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clare1983
Junior Member
United Kingdom
30 Posts |
 Posted - 15 Jan 2007 : 4:56:41 PM
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I need some advise planning to show my arab gelding at both local and county level as well as the arab shows this season in hand mainly and maybe a little local ridden. He gets quite sweaty when travelling over excited about going out I think, bless him, so was going to consider clipping all year round. The only problem is he is brilliant to clip apart from his legs, would it be ok to leave his legs on or would it be better to sedate and clip his legs off. I just don’t want to frighten him as he is only five. Any advise would be much appreciated on whether this would affect him in the ring . Many thanks
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NPA Arabians
Moderator
United Kingdom
2980 Posts |
Posted - 15 Jan 2007 : 5:35:28 PM
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I wouldn't advise Sedating him during the show season to clip, as you would have to be very careful to allow a long enough withdrawl period, - you wouldn't want to be failing a drugs test.
And he would look fairly "odd" with his legs and body different, - you might get away with it in March\April when people will think it is just his winter clip growing out (in fact most of us will probably have a few lines left around this time)
My advice would be to deal with the problem if you can, I would experiment with different travelling rugs that allow his coat to breathe.
Or perhaps try something like "defuse" to help with the excitement.
Or failing that, you will have to be at the show ground fairly early, so you have time to "sponge him off".
If you are doing Ridden classes you will want to be there quite a time before anyway, so you can work him in, then sponge him off after (this is common practice as very often they will get sweaty or mucky working in)
If he has a good show standard summer coat, he should dry off from a "full sponge off" in about half an hour, especially if he is quite warm from having been worked.
The "picture" is very important in the ring, so you should aim to have a very clean shiny horse by the time you go in, - how you achieve this & work-in etc is part of the "art"
It is also why Most ridden professionals will stable over, so they can be up & working at 6am, and then have time to clean them & their tack up B4 the class.
I know this doesn't help if you are just doing the in-hand, but the advice might have to be the same, - Be there in enough time to sponge him off & let him dry.
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Jayne Armstrong - NPA Arabians
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Deboniks
Platinum Member
England
3776 Posts |
Posted - 15 Jan 2007 : 5:47:10 PM
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Hi Clare, You could do some work to prepare him for having his legs clipped?
If you bought a cheap elecric tooth brush you could run it over his body and approach and retreat his legs.Do it when you've got plenty of time, keep it charged in your pocket and use it as often as possible. You can use anything that vibrates and is noisey!! |
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clare1983
Junior Member
United Kingdom
30 Posts |
Posted - 16 Jan 2007 : 09:40:31 AM
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| Brill ideas thanks everyone will definitely try the tooth brush. If all else fails what are the best ways to achieve the ‘ show coat’ do you rug through the summer to keep coats down. I do try and keep him as natural as possible and he is quite warm. If I travelled him in a thermatex do people think this would help? Don’t know if I really want to give a calmer or anything, as I don’t want him to loose any exuberance. It looks like could be getting to shows early to allow for another bath |
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NPA Arabians
Moderator
United Kingdom
2980 Posts |
Posted - 16 Jan 2007 : 09:53:36 AM
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Clare - Mine are kept fairly naturally even thou they are shown, - But i do bring them in at night, - I find it is impossible to keep them looking right otherwise.
During Spring they are obviously rugged.
During the Summer they will have a very light weight quilt on overnight, (Unless it is "very hot" in which case they will have a cotton sheet on)
During the day - If the forecast is bad, they will have a light weight "rain" sheet on. (horses of a "colour" - chesthuts etc have a uv fly sheet!)
But basically "I feed & groom" for a coat! - Pleanty of Oil & a decent "balancer" is my method.
I think the "arriving" early will be your best option, and you might find after a few shows he will get better. |
Jayne Armstrong - NPA Arabians
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clare1983
Junior Member
United Kingdom
30 Posts |
Posted - 16 Jan 2007 : 10:16:24 AM
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| Thanks again so as he is steel grey would it benefit him to wear a u v rug or is he ok without one, and would the thermatex help when travelling |
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Nimlat
Silver Member
England
461 Posts |
Posted - 16 Jan 2007 : 11:27:02 AM
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Clare, NPA"s descriptoin of the "art" is spot on - this is production which you need to be prepared to do! In all my years with show horses/ponies - ridden and in-hand - I"ve never had a clipped animal - elbow grease being the order of the day!! In fact, when I worked with ponies,years ago, we weren"t even allowed to shampoo the body - only legs and tail. I"m happy to say we did a lot of winning though!
When I worked for Caroline Nelson"s mother I "did" her Small Hack of the Year Miss Mcgredy, an excitable, typical chestnut Anglo-Arab mare who sweated up much the same as your boy.We had been told that barley feed lessened sweating. A month before the HOYS in question we changed her onto barley - and she didn"t sweat!! I"ve always put her marvellous win down to her feed change. This was a long time ago when we fed "straights" but nowadays I think it would be worth you looking at the different feeds available. |
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Nimlat
Silver Member
England
461 Posts |
Posted - 16 Jan 2007 : 11:39:38 AM
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Forgot - try a light quarter sheet (no fronts) and fold the hind leg hems up to the cantle area so that the stifle/escutcheon area is uncovered but his back is covered.
Shampoo thoroughly the day before the show so he is really clean, even a little dried sweat froths up amazingly when it is re-wetted!! |
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clare1983
Junior Member
United Kingdom
30 Posts |
Posted - 16 Jan 2007 : 12:29:22 PM
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Thanks again your advise is so helpful. Will get a quarter sheet do you have any tips on how to strap and groom to get the best coat I can or little tricks of trade you could pass on. I like sound of barley the only thing is he is a very good doer so it might make him even more porky than he already is. Is currently only fed hi fi, soya oil bit of speedi beet and a multi vit . He looks really well and plenty of muscle tone.
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NPA Arabians
Moderator
United Kingdom
2980 Posts |
Posted - 16 Jan 2007 : 3:06:14 PM
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Sorry cant really help with too many "tricks" of the trade - as i dont really have any!
I would say the best piece of advice anyone has ever given me is - Pay attention to Detail!
I.e. everything has to be right!
We are lucky that all our fields are Hilly, so our horses have naturally good Muscle Tone. and even though show horses are no-longer shown fat, - they do need to be very well covered, as most things will tuck up or drop abit when traveling/away from home.
They really need a good "thorough" brushing with a good quality bristled body brush (putting a bit of elbow greese in!) most days on the run up to a show (at least 5 days out of 7 for 3 weeks b4)
When bathing a grey, - make sure they are "extreemly" clean!, and then invest in some cowboy magic green spot remover for last minute disasters (this will only work if they were "mega" clean in the first place thou)
When you have bathed - if their coat is less than perfect, make sure you brush their hair in the right direction before they are fully dry.
and we always spray all over with coat gloss after the final rinse (avoiding the saddle area if ridden!) as well.
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Jayne Armstrong - NPA Arabians
:-) :-) :-) :-) |
Edited by - NPA Arabians on 16 Jan 2007 3:14:11 PM |
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Nimlat
Silver Member
England
461 Posts |
Posted - 16 Jan 2007 : 3:33:33 PM
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| Should have said use the quarter sheet for traveling. When he"s ready for "tarting up" at the show, wash the sweat off well. When damp, body brush dry, damping the non-sweaty areas and continue to strap all over, with the clean body brush. If the coat is not clean there will be ripple tide marks of grease and sweat. Experiment at home with wet strapping so you"ll know how much time needed for preparation at the show. Finish off with a light wipe over with a damp sponge, then a dry stable rubber with your body weight behind it. As NPA says - give yourself plenty of time on the showground beforehand. |
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