This summer will be my first show season.
I had finally figured out my XC color and found a matching shirt and pad.
I was going to be leasing a cute black and white tabiano who looked absolutely stunning in my color.
We were going to look fabulous…and then a bunch of different events took place and instead of the little pinto I will be leasing a VERY red flaxen chestnut.
The one color that looks odd with my riding color which happens to be a shade of blue.
Someone please help me find a color to ride in! I most likely won’t be going to very many shows on the little red head as she’s just coming back into work after a few years off due to injury so it doesn’t really need to be anything fancy but I would like to look classy on the off chance we get out to a show.
Basically the whole point of this post is what color would you put on a very red flaxen chestnut?
Royal Blue
Hunter green
I think pretty much every shade of blue or green goes ok with chestnut.
Kelly or Hunter green - both lovely on Chestnuts. You could also consider royal or even lavender in the purple family - can be very striking on a chestnut!
Royal blue, a deep vibrant purple, or really anything but pastels. I saw a rider and her chestnut at our barn decked out in burgundy and navy, they looked quite elegant!
Hunter green, navy, royal blue. I personally don’t like lavendar or purple with the red-heads. I don’t like red either.
Brown and tan/cream can be very nice on a bright red horse.
This made me wonder, if colors are so important, why eventers don’t ride in something like jockey silks. It might not work so well with with inflatable vests, but jockeys do wear vests under their silks.
Well everyone looks good in neon pink IMO.
I don’t like maroon/burgundy or purple on chestnuts at all. I think kelly green and dark blues look wonderful. Orange is fine if you’re into it in general. Yellow looks pretty great.
I have a chestnut and think she looks the best in navy. So we basically are riding in either white or navy, sometimes black for schooling. I imagine a royal blue would look quite nice too. My trainers colors are burgundy and white and I’ve been wanting to ride in their colors, but I can’t imagine burgundy looking good on her. I would never put red on her. People have mentioned hunter green - IDK to me the hunter green + chestnut horse reminds me of Christmas, but I’ve never tried it out so maybe it looks nicer than I am visualizing.
Good luck 
Thanks for all the ideas!
This mare can barely even be considered a chestnut in all honesty. I was looking at a few pictures on her old riders instagram and noticed their color was white and maroon/burgundy which looked unbelievably good due to the whites contrast with her coat and the trim/logo being an almost exact match to her coat.
When I say red I mean shes like a raw steak, her coat is so red that if it were any darker there would be a purple hue to her.
I feel like royal blue would look a little weird on her given how red she is but hey if people are saying it usually looks good I might as well try my XC color on her since its somewhere between a royal and cornflower blue.
I think burgundy can look nice on a chestnut depending on the color! I used to do either navy blue or violet purple on my chestnut mare, who was pretty red herself.
Can you post or link to a picture of your mare? Color will really depend on the hues in her coat. I know people with chestnuts who wear purple, blues, brown, hunter green, and even one who wears orange/black on a light flaxen that all look good.
I can’t for the life of me find it now… but there used to be a website that was some kind of simulator where you could choose the color of the horse and then match different colored saddle pads and such to figure out xc or jockey colors. I think someone posted it here on COTH 4-5 years ago and that is how I found it.
ETA: Found it! http://www.snafflez.com/horsemaker/eventing.html#.Ws0CccKWxaQ 
I change my answer. Teal.
I think a dark teal color would look lovely on her! That’s what I had planned for the chestnut I was going to buy, but didn’t end up getting. I’ve seen a few chestnuts in my area ridden in dark teal or different shades of blue/green.
I would definitely go for navy! I love navy on chestnuts, or really any other colour horse.
Ooh how fun! Good thing I didn’t see this until I got home from work, lol.
OP - I still say a green, or blue - ideally darker for either. Plus it’s easy to find things in these colors. Personally not a fan of reds, purples, or teal (but a lot of eventers seemingly don’t mind looking tacky, lol)
aaannnd there goes 3 hours of my life! way too much fun
