what colour tack is better for m+m showing classes?

[lisa_lou]

Looking to start kitting out my pony and child for lead rein mountain and moorland classes and first riddens.
- What colour tack do judges prefer on a chestnut with 4 whites and a blaze?
- What type of jacket on child, black, navy or hacking jacket?
- What colour jods, cream or canary?

Thankyou in advance for any replies.

 

[TelH]

Plain brown tack for a M+M (no pretty browband). M+Ms should always be shown in a tweed jacket with shirt and tie

 

[ponypilotmum]

Havana is always the preferred colour of tack, and as for the style, it depends on the breed (each breed has it's own 'rules'). But you cannot go wrong with a plain hunter bridle, in havana, with billet fastenings. Nice laced or plain reins (not the rubber grip ones!).

Hacking jacket and canary jodhs, with brown boots and joddy clips (brown elastic sewn onto the bottom of jods looks smarter though).

Black or navy velvet riding hat, or brown, or green.... A flesh coloured strap is smarter but very expensive.

Brown leather gloves. If you can't manage that then brown thin cotton £2.99 ones will do.

A canary or yellow shirt. Buy 6 yellow dusters and wash them on a hot wash with a white shirt nice smart tie to tie in with the tweed.

You need to wear something complimentary, so perhaps a matching tweed, or navy skirt suit, and a scarf to match child's tie, and smart shoes or boots you can run in.

In lead rein you need to carry a brown showing cane, and lead off the bottom of noseband (not the bit). For first riddens child will carry stick.


Hamlets house forum have lots of good advice on different breeds and the turnout of those breeds, and they're super friendly and helpful too And you can often find tweed lead rein outfits for sale on there and on ebay

 

[catkin]

Brown tack is correct for M&Ms, and tweed for the rider.

Check out the particular rules for your breed with the breed society - for example the WPCS has a description of what to wear showing on their website.

Depending upon what level you are showing at then you can sometimes get away with a black saddle as long as it is neat, straight cut and fits the pony - the idea is to show off the pony not the tack. (I have found that most judges accept that saddle-fitting can be a bit tricky for little fat natives and obviously brown is preferred but is not always absolutely essential. I use a brown 'hunter' style bridle and whatever colour saddle is fitting my youngster at the time, working on the principle that the bridle is seen at all times but lots of the saddle is covered up by the rider, so as long as the overall picture is good there's not often any comment.)

 

[lisa_lou]

thank you all for your comments. very very helpful. Hes a welsh section A, ive been looking at this saddle, looks similar to the flyde oned but a fraction of the price. Would this be suitable for local/county shows?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BLACK-BRO...Horse_Wear_Equipment&var=&hash=item3a6ac26ca5

 

[minesadouble]

At first glance the saddle looks OK for the job but I would be a little worried about quality at that price. You can get some fab lead rein stuff off Horsegossip's 'Tack and show clothes for sale.' Here is my daughter on her sec. A wearing a lovely Mrs Candy tweed bought off Horsegossip with matching leaders outfit - I'm not in the pic!

Please ignore the big fat tum on pony - she has lost it now

 

[WelshD]

I'm in a similar position to you (except I dont have a child I will have to find a rider)

I saw those saddles on eBay and thought it was best not to buy a cheap one. I guess you could argue that the rider weighs very little and it may not cause problems but I decided they were cheap for a reason and avoided

I bought my saddle from an ad on Horse Gossip which is a forum really based on the showing world. I know I will have to get it fitted but it was a good saddle at a good price

There are also a couple of nice ones on eBay at the moment that may suit

I have a few bridles all but one are secondhand, look for names like Morris and Nolan, Fylde, Jefferies and Heritage

Always havanna, plain brown neat numnah. White girths seem to be widely accepted so I've gone with one of those, neat appropriately sized leathers and peacock irons look good too

 

[WelshD]

Cross posted with minesadouble. Great minds and all that!

 

[minesadouble]

Cross posted with minesadouble. Great minds and all that!

Haha, can't beat Horsegossip for second hand showing gear

OP whilst the good quality stuff may seem pricey even second-hand, it will hold it's value whether tack or show clothes, especially the lead rein gear

Oh and meant to say I have a 'cheaper' saddle as well as my Fylde Hayden but never use it as my daughter struggles to hold her position in it where the Hayden just seems to help her sit properly

 

[sbloom]

thank you all for your comments. very very helpful. Hes a welsh section A, ive been looking at this saddle, looks similar to the flyde oned but a fraction of the price. Would this be suitable for local/county shows?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BLACK-BRO...Horse_Wear_Equipment&var=&hash=item3a6ac26ca5

Please take it from this saddle fitter that you cannot get a safe, decent saddle for anything near that price - a good saddle costs a multiple of that at wholesale prices! Saddles can really cause so many, and potentially very major, problems that it just isn't worth it, no matter how small or cheap the pony, or how light the rider. It is much better to have a good quality and well fitting everyday saddle that is relatively straight cut and use it in the show ring, than to have something like that just for the ring - even if it does no long term damage because you use it so seldom, if it doesn't fit it will do neither pony nor rider any good, could put either off for life, and definitely risks being unsafe. I find that many littlies like a WH saddle - nice and neat, straight cut, but a little more to them than a plain showing saddle so more secure. I even had a customer buy a showing saddle, plus a WH to jump in, and because it is so neat decided she only needed the WH and has been to RIHS etc in that saddle for flat showing.

Natives aren't easy to fit, I fit for Native Pony & Cob Saddles Ltd and do lots of showing saddles for littlies but I suspect they're out of your budget - if you can pick up something second hand I am always happy to advise whether the saddle might work for your particular pony.