> The color of ribbons to use for stallions and for green/beginner
> horses seems to vary from region to region. As long as folks
> consistently mark horses appropriately (for everyone's safety &
> enjoyment), & it is announced what the colors mean, I have no problem
> w/ seeing different colors.
>
> Here in VA, MD, & PA (where we mostly ride) I am used to seeing red
> for kickers & mares in season, yellow for stallions, and green for beginner
> horse or rider or horse & rider unfamiliar with trail riding.
Out here in the west and southwest, the only standard I know of is a red
ribbon for a kicker. Never heard of anything else for all those other
things unless they kick. SOme people I know who ride stallions put a red
ribbon in his tail just as a matter of course because he is a stallion,
but this is not a standard (as far as I know). I have always assumed
that a horse with anything tied in its tail is a kicker and figure that
the person just used whatever was handy.
kat
Orange County, Calif.