# Give me your best horse show tips!



## Skyseternalangel

Marlea Warlea said:


> Any tips at all!


When you groom or bathe your horse the morning of a show.. wear waterproof sweatpants/exercise pants over your clean breeches... or else they WILL get wet and you WILL look crazy.


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## Jumper4ever

be prepared!! Don't pack/groom/clean your tack the day of. I can say that it is super stressful. Always bring lots of extra showsheen and hair spray! both are saviors. Sweatpants/sweatshirts are also saviors. if you have a horse with white leg markings and you have enough time in the morning of the show, i would suggest using a whitening shampoo on them, putting your shipping wraps on and throwing them in the trailer. Also, tails- wash and showsheen like mad, braid and tie up and wrap before trailering. i could go on forever but i'll let other people fill in.


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## Skyseternalangel

Don't put on your showcoat until about 10 minutes before your class. Otherwise it may get dusty/dirty from the warmup ring. Least that's how it was when I went.


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## Roperchick

SMILE! if you have a sour puss face the judge will hate you! and baby powder fixes all white legs! oooooh and dont pet your horse during the shedding season youll get hair AALLLL over your show clothes


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## MomoMozyyy

Roperchick said:


> SMILE! if you have a sour puss face the judge will hate you! and baby powder fixes all white legs! oooooh and dont pet your horse during the shedding season youll get hair AALLLL over your show clothes


Yes, remember to smile! My first couple of shows I was so nervous I forgot this  Also remember not to be too nervous, and have fun! If your enjoying yourself it's more fun for both the rider and horse!


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## Saddlebag

Be sure to eat a proper breakfast with protein for slow release energy, carbohydrates for fast release enery. And plenty of fruits and fluids to take along. I've seen too many riders develope a wicked case of the crankies when the blood sugar drops. Junk food is taboo on show day and the day before.


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## waresbear

Have a checklist of everything you need to bring with you. Check off everything to make sure you don't forget anything.


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## Roperchick

bring extra reins, leads, repairs for everything possible. dont be the one that has to scratch a class cuz your horse stepped on your reins and broke em and you didnt have time to fix it or borrow some from somebody


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## ILOVEHORSE

Yes it is a good thing to pack extra equiptment cause once i was at a junior 3 day event and in cross country my horse broke the reins when we had a fall So remember extra equiptment but you probs wont need them


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## Marlea Warlea

My tips are:

Use vasaline as a cheap horse makeup, it looks great and is super cheap!

Use baby powder on horses with white points.


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## crzyhrse

Be calm, if you tense up so will your horse. Extras on EVERYTHING possible. Bring spare clothes for the warm-up and then your show clothes for the ring. Don't wait to lean your tack the day before/or the day of, otherwise your day will start with stress. Remember if you treat your horse like a winner he/she will be a winner...GOOD LUCK!


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## Marlea Warlea

Haha moo moo won reserve champion yesterday 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## SorrelHorse

Showmanship. The entire time, be sitting up and _show your horse. _Make that judge believe that you have the best horse in the world. Whenever you complete a manuever, look at them an grin with the "Yes, that just happened" look. Inform them through your eyes that you are waiting for your perfect score. Even when its going badly. Sometimes that is enough to place you between dead last and first.


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## Marlea Warlea

Lol I always smile in the ring 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## OuttatheBlue

This is going to sound weird... but make friends with people who show the same circuit as you. It has multiple benefits... if you need to borrow something (I swear I forget an important piece of tack EACH show I go to, once it was a saddle pad, another time a cinch, fly spray and one time my reins randomly broke hard to show without! And this is with my show checklist, haha), usually they can give you heads up on what the judge like from word of mouth or from the results of their classes (some judges have weird preferences), and they'll usually let you borrow their patterns (so you don't have to run up to wherever they keep them). 

Or, most important for me, help with last minute bathing! Last county fair I had people offering to bathe my horse for me while I got dressed for my class, which is SUPER helpful with a mostly white horse! It goes both ways though, so be prepared to help out a little if needed  I've had to loan people entire saddles for a class before! Haha, so I always, always, always try to pack extra.

Looking back on this past show year, this has been the most important to me! I would be a scattered mess if it wasn't for all my horse show buddies!


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## kaykay4411

Baby oil! it works great to shine up faces and on horses with light colored hooves!! Also braid/band the night before if at all possible and put a hood on overnight and just fix any that get messed up. This relieves a lot of my show day stress. oh and also make sure you are at the show grounds early to get your horse used to everything and so you will have extra time if something does happen and need done last minute


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## Marlea Warlea

What for?


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## Live2Ride15

Breathe!!! I totally wasn't breathing for a half classes once i was so nervous. haha.


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## Ace80908

If you are doing pattern classes, walk them out as many times as possible, thinking through the transitions as you go... I tend to blank out right as the judge is waiting for me to start, so I have to run them out (without horse) over and over, I use soda cans as my "cones" and actually jog and lope as the pattern calls - I may look crazy but I don't forget my patterns anymore, and I have already decided where I will ask for the lope, etc. 

Then I do the pattern pieces once or twice while waiting for the class to start, and normally feel pretty confident going in


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## SlideNGlideScooter

Ace80908 said:


> If you are doing pattern classes, walk them out as many times as possible, thinking through the transitions as you go... I tend to blank out right as the judge is waiting for me to start, so I have to run them out (without horse) over and over, I use soda cans as my "cones" and actually jog and lope as the pattern calls - I may look crazy but I don't forget my patterns anymore, and I have already decided where I will ask for the lope, etc.
> 
> Then I do the pattern pieces once or twice while waiting for the class to start, and normally feel pretty confident going in


I do the exact same thing! It's always worked for me!

Just like others have said, always smile! Even if your horse is having issues. At my last show I totally blew my showmanship pattern because my horse was throwing a fit (there was a helicopter flying around the grounds, he was not excited about it at all!) but I just kept smiling, and the judge acknowledged that. I also try and stay light hearted about things, getting mad at my horse is only going to make things worse because I'll get frustrated with him and just make him more frustrated.


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## busysmurf

*LAUGH!!!*

If you or your horse messes up, laugh. Even if you want to scream, laugh and shake your head. Make it look like you meant to do that, and shrug it off.

Keeps you from focusing on the mistakes, which of course lead to more mistakes, etc.


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