Horse showing is optional but if you decide to compete you will need to look your absolute best. In this week's blog we will go over the steps you will need to take to become horse show ready. I will split it up into three sections, those sections will be; horse cleaning, tack cleaning and rider prep. 

    Your horses show prep is the most time consuming process but also the most important. When we are showing, the judge will judge you on three things; the way your horse looks, the way you ride your horse and how well you clean up and look professional. You can start with pulling your horse's mane if you are doing a hunter/jumper show. To do this you will need to get a pulling comb (metal comb with a wood handle) you will tease a section of the hair by holding the bottom and pushing the hair toward the base, wrap the left over hair over around the comb and PULL! The mane will gradually become shorter. You can measure the proper length by the width of your hand from the base of the mane to the end. After you finish the mane you can now give them a bath making sure you get down to the base of the mane and into the tail bone. Conditioners in the mane and tail will make it smooth and easy to brush out after the bath. If your horse has white socks (white part on the legs that look like socks) or mane and tail you may need to use purple shampoo. Once your horse is freshly clean you may need to put a blanket on your horse so they stay clean overnight. These are the two most important steps in show prepping your horse.

    Now onto the tack cleaning. The reason we clean our tack is to add those finishing touches to our look. This section is very short only because in my previous blogs I went over how to properly clean your tack and what proper tack cleaning items to use.

    For the competitor part you will need to read last week's blog to find out what kind of show attire you will need. There are some key things you need to keep in mind in your prep process. Your tan or white breeches along with your white show shirt need to be clean with no stains, stains make you look sloppy. Your show jacket needs to be wrinkle free and your helmet needs to be dust and dirtless.

If you have any questions about horse show prep or any other questions about riding, send us an email on our contact form and we will help you out.