 'inferior' because it could be dyed to hide imperfections in the leather, whereas any flaws where visible in brown tack.
Plus, black tack can fade. My saddle was black, but not entirely sure how I could describe it's colour now.

However, my tack is, black, and black (ish) it will remain because it FITS. :D
 
Janette said:
Strictly speaking, brown tack is 'correct'. Originally, black leather was considered 'inferior' because it could be dyed to hide imperfections in the leather, whereas any flaws where visible in brown tack.
Plus, black tack can fade. My saddle was black, but not entirely sure how I could describe it's colour now.

As a traditionalist I agree with this view. I was taught (in the 1950s!) that black harness was correct "in town" that is cities! And was probably patent leather.... But brown was correct for country harness and all saddle "tack".....I guess nowadays you could probably get away with other colouors as well. I remember the first Wintec saddles were patterned as well as coloured!!!
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Agreed. Black tack was mainly on the continent and until the 70s/80s we stuck with our traditional English brown tack. The saddles I fit pretty much are only stocked in brown, apart from dressage saddles, black is to order. I like brown better on pretty much every colour, and even personally own a brown dressage saddle which had to be made to order! Brown leather generally wears much better.
 
I prefer brown but have my piebald in black because the brown seems to look wrong somehow and my chestnut is in the traditional brown because she looks amazing in it.
 
I have only brown tack - a left over from many years ago when I worked in a yard owned by a master saddler - he always said to buy brown as it will always be the better of the quality as it was hard to cover blemishes with brown dye - Black dye on the other hand will hide many blemishes in the leather.

I also find that over a few years black leather starts to fade and goes a greenish colour.
 
Black tack because I think it looks smart on my white grey pony. However I do like the idea of getting a brown bridle, but then I have the issue of non-matching tack!! Old chestnut pony had brown tack though which looked good on him
 
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