To bling or not to bling??

Question

I have noticed alot of barrel racers with things on their horses that make me just go...yuck!!! I am simple I guess. I like the leather look with some silver. That's it. I don't really care for all this wild and crazy stuff that is comming out, like all the bling bling. Crazy seats on saddles, fur on saddles and breast collars, zebra on anything.

Do you bling?

Why do you bling?

Just a slow night and this came to mind.

Sally, how did you contribute to the question?? Braiding was not the topic on this,

I know it's fun and all that. I dislike drawing attention to myself.

Glad ya'll are having fun with it!!

LOL Stetson, you bring up a whole nother point!! I must say, I saw a guy with a painted flowered belt on with bling! hahaha I fell off my horse!!! (not really) but it was funny.
And guys wearing Kippy Belts??? OMG! I love to see a guy wearing a belt that has lots of silver but not the bling. To me it's girly not manly.

Megan, you missed the question. It was just simply, what do you do and why. No need to be tacky about it.

Answer 1

I used to bling. Just to trail ride. My horse had enough silver on it to ride in the Macy's parade. And every day back at the horse camp I had to sit and clean all that (bleeep) silver. Then, one day, it hit me. Dern it, trail riding is supposed to be relaxing and fun. Now, my friends tease me that I'm closet amish or something. My tack is all basic black and simple. Plantation saddle, saddle pad and girth are black, beta biothane breast strap and halter bridle combo....black saddle bags....heck, they could just call me Johnny Cash.

Answer 2

Haven't shown in so many years but it seems Western and English hasn't changed much, must be the Rodeo guys who are going for the Rhinestone Cowboy look!Oooooh How fun! Just looked it up--- BLING Add some Bling to you and your horse, Barrel Racing ...Cowgirl Bling Rhinestone Tack Swarovki Crystal Horse Tack JLV Web Design designs, creates and maintain websites. By Jennifer Valek.
www.jlvwd.com/cowgirlbling

Answer 3

At first I really wanted to get all this flashy stuff for my barrel horse. I started to and found it too way expensive.

I then just went for leather and neutral colors.
Red just looks really great on my bay. So we have a red breast collar, black and red saddle pad, and a black bridle.

I mean flashy stuff isn't going to make your times any faster.

The one thing I guess you could call bling is a shirt may mom had made for me for my birthday. Its a shiny red with glittery stars. Not too flashy, but I still dont know how I feel about it yet.

The one thing I would never do, is put shiny feather boas on my saddle pad. A lot of girls do that in my area and all I can say is, tacky.

Answer 4

I don't care for the neon colors and pinks and purples...it looks like you're dressing the horse up to look part human.
I think God created the most beautiful animal when he made the horse, and there is absolutely NOTHING we can do to improve upon it, other than breeding only the best horses and caring for them properly!

I don't mind watching little barrel racing girls flashing up their horses, because that's part of the fun in 4-H or whatever. But I prefer a more elegant look, where the tack and the rider complement the horse's appearance, not take away from it.

Nice question, and I'm not bashing those who bling...I just like to see the horse's color without being blinded by sparkles.

Answer 5

Well, for trail riding, the more simple the better. I don't like the blue, pink, purple saddles and tack. BUT, I used to present the colors, at rodeos, and the crowd loved the bling! The more the better. I still will bling a bit, and love to see it.
Its a lot like wearing jewelry. Some love to wear it and others prefer the basic look. That's what keeps the world interesting.

In a garden, I love the simple daisy, and the elegant iris, or rose.

Answer 6

Looks so stupid.. A little is ok, but some go overboard! I watched a rodeo on tv, then went to a comercial that sells "Bling Bling" Unreal... Again, a little is ok, like silver on a saddle e.t.c. Some people watch way to much mtv. Now cmtv is headed that way! At least you dont see "Real" cowboys like ropers wearing Big n Rich junk!

Answer 7

I don't really bling out my horses I usually try and pack a punch in the ring with color accesories. For example my pad is neone green and turquoise, my boots are neon green , my reins are leather with neon rubber grips and my breastcollar is leather, but i took a leather branding tool and burned stars into it along the border same with my headstall. If I am feeling escpecially bold I will swpa up boots... I have a front and back set of neon green and a front and back set of turquoise. On my bold nights I'll alternare boots..... left fron neon green right front turq , left back turq right back nenon green and I'll usually stick with my green or black bell boots. I'm not a fan of the fur on saddles and breastcollars (there are some hair on hide sets that are nice but not the fringy fur like Cactus Saddlery sells) A little bit of crystal accent is cool too but all this massive bling bling is just too much. Alamo Saddelry make ssome goregeous but too blingy tack. In fact it's so blingy and cover that the weight of it often rubs sores or the hair out on horses chests and the headstalls drop horribly on the browband. All in all like I said simple leather with colored boots and such make the punch for me:)

Answer 8

I don't run barrels, but my husband & our three boys team rope, we stick with the basics. We all ride roping saddles that are maybe tooled a bit different from each other, my personal favorite is mine of course - tooled/roughout. I think the only thing that could be mistaken for bling is the silver horn cap.
As for the rest of my tack, leather headstall w/ browband & w/braided rawhide & horsehair tassels, leather roping rein w/ braided rawhide, leather tiedown w/braided rawhide nose. These were gifts for Mother's Day from our boys.
So, NO! I guess we don't bling! We are very bland when it comes to imbellishing our horses, our tack & ourselves...

Answer 9

I think that it's outrageous! I agree with Stenson! A little bling is ok, like the silver on a show saddle but I think that it is ridiculous to have jewls and gems on bridles or saddles (except for silver on western saddles). Seriously y would you want to have... uhhh its just a waist.

Answer 10

I completely agree. I like the simple leather look with some silver trim at maximum. I actually prefer plain leather myself. All of the things you mentioned are stupid.. horses look a ton better in just leather!