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Preparing for the Show Ring - Make a Splash!
The show season is nearly upon us already and if your horse or pony’s turnout leaves a lot to be desired, then grab some expert advice from top showing rider and producer Lynn Russell.
Very few horses make it to the competition or show ring without having to have a bath, so here are a few of my top tips to turn your horse into a gleaming showing star!
- Be prepared – make sure that you have some towels handy and a decent wool blend rug or even an old quilt to keep him warm, especially if it’s an early morning bath or early on in the season!
- Don’t throw away old towels, keep them at the yard, the large bath towels are great for throwing over your horse after a bath session and hand towels are the perfect size for drying off legs and faces. You can even wrap a large towel round the neck to dry.
- To get those white socks bright, grey coats gleaming and coloureds sparkling, I use Quick Bright, a whitening shampoo. I find that by applying it neat directly into a wet shower puff and working it into the grubbiest bits, then leaving it to soak really does rinse off with dazzling results.
- I use shower puffs for everything so I don’t end up spilling the products all over the floor and it’s easy to scrub around the awkward areas (face/fetlocks etc) and the horses love it! A brush can work on larger areas of the body and will give him an invigorating massage at the same time.
- It makes sense to start scrubbing from the top of the horse through to the bottom, working in sections, otherwise you will end up engraining in the muck that you are washing off
- Stubborn stains need immediate action, the key to keeping on top of stains is to not let them build up, which is easier said than done! My Super Stain Remover is the ‘Mr Muscle’ of stain removers and works brilliantly on those hard to shift stains, but my top tip is to make sure that you keep on top of the stains before they become too engrained. REGULAR USE ON THE QUICK STAINS WILL HELP KEEP THE STAINS UNDER CONTROL!
- To conserve water, use buckets instead of a hose. Try and have two buckets on the go at once – one for applying shampoo and one for rinsing off, but make sure you really rinse off any shampoo residue from the coat and mane otherwise this can result in a dull, scruffy coat.
- Make sure you really rinse off shampoo, especially in the mane and tail, otherwise when dry, residue shampoo can make the hair look scruffy and ruin your plaits (however good they may be!)
- Make sure your horse’s fetlocks are really dry before the temptation of putting hoof oil on hooves, as the wet hair can encourage the hoof product to bleed up into the hair (not good for white legs!!)
- Finally once your horse is clean, make sure you pop a rug on him in the stable, otherwise he will simply roll and get covered in muck and dust again!
Follow these tips and you should be on your way to presenting the perfect sparkling image every show day!!
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If you do wash legs make sure you dry them off thoroughly |
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