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Color effecting discipline?

4K views 23 replies 17 participants last post by  JumpingMyPaint 
#1 ·
So I have an interesting and somewhat controversial topic I'd like some opinion on. For some years now, my primary riding horse has been a bay paint. Like a tobiano painty-paint. Bi-colored hair, silver spot lining, paint all the way. She has won Hunter under saddle and jumping, but I've only showed at an open/4-H level with her in those events. So I guess what I mainly wanted to discuss was, you always hear "bay" jokes about dressage, Hunter/jumpers, and such like all the winners are bay. Do you think if I were to start dressage (I'm in process of teaching piaffe for fun, and she is beautiful at gaits and collected work, circles etc.) or if I were to go to more serious jumping shows, that I would be looked down on for riding a paint? Her color doesn't effect her performance, but I just wanted input. Thanks!!
 
#3 ·
No!! NO no no no no!!

Color is always amazing! Everybody loves a paint, they're flashy and adorable. Plus, if anyone did look down at you, it's their loss. Who cares about what some snotty rich kids think about you? The judge literally CANNOT judge you based on your horse's color, so don't worry about it.

You have enemies? GOOD. That means you stood up for something in your life. -Winston Churchill

If people are jealous enough to be prejudice against you for the color of your horse, that's their problem.
 
#4 ·
In dressage it really makes no difference. Dressage is about training, and reaching a certain level of "perfection" and partnership with your horse. All types of horses do well in dressage, and while the top levels are dominated by the warmbloods, there are a lot of unconventional breeds doing well at the top as well. At the grass roots level I see all breeds and all colors. In my local dressage association it seems like the chestnuts are the dominating color. :lol: I would say at least 75% of the regular show goers are on chestnuts. Lots of Thoroughbreds, some paints, several draft crosses, and this year a barn with four Gypsies started showing up. They were the horses to beat at Intro and Training!
 
#7 ·
I ride dressage on a pinto (black & white tobiano) and it's not a problem. Mind you, we ride at the lower levels, but we've always been treated fairly by the judges, and some even wrote "cute horse" or similar.
At jumpers, I would think it's even less of an issue. Either you make that mistake or you don't, easy enough to figure out.
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#8 ·
I don't know about hunters, but in jumpers and dressage colour shouldn't be an issue. In dressage it's all about performing the movements nicely, and in jumping it's all about getting round the course well and beating the clock.

If anyone did turn their nose up at your horse because of its colour just laugh to yourself whilst you beat them completely in the ring.
 
#10 ·
Well I just finished working at the dressage championships. I have been a
Scribe for years and can't say I have ever heard a judge not score accordingly because of just color. With that said whenever you ride outside of the norm it does
Draw attention both good and bad. I have heard judges say they like or dislike a particular horse or rider for whatever reason, but still score accordingly. There were several high level pinto horses that did very well. The paints do well in the lower levels across the board as the stock bred horses NORMALLY are not bred for that style and size like the warmblood. The pinto warmblood horses are another story and did very well at the upper levels.
I am a stock breed scribe too and yes certain judges don't like certain things , color may be one of them but certainly not one of the more common things. I had a judge this past weekend ask me to just put a line on his card for HUS eq class. He said the rider looked like a beached whale and where the F was the saddle at. Who your trainer is DOES make a difference at times as also what bloodlines you are riding.
 
#11 ·
The judge literally CANNOT judge you based on your horse's color
I wish all judges were honest, and no one looked at color, who the trainer was, what the horses bloodlines are, which stable they came from. But they do. I know of cases where the people who won all the classes were conveniently friends of the judges. My friend competed on her arab/paint/appy at a local show and got ALOT of dirty looks. The only other colored horse there was a 16.2hh pinto warmblood.
 
#20 ·
I wish all judges were honest, and no one looked at color, who the trainer was, what the horses bloodlines are, which stable they came from. But they do. I know of cases where the people who won all the classes were conveniently friends of the judges.
I've known of this as well, but I forget that we aren't all doing Jumpers here. In Jumpers the only thing they judge you on is the time, so I sort of slipped up on the subjective scoring in the hunter world. Then again, this is another reason I can't *stand* hunters, but that's a completely different topic.
Still in Dressage, I feel like that's not something they could find a place to deduct from. I could be wrong, but it wouldn't make sense that they could find anywhere to dock from for your color, since (around here, at least) they give you your score card after the results are read.
Cross Country is the same as Jumpers. Didn't the OP say she was an Eventer?

Hunters is a different story, and I apologize for not making that clear. I like to try to forget about Hunters :lol:
 
#12 ·
I think you have to look at the breeds or even bloodlines used for the discipline. Almost all warm bloods I've met have been bay, 1 chestnut. Most of them were dressage horses. I doubt the color of your horse will effect your score.
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#13 ·
I do not think that dressage judges would do anything but be fair to you. At this time where I live a lot of Irish Sport Horses are being imported and brought in to all disiplince. They are very good at eventing, but people use them for dressage to.
If you do not know what they often look like they have the paint coat:
http://cache.bazoomcdn.com/horses/gallery/2/750/563/8154-irish-sport-horse-wolfgang-sister-act
Extremly pretty horses! Often I see people call the moo's or cows but most people like it, unconventional yes, but so pretty :)
Believe in youreself and youre horse and do not worry what others think. If someone is stuck up about that, you know that is not people for you anyways.
 
#15 ·
The UK went through its period when coloured horses (Pinto, paint) were sneered at into a time when a mediocre coloured horse would fetch more money in a sale than a better solid colour
Horses of colour have now become popular worldwide in the Sporthorse and Warmblood registries and with horses like this one around its hardly surprising
:: Stanhope Stud :: Dual purpose sports horse stallions ::
 
#18 ·
In Jumpers and Dressage you should be fine.

If you're looking at Hunters... it depends, honestly. What level are you looking at showing? At the higher levels in particular, colored horses are definitely not "in" and, even though it shouldn't, it can create biases...
 
#19 ·
I've seen people blame their poor dressage scores on all kinds of biases they think the judge might have- breed, color, horse's height (I actually had one person claim that the judge was placing shorter horses higher... a first in the dressage world!)

Most judges will not let their personal preferences affect their scoring, but of course you may run into a judge now and then that doesn't seem to be able to do that. If you happen to encounter one of those judges who has something against your horse, my only advice would be to avoid that judge in the future.

As for other competitors making remarks about you or your horse- don't let it get to you. Those types of people will always find something negative to say; if it's not your horse's color then it will be something else.
 
#21 ·
The two main horses I learned to jump on were an appy and a pinto. They both placed appropriately in jumpers and were both marked down lower than they should have been in Hunters. So I'd say you're going from the more color-judgey side than the other way around.
 
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