Wanting to order a fly bonnet for a friend - she’s a GP rider and in the GM realm of turnout requirements.
Horse has delicate ears and hates bugs anywhere near them - it’s happy as a clam when in a bonnet and utterly miserable without.
So, I wanted to do a custom bonnet. Friend shows only in a crisp white pad, half pad if needed, understated boots, black coat, conservative helmet, etc. What color(s) would you order?
If it helps, it would be for a very chrome-y light bay.
Her barn colors, to match whatever scrim or cooler the horse wears to the ring.
Black and charcoal scallop trim.
(A few black rhinestones wouldn’t hurt!)
With name of the horse embroided in charcoal on the left ear.
just something conservative as well…black (especially if her bay has black points), brown, navy, etc.
[QUOTE=alibi_18;7306583]
Black and charcoal scallop trim.
(A few black rhinestones wouldn’t hurt!)
With name of the horse embroided in charcoal on the left ear.[/QUOTE]
I like this idea, sans the rhinestones and trim.
A very faint, subtle embroidery with the horse’s name (not visible in the show ring, but discernible in a tack room) would be a nice personal, yet conservative touch.
Alibi - I really like the idea of embroidering horse’s name on the ear. I don’t know if the company I was considering does that…
Suggestions of where to get that done/companies that do it all?
To get the embroidery on the ear, you have to embroider the fabric used to make the ear before it is attached to the bonnet- once it is attached to the crochet part, no embroidery machine can get to it to embroider it (I know from experience- tried to have the ear of an Eskadron bonnet embroidered by several different companies, and that is what they told me).
So, I would find a person who makes bonnets and have them make you one if you must have the embroidery.
As far as colors go, you can either go with black (to match the black mane/forelock of a bay) or with white (to match the saddle pad. Actually looks surprisingly good on bay horses, my friend got me a white bonnet for my dark bay mare who goes out in a white square pad, chocolate brown tack, and black boots, and it looks very sharp).
Conservative type here and I always preferred a chocolate brown on my bay.
As for the embroidery, somewhere that custom makes bonnets such as De La Coeur would probably be your best bet.
The Clothes Horse made me a custom bonnet. Very high quality and looks great.
[QUOTE=Burgie;7306648]
Alibi - I really like the idea of embroidering horse’s name on the ear. I don’t know if the company I was considering does that…
Suggestions of where to get that done/companies that do it all?[/QUOTE]
… I do :winkgrin: Plain brown with a scalloped trim would be my preference for a pretty but “old school” bonnet on a bay horse. Black would be nice as well if the horse has dark legs, or navy if it would happen to match her show coat.
I would buy the plainest navy or hunter fly bonnet you can find with no tassels or bling. A nice touch is to tailor the bonnet to the horse’s ears. Most fly bonnets are huge and I hate how baggy they look. The way to do fit it is to turn it inside out and put it on the horse. Then carefully pin around the ears. Don’t make it tight but get rid of the bagginess. Then sew that on the sewing machine and cut open the new seam. Trim excess with pinking shears. I made one of these for my daughter’s pony because I’ve never seen a pony sized bonnet. It looked great - although he was a bastard and didn’t deserve it:)
And p.s., you can also add a bit of white piping or cord to the fly bonnet. It looks sharp and clean but still conservative.
At the last GM clinic he had a girl remove her fly bonnet. Granted we were indoors and it was 40 degrees out but I remember him saying he was not a fan.
I’d go with something in her barn colors with a square v shape. I find that always looks the sharpest. I recently ordered a bonnet and matching saddle pad for a jumper friend. It’s black with a grey cording and royal blue trim. The saddle pad is just white, with royal blue trim and a grey monogram.
I think the ear monogram in the same color as the bonnet, as in black on black or brown on brown would be great for a conservative type. It adds some sophistication with out it being in your face.
Now I want a monogrammed ear fly bonnet so bad! No idea that was even a possibility until this thread!!! My horse and I are doing it all on the cheap (horse had a $10 bonnet until he won a gift certificate and I sprung for a $20 bonnet) … but OMG something about a fancy fly bonnet is so appealing. Thanks to Jealoushe for the link (I bookmarked it)! That will be my present to myself if horse and I successfully move up to the A/O’s.
Have this one: http://www.smartpakequine.com/mobile/product/10319
In the black with grey trim And love it! The black and grey is pretty and plenty conservative. It doesn’t have that annoying ugly looking string. Another fabulous feature of it is that the ear part is made of stretchy Lycra material so it is more comfortable for the horse and stretches or shrinks to fit more or less any ear size perfectly.
There are a bunch of people on Facebook and Etsy.com that handmake fly bonnets. I’m sure one of them could do the name for you if you wanted. These makers both look good.
Getting rid of the ugly string is easy. Just make a loop and tie it off. Then thread the throatlatch through the new loop on one side of the bonnet and the existing loop on the other side
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