grooming the occasional show horse

[halla]

Does anyone have any tips for grooming a horse that only rarely goes to shows? I want him to look nice in general, and be easy to braid and look presentable when I do take him somewhere. But realistically, I show a few times a year, if that. What seems like an appropriate line to draw regarding grooming, and are there any little tricks that might come in handy?

For example, as a kid I was taught that you only clip the inside of ears if you show seriously every weekend; no matter how seriously I took my annual 4-H show outing, we were only going to trim the hair that stuck out of the ear when it was folded. Is this still reasonable? What are the best bathing habits?

[yellowbritches]

I think having very good daily grooming habits make going to shows, whether weekly or just a few a year, much easier and less work. Curry the snot out of your horse every day, use good brushes, rub it down well with a rag. Keep the whiskers and fetlocks neat and trimmed (this also makes getting ready for a show much less traumatic for an occasional show horse). Do what you think is best for their ears (I never ever shave them out as I hate the look and know that even my fuzzy eared horses can get eaten alive inside them). Keep the mane pulled and "braid" ready. I typically avoid soap baths as much as possible (even for the ones that show a lot), but I do shampoo their tails with some regularity, as the cleaner it is, the less likely it is to break if it gets snagged on something (I do not brush them daily, though). Basically, having the mentality that your horse could step into the ring at a moment's notice is the best kind of grooming, for any horse, and it isn't hard. Just takes a little daily elbow grease and keeping up on whiskers and manes.

[DMK]

as long as you are not showing on the line, a well groomed horse is a well groomed horse, regardless of whether he is shown or not.

The only things I could see as "different" would be bigger chestnuts (no big deal), slightly fuzzy ears inside (trim the outside and neaten them up and you are fine) and maybe a mane that is too thin for really pretty braids because you haven't been keeping up on it consistently (again, no big deal). Also if the tail is going to be braided, about a week before I would really scrub the dock - it gets a lot dirtier than you would guess and it's easy to not get it truly clean if the horse isn't getting regular "show baths". It's not something you would see until you pull those bottom third of the hairs around for the braid.

[TwoDreamRides]

While in college, I competed on a pasture-boarded green "spare" my trainer had when I was home one vacations like Spring Break & summer vacay. He was grey, part-draft, and barefoot.

The week before the show, I would arrange for his feet to be trimmed/rasped as needed.

Thursday before the show, he would get a double-bath [sometimes quadruple on the tail]. With the mane still wet, I would braid it over, using only 2-3 crossovers per braid [so the elastic would be where it would be if it had been banded].

Friday before trailering over, I would pull his mane, clip the outside of his ears as you described, bridle path, muzzle, eye whiskers, jawline, and coronary bands. After schooling, he got another full bath and the mane was braided over again.

Saturday & Sunday, he would look like he was a show pony =]

When home on Christmas vacay, I would do a full bodyclip, but usually left his legs on.



I don't have before and after pics, but I have LOTS of "after" pics! I think it shows how well my little system worked for me!

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30518341&l=7118656817&id=19801671

In the middle.. compare to the horses on either side that show regularly =]
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30676078&l=a347cd572b&id=19801671

Compare to my show horse:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30216897&l=b3d09cca54&id=19801671

Could've fooled me:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30216898&l=382699831e&id=19801671

Full body clip, left the legs:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30697807&l=4f680b2794&id=19801671
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30676084&l=61e0fd58b2&id=19801671

"I swear I'm a show pony"
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30678506&l=16cf65452c&id=19801671

First show... he'd never been to one before and had just been a pasture puff
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30064098&l=47499943e7&id=19801671

[halla]

Thanks guys, this is exactly the sort of things I was looking for. I know form last year that a bath the day of just wasn't quite enough, so the timelines are great. TDR, you horse looks great to me!

The one downside is I'm not there every day. Luckily, I now have a ton of free time when I am, so he gets very thoroughly curried, and I can keep on top of his mane better. He was a show horse with his previous owner (I half-lease), so actually falls asleep when you braid, which is nice.

[DMK]

even when I was regularly showing my older horse (these days I'm just doing my HB youngster), they were outside all night or all day or even 20 hours a day during the nice spring/fall days, so it was a bit of the same thing. Even though they were clipped and trimmed with manes kept up, it still took some effort to get them show clean.

For instance, my youngster is headed off to his first show in about a month and his mane was really too long the last time I braided it, so two weeks before the show I pulled/bladed it, last Saturday I gave him a super heavy duty scrubbing bubbles bath, really cleaning his tail, then I clipped him on Sunday, and then he will get another good bath Thursday and a touch up clip job on the muzzle (wouldn't bother if he wasn't an HB horse) before he gets on the trailer and a last rinse/bath before his class Friday AM. Then he will come home and get thoroughly filthy and be truly happy.