grooming horses for showing

[1keegan]

My DD would like to show her mare and foal in one class each next month. This will be the only show they go to for the year. Our grooming experience consists of brushing, bathing and hoof picking. ( and I only own a good dog clipper with a #10 blade)

We live in the midwest and the mare's coat is nice and smooth, and the colt is fuzzy, but his face is shedding out. We live up against the woods, with lots of horse & deer flies and large populations of mosquitoes, and don't want to take off more hair than necessary (so that the horses suffer the rest of the summer). The effort here is not so much competetive driven- but I don't want my DD to be embarassed by missing grooming "musts".

So my question is: what does basic (required/ acceptable) show grooming consist of for adult horses and for foals?

Please comment on ears, tails manes too.

Thanks,

LG

 

[mydaddysjag]

Open show or rated show?

 

[1keegan]

I forgot to ask also- what is required for show halters?

The show halters I've seen were very expensive, and since DD may not show them (again/often) I am looking for a less expensive option.

Someone sells beaded show halters on eBay for around $20- and there are alot of positive comments about the quality of their mini halters. Has anyone tried them- and are they worth looking into for limited use?

thanks again,

LG

 

[1keegan]

Open show or rated show?

Sorry, not familiar with the the terminology. It's our club's AMHR sanctioned show.

 

[mydaddysjag]

AMHR is a rated show. If you dont want to look "out of place" you'll need to body clip. I went to a show in April I beleive, it was still chilly outside, but the horses were ALL clipped. You need to body clip with at least a 10, most people use a 15, but the 10 leaves more hair. Ears need clipped inside and outside, heads are usually clipped in a 30. Bridle path depends on the horse, Hoofs blacked, faces done with face shine or baby oil, body sprayed with a sheen spray, and a nice show halter.

The very least of show grooming with a mini is in my book is a body clip, and a good bath.

 

[kaykay]

I would use a 10 on the whole horse. I would not do the intense face sculpting etc if the horse is going right back out in the pasture. Also keep in mind even with a 10 the horse will have to be kept inside the first few days or she could sunburn. Mane and tail should be really clean and well combed out. If you dont have a mane tamer or hoodie use a lot of gel to get the mane to lay over nicely. Normally manes are undercut but again if you are just doing one show I wouldnt.

The foal especially should only be done in a 10.

If you are really only going to do one show then I would go with the beaded halter. But I will say they are not "in style" or what most use.

Hooves should be sanded and clean and polished with black or clear depending on their color

Beware of the show bug as it is addictive LOL

Most of all go and have fun!

 

[muffntuf]

If this is for one (1) show, I would body clip, but I would do minimal clipping on the ears, take all the whispy stuff out and make it even with the edges of the ear, so it looks like clipped, but you still have inside ear hairs.

If the mane is really thick, I would go ahead and undercut - there should be plenty of mane left afterwards.

You can just sand the hooves, but it does look more polished if you also use hoof black or clear hoof polish. You can get water based.

I would use no more than a 10 on the face if you are going to turn right back out after the show (10 for the whole body).

Good Luck! Have Fun!

 

[icspots]

It depends on how dainty mom's head is, I've seen plenty of people use the beaded halters from Quicksilver (e-bay) on foals and they look darling, Quicksilver also makes a band noseband, also very inexpensive. Bodyclip, hoofpolish and lots of babyoil gel on the nose, and over the eyes. A #10 should work fine, depending on the horses color might even look better. I went to a club show last week-end and caught a lot of crap and disapproving comments because I clip with a #30. Never mind that I've been clipping with a 30 for 10 years, last week I was a bad person for doing it

 

[Maple Hollow Farm]

I forgot to ask also- what is required for show halters?
The show halters I've seen were very expensive, and since DD may not show them (again/often) I am looking for a less expensive option.

Someone sells beaded show halters on eBay for around $20- and there are alot of positive comments about the quality of their mini halters. Has anyone tried them- and are they worth looking into for limited use?

thanks again,

LG

I use the quicksilver halters from ebay on all of my horses and I love them! I have gotten quite a few compliments on how nice they look on my horses especially the white one for my grey stallion. They arent made of normal materials like leather or bio but a rubbery feeling material that is much easier to hold onto than the bio halters. The noseband halters are best for most horses so unless the horse has an outstanding head than you are better off with a banded halter instead of the cord style ones. She has started making more and more designs for the nosebands since she only started with a few. I personally like the green or blue holograph halters and there is a silver and gold one that is absolutely gorgeous.

 

[Littleum]

If possible, try to borrow a show halter at the show. Show halters get passed around all the time. If there's a show halter vendor, take the time at the show to try on a lot of different styles- then you can watch Ebay/CL/ect for something similar.

Strictly mho, but nothing is more unattractive then a poorly fitted, unsuitable show halter. A poor choice in show halters can really make the most beautiful head look out of proportion and ugly.

If a suitable show halter that fits can't be found, I'd use a fresh, clean (new) stable halter + matching lead in a muted color. I honestly and truly believe that slapping on any old show halter because it's what could be had is more damaging then putting on a nice stable halter. I think it's a lot easier to see a head around a stable halter then it is trying to visualize it without unsuitable sparkles or bad sizing.

Edited for spelling. Gah....

 

[Minimor]

Instead of one of those beaded halters I would buy a show halter from Double Diamond. Look on their special sale poster on their website--they have a nice halter with a silver bar nose--not the one with the wide bar, but the narrower, shaped bar--they're on sale for $38 which IMO is very reasonable. I used this halter on a pony last month & was impressed with it--this pony had a very fine, feminine head and this halter suited her very well. It's more in style than a beaded halter.

 

[Mr.T]

i actually just bought one of the beaded halters from ebay, if it is the same seller. on the website you can order it with or without beads. They are good quality, the only problem I had was I thought a small would fit my girl, but I'm afraid I'm going to need a medium. Not really there fault but just double check sizing.