What is the shiny stuff??

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secuono

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I keep seeing fancy mini's and nearly all have a wet and shiny looking nose up to the noseband and thick, wet/shiny eyebrow patches right over the eyelids. It sure doesn't look natural.

What is this? Is this paint, oil, tattoo, show makeup???
 
It is highlighter or baby oil

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Ahhh, ok. Thanks!

Makes the heads look longer and sweaty to me.
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Has anyone accidentally kissed their horse's nose when that stuff is on? Does it smudge off or need to be washed?
 
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Oh, it comes off all right!!! All over the cuffs of your show clothes and anywhere else the horse rubs or brushes up against you! (I don't know whether to laugh or frown here!). You can wipe most of it off with a soft cloth or such.
 
That's generally what I use, unless I want to deepen a black/grey nose more. But then I use a little of the black face glo using a cosmetic sponge and add the baby gel on top. We don't get to as many shows as we'd like and have never had the time/money to go to Nationals; so I groom a touch less professional-but they still look good and we have gotten our share of top ribbons including some Grands and Reserves.
 
I also use baby oil gel. I like the way it looks, but boy, my guys AIM for my jacket when they're all shinied up! The wost one was the one time I black chalked Sunny's nose, and he touched my CREAM HAT! Oh, my, way that a mess! Right before showmanship!
 
Marty it is even better when they nudge the Judge, especially if they are wearing light coloured clothes!
 
I'd like to smack whoever invented doing that too. We used to do it on our quarter horses also back in the day. I think it was stupid back then and stupid now. And yup, don'tcha just love getting nudged when your horse is all greased up? ugh....
+1... I show pix to friends and it is so distracting it is the only thing they see. Of course my opinion and $5 will get you a nice cup of coffee.

Looks more fake than anything we do in the dog world. OK.... maybe except for poodles and the wind up toys.
 
I don't like it either. I like the more natural look...fluffy forelocks too. None of that greasy stuff.
 
I don't like it either. I like the more natural look...fluffy forelocks too. None of that greasy stuff.
Ugh! You are so right- I hate the big eye grease but the greasy forelocks is just nasty. I don't like how they do it on Arabs either, guess I'm showing how old I am.
 
Since i was a pony club member, at least when I did it, they didnt even like show sheen let alone baby oil on the horses when you went for formal inspection. They didnt even want to see black hoof polish, it had to be clear and definitely dry before you went up. Anything came off that horse and onto them, major points deducted.
 
It's definitely highly distracting to me and jmo, makes a long faced horse look even longer! Which makes me wonder, is the extra long, narrow and cone shaped head on purpose?? I see many mini's with what I call a real horse head, looks natural and like the big guys. But then I see some with very long faces that start out wide up top and then narrow way down at the tip. Scares me as to how they eat or if their bones are strong or not. But w/e.

About the comment of gray on muzzle, isn't it just showing that the horse is actually a gray and will fully gray out in time? Or do some horses, like other animals, just gray a bit as they get older??
 
If I use any highlighter on the face, I use Quic Shadeit is a non-scented product which also contains a sunscreen. If I use itI wipe just a small amount onto the muzzle and above the eyes, to make a shine but not enough to make the face look like a goopy mess. I absolutely hate seeing those horses that look like someone has taken a gob of shiny goo and stuck it on above each eye and on the muzzle, and then left it to melt and run. Hate thatto me it is ugly. I also prefer a natural forelock; I will use hair product to keep flyaway hairs in control, but not so much that the forelock is all greasy looking.

Be warnedif you are thinking of buying the Silverado black highlighter gelthat stuff stinks! I bought it once, thinking it would be the thing to use on black horses. I was wrong. I used it onceand again, I did not use much of it, just wiped a little bit over the eyes and on the muzzle. I was half afraid that one of the horses would have an allergic reaction to the stuff, just from the smell of it. The horses were okay with it, but the day after the show I had such a horrible reaction from itmy eyes puffed almost shut (just from fumes, I was careful not to get any on me, I always wear plastic gloves when applying highlighter gel and I was SO stuffed up. I got the jar and threw it awayno way I was using that smelly stuff again. Previously I had always used the Alto Labs highlighter; it seems that is no longer available and so that is when I made the switch to the Quic Shade.
 
About the "gray muzzle". Some horses clip lighter than others and if they are shaved the light skin on the around the nose looks odd (to me anyway). I have a sliver dapple that is darker naturally around the eyes and mouth but if he's shaved then the skin is pink looking....nasty.

Granddaughter also showed an Old guy and yes they get grey with age just like dogs and other animals. So if showing one that old you might want to cover up the gray to hide some of the age. A lot of people couldn't believe that my old guy was 25 last year because he's in such good body shape but the gray on his face shows it. So we clip it out and cover it up.
 
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