Barn Colors: What Are Yours?
Having found no other explanation, it may be that the tradition of having a color scheme associated with an owner, trainer, or barn, comes from the over 500-year-old use of colors in horse racing. Racing silks provide a wide range of colors and patterns and represent the owner of the horse. Silks are, in fact, registered and may not be duplicated. (https://www.racingexplained.co.uk/jockeys/what-are-jockey-silks-and-colours/)
The earliest mention of barn colors in my personal horse history was associated with a 4H Club, the Dawn Riders, in Toano, Virginia. That was a blue and silver combination, and I clearly remember helping our horsey daughter paint a rake and shovel in those colors for her first state fair competition! I still have the rake!
Moving forward with her pony and getting into local competition, the colors became green and white. Here is a picture from that era, circa 1985. Parents bought into the theme, hook, line, and sinker! We should have known back then we were in for MORE!
When we moved that pony to a large barn with a professional trainer, the colors became navy, tan and maroon. Now the new saddle cover, garment bag, helmet bag, etc. were for sure to be in those colors. It did help when deciding on horsey presents – no question about colors!
And then, fast forward to the current chapter that began in 1996 with the opening of Stonehouse Stables in Toano, Virginia, the home of The Tack and Habit Shoppe. There was one important decision to make even before we opened the doors--the barn colors of course (sure there were lots more important decisions, but come on folks, I’m writing about barn colors!). The decision was hunter green, maroon, and tan.
I cannot begin to tell you how many things in my life are now cast in those colors. Luckily, I like them! Just to show how far this can go, an early and ongoing project on the farm has been building, painting, and repairing show jumps. With a visit to our local Sherwin-Williams paint store, we found the right colors and promptly had them mixed. I can even give you a list of their SW numbers, and our current local dealer has them on file as well.
Of course the show trunks are done up in our colors, along with custom coolers, blankets, boot bags, you name it. When we built the retail building for the shoppe on the property, the interior walls were painted tan and the trim and doors maroon. Where does this stop?? It does NOT!
I am sure many of you have barn colors. Let’s hear from you about yours! Just drop us a line in our chat or email us at tackandhabit@stonehousestables.com. If you have pictures and/or stories to tell along with the colors, send them on! And by the way, we do custom orders of almost anything you can think of and we can certainly do them in YOUR colors!