What the Cuss?

While casually flipping through the increasing torrent of tack catalogs (can you tell the holidays are coming?? sheesh). I stumbled across this:

I'm not even going to address the matching boots...

Now, I love a gorgeous "couture" (my inner fashionista sorta cringes at that use for a saddle pad) Mattes pad as much as the next tack-whore, but WHAT are they thinking?

This looks like those ill-fitting, horrid "blankets" that you used to get for your Breyer models.  They never quite fit, never quite worked and always seemed to be available in awful colors.

I'm a fan of the quarter sheet (found them quite handy for myself back East..) but this seems to be taking it a bit far.

Has anyone seen these in real life? are they less offensive than they appear?  This makes it look like some poor respectable horse got chased through a 1980's living room set and came out the other side wearing the window treatments...

Anyway.

Tomorrow I'm OFF TO SEE THE MARE.  It's been far too long, but a trip is being made.  Also, I'm taking the pupper because her weak little left hind seems to be getting worse.  For every detail I notice on my horses, dogs can go ages without me picking up on something... To which I mean to say that I can't remember the last time I saw the bulldog trot.  She either walks, or 'canters' and avoids loading that left hind entirely.  Poor thing.

Updates soon!