Russet harness with a Dark (almost black) Bay?

ckmini · May 8, 2013

So I came across a nice harness for very cheap over the weekend, and it all seems to fit nice except the breeching (it's a little small, I may try and track down the maker to order a bigger size). But my question is the horse that this fits is dark bay, is russet and dark bay okay or is it kinda a no-no? Coming from the breed show world everything is black and shiny

but I'm (slowly and on a budget) trying to put together a turnout that would be suitable for CDE/HDT and the ASPC carriage classes. I know the russet should be turned out with a wooden vehicle, but even then is back a prettier picture?

The heart of the matter is should I try and make this work for my pony or am I better off selling it? Just looking for opinions

susanne · May 9, 2013

I don't know about the ASPC Carriage classes, but for CDE/HDTs, russet harness is correct as long as it is appropriate to your cart/carriage. I'll let those better versed in ADS rules give the exact information on this, or you can check the ADS rulebook. Russet looks very nice on your horse.

Barnmother · May 9, 2013

I plan on using a russet harness in AMHR shows on a smokey black (he looks almost Grulla) with a brown mane and tail. Looks really sharp on him.

rbrown · May 9, 2013

I think it looks very nice on your horse! Here is what the ADS rulebook says regarding vehicles that are appropriate for russet harness:

Russet harness is considered appropriate with:
a) Natural wood vehicle with brown or black iron,
b) Painted vehicle with natural wood panels with any color iron or
c) Vehicle that is painted brown with brown iron. Shaft and pole trimmings should match the harness.

So, there are a few different options for carts if you go ahead with the russet

ckmini · May 10, 2013

rbrown said:
Russet harness is considered appropriate with:

a) Natural wood vehicle with brown or black iron,

b) Painted vehicle with natural wood panels with any color iron or

c) Vehicle that is painted brown with brown iron. Shaft and pole trimmings should match the harness.

Fantastic, thank you! At the moment we just have a jerald-like jog cart for him, but hoping to upgrade to a natural wood road cart in the future. Now to try and find the maker of this . . . .