# Preparing horse for the show



## gigem88 (May 10, 2011)

I've seen alot of people use the slinky hoods.


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## Cinder (Feb 20, 2011)

A lot of people wash their horses the day before the show and then blanket their horse and/or pray it won't get dirty :lol:.

(I'm not an expert on showing by any means :lol


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## Carleen (Jun 19, 2009)

Either a stable blanket or a slinky and leave the horse in a clean stall overnight, or just wash/braid the day of the show. Might mean getting up a little earlier. :wink:


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## kmdstar (Nov 17, 2009)

I bath or sponge my mare off the day before an event and put a fly sheet/mask on her then turn her out. I have some anti-stall issues, I'm not sure if I would want to turn her out in her sleazy for fear of it getting wet and being disgusting...last time I just 'risked it' and her neck was a little dirty, hardly noticed that when I saw the birdox at the top of her mane though LOL. I rinse legs off in the morning and am on my merry way.


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## .Delete. (Jan 7, 2008)

I had a grey and some times a sleezy and blanket wasnt enough. Alot of the time id tie him overnight with access to a haybag and water.


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## IslandWave (Nov 25, 2009)

Bathe the day before and stall overnight with a sheet (if weather permits, we did not put anything on the horses when it was too hot last summer). And then I like to braid the morning of the show.


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## faye (Oct 13, 2010)

I actualy start about 2 weeks before a show.
2 weeks before I clip legs and do a general tidy up, I pull tails and make a start on pulling manes.

Then every other day I was his hocks and knees and any other stains (he is a patchy pony with white hocks). I put neoprene hock boots on in the field to prevent him restaining his hocks.

Day before the show I clip ears, wiskers, any stray hairs that I may have missed. I Give him a full body bath and smother his tail in detangler, then I comb it out.
i then put a full body lycra rug on him, a full neck fleece and a lightweight full neck turnout rug to prevent any overnight staining.

I then mix up chalk and water into a paste, sponge it onto his legs and bandage his legs (using gamgee pads so that they can be left on overnight).

Final job the night before is when the tail is completly dry I loose ly braid it, put a tail bag on and a tail bandage to keep it clean.

The morning of the show I strip off rugs and bandages, spot wash any stable stains he may have gotten overnight (he will always get a few), then I plait him up. 
put rugs back on (minus the turnout) and then travel to the show.

I dont normaly plait the night before because the plaits can be rubbed overnight and they never look as good as freshly done plaits.

If i have to plait the night before (and i have done it when I have a 2am start and an 8am class) then I use setting lotion when plaiting and I put a lycra hood over the top.


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

Thank you, All! 

Yes, pulling the mane and clipping the head/legs definitely should be done in advance. Although I can't really clip ears on one of my mare (yes, yes, tried everything for months, still barely handles scissors  ). 

I was thinking about putting her in stall for the night, but my biggest concern stupid animal poops and pees ALL over the stall, mix it up evently, and then sleep on top of it fully stretched (unlike my other mare that is very clean in her compartment). :-| So I wonder how to clean up those poopy spots on neck and head on day of show...


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

faye said:


> I pull tails


Faye, how do you pull the tail? Don't you just cut it?

And one more question to everyone... How long does it take to braid? Morning definitely sounds like a better option, but I wonder what time to get up then.


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## faye (Oct 13, 2010)

Takes me about 20 mins to plait a mane, up to 40 mins if I have to put falsies in.

With tails I cut the bottom of it level with the hocks when carried. I pull the top to shape it. Will stick a photo of prides half pulled tail up when I get home.


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

faye said:


> Will stick a photo of prides half pulled tail up when I get home.


Please! 

I also gonna do some youtube search on how to take care of the tail (as I never did it in past).


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## faye (Oct 13, 2010)

This is prides tail as it is at the moment. Bare in mind this is not finnished and I would not put him in the showring with it as it is.









It is much like pulling a mane, same technique and you just pull all over the top of the tail untill you start getting a hint of bald patches. I prefer to take my time over pulling it and I don't draw blood (which is quite easy on a tail) so It can take me 2 to 3 weeks to fully pull a tail and then I just keep on top of it for show season.
You need to wet it and wrap it for an hour each evening to maintain the shape.


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## drafteventer (Jul 6, 2009)

I've seen people get a similar effect with clippers faye, any reason why you pull instead?


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## faye (Oct 13, 2010)

Because clippers NEVER give the same effect, you never get the waisted effect and when it grows back you get a toilet brush effect. Believe me any half trained eye can tell the difference between clipped and properly pulled.

Good videos on how to pull a tail.









This is very good for tail pulling but I'm not fussed about the way she puts on a tail bandage


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## faye (Oct 13, 2010)

Both of these tails have been clipped and personaly I feel both of these look crap.


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## IslandWave (Nov 25, 2009)

kitten_Val said:


> And one more question to everyone... How long does it take to braid? Morning definitely sounds like a better option, but I wonder what time to get up then.


It takes me about twenty minutes to braid, using rubber bands. I always allow myself at least thirty minutes though because I hate rushing or feeling under pressure.


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## faye (Oct 13, 2010)

I always plait with thread, you can do so much more to shape a plait if you use thread.

This is one of my plaiting jobs, took about 20 mins and I plaited him in the lorry on the way to the show (because as usual we were running late so mum drove and I plaited, hence they are not the best plaits in the world)
Please ignore the phony eyeing up my chips!


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## IslandWave (Nov 25, 2009)

^ I'm sure that braiding with thread is much neater and I would love to learn how to do it from someone who was very skilled at it. I'd also love to know how to do proper scalloped braids with thread.

But here's one of my barn's horses braided with black rubber bands at a show last weekend:


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

Thank you, folks! I'm thinking about starting practicing in braiding from now on!


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## Alwaysbehind (Jul 10, 2009)

Kitten, tail pulling is not done over here (in the US) for very many disciplines. You might see dressage riders doing it, but pretty much no one else pulls a tail. I know it is the norm over the pond. Not the norm here.


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

Alwaysbehind said:


> Kitten, tail pulling is not done over here (in the US) for very many disciplines. You might see dressage riders doing it, but pretty much no one else pulls a tail. I know it is the norm over the pond. Not the norm here.


AB, yes I never heard about pulling the tail until Faye mentioned it. But how do they make the tails to look even on end (almost every horse at the big eventing show had it like that)? Just cut across with scissors? Both my horses have pretty bald tails I have to admit, so pulling them would leave me without tail at all. :lol: 

P.S. I gonna ask my trainer (if I won't forget) next time I have lesson on how to deal with the tail...


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## Alwaysbehind (Jul 10, 2009)

Yes, you cut the bottom of the tail. Not common (or even thought of) in the hunter world. Done in the dressage world.


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## faye (Oct 13, 2010)

Kitten val. Cutting a tail flat at the end is actualy quite easy if you have a good pair of clippers.

Basicly you need to comb out and condition the tal so that it doesnt tangle again. Then trot your horse up and see how high and what position he carries his tail in when he is moving. get someone else to put thier arm under the horses tail and hold it approximatly where the horse does when moving. The take hold of the tail at the base of the tail bone and run you hand down the length of the tail. Once you get couple of inches from the bottom stop, grip the hair tghtly and run the clippers in a straight line just below your hand.

If you dont have clippers and have to do it with sissors then you need to do the whole running hand down and cutting thing a couple of times.

I'm fairly sure that the Jo Bates and the other blue chip vds that posted both show how to cut a tail square as well as how to pull it. You just have to watch untill the end


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

faye said:


> Kitten val. Cutting a tail flat at the end is actualy quite easy if you have a good pair of clippers.
> 
> Basicly you need to comb out and condition the tal so that it doesnt tangle again. Then trot your horse up and see how high and what position he carries his tail in when he is moving. get someone else to put thier arm under the horses tail and hold it approximatly where the horse does when moving. The take hold of the tail at the base of the tail bone and run you hand down the length of the tail. Once you get couple of inches from the bottom stop, grip the hair tghtly and run the clippers in a straight line just below your hand.
> 
> ...


Thank you, Faye, that was a big help! 

I gonna talk to my trainer if she thinks its a good idea at all to make it even (although its VERY uneven right now  ), and if she thinks its a way to go I'll try it!


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

Alwaysbehind said:


> Done in the dressage world.


I assume it's common for eventers as well (not sure they are dressagers though :wink: ). Almost EVERY horse out of 200+ at that big event couple weeks back had it cut.


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## IslandWave (Nov 25, 2009)

It's kind of funny to say, but cutting a tail straight acorss the bottom is called "banging a tail." If done correctly, it makes the horse look like it has a fuller tail.


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## dezzistar (May 24, 2011)

Alwaysbehind said:


> Yes, you cut the bottom of the tail. Not common (or even thought of) in the hunter world. Done in the dressage world.


Idk, alot of hunters have banged tails in Canada. Maybe different where you are, though.


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## aforred (May 12, 2010)

I would definitely suggest practicing your braiding, especially if you want to do it the morning of the show. I only ever had to deal with banding manes, and I did it the night before until I got good at it.


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## cosmomomo (Aug 10, 2010)

Just putting in my two cents  In the US, I think it is almost looked down upon to have a show hunter with a banged tail.


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## upnover (Jan 17, 2008)

dezzistar said:


> Idk, alot of hunters have banged tails in Canada. Maybe different where you are, though.



Jumpers yes, hunters no. I do trim my horses' tails though (if needed), I just do it in a way to make it look natural, not banged.


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

aforred said:


> I would definitely suggest practicing your braiding, especially if you want to do it the morning of the show. I only ever had to deal with banding manes, and I did it the night before until I got good at it.


I did practice, still took me 2 hours to get her mane done.  I guess I'll keep practicing...


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

upnover said:


> Jumpers yes, hunters no. I do trim my horses' tails though (if needed), I just do it in a way to make it look natural, not banged.


I cut mine straight across couple days before the show. While I don't think it looks much fuller still it looks better than it used to be.


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