I have a HUGE horse show tomorrow at my barn! Me and my friend are both really excited! Do you know of any ways we can make our horses look extra pretty for the show!? (We already braided the mane/tails of our horses !) If it helps, I have a bay oldenburg, and my friend has a chestnut-roan thoroughbred!!! Any tips are GREATLY appreciated!!! Thanks!
Use Twinkle Eyes on the skin around your horses' eyes and nose to give it a sleek, shimmery look. Definitely spray, spray, spray that Show Sheen! It's like magic! If it's allowed, use Absorbine Supershine hoof polish (it comes in black and clear). If you want, a fake tail can make your horse stand out, especially if your horse's natural tail is not very thick. If you haven't yet, use electric clippers and buzz off all the "whiskers" on your horses' noses (inside nostrils too!), under the jaw , around the eyes, inside the ears and also the longish hair that grows around your horses 'ankle area. You can also trim the hairline around your horses' hoof to make it more defined as long as you have the clippers out. Something you will also want to buzz off with those clippers is a bridle path. It's the mane hair that grows where the headstall of your bridle sits behind your horses' ears. You can buzz anywhere from 3-6 inches of the mane off, just make sure you leave his forelock intact! Other than that, keep up your horses' grooming throughout the day while you are at the show so that he stays show-ready the whole day! Have fun at your show and good luck!
Head:
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* Put a little baby oil or equine highlighter around your horses eyes and muzzle
* Make sure ears and whiskers are clipped
* Brighten white markings with equine white brightener
Body
* Curry, curry, curry and curry some more! This will improve circulation. You should be currying your horses everyday too.
* Really spend a lot of time brushing our horse-brushing will bring natural oils to the surface and that will help the hair to lie flatter which makes it shinier
* Use show sheen only on the neck, rump, legs and mane/tail. Make sure you don't put too much on or it will dull the natural shine in his coat
Mane/tail
* Spend a lot of time finger combing. Don't use a brush until all the major knots and hay/shavings have been pulled out
* Brush bottom of the tail our really well. Divide it up into sections and after you have completed a section, spritz with show sheen.That way you can be sure that every hair is coated in shine spray. It will also make his tail flow freely instead of swishing around in a hairy, fuzzy clump.
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Legs/hooves:
* Paint the feet with dark hoof polish for dark feet and clear for white feet. Do this right before you go in and give it enough time to dry. Do this inside so that dirt doesn't stick to it.
* For the bay's legs, make sure they are really clean. Black shiny legs look really pretty in the ring. I always show sheen my mare's legs to catch the judge's eye
* The chestnuts legs will be harder to get a shine out of but they should still be clean
General tips:
Don't worry about fancy products. The best thing you can do is to brush for at least an hour to bring all the natural, coat smoothing oils to the surface. I hope you bathed them tonight too! Good luck
you can use vaseline to accent the horse's eyes, base of ears, and nose. do not use anything that can cause a sunburn like baby oil. hoof black/or clear coat will make a nice statement too. i am totally against fake tails, so i won't recommend that. take a lil show sheen in your hands and do your horse's cheeks/jaw. it just helps accentuate the head. and show sheen the body. good luck! and if your horse has white on it's legs, you can put a light dusting of corn starch to help brighten it.
Put oil (they make special horse products, but I use baby oil) on your horse's face. Just rub it on your hands and then around your horse's nose and eyes. It really makes them stand out.
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Show sheen will do the same thing for the rest of the body.
If it's allowed in your discipline (you didn't mention), use black spray "paint" (made for horses) on your horse's black points (on the legs). It really makes them stand out. I use it for AQHA shows . Your friend can use white spray if her horse has white markings.
Hoof polish (if allowed) will also make your horse really stand out and look nice.
My bay QH with hoof polish, black spray paint, show sheen, and oil (also banded mane and fake tail):
http ://s629.photobucket.com/albums/uu17/...
The fact is that most of us horse lovers don't groom our horses properly. This could be due to lots of things - time, motivation , circumstances etc. What we need to realise is that time with our horse is bonding time. Remember that in the wild, horses groom each other and that's the basis for their relationships with each other. If we don't take the trouble to groom our horses properly, then we can't expect to forge the bonds we want between us and if this doesn't happen then we can't expect the partnership benefits we look for either. If we take the time, if we have the patience , if we use the right techniques AND the right products, then we'll forge a bond of trust between us and our horses that will last forever.
