# What do you do with your ribbons?



## hflmusicislife (Dec 15, 2010)

I have hundreds of show ribbons and no clue what to do with them. I've stopped picking them up at shows because half the time I end up throwing them out. I've heard of people making them into things, and I'm thinking I might try making a few into belts... I know you can donate them to therapeutic riding places etc. but all of mine have barn names on them so I don't think they'd take them. Any other ideas? I don't like cluttering up my walls with them but I feel horrible just chucking them!


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## oh vair oh (Mar 27, 2012)

A lot of people make them into beautiful quilts!


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## Clayton Taffy (May 24, 2011)

I feel it is beyond rude to the show producers, the barn and anyone else involved with the show to not pick up your ribbons.


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## sommsama09 (Oct 28, 2010)

It isnt Taffy, if you politely mention to them that you dont feel you need the ribbons, just say thank you, and they gladly keep them to use at other shows - it saves them money! All the times ive seen this done there is no nastyness.. they are thankful!


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## Clayton Taffy (May 24, 2011)

Don't they hand them to you in the ring and you refuse?


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## Roperchick (Feb 1, 2010)

i have 2 pillows, and a quilt made out of alot and then the rest are unceremoniously (def spelled that wrong) shoved into a box in my mothers cabinet....the only thing i pick up now is buckles and trophys haha and those are at the end of season banquets


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## sommsama09 (Oct 28, 2010)

I myself wouldnt refuse and yes they do hand them out in the ring but you jut say "Thank you, but would you mind if i let you keep it because im running out of room (without sounding like a snob)" they usually say thats lright and thank you - like i said less ribbons neded = more $$ for the clubs/show's savings.


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## Clayton Taffy (May 24, 2011)

sommsama09 said:


> I myself wouldnt refuse and yes they do hand them out in the ring but you jut say "Thank you, but would you mind if i let you keep it because im running out of room (without sounding like a snob)" they usually say thats lright and thank you - like i said less ribbons neded = more $$ for the clubs/show's savings.


 
My mistake! Sorry Op I guess it is common practice.


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## DrumRunner (Jan 26, 2011)

Most of the shows I show in you have to go get your ribbon from the announcers stand. They don't hand out ribbons in the arena for barrel races.. I also agree that it saves money for the people putting on the show.. 

A really neat idea that I'm thinking about doing is making a wreath out of my smaller ribbons.. I have a ton that I've collected throughout the years and they are just sitting in a box..It's a cute idea.. I love the quilt idea too though.











Ribbon wreath | Flickr - Photo Sharing!


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## sommsama09 (Oct 28, 2010)

I will never refuse a ribbon - maybe because i have never shown - always been the strapper... but this is just what i have seen people do. Any other peoples ideas? I love the buckles Roperchick - never seen them here though lol


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## Roperchick (Feb 1, 2010)

the curcuits i did never got mad, they were happy to recycle them to the next class.


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## aforred (May 12, 2010)

I know one lady that weaves the ribbons each horse earns into a stall decoration that she hangs at shows.
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## hflmusicislife (Dec 15, 2010)

The wreath is a great idea! I've heard of doing the quilts but never tried actually making one. I might have to give that a go sometime. Thanks for all the ideas!

For those asking about the refusing ribbons... All the circuits I show at, you have to pick up your ribbon at the announcers stand. They hand them to you only during flat classes. Most of my classes are jumping (ie. 2 o/f classes and a hack in the division) so I just never go back and pick them up. Sorry, I should have clarified that.


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## Iseul (Mar 8, 2010)

I, personally, could care less about the ribbons..especially if there's paybacks, haha. My mum always wants to see what I won though, and she can't do that with just money, so I always grab mine. Our group classes get them handed out in the ring, but any class that's a single rider has to get them at the announcer's booth. I generally run games, so mine are all from the booth. 

My friend tells them to keep the ribbons though. His pony has won more than enough, and he ran out of room to hang them atop his curtains. I on the other hand take them and set them in a pile on the counter after my mum ooh's and ahh's over them, haha.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Susan Crumrine (Oct 5, 2009)

here are mine and my daughter's from fun shows and the grand champion I won showing my Morgan ages ago...I would never get rid of it, I cannot afford that level of showing much and it is precious to me.


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## Clayton Taffy (May 24, 2011)

Beautiful Susan, Like you I worked way to hard and spent way to much money for every ribbon I have. For years I never had a trailer and I would walk to the show, often 5-6 miles, show for the day, and hopefully hitch a ride home with someone. I often walked home too.

Every ribbon holds a special memory for me, most of my horses I won those ribbons on are gone and I am glad I still have the ribbons we worked so hard for.

My last ribbon cost me over $1100 between gas, hotel, entry fee, stall, exibitor partys and food for my groom ane me and three days.
I could not wait for the presentation of ribbons, 7 hour drive ahead of me, I had the show officials mail me my 60 cent white ribbon, and I was ****ed they folded it in half.

Every ribbon is in a box in the basemant. My latest though is ironed and hanging proudly in my equestrian room.


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## equiniphile (Aug 16, 2009)

Here's some neat ideas.

Horse Show Ribbon Quilts

Mine are all hanging on the wall, on curtain rods, anywhere I can fit them :lol:


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## uflrh9y (Jun 29, 2012)

Equiniphile, I love that website for teh quilts and pillows. I had to share that with all my barn friends on FB. I think that is probably the coolest idea and I hope one day we will have enough ribbons to get to the point of making a quilt.


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## cirrutopia (Jul 30, 2012)

Maybe a dumb question, but to those of you who talked about clubs recycling ribbons...

I show dogs (in the AKC) and recycling would be difficult because the ribbons all have the day, month, and year printed on them. Is this not the case with horse show ribbons?


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## sommsama09 (Oct 28, 2010)

cirrutopia said:


> Maybe a dumb question, but to those of you who talked about clubs recycling ribbons...
> 
> I show dogs (in the AKC) and recycling would be difficult because the ribbons all have the day, month, and year printed on them. Is this not the case with horse show ribbons?


 
No they don't usually have a dd/mm/yy on them - they will just usually have the organistaion printed on them.


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## tbstorm (Dec 16, 2010)

I dont show, sadly, and all my life I've been wanting a full wall of ribbons :'( but sadly none for me... So you could donate them to me lol  

I love the quilt ideas!! My friend made all of hers into a blanket for her horse and she gave some to her grandma  umm she also has the displayed at her barn in the tack room etc. etc.


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## hflmusicislife (Dec 15, 2010)

Wow, thanks for all the great ideas! I think my mom and I are going to try to make belts out of them. I saw the idea on a website but they were SO overpriced, so maybe if we can figure out a good way of doing them we can try to sell a few for a more reasonable price. I might try a quilt too! I have a show every weekend for the next two months (eek.) because of all the rescheduled shows from the heat, so I should end up with a ton more ribbons soon!


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## Eclipse295 (Nov 30, 2010)

I have collected hundreds of ribbons through showing horses, goats, cows, and chickens. I plan on making them into a quilt and entering it as a project for my senior year of 4-H
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## blue eyed pony (Jun 20, 2011)

When I have enough ribbons I want to make a show rug for my horse. I can just see it now - rocking up at a show, unloading your horse from the trailer, and here are all these ribbons all over it. I would use first, second and championship ribbons, myself, the better to intimidate my fellow competitors


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## soileddove (Jul 27, 2010)

I was in 4-H and FFA and also showed at a lot of horse shows (and cattle shows).. I had a TON of random ribbons. I write down what animal, the date, what event, and where on the back of all my ribbons. 

Then I have a purging and keep only the "important" ones. The others I donate to my local RideAbility program. They're happy to take them, even if they have a different organization (or even a different species of animal!) on them. I usually take a blank, white sticker or white out tape stuff and cover up the info on the back so the new recipient can fill in their own info.

The rest are part of a quilt in process. ha ha And the rosettes I've kept are still just in boxes.. That wreath idea is pretty awesome.


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## MHFoundation Quarters (Feb 23, 2011)

I've considered doing a quilt too...as soon as I find someone who wants to make it, I have zippo for sewing skills! I have several rubbermaid totes full. 

I did take 2 big totes full of trophies and donated to one of the local 4-H clubs, they replaced the engraved plates and they use them for their leadline classes at their open shows. It's a win win, I don't have anywhere to display them all and lots of kiddos get trophies at a young age when it's most fun to get them


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## hflmusicislife (Dec 15, 2010)

Blue eyed pony, I LOVE that idea! I'm seriously thinking I'll have to try that, they would be so cool! 

I'll also have to look into donating them. I assumed no one would want them because of the organization name on them but if I can give them to someone else who wants them I'd love to! 

MHF- If I try a quilt I'll let you know how it goes. I can't sew to save my life but fortunately my mom is pretty good with that kinda stuff so maybe she'll help


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## blue eyed pony (Jun 20, 2011)

lol, I'll need TONS before I can do anything about that plan... my gelding takes a 6'3" rug and my filly is going to be enormous so I'm not going to start on anything for her for quite some time yet.

ETA; and if you have a bunch of satiny ribbons and a bunch of felt ones, you can make two  one for summer shows, one for winter shows.


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## hflmusicislife (Dec 15, 2010)

Huh, I've never gotten any felt ones. Are they a usual thing? I primarily only show the same 2 circuits and I think all the venues get their ribbons from the same place because they're usually almost identical. 

I'm planning on switching Roxy to eventing after this season, but I could still make her one. She's 14.1 so she would need a smaller one


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## blue eyed pony (Jun 20, 2011)

I think felt ones are a local thing to me more than anything else... only ever seen them at my local fair! Everywhere else seems to give out the satin ones.

Of course if you have enough satin ribbons, and know where to get rug making (or quilting, or sewing) supplies, you can always make two out of satin - one lined only with cotton to protect the ribbons and keep it together, and the other lined with nice warm fill to make a warm winter one!

Edit to add; another idea is to sew them direct onto a rug that you know fits your horse... I would want to do it with a brand new rug though and use that only for shows (washing the ribbons might damage them and you'd want a clean rug to put on your horse at shows). But idk, I feel like making it custom to fit your horse in a specific way is a better way to go than sewing them onto some off-the-shelf rug that happens to fit ok.


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## verona1016 (Jul 3, 2011)

I have all mine up in my cubicle at work... it helps to cover up the drab gray and is a nice conversation starter. I'm no where near having hundreds of them though 

At the shows that I go to (dressage), they hand them out at the show office with the judge's remarks after all the scoring is done. You'd definitely still want to go get the sheets to see the judge's comments, but it would be pretty easy to tell them "thanks, but no thanks" for the ribbon.


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## hflmusicislife (Dec 15, 2010)

blue eyed pony said:


> I think felt ones are a local thing to me more than anything else... only ever seen them at my local fair! Everywhere else seems to give out the satin ones.
> 
> Of course if you have enough satin ribbons, and know where to get rug making (or quilting, or sewing) supplies, you can always make two out of satin - one lined only with cotton to protect the ribbons and keep it together, and the other lined with nice warm fill to make a warm winter one!
> 
> Edit to add; another idea is to sew them direct onto a rug that you know fits your horse... I would want to do it with a brand new rug though and use that only for shows (washing the ribbons might damage them and you'd want a clean rug to put on your horse at shows). But idk, I feel like making it custom to fit your horse in a specific way is a better way to go than sewing them onto some off-the-shelf rug that happens to fit ok.


Hmm... Roxy has a lightweight cooler that fits her perfectly, but it got a huge rip in it last year. Maybe if I patch the whole I could sew it onto them since I know it fits her well and would be comfortable.


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## blue eyed pony (Jun 20, 2011)

Good idea!


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