Intermediate Grooming: Show Prep

So it's the day before your first show, you show up at the barn and you don't recognize your chestnut horse because she's now bay. hmmmmm a problem.

Step one - all of Beginner :)

Step two - if it's warm enough to bathe, find a friend to help hold your horse (or if you're really lucky, put the horse in a wash stall :) and give him a bath. Water, shampoo, curry, rinse and repeat. Comeon, it's not rocket science. Very very important that the "rinse" section be thorough. Walk or graze horse till dry (odds are if you put him back in the stall or outside he'll roll and you'll be back at step one again. Trust me on this one). If it's slightly cool out, make sure the horse has a cooler on while they're drying. Note, if you're going to braid, do not shampoo the mane. It'll make it too slippery.

Step three - groom again. Should be much easier this time! Make sure any white markings are actually white. There are other stain removers you can use to help with this if the shampoo didn't do it. Also handy last-second camouflage (like when it's the morning of and you're at the show and despite all your hard work the night before the horse is once again green :) corn starch quickly makes white white. Make sure you do this *before* you paint the hooves (which can be done right before you go in :)

Step four - comb out the mane and tail. Make sure you use a comb rather than a brush as the brush will pull out too much hair.

Step five - trim the legs, face, ears and bridlepath. The exception to this is if your horse is living outside -- he'll need the protection provided so consider that before you get clipper-happy!

Step six - if the mane isn't already short and even, pull it. To do this first comb the mane to the right side. The take a couple hairs from underneath, back-comb them, and then pull them out. Repeat going all along the length of the mane until it's thin and short (should be a little over a handspan long). If you have never pulled a mane before, for the sake of your horse, please get somebody who knows what they're doing to supervise!

Step seven - braid the mane. Lots of people leave this till the morning of. For me it depends how *early* that morning is beginning! It also depends on the horse as some will take them all out overnight and you'll just have to start over anyways. That being said, whenever you decide to do it, the key to braiding is not the number of braids but rather to have them evenly spaced and neat. Separate the mane into sections that will be braided. Braid each one using either elastic or string to tie them. Then bobble them (tuck them underneath) -- how depends whether elastics or string, but either way when you look at the neck from the other side, you shouldn't see the braids popping up.

Random notes: show sheen (and variations thereof) is great for detangling the tail. It should not take the place of good grooming to make the rest of the horse shine though. If you *must* use it on the coat, be sure not to use it where the saddle goes!

Before you put the horse away for the night, muck out the stall and put in fresh shavings -- greatly increases your odds of having a clean horse when you get back in the morning. Especially if your horse happens to be gray.