I am generally not a very sparkly person, either in personality or when it comes to bling. Sarcasm and dark humor come naturally to me, and my taste is relatively plain and boring aside from the admittedly perhaps slightly out of character pompom obsession (#pomclubforlyfe). The only reason I can tolerate a rhinestone browband on my dressage bridle is because the stones are black… it barely even counts.
I’m definitely not into the whole “can be seen from space” thing that is popular amongst the DQ’s and the western set and definitely some eventers as well. You know what I’m talking about.
My color palette is a snooze, usually falling solidly in the navy with black or gray or white range (or hunter green, when I’m feeling wild). I can’t help it, it’s who I am as a person. I mean, this was my idea of brightening up my navy/white XC colors by adding yellow (which was, for me, quite a bold choice as an accent color):
I’m not at all conservative or traditional as a general human being, so that’s certainly not the reason why I shy away from color or bling. My hair is currently burgundy (look at me getting into the holiday spirit), and before that it was a very dark purple. I have multiple tattoos. I’ve got a floral pair of Doc Martin’s, for god’s sake (because literally anything looks badass on a Doc Martin, I am a 90’s kid and this will be my stance until I die). Anyway, my color preferences clearly don’t stem from conservatism.
I suppose, at the base of things, I actually like pretty much any color if you just make it dark enough. I thought that I had an aversion to all sparkles or bright things, which makes sense if you know me, but lately I’ve come to realize that more and more blingy things are sneaking into my world. Like the hoof boot I got for Henry, for instance, which might be one of my favorite purchases of the year:
It’s magnificent. It’s a darker sparkle on a black base, so it’s not really BRIGHT or disco-ball-esque, but still… it’s so blingy that I can tell from many many yards away if Henry still has his boot on or not. The sun catches it just right and, well… it’s shiny. And that hoof boot has brought me waaaaaaaaaaaaaay more joy than any hoof boot ever should. I’m a little obsessed with it.
And then there are these, Presto’s Christmas gift from his mother (his actual horse mother Sadie, not to be confused with me, his hu-mom) with a little help from Auntie Michelle because Sadie doesn’t have thumbs or the internet or a bank account:
Your eyes do not deceive you, friends… those are navy glitter boots. AND I LOVE THEM. They barely count as blingy, but they’ve got that extra little bit of pizzazz that makes them interesting. Plus they’re NAVY. But sparkly they are, and I love them not just despite it, but actually… because of it. They remind me of the night sky.
These boots are when I realized that clearly it isn’t bling itself that I’m opposed to… it must just be bright, light colored bling. Silver, or gold, or… ok, anything that’s not black or navy or dark, I guess. It’s like I’m okay with making it glittery as long as it ultimately stays relatively dark and depressing and inside my preferred color palette. I’m sure this says something about me on a deeply psychological level.
I was discussing this self-revelation with Stacie (because come on she has like 623 pairs of tall boots and horse boots in every color and finish, who the heck else would you talk to about stuff like this?) and we came up with a name for it:
So I guess my style can be described simply from here on out as “Emo Sparkles”. Slide that broody attitude right on up here and put some black glitter on it, my friend. Who knew I would still be learning things like this about myself in my mid-30’s?
But really though, those navy glitter boots. ❤
breedrideevent.com 
Hahha emo sparkles – love it! Those navy boots are very nice. I would buy a pair in hunter green (well, if I had need of them and like a riding horse to put them on!) I have a hard time with the light silvery sparkly stuff too. And I’m a western person. Most days I am an outcast from my chosen discipline. lol It is very hard to go shopping at a place like the QH congress and ask the salesperson if they have something similar, but with no bling. I once had a very fancy lady with a southern drawl tell me “Darlin’ we aint got nothing plain here. Maybe y’all need some bling in your life?” lol
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Love the boots! Those are beautiful. As the only DQ in a hunter-jumper barn, my rose gold python printed tendon boots are a cause for conversation. The little kids love them, the parents (my peers @ 41 years of age) have mixed reactions. My coach (a devoted hunter rider) thinks they are hilarious.
Now this might be too DQ but is Presto going to receive the Diamant Dark Blue Saddle pad from Hufglocken as a present to go with the boots? https://www.hufglocken.com/collections/all/products/diamant-dark-blue-saddle-pad Or is that too much?
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I’ve looked at that pad before but always waiver on how I feel about it. I think it’s awesome but maybe TOO sparkly for me.
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It’s a good idea to factor in surface area when doing sparkle lol.
Had a pair of black glitter Doc Martin’s back in the day, that were a tinch too small (weird euro shoe sizing) but I wore anyway, which may or may not have drawn blood.
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I would wear the shit out of some black glitter doc martins
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;D ;D ;D
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I have no excuse. My fav western show shirt is blingy as hell LOL But I sort of offset that by having no silver on western saddle or bridle. Like, even the conchos on my western saddle are rust-colored with nickel plating. Because I just didn’t want to polish silver lol. I don’t think I’m TOO blingy with english, but I do like a bit of sparkle. I’m glad that the disciplines are more accepting of people wanting to be unique. It’s why I love looking at all the fun XC matchy-matchies going on. What’s funny tho is my mom LOVES all the western bling, but I told her that Andrew Hoy wore this very bright french blue coat for his show jumping round in the ERM series and my mom’s eyes nearly bugged out of her head. She was not a fan haha. She grew up in Virginia doing hunters tho, and rode hunters until she got Whisper. So she is sooooo a traditionalist when it comes to english tack lol. Blingy browbands are as far as she can push herself lol
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I am firmly in the “let’s blind them with bling” camp, although we’ve switched from royal blue and sunshine yellow to Aggie Maroon!
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I like conservative bling. I’m actually in the process of getting a new show helmet, the Champion X-Air: and I picked the navy sparkle one. It’s a BIG departure from my norm (I don’t even have a sparkle browband). But it’s not TOO sparkley for me (but probably would be for you!). I wavered, and wasn’t even sure until I got it in person if I’d like it, and it will be my ONLY bling. But my first dressage trainer said “You will never have bling or a navy helmet ever”, so it’s a little bit of a “because I wasn’t allowed” thing. And I’m mostly a trail rider, where anything goes! (Seriously, my trail tack is ALL purple and teal. Halter, bridle, breast collar, saddle pad, and even my saddle has a teal seat.) But my philosophy for dressage is if you’re going to bring on the bling, you’d better be able to back it up with your riding.
And, well, I ride an Arab. We try, but she is and always will be an Arab.
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I don’t do bling. I’m boring and don’t really understand the brow and bling scene or the custom saddles with patent and rhinestones. I was the most boring endurance rider with red and black as my colors and then just did black with her for my brief eventing days. Eeyore looks best in navy so he made me a convert and sometimes if I feel wild I use a teal pad. But yeah no bling for me
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I’m here for the Emo Sparkles.
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I am in agreement with you about the whole bling thing. I feel that a tiny bit goes a long way and prefer the darker color bling. I really do love those boots and trying to see the brand and where to get them. My dressage horse looks great in gleaming white dressage boots but those are gorgeous. 😍
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