Walking around the local show at the end of last week got me thinking about when I used to compete at shows with my lovely two mounts, and all the time and effort that went into getting them looking smik. Over the years I caught on to some of the tricks of the trade that others were using around me the morning of, or made up my own handy tricks to make preparation easier or more effective. I thought today I would share a few with you all.
One of the obvious ones that I was in the habit of the morning of a show, was wearing trackpants over my jodphurs, a hoodie over my white shirt, and often gumboots to keep clean whilst I was getting my horse ready. The worst was when hoof black got on jodphurs right before a ring and we had to get it out, or horses were sneezing on me and staining my white shirt. Wearing some clothes over the top of your show base layers is a great way to keep clean, and prevent any emergency clean ups.
Another game changer for some is plaiting up the day before. If you are not particularly a morning person, and you have an early start, plaiting up the day before and putting your horse to bed with a hood and tail bag to cover the plaits can save a mad rush minutes before you are supposed to be on. I usually washed my horses the day before, and whilst they were drying would plait up the mane and forelock into rosettes, and plait the tail ready to go. I would then wrangle my horses into their skinny hood, put on their show rugs, and pop on their tail bags so they were all ready to go. The following morning I would strip them off, and if you were lucky all their rosettes would still be in place. Sometimes the odd few would have the be re done from the plait after being rubbed out over night, but this is only a few plaits opposed to a whole mane full.
Any tidy up clipping or shaving is great to do whilst the above is happening the day before. So this includes bridle paths, stray hair along the withers and fluffy leg hairs. Not everyone believes in shaving off whiskers because of their sensory purpose to a horse, so that is purely up to preference.
White chalk can be purchased from a saddlery to enhance white socks and markings. Baby Oil is a great simple make up over the eyes and muzzle if you don’t want to use horse make up products. These can be placed on the morning of with any other make up to ensure it is fresh looking, and doesn’t get rubbed off or dirty overnight.
Checklists can be a great way of being organised when packing for a show, both for you and your horse. Generally once you are in the habit of packing and have a rhythm of certain places where things are, packing becomes easier. We’re still all human though, and even the most organised person can forget the odd thing. There have been a few trips back home before to grab an essential item, so checklists that have been double checked are very useful.
Cleaning tack the day before, rather than the morning of can really take the pressure off too. Whilst collecting tack to pack, make a pile of things that need to be cleaned and make sure they are all thoroughly oiled and sparkling before they are packed.
As a general rule, try to do hoof black last the morning of the show, on a flat surface where the grass isn’t long. As mentioned before, hoof black can be really hard to get out of items it gets onto.
Having a set of clean show brushes makes both grooming after a wash, and final grooming the morning of so much easier. There isn’t concern needed about rubbing dirt back on a clean horse because you’re using your dirty everyday brushes.
Using either a grooming mitt or towel with a detangle & shine spray the morning of, can really give your horses coat and tail that winning shine. I have even used this trick when I haven’t been able to wash my horse the day before and have needed a quick fix.
The other key tip I could give for ultimate show preparation is allow plenty of time. Even if you work out that an hour should be enough to get ready before needing to warm up, allow another half hour just in case. There is often circumstances that arise that have the preparation phase not going to plan, like missing stuff or spooky horses next door, and therefore warm up time suffers. Always allow more time than you need.
Feature Image courtesy of Living Equine. Taken at the Hawkesbury Show 2018.
– Skye Pickering Dip. Horse Business Management