Our top tips on preparing for a show

Whether you’re heading to the show ring or jumping the discovery class, here’s our top tips for ensuring your horse is ready to impress!

Bathing your horse

Our parent company Wahl has a wide range of organic equine shampoos, from Dirty Beastie to Diamond White, they have a shampoo for every coat type!

We recommend bathing your horse the day before an event, leaving little time for them to roll around and scruff up (although this isn’t guaranteed ??). When bathing, it is best practice to start at the mane and work your way down, so the dirt isn’t running back onto a clean coat! Pairing a Wahl Shampoo with a plastic or rubber curry comb in circular motions means all the dead hair and grime will work its way to the surface, ensuring the whole coat is deep cleaned and all dirt is removed.

 

Pulling the mane and tail

Pulling a horse’s mane is the best way to tidy it up whilst still making sure it looks natural. If your horse doesn’t like its mane being pulled (we don’t blame them!) a SoloComb is great for this! With a built-in blade, this comb still gives the mane the effect of it being pulled, without harming the horse.

We typically recommend pulling the horses mane and tail within the week of the show to ensure it still looks fresh and tidy.

 

Trim your horse

We recommend trimming your horse the week of the show to ensure they are looking tidy and fresh on the day. Our Wahl Admire trimmers are perfect for those last-minute touch-ups and are fully cordless so can travel with you in case any hairs got missed! Key areas to trim are the horse’s fetlocks, ears, beards, mustaches and any flyaway! NOTE- Please refer to the current FEI guidelines for an overview of your disciplines’ trimming rules.

 

Whitening the socks

Nothing looks better than a horse with pristine white socks trotting around the ring! To get this look we recommend cleaning the socks using the Wahl Diamond White shampoo. Once dry, we recommend rubbing in some equine-friendly white chalk to really brighten them up!

 

Get glossy!

A shiny coat is always a showstopper! You can buy many equine-friendly oils to rub into the coat prior to the show, however, a true shiny coat comes from a horse’s diet! Adding oils such as flax oil, canola oil, or any oil with omega fatty acids is the key to achieving a shiny coat, although please refer to your nutritionist before changing your horse’s diet. Another top tip before you enter the ring… mane and tail conditioner! This spray can also be used on the horse’s body, adding that extra last-minute shine to the coat.