Secrets to a Show Ring Shine
By mosquito
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27th Dec 2009 •
9,216 views
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7 comments
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Everybody wants a shiny horse – we’ve all admired those horses that just seem to glow and sparkle with every step they take. One of my first ponies was a grey, and I struggled and struggled to get any kind of shine. Then I got a summer job preparing yearling thoroughbreds for the sale ring – and when there’s thousands and thousands of dollars riding on how a horse looks, they make sure they get each yearling looking its best. I learned a few secrets to getting a perfect show-ring shine, and believe it or not, with their methods I even got my mud-loving grey Arabian to sparkle!
First step – you need a good ‘canvas’.
No amount of grooming is going to get you a shiny coat if your horse isn’t healthy underneath. The first place to start is nutrition – you need to be sure your horse is getting everything it needs, in the right amounts. This doesn’t mean you need to buy a lot of expensive supplements, or soak your horse’s feed in oil. They won’t do any harm, but you can save your money. Talk to your vet about what your horse needs, and get the best quality feed you can afford – and that means good quality hay too.
Why is hay important for a healthy shine? Well, not only is good hay full of essential nutrients, but feeding a good portion of your horse’s diet as hay means it can keep a full tummy and a busy digestive system – birth of these make your horse feel happy, and in a natural way. A hungry horse is an unhappy horse, and a good mood will help your horse look its best! Plus, when the horse’s digestive system is kept busy, its metabolism is working as it should be, all contributing to a happy healthy horse. That’s why we always kept plenty of top quality hay in front of our yearlings!
And speaking of metabolism, to get a shiny coat, your horse needs plenty of exercise. Why? First, it means you have a well muscled base for your horse’s coat. That means that the skin is tight, and you have plenty of ripples in the muscle underneath to catch the light. Simply put, an unfit horse isn’t going to shine, and the crisp outlines of muscles will reflect the light much better than hollows of a weak horse, or the rolls of a fat horse! Our yearlings had a regimen of gentle exercise, including hours of turnout, and work in round pens or on long lines to really muscle them up. Second, exercise increases the metabolism, and that stimulates blood flow to the skin, which encourages hair growth, and the release of the natural oils that you need to get that perfect shine.
And of course, your horse needs plenty of clean water at all times. A dehydrated horse will have a dull coat, and its skin will lose the elasticity it needs to really shine.
Now for the real secret...
If you really want that show ring shine, there is no substitute for elbow grease. Nothing will get your horse as clean and shiny as going over and over with the brush. I can still remember the yearling manager walking up and down the stable yard yelling “if you ain’t sweatin’, you ain’t groomin’”. And he’s right. If you really want that sparkle, get brushing.
I’ll share with you how we prepared the yearlings. You need four brushes: a stiff dandy brush, a medium stiff brush (probably plastic), and two very soft natural brushes. Start with the dandy brush in one hand and a soft brush in the other. Now start brushing in short, rapid strokes, alternating the dandy and soft brush, so your strokes really motor over your horse’s coat. The dandy brush gets out the dust and dirt, and the soft brush lays the hair flat again. Go over your horse’s whole body, and then start again with the medium brush and the soft brush. Then finish with the same method and the two soft brushes. We were expected to spend at least twenty minutes over this brushing technique for each horse, and it’s tough. You will be sweating, your arms will ache, but it’s a great upper body workout! The end result is all that brushing really stimulates the horse’s skin to produce the oil you need for a great shine, and the soft brushes train the hair to lie flat and protect them from breakage.
And a few ‘don’ts’. Don’t use a rubber or plastic curry if you want to preserve that shine. It will break the ends of the hair or turn them up and dull the shine – if the yearling manager ever caught us with a curry comb, it meant extra stalls to muck out! The same goes for vacuums, they may be a great shortcut, but they pull up the hairs and dull the shine. They’re fine for getting out stubborn dust and dirt, but not for everyday use if you want your horse to really glow. And avoid too many baths - frequent bathing will strip the coat of the natural oils that make it shine, and which your brushing brings to the surface, so don’t overdo it with baths. Don’t bathe the day before a show, because you’ll struggle to get the shine back – bathe your horse at least three days prior. And when you do need to wash your horse, use just a small amount of gentle baby shampoo – or none at all. If you don’t use harsh shampoos, you’ll strip out less of the oils, and you don’t need to rinse off as much.
So what about coat shine products? Well, we never touched them. Partly because we didn’t need them – our horses shone from all the good grooming, so they just didn’t need any extra help. Plus, they tend to make the hairs stick down, and the hairs need to move to reflect the light and shine. Some coat shines – the oil based ones particularly - also can catch dust and then all your hard work comes to nothing. For photo shoots, or to gloss up a horse at the last minute, they have a role, but nothing replaces the shine of elbow grease.
So you want a shiny coat? It doesn’t come in a bottle, and it doesn’t cost much. But you do have to work for it!
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Ebony Acres
Thanks! I will sure use thse tips on my 4-h horse!
Thanks! I will sure use thse tips on my 4-h horse!
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Dec 27, 2009
• 6,625 views
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Retro
Great article :D
Great article :D
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Dec 27, 2009
• 6,675 views
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Dec 27, 2009
• 6,613 views
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Anna B
good article but if even just owning your own horse you should be doing these thing not just to get your shine but improve your horse health and happyness aswell :)
good article but if even just owning your own horse you should be doing these thing not just to get your shine but improve your horse health and happyness aswell :)
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Dec 27, 2009
• 6,638 views
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Fallen x Moon
This is a great article. Not only is it effective and informative, it is very well written. Thank you for this!
This is a great article. Not only is it effective and informative, it is very well written. Thank you for this!
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Dec 27, 2009
• 6,715 views
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Dreamer100
I like grooming and it is the key to shine, but you can also use fancy shampoos right before a show, and I reccommend a feed supplent called SmartShine. GREAT ARTICLE!
I like grooming and it is the key to shine, but you can also use fancy shampoos right before a show, and I reccommend a feed supplent called SmartShine. GREAT ARTICLE!
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Dec 27, 2009
• 6,614 views
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May 9, 2011
• 6,639 views
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