I’m about to buy a AP Thorowgood T8 saddle for my black Morgan ( who currently looks like a bay) and my black Friesian cross. The goal for this yr , if we make it there is to show at WEC in open Hunter on the flat/possible Morgan hunter pleasure ( though not sure if I can get enough front end action from my morgan for hunter pleasure so she might end up western) . Is it still looked down to have a black saddle in hunter type classes? I’m unsure if I should go for black or brown and would brown look ok my very black Friesian cross. TIA
Personally I wouldn’t risk having a black saddle, as ridiculous as it is to say.
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Black tack in the hunters is a big no and I personally like brown tack on a black horse.
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Not a hunter rider, but worked in a tack shop for several years that served hunters, dressage, eventers, etc.
Brown tack is generally accepted in all disciplines (even dressage these days!). Black tack is generally a hard no in hunters.
I’d say brown if hunters is any part of your goal.
Good luck and don’t forget to smile!
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Honestly I don’t think anyone worth worrying about will care, and on your black horses especially it will look fine. Get what makes you happy. Most of the saddle will be hidden under you anyway.
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An all-purpose saddle is going to stick out in the hunters regardless of color. Black would be unusual but won’t be as obvious from a distance. Brown is the traditional choice and looks fine on dark horses, so if you really want something that’s appropriate for the hunters a brown jump saddle is what you should buy.
But, if you’re not even sure if the horse will be a hunter I wouldn’t spend too much time or money worrying about it. If you decide you want to be competitive later you can always trade in for something more traditional.
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It sounds like you will be at a Morgan show? The classes you mentioned are typically main ring classes and are not comparable to HJ “hunter.” You will see black tack there. Main ring tends to run on their own fashion trends and run a few decades behind what’s in fashion in the HJ world. An all purpose synthetic saddle will stick out to any rail birds but it is unlikely a judge will notice and will pin you based on other, more important things, and as long as you don’t fall off in front of the judge they won’t have any idea about your saddle.
Black tack in regular HJ shows is pretty rare, but it is again unlikely a judge will notice unless you fall off in their lap.
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we are West of the Mississippi River which seems to be a line of change for several horse things, we use Black tack on our Morgans and has never been an issue
this is from a recent Morgan show where there were twelve head in the class
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As clanter and enjoytheride have mentioned, if it’s a Morgan class then black tack isn’t uncommon. If you plan to ever show her in non-breed type hunters then I’d get Havana.
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