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!

Comments

  1. So I used to think the colours and matching was silly. Then I bought a gray mare and realized I could wear ALL THE COLURS. The trouble I’m finding in Canada is the matching shirts. I have to up my game. The only thing is the polos because I don’t ride in polos. Have you checked out ‘fashionhorse .com’? My saddle fitter started carrying Hastilow saddle pads which I loved. With Irish The all purpose saddle pads fit him best but they are too small for Carmen as she broadens out. So I need to replace a bunch.....

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    1. I haven't checked that out! I get a lot of my cooler weather matching shirts in athletic wear. You can be surprised how well things match up!

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  2. The older I get, the less matchy I become with the horses. Or at least the least exciting it becomes. My personal wardrobe colors tend to be black, white, grey, and navy. My horse's wardrobes are steadily transitioning the same way. I do enjoy matching for special events, but I'm pretty lazy in my day to day.

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    1. Nothing wrong with lazy! Functional first! Then style. I still wanna see Griff in that burgundy. And Q, too!

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  3. I need to step up my game, you guys look awesome! I think I have still been dressing Maestro like a chestnut...

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    1. Nothing wrong with that! Bast is still working through some of Pig's hand me downs

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  4. Before I lost my colt, I had to color-code my horses so my parents could tell the two brown horses apart. lol So my mare has all not-navy/not-pastel blue stuff, and if/when I get a second horse, I have this whole stash of hunter green stuff...

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  5. I love how everything looks good on a bay! Seriously - that green combo on y'all - swoon. I love to color coordinate but most of my stuff is pretty boring colored these days.

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    1. Not gonna lie. I do a lot of black most days.

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  6. I'm too lazy to actually do anything more than not clash (which is basically the opposite of matchy-matchy), but y'all look on pointe!

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    1. Clashing is a style? Right? Punk rock dressage?

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  7. LOVE! I am a novice with the matchy matchy, as I don't have clothes for me that match my horse (future goals!), and I don't use polos for everyday rides, but I am a huge sucker for a good quality colourful saddle pad. I have a serious addiction to collecting saddle pads. My horse is a black and white pinto so the only colours that don't look great on her are black and white, I have the benetton blue le mieux set and definitely want more of them!

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    1. Oooh how is that blue? I'm not much of a sucker for blue, but it seems so pretty!

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  8. Oh goodness I love matchy-matchy things. You are definitely not alone! I love color coordinating too haha. I like to have fun, and since I usually don't buy a lot of colors that pop for my non-horse wardrobe, I like to go very matchy for all my horse things - clothes and the pads and boots matching are a must lol. I feel like we look good, and it's fun to me and I love having fun with my horses. So matchy matchy it is! lol

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  9. I love matching and try to always match Katai’s stuff. I’m usually more of a fashion disaster but at least she looks good lol

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  10. Tristan looks terrible in basically every color - he is just the right shade of red to clash no matter what. So. I gave up trying to make him wear color years ago. But I wear colors as I want to.

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  11. No matching game for us. She's so chestnut/copper/golden red that NOTHING compliments except keeping it classic black and white. My navy show coat is as fancy as we get.

    But YOUR matching game? ON POINT!

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    1. I know exactly what you mean. Pig is the brightest deepest copper I've seen. Try teal. Really. Also, black with gold accents. I couldn't wear yellow myself, so it's just little accents in my show coat.

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  12. I am going to cave and get a champagne pad/polo set one of these days!

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  13. ha on one hand i love it and think it's so perfect. but on the other hand there is NO WAY i will EVER be that organized with my laundry lol.....

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  14. Matching horse and riders are so classy looking!! Love it

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    1. Something around here has to have some class... Lol!

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  15. "So, we did what any sane people would do. We ordered from Europe." Hell, I am STILL ordering from Europe at times!! Yay for matchy matchy!!!

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    1. Dude, sometimes Europe is the only way to do it. Plus, it can be surprisingly cheaper!

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  16. As I get older and have more disposable income, the matchy matchy game gets more and more insane. Must have saddle pad, boots/polos, browband, and shirt that all go together even if I'm going for a trail ride. It's an addiction, but I love the way my black bay looks in all the fun colors.

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  17. You NEED to get the new Le Mieux blackcurrant and ice blue, they'd look great on Bast!

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    1. Omg I know. Unfortunately I think my saddle pad budget is blown until maybe 2020. LOL! That said, I am lusting after some of those pale gray/pink combos. So pretty. The ice blue is a little too plain for me, but the black currant is GORGEOUS!

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