[QUOTE=Zuri;7660763]
I must be very old and very conservative. Yarn to match mane and tail. I am in Zone 2 and it is all I have ever seen.[/QUOTE]
Or not. Colored yarn was very popular in the 80s. I, for me, am glad to hear that people are starting to use it again.
Way back when I actually showed, we did colors for derby day, but it was coordinated so you’d have navy braids with a navy coat, or both hunter green…nothing too crazy. The colored yarn really does make bad braids look worse. But from a braider’s standpoint, I can see why color would be nice…I’ve braided those hacked off manes where the unbraider couldn’t see what they were cutting. I can think of a few people that would have benefited from neon yarn!
Navy is the ‘New’ Black… Sorry had to say it! 
Here’s one of our bay mare braided with purple. It looked smashing. 
https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpf1/v/t34.0-12/10149407_10203317246154734_992337308_n.jpg?oh=c4a53c325ea6ee5def10877ac0da2d69&oe=53C1FA67&gda=1405212563_5f44001dd99f9bbc951f6e04c61da64d
It’s not new. My (excellent) braider often used soft pastels, usually pale blue or lavender, on my grey. The chestnut with sort of lighter mane and tail got a soft green (not lime) or a tan. It was tons easier to unbraid. We are talking high quality braids, and lots of them, on the neck and thin yarn, you couldn’t really tell from further then 10 feet away.
In my barn, even on full care, it was expected clients would unbraid their own. With the sale horses, horses whose owners were not there using a Pro or kid catch rider and Ponies whose tiny riders weren’t yet up to intricate use of the seam ripper? The grooms had enough to do and appreciated being able to see the yarn.
I sometimes see some really clunky braids with not so neatly placed thick yarn, always makes me think why bother braiding if you can’t do better.
Many years ago, my friend usually braided her black horse in royal blue, which didn’t show but was so easy to take out. Occasionally she used red, which looked good against the black. Once she used white — and it made poor Magic look like a toy with his stuffing coming out!
Zone 2. I see colored yarn all the time, particularly themed - red, white and blue for July 4th and black and orange for Halloween, for example.
LOVE the forelock puffs and pom poms. I don’t see that around here.
Even the loudest color combinations are barely visible from a distance. I don’t think it’s a huge deal. I quite like it.
Just a quick note for those who braid their own - if you put colour in, PLEASE knot under the braid, not on top (or just put the knot on the underside all the time to begin with!). Surprisingly, I see a lot of horses knotted on top, maybe because it’s a bit faster than wrapping around to knot underneath? Regardless, when they’re braided in colour and not tied on the bottom, it looks spectacularly awful… The tails of colour pop everywhere, and even if the braids themselves are perfect, the whole mane looks like a mess… A black mane with black yarn and knots on the top sort of blurs together, but it just doesn’t work otherwise.
I actually like the very subtle colors (navy in a black mane). Easier to take out at the end of the day!
[QUOTE=Zuri;7660763]
I must be very old and very conservative. Yarn to match mane and tail. I am in Zone 2 and it is all I have ever seen.[/QUOTE]
Me too. Zone 2 and all I see is matching yarn. I have seen the navy blue, but I braid all of my barns horses and I do black yarn and chestnut yarn only. I can’t get into colors for adults.
I love the subtle colors but in Zone 1, I haven’t seen it at all. I would certainly love navy on black for removal purposes!
I don’t find it difficult to remove black yarn from a black mane. Certainly not difficult enough to want to use blue yarn. 
My chestnut always goes in the ring with one lavender braid and one gray braid (the rest match his mane). The lavender is for a law school friend who died of cancer at age 28, and the grey is for a trainer of mine who died.
Every time I braid those braids go in, be it for clinics, photo shoots, shows, whatever.
[QUOTE=Madaketmomma;7661132]
Me too. Zone 2 and all I see is matching yarn. I have seen the navy blue, but I braid all of my barns horses and I do black yarn and chestnut yarn only. I can’t get into colors for adults.[/QUOTE]
Thank you for reassuring me. I have seen colored yarn used on certain occasions like Halloween or Independance Day, but mainly in Juniors or Children’s. I guess I am a traditionalist. I guess it wouldn’t matter what color you used if the yarn is not seen. I will have to start really looking at the braids at the next show!
Just got back from Lake Placid - not my usual braider and she used blue on both black manes and chestnut. Not my favorite, it was ok on the one with the big, thick stallion neck but I thought it made the other two who are less “well endowed” look much more pencil-necked than they needed to. And I didn’t find them any easier to take out - I’ve been doing it so long I guess I take them out by feel rather than sight.
I find it a bit odd that these braiders seem to think it’s okay for them to be making the call on using anything other than the traditional color of yarn - especially when we’re talking about things more colorful than navy in a black mane.
I’ve only ever done black (black manes), adding a single braid done in burgundy. I can honestly say I’ve never had trouble taking out black yarn - I’ve never mangled the mane doing so.
I’m pretty traditional so I wouldn’t be doing a lot of these colors listed, but I’m kind of excited that it would now apparently be OK for me to do the whole mane in burgundy.
It sounds like the problem for the OP is more the quality of braids rather than the color. For myself I prefer traditional colored yarn (black or chestnut brown), but beautifully done braids with a little color/interest on special occasions are lovely. I love navy blue for horses with black manes. If a braid job isn’t quite perfect, I think it is critical not to draw attention to it by using yarn that is a different color than the horse’s mane. The higher the quality of the braids, the more artistic license I think the braider can get away with (within reason).
Are there instructions for the poofy things anywhere?
I usually braid deep navy on black manes by request as it is easier to see in a shadowy tent stall at the end of the day; on a gray with a good neck I will often do navy as well. I did braid the conformation horse in black for Upperville. My own horse is blood bay and I do his mane in black, with hunter green on lucky braid #17. I will also put 3 small knots of green in his tail, which you can’t see unless you are up close. If the horse’s neck conformation is wonky there is no good reason to do anything but match the mane.
My chestnut always goes in the ring with one lavender braid and one gray braid (the rest match his mane). The lavender is for a law school friend who died of cancer at age 28, and the grey is for a trainer of mine who died.
Oh, I like that.
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