Hi I'm Rebecca Hardman and I want to share some useful tips for kids who like to show horses.  My 12 year old daughter & I created this guide on how to prep your horse in the week before a show to make him or her look their best!  I handle all the grooming, clipping, bathing, braiding, etc. for my 5 year old Palomino quarter horse.  Vista is trained for both Western & English disciplines.  I'll break these guides down so they won't be too long.  This one will cover just the grooming time table and best order of doing everything.  Guys, note that these instructions are for local or regional type shows - you might have to take further measures for nationwide level showing.

1 week before showday: groom the mane.  I like to keep the mane at about 5" long because I can't braid it for English classes if it's only 4" long.  Many western show guides suggest that you make the mane 4" long.  Vista's mane is SO thick, that I have to thin it out by pulling it.  Put linement on the neck area in patches before pulling - this will help dull the sensitivity of the neck when you pull it and make it more comfortable for him.  You should make one pass through on the mane, then wait a few days to see how it falls before continuing to make sure it is the thickness and length that you prefer.  Do not cut the mane in a straight line with scissors!  It is easier to braid with feathered edges and has a more natural look when banded too.

3-4 days before showday: clip your horse. Make sure your horse is dry and relatively clean.  If you are not doing showmanship or halter, you can skip the eyelashes.  I prefer to leave these for Vista so he can keep dust out of his eyes.  Clip around his muzzle, under his chin/face, inside his ears, on the edges of his ears, his bridle path (4-5"), his pasterns (clip a straight line around his hoof), the extra hair behind his fetlock and ankle area.  Do this part carefully to make sure you blend it in with the other parts of the leg.  You don't want to have to do a whole body clip here; this should look clean and neat, but not bald!  Do a little at a time if you need to.

2 days before showday: wash your horse. Don't wait until the day before, because the hairs need a couple of days to lay flat and it will look better.  Use a shampoo that enchances the color of your horse.  I use Miracle Blue, which whitens and brightens a Palamino coat, but works very well on greys and whites too.  Start with the tail.  Wet thoroughly; if it is white, then use a 50/50 mix of bleach & water and with a spray bottle, spray this solution on the tail area below the dock.  Caution: don't spray on the dock area or above and keep away from their skin!  Don't ever use full strength bleach! Then tie a loose knot in the tail, so it's out of the way and can sit for 5 minutes. Next you can shampoo the mane. Then work on the big body parts next, starting with the shoulders and working your way from front to back.  Now it's time to rinse out the bleach solution from the tail.  (If you don't have a horse with a white tail, you can skip this step).  Now use your shampoo and work it thoroughly through the tail hairs.  You may go from top of the tail, massaging the dock and all the way to the ends.  Knot the tail up again and let it sit for up to 10 minutes while you finish the other parts.  The color will be enhanced if you are using that kind of shampoo and let it sit - it will really look great!  Now use your shampoo to scrub the legs, especially at the bottom.  If your horse has white markings, again let the shampoo just sit on those parts for a few minutes.  Use a coarse cloth to clean the feet and lower legs.  Now get a washcloth and wet gently with water; wring out so it's just damp, and clean out the ears.  Rinse the cloth, put a dab of shampoo on it and wash the face with the cloth.  Avoid the eyes!  I like to rinse Vista's face with a wet sponge instead of the hose - he hates the hose squirting directly on his face!  Now you can rinse off the body and finally the tail.  Caution - make sure you rinse ALL of the shampoo out of the tail - you'll know it when the water runs clear.  If not it will itch and they will try to rub their tails - bad for showing!  Take a sweat scraper and scrape all the water off the body.  Now you can put on Mane'n'Tail conditioner...I put conditioner on the tail, and a tiny bit mixed with water on the body.  Then rinse again very thoroughly.  Wrap your hand around the tail hair, below the dock and wring it out very fast in circles, like you would wring a turkey neck!  This way it will dry faster.  Then dry the tail gently with a towel - don't pull! 

A note about the tail:  if you don't want to have to pay for a fake tail extension, and you maintain your tail religiously, your horse will grow a gorgeous full, natural tail.  I'll do a separate tip guide on that later - it's a subject in itself!  But right now what you need to know is - don't brush or comb the tail if you can ever help it!  At this stage you have a cleaned, conditioned and damp tail.  I never have to brush or comb it at this point.  I only run my fingers gently through it to remove any tangles.   When it's almost dry I braid it and put it in a tail bag until showday.

1 day before showday:  travel to show stall.  The night before you may band or braid the mane, so you don't have to do it in the morning.  I promise you, unless you are a professional braider or groomer, you won't have the time to do it the day of the show.  After schooling, tie your horse to the stall area so he can eat and then do your braiding or banding while he is happily eating away and is tired from the day.  I'll do a separate tip guide on braiding and banding.  Now you need a lycra slinky to cover his face, neck and it fastens under his shoulder area, behind his front legs.  This is what keeps your handiwork in place.  If you don't put this protective cover on your horse, he will try to rub the braids out or mess up your bands! 

Showday:  Well, you've done all the hard work to make your horse his most beautiful already, so all you have to do now is take the slinky off, groom the coat the way you normally would, but here's a few of my secrets...Use a fresh, clean cloth and put a tiny bit of linement on it.  Then wipe it all over the horse to "set" the hairs.  NEVER put showsheen or any "dust repelling/shine" product on the body on show day!  The tack will slip and slide.  The only place I put the showsheen on is on the tail.  If I don't plait the tail, I take it out of the tail bag, un-braid it, spray it with showsheen first, then get out my brush and gently, gently brush the tail out to it's full and shiny glory.  Get the horse out on a dry surface and paint clear hoof polish on the hooves, and I like to keep some babywipes in a plastic ziplock bag, to use on spot areas that may have become sweaty or dirty between classes.  These also work well on my daughter's boots...and I have a bottle of cowboy magic at hand just in case a bad stain appears on the horse.  Again, do not use under the tack, but no one's going to see that area anyway are they?  

Well, I hope this guide has been of help to you. If you ever want to ask me a question I would be more than happy to try to answer it to the best of my ability. Good luck at your shows!