Matchy matchy ? Im not sure I get it ?

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Notimetoride

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Just not sure I understand this whole matchy matchy thing. Dont get me wrong, i do think it looks super smart. But how on earth does your average person, working full time, having to watch the pennies and being short of time, actually organise it? I couldn't afford several matching sets of saddlecloths, bandages fly veils and suitable top for me. I see 'sets' for sale for £100 plus, and people seem to have several. Yikes! When i ride, the colour of my own and my horse's attire doesnt even enter my head. I use whatever saddlecloth is clean and that goes for my clothes too (although for me, I sometimes dont even care if its clean!). I dont bandage my horse - she doesn't need it. And i dont want her tendons to be too warm. She has knee caps for hacking and thats all. I honestly wouldnt have the time to co-ordinate myself with my horse. So when doing the matchy matchy thing, do you take a bandage to the shops to buy yoursrlf a matching top?
Now im not a total ragamuffin. I do BD and am fairly motivated - I like to be clean and tidy and try to look a little bit professional ish. Im just interested to know how on earth peole do it ?
 
I buy fly veils from eBay for under £5 and then source saddle clothes elsewhere - I like HKM & Kramer, as they are inexpensive but good quality. Or wait until other brands are reduced. I'm yet to spend more than £25 on a saddle cloth.

I stick to navy and blue (or versions thereof) so it literally takes no more time to tack up with a matching pad & ears than it does an unmatchy pair, but I don't boot or bandage. Most of my riding wardrobe is of a similiar colour, so we don't generally clash. I certainly don't take saddle pads to shops with me for a colour match ... :D
 
I think it looks lovely and smart, but I don't use bandages anyway, so the matchiest I ever get is when my black or white saddlecloth happens to be worn on days that I use black or white boots.

I wouldn't have the money for the expensive sets.
 
haha! aaaaaand unleash the matchy army! :D :D

I'm the same as you tbh, I just reach for the thing that's clean, though I do like the pretty colours so we have a few nice pads :p When I was a kid it was all red or navy so it's nice to have the choice. my horses wear white boots for flatwork, I'm old skool. I have got some matching ears for a few pads which they wear out hacking (seems to help keep the behaviour a little sweeter when riding and leading, every little helps, right?)

I have enough pads now that I can fill the enormous washing machine at the yard in one go rather than spending £5 on a half empty load. so they get used in rotation and then put in the washing pile :D :D if I want a different colour then the least favourite has to be sold :(
 
Lots of companies do ranges of clothing too - Eurostar does clothes and horse stuff, Pikeur is Eskadron for humans, weatherbeeta and Roma etc.
I have two nice sets for the horse he needs bandages and eskadron ones are nice they wash well and go on nicely the two sets he has were both bought second hand and I swap once a week. I don't bother with matchy for myself although I tend not to use the green pad if I have on my raspberry breeches but that's about it
 
because the manufacturers have tapped into a market where people want to be seen to be spending money. imagin being on a big livery yard or going to competitions. you can show off how much money you have to waste to everyone. And sneer at the peasants with a patched mis matched numnah and rug. simples. that's how it works.
 
Well I don't get the folk that go out wearing stilettos and a boob tube either but plenty seem to like the look so I would say live and let live. If you like it buy it if not don't.
 
Downton Dame said:
because the manufacturers have tapped into a market where people want to be seen to be spending money. imagin being on a big livery yard or going to competitions. you can show off how much money you have to waste to everyone. And sneer at the peasants with a patched mis matched numnah and rug. simples. that's how it works.
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I think you are reading more into it than is there!
I quite often follow someone into the arena where i train who has a matching set of pad and bandages on, but I'm pretty sure they aren't sneering at me in my stuff! Chip on your shoulder? ;)
 
Lots of things baffle me in the horse world...from ££££££ saddles, bridles and bits to massive lorries for local events. Any spare pennies I have go on lessons and competitions. But I suppose if I had the spare money I would! Although would definitely not pay what people seem to for second hand!

I do go with MuddyMonster though and anything new I do buy is on the blue theme so we can look reasonably coordinated!
 
I don't think anyone sneers either? I have friends that like it and they have never done so, especially as Franks very brown ecogolds, nuumed wool and mattes are worth more than any lemieux/eskadron matchy any day of the week so why would they? :p
 
madamebonnie said:
Lots of things baffle me in the horse world...from ££££££ saddles, bridles and bits to massive lorries for local events.
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fairly sure you don't mean it like that but this made me chuckle
Only the EXTREMELY posh have a small lorry for local events, so they can save their big lorry for those further afield... pretty sure most people only have one horsebox to use for everything :D :D :D
 
To add to my original post, maybe im ever so slightly matchy matchy. But only as far as my jods and hat matching (i have navy and black) and my hi viz matches my horse's hi viz. But thats it. When i put on whatever yard clothes are to hand, I certainly dont consider if it will match my horse. Im more concerned about running out of evening and am i ever going to get a reasonable medium trot. Tack is thrown at the horse and off we go :-0
 
Downton Dame said:
because the manufacturers have tapped into a market where people want to be seen to be spending money. imagin being on a big livery yard or going to competitions. you can show off how much money you have to waste to everyone. And sneer at the peasants with a patched mis matched numnah and rug. simples. that's how it works.
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What a load of codswallop!

If anything those who insist on wearing traditional colours sneer at those who like a bit of colour.
 
I'm one of those matchy folks. For me I liken it to when I was a child and bought pretty stationery as a way of motivating myself to study. I have a vast array of pads and boots (don't bandage) and a few matching ears and have recently discovered the Regatta outlet store which often has matching tops at a bargain price. Horse is on full livery so time isn't an issue, we train twice weekly and he has regular physio and chiro sessions so it's not like buying matchy is to the detriment of the horse's upkeep.

It does amuse me when non-matchy folks accuse those that match of being snobby etc. whilst judging us for choosing to spend money on matchy sets. Personally I'm not fussed either way what others do.
 
Matching bits and pieces for the horse are mostly just accumulated over time tbh. I buy saddle cloths for the fit, quality and materials, but it just so happens that the makes I like also come in some cool colours.

I don't match myself to horse (except accidentally), so can't really comment on that, but horse-wise I wash everything every couple of weeks and then just leave it all stacked up, so it's as easy to grab matching stuff as non matching. I have quite a few things that don't match though, so I'm not particularly religious about it, but it does help me remember how many times I've used something since it was last washed
 
milliepops said:
fairly sure you don't mean it like that but this made me chuckle
Only the EXTREMELY posh have a small lorry for local events, so they can save their big lorry for those further afield... pretty sure most people only have one horsebox to use for everything :D :D :D
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My YO has two and she's definitely not extremely posh :D but yeah not exactly worded right there...blame the flu!

I spend every penny on a reasonable set up of one on assisted DIY livery with my own transport of ancient car and trailer. I guess I'm just amazed/jealous at those who have got the fancy upgrades :D
 
I saw a couple doing the pairs class at a very low-key local one-day event yesterday. Their horses were as different as could possibly be but they both wore matching saddle pads and shirts in a nice colour and I think one of the horses wore ears. We commented how great they looked. It made them look like a team, despite the mismatched horses. They also looked to be having a lot of fun which is all that matters!

My stuff is all black, grey or green but not from any particular wish to be matchy or not, it's just how it's worked out over the years. Horse gets his numnahs filthy so rarely wears the same one more than three times.
 
Notimetoride said:
To add to my original post, maybe im ever so slightly matchy matchy. But only as far as my jods and hat matching (i have navy and black) and my hi viz matches my horse's hi viz. But thats it. When i put on whatever yard clothes are to hand, I certainly dont consider if it will match my horse. Im more concerned about running out of evening and am i ever going to get a reasonable medium trot. Tack is thrown at the horse and off we go :-0
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I'm not a slave to matching items and tend to spoil it by putting on my hi-viz over the top in any case but don't find it takes any longer to put on a matching set than a non matching set. I've one set of tack and 3 matching sets. It's not difficult.

I use matching woof boots not bandages most of the time because I can't be bothered to put them on or keep washing them.

I've also spent a major chunk of money on traditional showing clothes much more than I've ever spent on matching my riding gear!
 
FestiveFuzz said:
I'm one of those matchy folks. For me I liken it to when I was a child and bought pretty stationery as a way of motivating myself to study. I have a vast array of pads and boots (don't bandage) and a few matching ears and have recently discovered the Regatta outlet store which often has matching tops at a bargain price. Horse is on full livery so time isn't an issue, we train twice weekly and he has regular physio and chiro sessions so it's not like buying matchy is to the detriment of the horse's upkeep.

It does amuse me when non-matchy folks accuse those that match of being snobby etc. whilst judging us for choosing to spend money on matchy sets. Personally I'm not fussed either way what others do.
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But how do you do it ? Do you plan at home what colour youll have the horse in ? Or do you wear whatever takes your fancy and then co-ordinate the horse to match you ? Or do you generally stick with one main colour like others so it will pretty much all match whatever you choose? And do you still match even if there is no-one else there but you and your horse? Are your saddlecloths and bandages etc easy to get to so it takes no longer to tack up (my saddlecloths are in a trunk across the yard and a nuisance to get to in a hurry)
 
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madamebonnie said:
My YO has two and she's definitely not extremely posh :D but yeah not exactly worded right there...blame the flu!

I spend every penny on a reasonable set up of one on assisted DIY livery with my own transport of ancient car and trailer. I guess I'm just amazed/jealous at those who have got the fancy upgrades :D
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lol, tell me about it! Permanent green eyes here, I did snort this morning upon seeing an advert for a dressage horse for people on a budget... only £8.5k :p I expect it would refuse to get onto my 20 year old lorry :D :D :D
 
Everything I owned (I didn't have a pony) aged 15 was green :p including boots for ponies I didn't own, and that was on £5 a day RS pay so it must be possible to do matchy on a budget ;) :D.

Incidentally in hindsight green really isn't my colour!
 
ester said:
Everything I owned (I didn't have a pony) aged 15 was green :p including boots for ponies I didn't own, and that was on £5 a day RS pay so it must be possible to do matchy on a budget ;) :D.

Incidentally in hindsight green really isn't my colour!
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Pass it over then Ester - ours has faded so much over several horses and many years that it's the sort of green that people go just before they're sick!
 
fully matchy person here and i can quite assure you that as long as what anyone wears is SAFE and comfortable for the horse i dont give a rats ass......................i have some clients that go full on matchy, some that dont at all and most are in the middle.................and i treat them all with the same interest and respect :)

as for how i do it, well im lucky enough to have the horses at home so pads, bandages and boots are all there. I think in my head which set i would like to wear and select the appropriate breeches, top jacket etc..... and when a top gets sweaty or a pad dirty, i either swap out for something that matches equally well or i wash that entire set and select a new one :)
i dont find it fiddly or time consuming, the way i look at it is that it takes the EXACT same time to tack up in matching stuff as non matching and the same time to dress in matching as none matching.

and ive just bought a pony............tell me mini matchy isnt cute lol!!!!!!
 
lol, given that it was 19 years ago.... and got my money's worth out of it ;)

it sort of happened by accident after a trip to the Christmas equine fair at westpoint in exeter, I got home and realised that the jods, sweatshirt and bodywarmer I had bought were all pretty much the same green! Then everyone expected me to be in green.
 
ester said:
Everything I owned (I didn't have a pony) aged 15 was green :p including boots for ponies I didn't own, and that was on £5 a day RS pay so it must be possible to do matchy on a budget ;) :D.

Incidentally in hindsight green really isn't my colour!
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Haha, I did the same with baby blue (again, definitely not my colour). I still have an old saddle cloth from those days and I still love it and use it now. I have a picture of me at 16 doing an affiliated dressage test in it, because I was absolutely solid in my resolve that I would absolutely not use a white one until someone made it mandatory (I finally caved and switched to white to compete aged 25ish)
 
Downton Dame said:
because the manufacturers have tapped into a market where people want to be seen to be spending money. imagin being on a big livery yard or going to competitions. you can show off how much money you have to waste to everyone. And sneer at the peasants with a patched mis matched numnah and rug. simples. that's how it works.
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Until recently, I've been on a huge yard with a whole range of people & honestly don't think anyone sneers at anyone because of a matching saddle pad (or lack therof).

But do you know what? My horse is my hobby. I'm adult enough to manage my finances that my horse doesn't go without for the sake of an ear veil or saddle pad (or any other part of my life suffers financially). I know he literally doesn't give a hoot what colour he is dressed in. I know it won't improve my riding or my dressage score. I know some people may think it's overkill when I'm battling my confidence to jump a 50cm SJ course or practising a prelim dressage test. I know there are far more talented riders than I'll ever be who don't like to coordinate. But in the middle of winter, when it's pouring down with rain or freezing cold and I've spent all week getting up at 5.15am to battle mud, rain and the constant dark, if putting a royal blue set on my horse that cost me £20 makes me smile, I'm going to do it.

It's now't do with snobbery or that I think I'm better than anyone.

I like 'pretty' stationery at work, but I also know it doesn't make me as clever as my boss.
 
I'd love to go matchy but horse demands half-lined numnahs and they MUST be sheepskin, not fleece, which means a) they're blooming expensive, and b) they don't come in fun colours. So he only has one numnah, which was originally white (only chosen because the white ones were half-price) but now... isn't.

Also, the only time he wears a fly bonnet is if it's hi-viz, and he never wears bandages, so I'd have to be organised enough to match him with ME. And then I'd have to start paying some attention to what I wear, rather than just sticking with fraying chaps and whatever jodhs/t-shirt come to hand.
 
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