Best colors for a Bay in the Ranch Riding

[mrs_beasley]

Hi! I recently took up ranch riding with a super cool horse I stumbled upon, and want to make sure we aren’t an eyesore when we go to a ranch riding clinic at month’s end. I am a professional H/J rider and trainer, and spent some time riding Reiners, but will be a total newbie when it comes to showing western. I know about wool saddle pads vs show blankets, I have a ranch cutter to ride in with all of the other appropriate tack, but am stumped when it comes to my color choice.

I have a dark bay with only a teenie amount of white on his face. I have plain chocolate brown chinks with boots to match. I have two RR appropriate shirts to choose from, one being blue and one being very light pink. I have a nice blue saddle blanket to match the blue shirt, but don’t really want to put a pink pad on my gelding. Would it be terribly ugly to pair my soft pink shirt with a dark green/cream blanket? I think it looks nice together but I don’t want to stick out like a sore thumb.

Any suggestions would be appreciated as I’m trying not to buy extra shirts or too many blankets for something I only plan to dabble in (for now).

[Scribbler]

Maybe a photo of the items? You could just lay them out on the floor, don’t need to model them

I don’t think any horse at any time should have a pink saddle pad, unless he is dressed up as a Unicorn for a 5 year old’s pony birthday party.

I think you are allowed to add vests and things to the look for ranch riding. I also think that it is meant to look “working cowboy” so perhaps even women riders should err on the side of caution and go for colors that a man would also wear :).

[bugsynskeeter]

Pair a blue and pink wild rag with the pink shirt and wear the blue pad. Problem solved.

[Palm_Beach]

Ranch is much less of a fashion show than wp, and many people stick with neutrals. The pink shirt would be nice if you had a brown/tan patterned saddle blanket.

[Aces_N_Eights]

What’s wrong with the blue shirt with the blue blanket?

”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹I too ride bay horses in the ranch riding and it is my go-to color or a variation of, robins egg, turquoise, royal blue.

[WildGooseChase]

For Ranch riding, I see a lot of riders stick with very neutral tones. If the colors aren’t too bright/saturated, then I’m sure they’d be okay. I wouldn’t wear anything really bright.

For reference here is Light n Lucky, the 2017 AQHA Senior Ranch Riding World Champion. This is what I would go with. Something functional, clean and classy, but not distracting, as the class is judged on the horse’s ability to work at a forward working speed and demonstrate certain maneuvers.[ATTACH=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“full”,“data-attachmentid”:10433847}[/ATTACH]

[beau159]

I’ve been showing ranch riding this year at AQHA shows. I just use a plain black 5-Star pad on my grey gelding because I already had this pad and refuse to spend a couple hundred bucks on a pad I’m only going to use a couple times a year. Then I usually wear a nice bright RED fitted shirt (this one actually) with light tan hat, although I did buy a teal shirt too that I wore for a Ranch Trail classes we did two days ago, along with my tan chaps.

Here’s a picture of my horse (although I already took his breastcollar off). I usually don’t carry my phone on me when showing so I don’t have any pictures of me on him. This was last year (before I got a ranch saddle) just at a local open show just to show the chaps I have.

But honestly, don’t worry about matching your shirt to your pad. Ranch is meant to be less blingy and less colorful, and more ranchy. What you have is fine!

PS, my trusty steed and I have been having fun and doing well! Just yesterday we placed 2nd and 5th (double judged) in the Open Ranch Riding that had 21 entries! The day before, took 2nd and 4th in the Open Versatility Ranch Horse Trail as well with 14 entries. And honestly, everyone is pretty “ranchy” looking and much less “matchy” looking. There were even a few people wearing western-pleasure style chaps rather than chinks. And some people not wearing chaps at all. It’s all fine!

Go have fun!

[jvanrens]

Since it’s a clinic and not a show, I wouldn’t worry too much about matching. I imagine that unless show attire has been specified as required, people will likely be dressing a bit more casually than they would for a show.

[Scribbler]

Oh, just a clinic! I missed that part! Just wear the most functional stuff you have, like the saddle pad that gives the best fit for your horse and saddle, the most comfortable shirt. If it’s hot you might not want to wear the chinks all day, so make sure that whatever is underneath is fit to stand on its own.

On one hand, you are a pro H/J trainer so you could use that as an excuse if you needed to turn up in a polo shirt but on the other hand as a pro, you might also want to demonstrate that you can be appropriately attired to the new discipline.

You could also contact the clinician or the organizers and ask what the expectation is for attire. For English discipline clinics people don’t break out their show coats and white or even beige breeches.

[mrs_beasley]

Typically for lessons with my trainer, I wear jeans and a tucked in “on trend” sun shirt from the H/J world with my belt buckle from the AQHA Congress Showjumping. They def think my shirt is weird because one of the barn girls told me it was “interesting and unique” :lol:

for the clinic I was going to wear a proper ranch style shirt and my chinks (to get used to riding in them), but would skip a wild rag for a clinic. I DO have a custom straw hat that is shaped in an appropriate fashion. I know that wool is for fall/winter and straw is for spring/summer. And I didn’t but it at a Kenny Chesney concert

I may do the Level 1 ranch riding class for experience, if the clinic goes well. The horse is eligible, we all have to start somewhere, and the judges cards are public access so I can read up on my ride after the class (one of the reasons i love the AQHA).

[beau159]

I’d probably also skip the chinks for a clinic, personally. Most western-type clinics are going to be laid back. I probably wouldn’t even wear a proper ranch shirt, LOL. Probably would just wear a t-shirt. At least that’s how clinics are in my area. The focus is on the riding - not what you are wearing.

Yes, most shows will allow you to see the judges scorecards afterward which is great feedback to see how they scored the class and what you can work on next time.

You might as well also enter the Amateur, as well as the Level 1 Amateur. More practice! At least in my area, everyone is friendly and inviting and love it when more people enter b/c then more points are available to win! Sometimes people will even “jump in” to the class to bump it up to the next level on points. At the show I went to last week, my trainer went and hopped on another horse for another entry so that there were 20 entries in the Open rather than 19, which bumps the points up.

[jvanrens]

@beau159 the OP is a professional trainer, so might have a bit of trouble showing ammy! :winkgrin:

[beau159]

@jvanrens

@beau159 the OP is a professional trainer, so might have a bit of trouble showing ammy! :winkgrin:

I did miss that, thanks!!

So yes OP, do the Level 1 Open but I would still encourage you to do the “regular” Open. Heck, I am an ammy and I enter in the Open as well! And for some reason, I’ve placed better in the Open than the Amateur, LOL. If your shows are similar to what mine are in my area, everyone enters in everything and we all have a really good time showing our horses!