Wool is the way to go i'm afraid,as it hangs and looks so much better!,your best bet is to go for a 2nd hand one eg mrs candys ,pretty ponies le beau cheval,you can pick them up for a good price if you look carefully,i got a immaculate pretty ponies heavyweight navy wool for £60.00 incl postage...
I also don't like using a comb for blocks, best thing is a decent natural bristle body brush (I have a ridiculous attachment to my quarter marking brush)
So to start with i wet the coat with a sponge quite liberally then i squirt gel onto a sponge and wipe it all over where i need it (personally...
My show horse was an extreme tail rubber (which obviously wasnt ideal!) only thing i found that worked and actually stays on is an avacallo gel tail bandage with a woof wear tail guard ontop and hey presto finally no ugly bald tail ;D
Tweed jackets look much better than black (which doesnt have a place on a women in the showring) so if i were you i would grab a cheapy tweed of ebay like this one below...
I have the tail bandage made by them which looks to be the same as the inner gel bit of those bandages and as much as i love the tail bandage for rubbing reasons, there is no way in hell i would put it on my horses legs they get really hot underneath them and that traveling not working!
Just my...
Reins are very much personal prefference, I have on my double a plaited bridoon rein and a thinner plain leather curb rein which is a pretty popular combo, however you will find many variations on what people use there is no hard and fast rule.