 |
| My trainer on Riley |
Meet my latest dressage pad -- a custom Mattes (pronounced Mattus, not Matts, I'm told) pad that I ordered from SmartPak. Many of you may know that the dressage world is expanding its notion of "acceptable show colors" to include more than white, black, and navy. While dressage pads aren't discussed, I feel that riders in the avant-garde can start to experiment :-). And Riley and I are ready to rock the dressage world with the our new orange-hued pad.I first saw my Mattes pad dream color, Terra cotta, while at Rolex. Terra is a really nice color -- not orange, not pumpkin, not rust, not peach, just a very pleasantly saturated rich apricot. I originally thought about getting aubergine and olive trim but when I used the Smartpak saddle pad customization application I could see aubergine would be a mistake.
Oh, by the way, the SmartPak Mattes customization app is really cool. Who would have thunk that online shopping could be such a "real" experience? The video below illustrates how easy it is to create your dreampad on SmartPak...
.jpg)
If they had purple as a colour, I would never get eldest away from this site. She's pushing to get a new pad in purple which would like nice with Oscar's dark buckskin colouring but his owner thinks purple is "too girly" for her boy!
ReplyDeleteIt does look nice, that's for sure.
ReplyDeleteThe dressage world is slowly trending away from tradition with jackets too. I always thought white was a silly color for a horseman to wear anyhow....I mean is it supposed to prove you are too perfect to ever encounter dirt or horse slobber?? (Both of which always ended up on my white gear.)
Oh, how cruel of you to post that! Smartpak doesn't ship to Canada yet, so I go to their web site and dream up snazzy coloured pads, but click away in sadness because I can't get one. (probably a good thing)
ReplyDeleteRiley will look pretty snazzy in orange! (err, terra cotta!)
Gorgeous pad, great color!! I'm totally jealous. I can't justify spending that much money on a saddle pad though...wish Christmas wasn't so far away;) One day....
ReplyDeleteAlso, I had no idea it was pronounced Mattus!
Hey you! My daughter works in shipping at Smartpak- she says they were talking about you today!
ReplyDeleteI should add- "in a good way!"
ReplyDeleteMy relationship to smartpak is alot like my mom's relationship to Talbots. I won't even tell you my monthly supplement bill -- but I do get a lot for my money
ReplyDeleteWith all due respect for your taste, personally I think anything apricot or orange on a chestnut is a big mistake. Rust possibly yes, but not apricot! I don't think it complements his coat at all.
ReplyDeleteBut yay for different saddlecloth colours in dressage events! White is not good for me, and as I have greys, white just makes them look dirty. Greys are better in any other colour.
I disagree, but there's no countin' for taste. It's good to get different viewpoints out there.
ReplyDeleteI personally am bored to death by the "forest green for chestnuts" tradition :-). Dare I tell you that Riley has an orange-lined haler?
halter that is.
ReplyDeleteSo what are YOUR favorite colors??
Love the pad! LOVE your blog. Have a huge request: Your trainer is a beautiful rider. Could you beg her to wear a hard hat and not just a visor? After this summer of accidents it seems almost perverse that dressage riders don't wear helmets. Especially the trainers who are role models to young riders who will emulate them - for better or worse.
ReplyDeleteHere is a post from Courtney King just two days ago. Read to the end of her post and you will see how important it is to keep sending the message to the dressage world: Wear your helmets!
thanks,
Maria
Stacey, I think your new pad is just beautiful on Riley! You couldn't have chosen a better color! And I agree with you about SmartPak- they are a great company to deal with. I have bought quite a few items from them and have been consistently pleased with them, and consistently impressed with their Customer Service staff.
ReplyDeleteI just ordered a PRI pad in Smoke, for my dappled grey. It's not baby blue, not periwinkle, and not grey, but a perfect in-between that I think will be be snazzy. Can't wait for it to arrive!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.equusnow.com/prodimages/priswatches.jpg
I like it - good for you! The whole white/navy/black thing was deadly dull anyway (and I'm with Jean on white around horses, because are you kidding??? :o)
ReplyDeleteIf I could have my pick, I would want a turquoise one and a purple or lavender one and periwinkle would look nice...
ReplyDeleteBut my saddle pads tend to get pretty beat up. Would a $200 pad withstand the abuse? I hope so, but if not, YIKES!
I just got a Mattes pad with the pockets for shims. It's super nice to look at, touch and feel. Today is the first day I'm going to give it a try...
ReplyDeleteLOVE the color! When I first got my horses my friend lent me an extra pad she had - it was Pepto-Bismal pink. My boys were not impressed!
ReplyDeleteI actually love the colour. I like bright rich oranges and soft apricots (just not on a chestnut.)
ReplyDeleteFor a chestnut, I also hate bottle green... erk so out dated!
Tan, chocolate, rust, camel, taupe would be my colours of choice on a chestnut.
I like turqoise too.