Hello Samantha, I think you have some very pretty heads on your horses so you have a definite advantage there already!I do have articles with a diagram on my webpage that you can take a look at that may help you in clipping your horses head. (www.tenltraining.com) I would recommend that you pracitice clipping their heads prior to actually doing your final show clip so you can see how they look and make any changes that you want to in how you have done them. You can go up a little higher on the V at or above the noseband area too, blending it to make it look like it fades into the next area where the hair is a bit longer. Perlinos are a little trickier than the other colors with their pinker skin. I think one of the MOST Important things to remember, once you clip your perlinos face, keep them out of strong sunlight for a few days, as that is what makes the pink turn really too pink or red. They are more sensitive to sun. Also use a # 7 blade or #7f on the v of the tailset, it looks like crushed velvet, all nice and even and just a bit longer than the body, but a very nice clean cut to it, go against the hair with it, making your tailset V no wider than the actual width of the tailhead.(where tail joins the body)
So Ill detail a little about how we have done our perlino stallion and hopefully that will help you out a bit. I shave his body about 5 to 6 days prior to the day he will show with a #15 blade. I do his legs with a #30 blade about three days prior to his show day, this is my personal preference as it keeps his legs a little cleaner looking, a perlino naturally has a little more coloration on the legs and I like them lighter than what they are when they grow out too long.
I clip the head two days prior to the show with a # 30 blade all over. Then go over the eyes, muzzle and inside ears, and bridle path with a #50 blade. Go on the underneath of the jawline with a #50 too so it is really nice and clean looking under there. You can blend the 50 to 30 areas with a #40 with a really light touch if you want to. When you clip your perlino, try to work her early in the morning or late in the afternoon so she is not in the sunlight more than you have to for a few days until her hair has grown back in a bit. When we wash our perlino stallion, Buff, I get him right inside to dry there instead of standing out in the direct sunlight. This keeps the pink areas a nice light pink. If you do his muzzle and bridle path too early the little white fuzz is distracting and can look dirty when you put the baby oil gel or highlighter oil on him in those areas prior to showing. I think a really clean light pink color looks best on them. I do not razor my perlinos muzzles and eyes. I think that is a personal preference on that particular color! I never thought I would use a blue halter on a show horse, but it really does seem to look good on perlinos and cremellos. You can look at photos of our stallion on our webpage for examples of the light blue halter with black trim, and with silver conchos. It seems to work on this horse well and I think it would on your perlino filly as well.
As for your other two horses, the palamino will look really good clipped out as in my diagram shows. I would suggest a black with gold trim halter on him,either a gold metal inlay with black patent trim, or patent throughout about a half inch wide noseband would look good on that horse, not a flared one. ON the pinto, I would use a 30 on the entire head, then go back over with a 50 on the inside of ears, bridle path, muzzle and underjawline, over eyes. I use a #40 or a #50 on the blazes a day or two before the show, going against the way the hair grows in the entire blaze area. This really makes the horse look very clean and sharp. The white will really pop out.. Remember any area of skin that is shaved close will need to be protected from strong daylight, so once you have shaved her closely here, then work that horse early or late afternoon so it wont burn and be too pink in those areas. I would razor both your pinto and the palamino horses, there are diagrams and instructions on my website that will help you with that also. You can razor a bit higher or lower depending on your personal preference and the length of the horses head from the eye down to the nose. A longer faced horse can be razored a bit higher.( using a #50 blade just prior to razoring will help you do a neater and easier razor job.) On your pinto colt you can have a lot of color choices for a show halter on him that would look good. I think my favorite color of halter for most horses like in general is the pretty patent nosebands that are maroon with thin gold piping and black edges, cable over the crown and just a few gold ferrules on the side of the halter. Ive seen some bronze nosebands that look good on chestnut pintos too, or the gold or silver inlay nosebands also look good!
We use small to medium conchos on horses that have a nice eye on them, the conchos will help accentuate them in my opinion. Try to use a show halter that accentuates the head but does not overpower the head or look too bulky for halter classes. I think the classy fine halters with not a whole lot of extra glitz look really good on naturally pretty heads!
We use a flared noseband on our horses that have a bit longer faces. We do not use cable nosebands, We prefer the ones that are about a half inch in width, or on some horses flared nosebands that are a little wider at the flare. Its really nice if you can try a halter on a show and see how you like it. I also recommend highly the Rolex chains instead of the regular type show chains, they are much finer for halter and really put a nice finishing touch on your horse. You will also need to be careful and get the right length of show chain for each horse. If your chain is too long it will make it easier for the horse to try and mouth, lip or chew on it, or it can come up and over the nose. Also leather leads work best, they do not get as slippery in your hands as the biothane ones. We also like the buckles on them rather than a snap for safety purposes as well as a cleaner look to them. Well good luck at the shows and Im sure you will have a lot of fun showing with your family!
