I asked my trainer this and she said that she doesn’t care about matching and colors but I am a color freak! I like conservative colors and was wondering this, I have black standing bandages so that they go with pretty much all horses and I need to get my very dark bay mare a new saddle pad and stable blanket. Does black look weird to you on very dark horses? I would love her bandages and cooler to match as that is what people will first see when she arrives to shows and I like conservative colored saddle pads. If I did get a black saddle pad it would be black with white piping and charcoal binding. Thoughts?
[QUOTE=sassymares;8517287]
I asked my trainer this and she said that she doesn’t care about matching and colors but I am a color freak! I like conservative colors and was wondering this, I have black standing bandages so that they go with pretty much all horses and I need to get my very dark bay mare a new saddle pad and stable blanket. Does black look weird to you on very dark horses? I would love her bandages and cooler to match as that is what people will first see when she arrives to shows and I like conservative colored saddle pads. If I did get a black saddle pad it would be black with white piping and charcoal binding. Thoughts?[/QUOTE]
Your horse ships in a cooler?
Black looks fine on everything.
I think black looks nice. 
Your horse ships in a cooler?
No. She ships in a cotton stable sheet, it’s a lot more durable than her cooler.
Okay - that makes more sense. When you said the her standing wraps and cooler would be the first thing people see when she arrives at shows I thought that meant she shipped in a cooler.
If you’re getting a stable sheet I’d get a Baker. They wear like iron and are always appropriate. Also won’t look dirty as fast as something in black would.
I had black based “show” clothing for a dark brown mare, and it looked sharp. I did have colored binding and straps. I used that clothing on lighter bays as well. I think it looked better than on my chestnuts, who wore navy blue.
These are all nuetral colors so you really can’t go wrong. Black goes with everything! I assume you do not have to buy barn colors? If you do ride with a trainer, I would ask what their exectations are for items used at shows before you go purchase anything. Even though black is nuetral, they may ask for barn colors to be used.
I assume you do not have to buy barn colors?
We do actually. They are black and gold but my barn was started in the 70s and that’s a little out of style… She just disregards them and let’s us use whatever colors we want!
I have a black bay mare and I use black on her. My show colours are black/teal/white and she looks awesome in that. I’d use black any day of the week. There’s not a horse it looks bad on.
My light bay gelding had everything black/royal blue/silver (or white when silver wasn’t an option). New dark bay mare is black/purple/white. I think it looks terribly snazzy. Not that I’m biased at all. 
Get Flannel wraps. Better for your horse and match all horses. More professional looking too.
Nothing looks better than well worn clean flannel wraps. Just make sure you wash the a bunch as they take time to break in.
ETA: sorry…thought your were looking at new wraps. That’s what I get for reading on a phone! Black stable blankets actually show a lot of dirt. I have a few black saddle pads that I use for schooling. The look good new but show wear fast. I personally wouldn’t try to be too matchy matchy.
I love black, just be sure your mare is not going to not get too hot in the sun, if you do outdoor shows.
I tend to use black, brown and various colors for trim- tan, white, grey.
I’d probably just use white though on your mare for a saddle pad, you can bleach it to clean and it’s more traditional.
Almost all my sheets, wraps, halter sheepskins, coolers, boots, and pads are nlack. My colors are black, white, and purple. Im a bit matchy matchy.
I have two dark bays, a blood bay, chestnut, and grey. They all look super sharp in black.
IMHO my dark bays look best in white for pads, personally – but it’s your horse and you get to pick whatever color you love/want. my dk bay has a black/silver pad for XC but yeah, it can only be worn a few times before it looks drab… i much prefer the polished look of white for dressage.
I agree, I like white saddle pads the best. I have some black ones, though, and they look fine too.
I have a dark bay, and he looks great in black although I do prefer black with a brighter trim color. If I’m using his all black saddle pad I sometimes get “where’s your pad?” comments. Unless it’s summer…when he’s orange. But that’s a separate dark bay horse issue.
I love hunter green or maroon on dark bays, I think the color really pops on them. But I think black looks good on any horse, I usually default to black for everything.
