Living that Matchy-Matchy Life

Guys. I have a problem, an addiction, and a passion... for matching.

It's true! Years of riding Pig, the brightest of copper chestnuts, left me with an awareness of my riding outfits. That gleaming red coat easily clashed and detracted from any photos or video I was able to grab of him. Mostly I stuck to black pads and wraps for Pig, and a few brighter spots of color for myself.

With Bast I've straight up jumped off the deep end.

HAVE SOME GREEN

Bays are so much easier. Everything goes with a bay horse. Things that looked good on a chestnut (like that green set above) absolutely flash on a bay. And things that were absolutely off limits with Pig are amazing on Bast.

Hell yes, burgundy is my favorite.

My favorite part of this matching game is the stuff. A few years ago Jan introduced me to Le Mieux Air Mesh saddle pads. I was in love. Unfortunately at that time, suppliers in the US hadn't started carrying the brand yet. So, we did what any sane people would do. We ordered from Europe.

I ordered this burgundy set, mad with the fact that I now owned a horse that could pull off the color. When I got the pad, it quickly became my favorite. The quality is amazing, and it dries super quickly. I wanted to use it every day, so eventually I saved up and bought a black pad too. At $50-$70 this is not a cheap pad, but I feel like they will hold up to daily use. So far I've been very impressed.

Does teal make him fancier? Yes. Absolutely.

Finally I decided to just give in and replace my too-small teal pad with the turquoise Suede Le Mieux pad. While it's not as quick to dry as the Air Mesh pads, it's still amazing quality. Plus, the color is SPOT ON with my old pad. This means it matches all the other teal things I bought.

Now, for me? I have been lucky enough to find Kastel Denmark shirts in matching colors.

Kastel and Le Mieux are so perfect together.

In the summer I ride almost exclusively in Kastel shirts. I have a whole drawer full, mostly collected during super sales. They are a must have for my extremely pale skin in the hell of Maryland summer. I also find them the next closest thing to wearing nothing.

Kastel has recently been releasing brighter and more fun colors every year, and I've been so happy to see shirts pop up in the color schemes I was collecting.

Or close. Finding anything in bright kelly green is extremely hard. I love this pad and wrap collection so much, though. Even though they aren't Le Mieux.

This summer things finally came together and I have three lovely matching sets to play with. I've had so much fun taking photos with all of our matching gear. While the training still slogs along through the beginner stages, dressing like we are big fancy dressage horses makes the work more fun!

Best color combo ever.

Anyone out there been lusting over some color combos? Feel like sometimes you just have to have fun? This is the most frivolous thing I do with my horses, and it feels so luxurious and also slightly crazy. Don't tell me I'm alone out here!