I have to prepare a horse for a show and i want to make the horse reallly stand out! Does anyone have any tips that really make them look amazing.. i have already thought about hoof oil, quarter markers and chalking the white bits!
Many thanks
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- Many thanks « Joanne Jacobs
- Effol Hoof Oil With Brush 500ml. Horse Equine Care | Buy New and Secondhand Equestrian Equipment | Farriers Classified
1. Bridle path. Unless your horse is one of the very, very few breeds that show without bridle paths, shave his mane from just behind the forelock 2-3" back. This makes a tidy place for the crown piece of the bridle, and is a basic requirement of show grooming.
2. Do your horse’s mane as is appropriate for the class you’re showing in. Most horses will need their manes pulled/thinned so they are 2-3" long and lay all on one side. Some breeds/disciplines will expect bands or braids or ribbons or other things; research yours to find out what’s appropriate.
3. Tails should at the minimum be clean and tangle free. Shampoo thoroughly and rinse well, then brush out. When they’re dry, brush again and spray on Show Sheen or a similar product to keep them untangled. If you allow time, this will dry and then will repell dust, not attract it.
Like manes, some breeds/disciples require specific styling of the tail. For example, hunters should be shown with braided tails.
4. Excess hairs should be clipped and tidied. These include whiskers, eye whiskers (not the lashes), under the jaw line, inside the ears and around the edges, pasterns, around the coronet bands, and so on.
5. The entire horse should be sparklingly clean. A bath the day before, followed by ShowSheen, will get them clean and help keep them stain free. Right before the class, run a rag over them to remove any dust.
6. Make sure you get the "other" areas. Use a clean wash cloth to wash the eyes (especially the corners), the nostrils, inside the ears, the dock area, and the sheath or bag areas. Some people like to oil these as well, but I don’t.
7. Brush, brush, brush. All the coat hairs should lie smooth and flat, with no long hairs sticking out or fuzz sticking up. There should be no dust.
8. Hooves should be freshly trimmed/shod. Some people like to actually smooth the surfaces with a sander, but this is adverse to good hoof health and in my opinion is just stupid. Still, they should be correctly trimmed, with horse shoe nails (if any) tight and even. Polish can be applied if appropriate to the class and breed.
9. Tack should fit well, be spotlessly clean (especially bits!), and polished. The handler’s appearance should be as good as the horse’s – especially make sure to have someone wipe a rider’s boots off just as they’re entering the ring, as a few dust motes here can ruin an impression.
These are the basics. I don’t know how much showing you’ve done, so you may already know these… but I’ve seen too many people who don’t to take that for granted!! Anything above and beyond this… handle with care. Some breeds/associations have strict rules about what you can and can’t do, especially color breeds.