Groom a Horse for a Show
Edited by MsBarbs, Eng, Doug Collins, Inukshuk
I would like to thank "Southern States Coop" for the awesome video on how to groom a horse for a show. I organized it into a wiki for anyone with a hearing impairment, or for those who just prefer to read the steps. Hope you enjoy it. :)
Hi, I am Jessi, I have shown horses my entire life and I typically judge 10 to 15 shows a year. While the quality horse and rider combination normally go home at the end of the day with the blue ribbon, a fat shinny horse always gets noticed. Today I am going to share some tips with you on how to achieve more shine and bloom to your horses coat for an overall healthier appearance. Our model today is skipper, a 10-year-old thoroughbred gelding, who shows in children's hunters.
Steps
- 1A horse cannot cover the ground adequately if there is debris up in the sole. Picking out the feet allows you a chance to clear any mud or debris away from the sole. It also gives you a chance to check on the quality of your horse's shoes and nails.When grooming it's most important to start with the feet.
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- 4It also gives you a good chance to check for any cuts or scrapes that your horse may have got since the last time you groomed it. I prefer to use a rubber grooming mitt like this one, because you can use it on the legs, as well as on the face, it conforms to all the contours of the horse's body.Curry the horse all the way from the tip of its muzzle back to its rump.Currying gives you a chance to loosen up all the dead hair and dirt that has accumulated since the last grooming.
- 5If you do not have access to a horse vacuum, a medium or stiff bristle brush would work just fine.The reason I like using a horse vacuum is you know that the dead hair and dirt is being removed from the body. Sometimes when you're using a brush it just transfers the dirt from one part of the body to another.After all the dirt and loose hair has been curried to the top of the horse's coat,I like to use a vacuum to remove it.
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- 10Always hold the horse's tail hair with one hand while you brush with the other hand.This prevents breakage. A note about ShowSheen, never put it on the horses body or in the mane. If you put it on the horse's body and your saddle will have a very hard time staying in place and using ShowSheen in the mane will make it impossible to braid the mane.A good quality tail brush is a great investment.
- 11There's nothing more beautiful than a properly pulled mane. In order to have nice looking bands and braids at a show your horse needs to have a properly pulled mane. Some horses don't care to have their mane pulled. However, if you develop a proper and quick technique, you can make the whole situation a lot less painful for both you and your horse. If your horse has a thin mane, you can use an old clipper blade to shorten it since there will not be anything to pull.However, if your horse has a thick mane never try to cut it. The only way to solve that problem is by pulling. Next, we move on to clipping the horse's mussel, ears, bridle path and legs.Let's move on to the mane.
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- 17Now we begin some of our finishing touches. In the summertime, you obviously want to use a good fly spray and I like to use a coat conditioner all year long. To kill two birds with one stone you can do both of these steps simultaneously.A coat conditioner is good because it provides sunscreens for your horse when he is out all day. Always make sure to apply fly spray to the legs and underneath the belly.Now let's add some fly spray and coat conditioner.
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Video: Groom a Horse for a Show
If you have problems with any of the steps in this article, please ask a question for more help, or post in the comments section below.
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Article Info
Categories : Animals & Pets
Recent edits by: Doug Collins, Eng, MsBarbs