Showing white (or mostly white) horses.

[Kendra]

Our show horses tend to run mostly to black or other dark colours, cause that's what we like! But we have a filly born this year that is mostly white, and yet in the running to maybe be shown next year! Plus, we have a new yearling colt, who is palomino pinto, but looks white ... no plans to show him yet, but you never know!

Last time we showed a mare with a lot of white pinto markings, (which was probably 10 years ago) she looked so pink over her back, it was awful! And it wasn't sunburned, we were very careful to keep her out of the sun.

I know there's people here who show maximum white sabinos, so there must be some advise for showing white horses! .... what do you do about the pink skin showing through? Leave a little more hair on them? What about for her little bald face?

Kenzie

 

[horsesmakeubroke]

We clip horses with white bits a little earlier before a show than those without to give the hair time to grow back enough to show white... not pink.

And remember... a good horse is never a bad colour!

Kate

 

[Ashley]

Well I always clip my pintos with a 10 blade just a day or two before the show. They dont look all that pink.

After all alot of AMHA people clip with a 30 and yes the pintos to. SO chances are you wont look to pink.

Now the nose if white I clip in 40 several days before a show then I just take a regular razor back over it to trim up the wiskers that grew back.

 

[Marty]

Kendra I see these horses that are clipped so closely that the pink skin shows through on their body and it makes me so sad to see that.

I would use a #8 which would leave actual hair on the body but would still look very nice and cleanly clipped. I have been using a #8 here at home for the summer months to get the winter hair off that doesn't shed on some and I like the results. I don't have to worry about the horses going outside and getting sunburned. I would most definately show a horse clipped with a #8 and not worry a thing about it.

 

[minimomNC]

This horse was clipped two days prior to this class with a 30 blade. We clip all of our halter horses with 30's to show. Driving horse gets clipped with a 15. And we also do the horrible razoring too. But this horse was top ten in amateur Sr Geldings Level 2 and has never been with a trainer so we must be doing something right. Oh and this is the first year my daughter has shown level 2 and only her second World Show. I am very proud of how good her horses looked. And she does all of the clipping herself.

 

[JWC sr.]

That saying about a good horse can be any color is very true, but and it is a shame. But with perlino and creamello horses they just get overlooked so often we have just about stopped showing them. We had a beautiful cremello filly born last year out of our "Rio" stallion and was from a conformation wise standpoint awesome. But at a four judge show the results were 1st out of two judges and a 2nd and then a gate for the forth judge in a class of 9. After results like that several times we just took her home and will use her for breeding to produce some cool buckskins out of our Bay Patton son "Shine". To heck with them. All that aside when we clipped her and also a white gelding we show we clip with a 30 about two days before the show.

:saludando:

 

[hhpminis]

This is my suggestion and it works for me.

Most of my pintos I clip with a 30. However...there are some that have a lot of white and yes especially over the back, I clip with a 10.

I had one for 2 years that I showed and her hair was almost translucent, I was told that this was common trait of homozygous horses. Never the less, she looked pink clipped with a 10 even.

You will have to do a little trial and error.

Just make sure that this horse is well protected from sun when you get home, I know you know that though.

One thing about clipping them short is they look so very clean and sharp.

The faces are a practice thing as well. Each horse is a bit different no matter what color they are. If they have pink skin it is actually easier than if they are a palomino or even a light gray, as they can look very harsh with the dark skin showing under the light hair.

Just practice with her and figure out what you like best.

 

[minih]

I have always clipped a horse with a lot of white wih a #15 a whole week before. I do have a grayed out app that had alot of speckling on her skin and she was clipped with a #10 a week before showing. The graying spots shining thru on her body all over was not pretty to look at I didn't think when I clipped her tighter, but I did get a lot of comliments on her color after using the 10. The first horse was clipped with the #15 a week before the second #10.

As suggested already by hhpminis I would practice with your horse on different ways of clipping. Or clip tight and see how many days it takes to get the effect you want. Just remember at different times of the year hair grows at different rates. I personally like to see a pinto clipped tighter if you can see the dark line surrounding the color, my daughter doesn't.

: Go figure, it is all a preference.

 

[Charlotte]

Kendra, it varies so much from horse to horse....pink skinned horses that is.

Personally, I really don't like 'pink' horses :no: They either look dirty or sunburned. With our show horses, and many of those have been high white, I clip so that the horse isn't showing pink when he goes into the ring. I also don't like the razored muzzles on horses with high white head markings.

It all depends on what 'shade' of pink the horse's skin is and how dense the haircoat is. A pink skinned horse that has a dense coat I might be able to clip with a 15. Another one with very thin hair I might can clip no closer than a 8 1/2. And the heads I will try to clip one blade size shorter, but sometimes not. Over the eyes and the muzzle I usually do with a 30.

 

[MiLo Minis]

I show a horse who has a little bit of white on him (he is a maximum splash black overo) LOL and I find the best thing to do is make sure you have them sparkling clean so they glow so much no one can see the pink!

Seriously I think everyone expects a white horse to have pink skin so as long as it isn't sunburned to a brilliant pink I wouldn't worry about it. I am lucky in that Mack sheds out like a horse to a slick shiny coat so I don't clip him other than to clean up his face and fetlocks. His muzzle and around his eyes is pink but I think he looks fine - not dirty or sunburnt.

Oh and by the way - most judges seem to agree and place him at the top of his class more often than not even being all white!

 

[kaykay]

heres white chief. we clipped him at least a week before with a 10. by the time the show comes hes perfect.

I have to say in respect to white, cremello and perlino horses. If you stop showing them it wont get better!! people need to keep bringing them in. I remember when i got in this 5 years ago and you rarely saw appys in halter because the judges dont like appy. Now you see many more and you see them win. That is because people kept showing them!

 

[hhpminis]

I have to say in respect to white, cremello and perlino horses. If you stop showing them it wont get better!! people need to keep bringing them in.

Good point Kay

I do have to admit when I started in minis I was not at all fond of Appaloosa but I have seen some darn nice appies that made me take a second look and I think it is because I have kept seeing them over and over again.

 

[Relic]

She's lovely Kendra we were having that problem with Manly he just turns pink no matter what but did find if he's clipped about 6 days before with a 15 before going out he's pretty well mostly white without the pink undertones...except for that gad awful pink nose and eye thats forever pink..

 

[horsefeather]

I tend to agree that white horses really don't seem to get a fair shake. IMO they just don't show muscle tones as well as a darker horse. Perhaps working them 10 to 15 min. before a class to pump the muscles up might help???

I get a kick out of all the 'fuss' show folks go to with their horses. Again, IMO, if a judge is a good judge, ie: knows horses and judges fairly, clipping with a 40 vs. a 15, razoring, etc., really isn't what wins for the horse. A 'good' judge can see the horse for what it is, without all the 'fussing.' Now, I'm not saying they shouldn't be clipped, clean and shining, but razoring isn't going to be the deciding factor. We had a friend ask hubby why, if he didn't particularly care for razoring, did he place a certain horse 1st as it had a razored muzzle. His answer was "he happened to be the best horse out there."

Pam