At some of the recent international shows it’s not just the dressage that has been catching the attention of the crowds, H&C has noticed. Carl Hester and Edward Gal have been among the riders bucking the trend for the traditional black and navy tailcoats and choosing to wear jackets of grey and sand colour. Their statements have prompted plenty of discussion on what is this year’s must have tail coat colour, but before riders in the UK leap to follow their fashion lead we look closely at the rules surrounding these decisions.

At FEI and national level riders are governed by dress rules which stipulate what is and what isn’t acceptable in the competition arena. Under FEI rules jacket colours must be pre-approved and may have a Hue Saturation value (HSV) level of between 0 - 32 per cent. This complex colour analysis has so far not been adopted by British Dressage rules. Riders should note that under rule 42 Dress, the intention is that tail coats must be black or navy.

But what does the HSV ruling adopted by the FEI actually mean? HSV is a way of defining a colour based on a colour wheel. Hue measures the angle around the colour wheel (red is at 0 degrees, green at 120 degrees, blue at 240 degrees). The saturation indicates the radius on the colour wheel so indicates the proportion between dark (center) to pure colour to white (outside). Value indicates the brightness. When mixing paints, Hue would represent the pigment, Saturation the amount of pigment and Value the amount of white.

A colour with an HSV value of 0 per cent appears black and all hues within the stipulated 32 per cent range contain conservative levels of grey. There is no restriction on the actual hue so tailcoats including muted browns, greens, reds and blues are all acceptable under FEI rules.

With a growing fashion for riders wishing stand out from the crowd and make a statement with their choice of tailcoat colour BD will be paying close attention to the International scene. However if you’re riding in a competition in 2010 governed by BD rules the choice for now remains between a black or navy tailcoat, it's your decision!