# show prepping a yearling



## Lakotababii (Nov 28, 2010)

I am not a show person, especially not of buckskins, but I have done a lot of prep work and watching. 

Brush brush brush!! You will need to get as much of the shedding hair off as possible. 

I would thin her mane (if you want to) or just put it in a running braid. A product I use to help make the mane and tail soft is Vetrolin Serum, available at most Farm stores. 

To make her shiny, buy a shine spray, such as Show Sheen. Makes for a quick easy shine and it looks great :wink:

Hoof polish is a possibility.

Trimming is also a possibility, but be careful with scissors. I've heard of vaseline or oil on the nose to make them shiny, but I've never done it.


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

Well, I'd bathe her, a dirty horse has no place at a show unless it's just a play day. Dirty horses say disrespect to a judge as much as dirty kit, boots and tack.

If her mane is wild, then braid. If you can only do 2 or 3 braids per session that's fine, she's just a baby and it might take several sessions. If her bridle path has never been trimmed I'd trim it short short with scissors then introduce her to the clippers. I start by running them over the neck and withers and ribs, just the body of the clippers not the blade. Once she's ok with that slide the running clippers up her neck slowly until you can rub the body of the clippers on her mane about halfway down her neck. Then inch up until you can just sit them on the area you want to clip. By then she ought to take to the clipping just fine especially since it's a short bridle path anyhow (ear length). 

As for make up I'd use a little vaseline or baby oil gel ( I like lavender it's somewhat calming) on her muzzle, along her tear bone and around her eyes. Not too heavy, just enough to get a little glisten. 

Show Sheen, Vetroline Shine or Laser Sheen are good for sparking up a dull coat but to really get a coat in show condition you need to have been rugging her to keep her coat out of the sun or keeping her stabled during the harshest part of the day. Failing that brushing, currying with a rubber curry and bathe, condition and show sheen. 

If you don't want to do all that work then just take her to the show grounds and walk her around and let her get used to all the hurry scurry and hubbub without putting her in the show itself. It's a good way to get them started.


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## Gidget (Jan 19, 2010)

Dreamcatcher Arabians said:


> Well, I'd bathe her, a dirty horse has no place at a show unless it's just a play day. Dirty horses say disrespect to a judge as much as dirty kit, boots and tack.
> 
> If her mane is wild, then braid. If you can only do 2 or 3 braids per session that's fine, she's just a baby and it might take several sessions. If her bridle path has never been trimmed I'd trim it short short with scissors then introduce her to the clippers. I start by running them over the neck and withers and ribs, just the body of the clippers not the blade. Once she's ok with that slide the running clippers up her neck slowly until you can rub the body of the clippers on her mane about halfway down her neck. Then inch up until you can just sit them on the area you want to clip. By then she ought to take to the clipping just fine especially since it's a short bridle path anyhow (ear length).
> 
> ...


 
I agree with this memeber. She gave very good information and tips.


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## blue eyed pony (Jun 20, 2011)

Oh she won't be dirty, I know how rude that is. I just REALLY don't agree with rugging or stabling babies. They need to be horses. (and no, I'm not against rugging, my adult horse is rugged, I just don't like to rug foals, and CANNOT AFFORD to replace rugs every 3 weeks!)

As for washing, if she's dirty enough to need it, it will happen on the day or she'll just get filthy again (as I will not rug her as I CANNOT AFFORD IT). If she's just a little bit dirty, a full grooming session will do. I'm not going to separate her from Monty and just FYI, I can't stable Monty because he is severely claustrophobic. He'll stress and drop weight. Trailering him is enough of a challenge, and that'll only be 10 minutes tops. Living in a stable with limited turn-out will be a huge problem for him and I'm just not willing to put him through that.

It is not a big show, it's just a little local thing (the town's agricultural show, actually), and WE ARE NOT GOING FOR RIBBONS. She's been to a show before and did very well so I know she's quality enough for ribbons, but that's not the point of going.

However, it will be MAD there, horses everywhere and show rides, people, photographers... all things I want her to be exposed to, and she will be expected to be polite and attentive (yeah she's a baby, but that doesn't mean we can change the rules). And yeah, if I'm not in a class, I get a bit lax with that, so we will be in a class.

I won't thin her mane (I love thick manes), so her mane will be done in a running braid, not something I can do in several sessions. Therefore, if she won't stand, I won't bother. It's not something I feel it's worth fighting with a foal over. Maybe I'll start practicing now. Maybe not.

I know tons of local people who don't bother with all of that for BIG shows (they wash, brush, rug and braid, but no special products) and yet they do great. I guess I'd rather come second with the horse that I know isn't "enhanced" with chemicals, than win with the horse that I know actually has a really dull and horrible coat, but looks nice because I've just about drowned it with shine product.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on the rugging, stabling, and product. I'll get some clear show makeup for her, but I'd prefer to use something designed for horses over baby oil or vaseline. Baby oil attracts the sun and vaseline attracts dust (something that is inevitable when your showring is surrounded by a trotting track). Dust is not a good look, I'm sure you'll agree, and I don't want Satin's PINK nose getting sun burned. So yes, I'll spend the money and get something specifically for horses.

She will be clean enough, but it could well be a big struggle, because apparently water is scary. She MAY still be shedding, nothing I can do about the amount of time it takes for her to totally shed out. I know about etiquette, guys, I'm not totally new to showing. I just haven't shown a yearling before, and I haven't had to prep a horse that wasn't rugged.


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## Lakotababii (Nov 28, 2010)

If you don't like using anything artificial, then don't. Just take her as she is after a good brushing. Sounds like you got it figured out :wink:


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## Jamzimm101987 (Aug 11, 2011)

I have to be honest and say that it sounds like you don't want to do anything required/recommended of shows. Not trying to be rude, but just saying.


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## blue eyed pony (Jun 20, 2011)

I have to respond to the above remark. I'd ordinarily ignore totally unnecessary comments like it, but eh, since I'm here I might as well say something.

It's not that I don't want to rug/stable, it's that I can't. My adult horse is claustrophobic, he CANNOT COPE with being stabled, and Satin can't cope with being kept on her own. I'm not going to have either horse standing and stressing and dropping weight, that would just be cruel. I can't afford to be forking out $100 every few weeks because I have to replace another outgrown or destroyed rug. Honestly, buying new rugs every season is a stretch, especially seeing as it is not essential here unless you clip. The coldest it EVER gets here is like -3 C, it never snows or sleets. Monty has to have rugs on but that's because he's 16 and was neglected a few years ago so he doesn't cope with cold temperatures.

I have been offered a really heavy little canvas rug that will fit Satin, but it's too heavy to use this time of year, and she'll have outgrown it by the time I could even consider using it on her.

So I don't feel like having a massive fight with my foal over something really minor like a braid. She wasn't braided for her first show and she not only won her class, but took out supreme unregistered horse, placing over braided and fully mature horses. She'll stand for hours if you're giving her a really hard scrub with the (metal) curry comb, so maybe I'll get someone to do that while I braid her mane/tail. Washing will be challenging because she hates getting wet, but if she needs it, it will happen. Note, only if she NEEDS it, because she is a pasture puff first and foremost, and if I wash her I'll strip the natural oils from her coat that keep her from getting soaked through every time it rains.

So excuse me for wanting to look after my foal, above being "properly" presented, and therefore above getting ribbons.


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## Lakotababii (Nov 28, 2010)

I have no problem with what you are saying Blue. But i do have to wonder, if you don't want to use anything, then why ask what everyone else uses? Sounds like you've got it figured out, and that your filly is just naturally stunning. So go like she is, can't hurt her :wink:

If you DON'T want to use anything artificial, then don't. But I will say you can "bathe" her w/o shampooing (sounds crazy I know). It will rinse away all the dirt that is stuck on the coat without getting rid of any oil. Although I have never heard anyone say natural oil gets washed away with a bath as you say it does, but hey to each his own. :lol:


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## blue eyed pony (Jun 20, 2011)

Hmm, it's the universally accepted thing around here that washing with shampoo strips the oils in the coat. That's why the advice for show prepping pasture puffs is generally to brush them like mad and only wash them if they're REALLY filthy.

Rinsing gets rid of a lot of the dirt but not all of it, so I don't know if some people here would be happy with it.

Got no more time, have to get back to this later. I have more to say, just no time to say it.


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## SorrelHorse (Apr 9, 2009)

....Bathe. Then slap some show sheen on.

If you want to know what everyone else uses, you got it. If you don't want to do it, do it your way or let the baby horse be dirty.

Also, how else is she going to learn to be in a stall unless you put her in there? Not necessarily for the grooming at this point but for the training. Just do a little bit at a time until she gets used to it. She's a yearling, doesn't depend on her mama anymore.


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## SorrelHorse (Apr 9, 2009)

Also, DOING these things is what is going to make her better. All of my yearlings don't get babied. As soon as they are headed to a show they get treated like the big horses, cleaned, shined, and polished. If I have to do a little extra schooling on the ground then I do, but just not doing something because your horse doesn't like it isn't going to help her (Or you) any.

Like LakotaBabbii said. If you have the kahunas to raise a class-winning, blue-ribbon baby....I'm not entirely sure why you are asking our advice and then not taking it.

As for the bathing --- Yeah, you're gonna lose all the oil on your horses coat if you're bathing them every single day. It's just like with your own hair. Wash it every single day it gets dry. Hence why you take breaks


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## blue eyed pony (Jun 20, 2011)

We don't live outside in the rain. Heck, most of us don't even GO outside when it's raining, unless we're planning to ride. Human physiology is very different to horses so I don't even see the point of the comparison. -shrugs- just sayin, water won't strip it, shampoo will.

I'm pretty sure I didn't ask what products people use. I asked for hints and tips for prep and presentation. Sure, products are part of that, for some people, but what about those of us who don't like using them? Who won't even dye their own hair or use make-up on their own faces? If I won't use something on myself then I sure as hell am not going to use it on my horse.


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## SorrelHorse (Apr 9, 2009)

I'm aware of the shampoo part that you are getting at.

But I have never once noticed a differance in shine. You dry out hair from repetive bathing. Condition it if you want. But denying that there is no comparison between bathing horse hair and bathing human hair is incorrect. The same thing happens to our hair when you shampoo it - It strips the oils. But leaving the dirt on makes it greasy and if none of us ever washed our hands or our faces because the soap dries out our skin and removes our skin oils...Dang, we'd be a nasty, smelly, filthy group of animals.


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## blue eyed pony (Jun 20, 2011)

My adult horse hasn't been washed since I bought him, and he's not dirty, filthy or smelly. Maybe a bit dusty, but that's it. His coat is REALLY shiny, to the point of being iridescent. -shrugs- to each their own I guess. His coat is definitely not oily. Humans are actually among the dirtiest creatures on the planet, so as far as I'm concerned, there's no comparison with something relatively tidy like a horse. We are predators, they are prey animals. Predators invariably have a far more pungent smell than prey animals.


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## SorrelHorse (Apr 9, 2009)

Whatever you must believe is fine I suppose. Your side jaunts make me wonder what we are actually debating, shampoo vs no shampoo, makeup and dye vs. no makeup and dye, or predator vs. prey.

Either way, I have told you what I think and you have made it very clear you already know that you plan on brushing your horse thoroughly. I'm just wondering why this thread exists as it is, if you are against everything else?


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## paintedpastures (Jun 21, 2011)

Have to agree with Sorrel horse not sure why you are advice for prepping your yearling for show,since you rarely agree with anything that most do to prep for shows. Clipping, bathing & grooming should be the basics of prepping even for the little local show.Teaches your horse & shows you put some effort to present your horse. Your horse is not baby & better be introduced to these things sooner rather than later.If your horse is on a good diet & exercise program,a well groomed washed coat will shine so at a small show you should be able to get away with not blanketing or using enhancing products.
If you don't have time to prep her properly then maybe just take her for the experience of the sights & sounds,save putting her in a class until she is ready.


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## blue eyed pony (Jun 20, 2011)

Against? LOL. You read too much into my posts. I can't afford to rug a foal, it's honestly that simple. I do not have $100 every few weeks to spare on rugs to replace the ones she outgrows or destroys. Stabling is not possible for us, my adult horse is SEVERELY claustrophobic and Satin still relies heavily on him. She's not as independent as you seem to think she should be. A yearling she may technically be, but she's actually only 9 months old (not quite, she's a week away from that) - still young enough that for the majority of her time, she needs to be a horse.

I know a lot of very capable horse people with yearlings that are absolute arrogant prats because they've been rugged and stabled since weaning. JME of course but I find that it's detrimental to the horse's future manners. Satin's already pushy enough naturally, and I'm not going to risk making her worse, so in the pasture with mature horses that won't put up with her crap is the best place for her to be.

-shrugs- think what you want of me, I'm just doing what's best for my horses. Satin can't cope with being on her own for longer than half an hour at a time, and Monty can't cope with living in a stable. Pasture works best for both of them at this point in time.


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## SorrelHorse (Apr 9, 2009)

On the contrary,

The single best, most respectful horses I have ever owned (My two studs and several reining fillies and geldings) have been "Show horses" their entire lives. Taken everywhere. Treated like a big horse. Not babied in anyway.

I have never seen a stud horse grow up to be so respectful, and gentle enough for a four year old to take her first ride on. The show atmosphere gives them a nice job to do, and I find they enjoy it. It's the horses that get special treatment when they are young that become pushy.


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

We're all entitled to our own opinions of how to raise our own horses. I have my own way, you have yours, they aren't even close to the same. Not a problem. You asked what I'd do to prep a yearling for a halter class in a show and since I knew it a) wasn't an Arabian and b) wasn't a big rated show, I gave you the very minimum I would do. The advice is there for you to take or leave, sounds like you're going to leave it and for an unregistered horse I guess it really doesn't make any difference anyhow. Good luck.


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## HowClever (Feb 16, 2010)

Putting aside how disrespectful I think improper show turnout is...

You say over and over again that you won't braid if she doesn't want to stand. Do you realise what you are doing? What happens when she's 3 years old and hasn't been taught to stand still? 

You're going to have a heck of a battle on your hands if you don't start teaching her basic manners soon.


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## Gremmy (Feb 17, 2009)

I don't know too much about specifically prepping yearlings for show but have my own ideas for making a horse really shine. First is brush brush brush - my favorite is the rubber curry comb, really get down to the skin, against the grain as much as possible to loosen all that dirt, use the dandy brush to brush it away, and repeat. I've done this in the winter when bathing isn't an option, but it takes hours (and thus a very patient horse, or perhaps a haynet). The results speak for themselves, however.

Second is bathing, I know there's a lot out there about the shampoo stripping the oils, but that's what things like conditioner and hot oil treatments are for. I don't do the hot oil treatments personally but know someone who does them on her minis, I can imagine that may be pricey on a full sized horse though :lol: I use a good hair conditioner when I bathe horses, not just in the mane and tail but all over the entire coat. It helps replace some of the oils lost and results in a very soft, shiny coat.

Last is make the horse shine from the inside out. I like BOSS (black oil sunflower seeds - the little black ones you feed birds, not the black and white kind we like to eat) myself, but any oil or high fat feed like flax or rice bran will do the trick.


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## faye (Oct 13, 2010)

TBH I always bathe everything I show and I do it properly. Even the welsh section D youngsters who are normaly out. They come in the night before a show. They have a bath the morning of the show and are taken to the show and then when we get home again are shoved out. Never done any of them any harm and the weather here has got to be far worse then in Oz.

You are doing your youngster absolutly no favors by not introducing her to stables, rugs bathing and clipping. The earlier they learn about them the happier they will be in them later in life.

Heck I have rugs on youngstock just to get them used to the feel of it. Far easier to deal with a yearling who is panicing about a rug than a 4yr old who is having hysterics.

TBH you sound as though you don't want to bother with any show prep at all and so my advice to you would be don't bother going to the show, you will just embarrass yourself.


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## Lakotababii (Nov 28, 2010)

faye said:


> Heck I have rugs on youngstock just to get them used to the feel of it. Far easier to deal with a yearling who is panicing about a rug than a 4yr old who is having hysterics.


I could't agree more. My mare was NEVER shown. Never. But I got her at 7 months and, trying to cover all bases, introduced her to things she would need to know if I did show her. For example, she was bathed, brushed, clipped, sprayed, tied, introduced to various rugs and such, had things on her head, covering her eyes and ears (to imitate a rug going over the head). She was NEVER stalled in her life, always pasture, except for the few times I put her in to teach her manners, or to treat an injury. 

When I took her to the show barn to be trained, you would never know that she hadn't been in a barn like that before. She took everything like a champ, including being stalled. 

I would have had exactly as you described, a 4 year old throwing hysterics in a big show barn, if I hadn't tackled the issues at my little farm when she was a yearling.


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## MHFoundation Quarters (Feb 23, 2011)

faye said:


> You are doing your youngster absolutly no favors by not introducing her to stables, rugs bathing and clipping. The earlier they learn about them the happier they will be in them later in life.


I very much agree Faye. Mine all learn those things as weanlings. It's so much easier to do when they are young. If you do those things when they are young you don't end up with the horse that has to be twitched to clip it's ears or dances around while being bathed. 

From a judge's perspective, if you plan to show then you should do all of the necessary grooming, bathing, clipping & prep regardless of the age of the animal.


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## faye (Oct 13, 2010)

My lad was well handled whilst young. He stands like a rock to be washed with a hose (important concidering all the white patches), he happily allows me to clip out any part of him including his ears, I can put all manner of rugs, lycra hoods, all in ones, Sprays and lotions on any part of him. 
Heck I can use the hose on his head and all he does is try and drink from the pipe. If I attack his face with with a sponge he will try and eat that too.

He is a pleasure to take to a show because he is so good and easy to do. And he is so good and easy because he was taught early and taught well.


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## Lakotababii (Nov 28, 2010)

faye said:


> Heck I can use the hose on his head and all he does is try and drink from the pipe. If I attack his face with with a sponge he will try and eat that too.


 Same here. I actually have trouble bathing the rest of my gelding right now because all he wants to do is drink from the dang hose :-| haha


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## Endiku (Dec 6, 2010)

I really do not understand what you're trying to accomplish OP. You came into this with a defensive attitude, and with that, my friend- you will get nothing out of this. No one had even mentioned rugs until after you already had, and no one was critisizing that your gelding wasn't shiny or why you didn't stall him. We all have our own opinions and while, yes, pasturing is the most natural way to go- stabling (as long as horse is offered grazing daily, and exercised) is not cruel. 

As everyone else has said, it really sounds like you're doing a major disservice to your filly. If she doesn't want to stand still, you won't make her. You won't even bother to get her used to things she won't like, and on top of that- it sounds to me like she's buddy sour! We expect _all_ of our weaninglings to stand while being touched on every part of their bodies, tie, trailer, lead, and walk away from mama without crying- and our yearlings are expected to behave exactly like adults when asked. They gets all day to be babies, but for the thirty minutes that we work with them, they are to be calm, patient, and willing. You say you're trying to save your filly from being a brat, but really- she sounds like the definition of an unruly yearling to me. 

Isn't it better to have her pout and run around a bit in her stall as a 400 pound baby than to go crashing through the door as a 1200 pound adult? To have her hold still now and not be stepping on your feet when you're trying to tack/brush/braid her as a 5 year old? Manners need to come from the beginning. You don't start training a pit bull after it's matured into an adult that can potentially kill you, why do it with a half-ton horse?

Like you, I am very big on 'natural' for the shows. I do clip, as long as there is good weather, but I don't rug unless it's cold, don't use extra things to shine up her coat, and don't pull her mane. I do however, rinse her down once to twice a month, bathe her every two months (full shampoo, conditioner, etc), and I sometimes use baby oil on her face. She is pastured 24-7, and I don't find her to be any worse off than the un-clipped, non bathed, raggy shetlands that she hangs out with. She was kept in a stall for the first three months of her life and will still willingly spend the night in a stall, her coat keeps her fairly dry in the rain (even if it doesnt, surely you have a shed? Your horse would be more than fine in a 3-sided shed, even if you bathed it every week.) and she's extremely well mannered (as opposed to a year ago when everyone let her do whatever the heck she wanted.) 











If you want to go all natural with her, you go right ahead. But don't ask for 'ways to make her buckskin coat shiner' , 'makeup', and 'ways to stand out' if you're just going to slap them all down.


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## natisha (Jan 11, 2011)

This thread has me horrified.
No hair dye or make-up? :shock:


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## blue eyed pony (Jun 20, 2011)

Ha ok.

She DOES stand tied really well and she DOES leave Monty. I just don't consider it to be good for a foal to be kept alone. She knows what rugs are about, she doesn't have to have them on all the time to know that. I throw Monty's rugs over her now and then.

Around here, a LOT of people don't stable their horses ever. It doesn't get cold enough for it to be essential. My stables are not exactly the safest in the world - one lacks a bottom door to the yard, so only one door holds them securely, and the other stable has nails sticking out from where the yard door was boarded up because it died. I shouldn't have left that out, I guess.

I also disagree with stabling horses just for the heck of it. If it gets SO cold that they have to be in stables in the winter, then sure, go for it. But there are horses around here that don't even get rugged, and hardly grow a coat.

I tied her up and braided her mane into training braids yesterday, and she stood beautifully for me. Of course she got bored after a while and started playing with the rope, but I'm very pleased with her, actually, considering how if you leave her tied for more than a certain amount of time she gets into mischief. As in dangerous mischief like trying to eat baler twine.

I personally believe it is detrimental to a foal to stall it. She runs around ALL THE TIME and this will help her develop strong bones and tendons, as she is getting the kind of constant exercise that promotes it.

Rugs? Maybe I'll get her a cotton sheet, maybe I won't.

Washing? Not yet, but if she's dirty (as in dirt coming off when I scrub her with a curry comb) then she'll get a wet scrub. Not with shampoo, though.

As for shelter in our pastures, the weather honestly doesn't get feral enough to NEED to have a proper shelter. They have trees, which are more than sufficient. Shade when it's hot, and a windbreak when it's howling a gale. Plus the added benefit that they don't heat up in the sun like a metal shelter would. Only one of our pastures doesn't have trees in it, and we don't use that one in summer, except as an arena.

The comment re my gelding being shiny was directed at the person who said the coat gets horrible and manky if you don't wash your horse. Monty is living proof that that statement is incorrect.

And now, I'm out. I have the answers I need, and I can't be bothered having to defend my horse management.


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

natisha said:


> This thread has me horrified. No hair dye or make-up? :shock:


:rofl:


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