I LOVE green on chestnuts.
I wonder sometimes… would bling just be gilding the lily, would it detract? I think i would do gray on my pale palomino. And if you have a horse with an unfortunately too standardbred-y narrow dome face, would bling just draw attention to their least attractive feature?
I say no.
I mean, it doesn’t affect your score at all. But I used to show alot and I rode with norman browbands and blingy ones. I always had myself videoed and an understated blingy browband just adds such a spark! Sometimes, when the light is right! I loved that.
Now, I would never go for something I saw in person (I’m looking at you Glock Undercover and Edward Gal). Triple white diamonds, so garish and ungelding-like. No no no no. But tasteful browbands, in my opinion, makes the horse have that bit of visual sparkle in the ring. Most people have some amount of sparkle (even on the flair of boots now) and as long as it isn’t garish, it catches one’s eye.
On your palomino, you have so many options! You could go for an understated grey. Or, you can go for a blue or green which would look fabulous on a palomino. Or amber and green stones…or blue stones… or deep red stones… you have so many options. Heck, no one would notice the narrow dome face, they’d be noticing the browband. The head may not be great, but if you perform the test well, you’re saying “hey, judge, we’re awesome. Check us out”. And that is why anyone is riding in a dressage test anyway, right? For better or worse, we want the judge to notice us and give us individual comments.
So yes, I’m enabling the blingy browband.
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I’m also going to enable a bling browband and my vote is for one with amber AND deep red. I think that would look smashing on a palomino.
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I officially enable this response.
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Sounds fun when you put it that way! Very dappled, pale palomino mare is feminine and coy.
If she comes back from EPM i’ll buy her one in tonal grays.
On the domey-head guy: (he has such an gooney head) I’m putting the browband before the horse as today is my youngster’s first ride…hauling him to coach for that. (because somebody’s got to be there to call 9-1-1 lol). Wish me luck.
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How did it go!!!
Oh…OHHHHHH…the options. Post back pictures when you’re ready and us fashionista geeks will comment. I’ll leave this by mentioning pearls that could look amazing on her… She sounds like a model mare and oh OH oh, the options to enhance her beauty. Don’t forget to link to us enablers.
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I am partial to pearls with palominos. I know not everyone likes pearls in a browband but I think they look so nice on the dilute colors.
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Love the idea of pearls!! I have some nice old seed-pearl brooches from grandmother for stickpin!
Pearls and curls for pretty girls my granny used to say. My plan is to dress her in dove gray…as much gray as i can (jacket, lighter gray breeches…AND! if i can find it anywhere, a gray bridle, the same color of gray as her nose and toes, no blue tone). Black looks hideous on her. And brown on her just makes me…yawn. I
5yr in this pic, taken the day before her first Dressage lesson 
(She’s six now)
She’s a grade mare born at Longmeadow Rescue Ranch. Mum was a palomino, and nothing but a pregnant belly and hide stretched over bone. Sire unknown. This mare is not petite! (those panels are 6’high)
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My gooney-headed young Standardbred. Here are some pics (COTHgods willing they load)
Got him as a yearling from Longmeadow Rescue Ranch not long after capture (he was a feral born on KY stripmine)
He was around 2 1/2 in this pic and i’d started ground driving him already. He has not been hitched yet, but i’ve put him into a harness a couple of times. (His head looks GOOD in blinkers LOL)
Back from the barn with these two pics of him as of today, 4yr old with first ride just having happened. Big bodied boy. But still with a very gooney head
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Because of y’alls inspiration i just! bought him a semi-bling browband to go with an inexpensive (150) black kinda odd-looking bridle that i think will go-with his odd head. If the browband brings too much attention to his domey forehead i’ve not lost much, it was only 34.
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I was going to suggest that because he has a lot of space between his eye and ear, a low set eye, he could take a drooped browband. I don’t dislike his face. Stabdarbreds have a lot of character. Also many WB have big heads and big ears, and IME dressage bridles often run thicker and heavier, with the browbands and crank nosebands, because the typical WB head can look good on that.
With more petite heads, Arab crosses or some TB or TB/Welsh, etc, folks are often on here looking for recommendations on more refined bridles.
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I think that browband will cover your gelding’s large (long?) forehead well, take up the space, and will look really good on him. He’s actually got a rather handsome head. I have known several horses with that convex dip to the nostrils, including my horse’s shed mate that I covet (phenomenal moving OTTB). That last picture says he’s grown into that head and is rather handsome. The first picture shows that his forehead is not super skinny and I’d love to see a head-on picture of him now. You have to revise how you describe this guy’s head. He’s handsome with a unique face! He is someone you could use blue, grey, even certain greens with. Black crystals might also look good because they’re actually subtle and flash in light. They’ll match his black points.
Your mare? Pearls would look AWESOME!!! They’d match her mane and tail in a subtle way and wouldn’t be “flashy” per say, but understated beauty. Your first two pictures say that she has a gorgeous head, wide set eyes and a nice wide forehead to display your browband. With her and what your comments suggest, I’d go with pearls on that lovely, girly head. Especially because her mane and forelock seem to form ringlets? ??? Is that from braiding the mane an forelock?
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Her winter coat is quite curly. It falls out and looks normal in the summertime. Inside her ears remains curly fuzz all summer, and her eyelashes are long and curly year round too…as is her mane, and her tail is ‘crimpy’
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Been down the rabbithole at this online store: https://equiture.biz/products/custom-pearl-inset-curve-browband?variant=39692170952853.
If Brenna does come back from EPM and into training, i’ll buy her a bling. Thanks to y’alls suggestions, i agree pearls are the thing to try! i’ve selected these three. First one is custom, you can choose the color of the large pearls and, if you wish, you can add a second color choice of smaller size pearls to go above and below (or just above if you want)
Here’s another candidate, but it may be too-too:
And, if i ever come around to feeling she’s this big and fancy, there is this mega-bling one…i kinda like it but cannot imagine using something that looks like a tiara on my mare’s forhead! :
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She’s quite lovely! Could she have some Bashkir Curly breeding ?
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Another thing to remember about dressage turnout is that the mane is usually braided. If you keep a full mane that can be a running braid which from a distance if well done and tight to the crest looks close enough to regular braids. The forelock is also braided into a little nubbin.
This really changes how the bridle looks and indeed how the horse looks. It’s worth playing around with a bit of braiding to try on fancy browbands.
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well, some kind of curly coated horse in her lineage…somewhere. Being as how she’s a rescue…who knows? I have another curly horse, a mustang mare, (and again, parentage unknown, but that particular HMA does produce curlies)
yeah…i know! I’ve experimented twizzling up her forelock and tucking it up under her bridle. Her face is pretty enough still. My coach is chomping at the bit to roach her mane. (aaaaaKKKKK-not gonna happen!) Her neck is short and shoulder HUGE, and her dreds take away from that. Un-maneing her will not enhance her look. Guess she’ll just have to wow-'em with her moves lol.
You can do a running braid when the time comes. That’s what folks do for Andalusian and Arabs. There are different styles. I saw a friend’s Arab with a double running braid done by a pro braider, ie two parallel braids along the crest.
Running braids don’t last all day like button or hunter braids but they look great and and will hold up through warmup and a test.
I grew up in Western World and love a full mane. I dont even like how a pulled short mane looks. Braiding looks sharp but unless you are campaigning on the hunter circuit, you are only going to braid a couple of times a year and then have to live with the 4 inch mane.
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