Best turned out.. for a coloured

Tern

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Okay, so my coloured cob is 13.3, he's tri coloured and has 4 completely white legs.. This is ages away but i have a best turned out competition in June, so have a few questions:

1/Can i get away without plaiting him or do cobs not count as natives?
2/How do i get his legs white?? He lives out 24/7 and i have no access to stables yet could i chalk paste them and then put gamgee over the top and bandage them?
3/ Are plastic bits acceptable for the show ring (Happy mouth loose ring)


Thank you :)

Cobby
 
Okay, so my coloured cob is 13.3, he's tri coloured and has 4 completely white legs.. This is ages away but i have a best turned out competition in June, so have a few questions:

1/Can i get away without plaiting him or do cobs not count as natives?
2/How do i get his legs white?? He lives out 24/7 and i have no access to stables yet could i chalk paste them and then put gamgee over the top and bandage them?
3/ Are plastic bits acceptable for the show ring (Happy mouth loose ring)


Thank you :)

Cobby

1) If he's a traditional, leave unplaited, as you would leave feathers on and tail au natural.

2) Washing up liquid is fab for getting feathers and tails clean. Followed by a paste made of chalk and water, applied thickly to feathers, bandaged and excess removed when dry. Supreme products do an amazing chalky pasty thingy that I'm in love with.

3) for simple tack and turnout a plastic snaffle should be fine as technically you 'won't be riding a show'. So in theory anything not too obtrusive should be fine.

Don't do them anymore as cant be arsed with finicky details but an excellent start for showing but have done very well in them and judged them before so a
Few extra tips for T and T... (Whether you want them all not, i'm home alone and bored that's all)

Make Numnahs as discreet as possible.
For a traditional cob, flat hunter tack, no bling should be bestowed upon such lovely hairys ;)
Clean the underside of your boots and soles after mounting.
Baby wipes are your new best friends.
Tack should be sparkling clean so give it a quick wipe just before entering.
Pick feet out just before entering the ring.
Corners of numbers should be rounded and tied discreetly with brown or black plaiting thread.
Hair in a hairnet and pref in a neat bun.
Bandages for white legs are also your new best friend but try not to leave bandage marks on legs.
For Hairys discreetly trim excess jaw hair but keep it as natural looking as possible.
Coats should be scurf free and shiny. Hot clothing and sparkle spray/furniture polish are fab for this.
Jackets well fitting, ties need to be straight and shirt tucked in and brown gloves, with a show cane carried.
No spangly whips, schooling whips and hand batters.
Hat pref be velvet covered and bows at back stitched down.
Make up, earrings, watches and jewellery should be very minimal if at all.
As above for horse make up.
All tack should be well fitting, no very loose throat lashes, nose bands sitting on the bits and flapping in the wind and bits banging on teeth.
If wearing a Pelham or double, a lip strap should be worn technically with plaited reins on snaffle.
And smile and enjoy yourself. Nothing worse than having a beautifully turned out pony and a face like a slapped bottom on board ;)

And lastly, post pics afterwards!
 
Right, thanks very, very much :) He's not traditional but on his passport he is very nicely classed 'Unknown' :rolleyes: but he has cob in him and feather are clipped back, sorry, tail is kept un-pulled though and beards stay ^^ will do jawline though
 
I did used to groom for a showing producer but never did show days, was always the yard girl. Been showing unaffiliated since before I can remember and the odd county shows for last few years. We've never had anything that has been good enough or behaved well enough (always end up with loonies!) to make it to the big time YET - says with hope in the heart but picked up thousands of tips along the way of making something stand out from the crowd! Any help I can give feel free to ask away :) I live for showing!
 
I have a friend who's shown at HOYS and all the top places, so I've stood on the sidelines observing often enough and I'm obsessed with turn out, so I have a reasonable idea. Just embarked on competing with my fat little hairy bog trotter and she won at her first ever outing last weekend. I thought I'd done a reasonable job on turn out but when I compared her to the serious contenders, we looked like amateurs (we are amateurs but you know what I mean!). I need to step up a gear really for next time. Its of course the attention to detail that makes all the difference. Picking out feet and wiping underside of boots are 2 to add to the list. I should have known but I overlooked them! Have watched producers and their teams descend on show horses as they're going into the ring and stripped off, so should have known better!
 
Ah, very well done, that's great to hear :) 'bog trotters' always scrub up best I think. Mind I'd only wipe underside of boots and pick out feet for a tack and turnout class... I am too with turnout, I positively cringe at dirty stained hocks at our local riding club and dirty tack and a very well known showing owner friend of mine always dispairs at the amount of time I spend getting the race horses socks white and the little things but again, she's not god enough for top, top class so always think anything we do can't hurt :) its just little things that don't cost a lot (or not at all in some cases) that turn a combination into a polished, neat and professional looking rather than made an attempt. Re-reading that possibly sounds mean but isn't meant to. :) we are technically amateurs too but not as the rules state as we run a breaking yard but show purely for pleasure. :) x
 
I was once judgeing a Tack & Turnout class and had a huge entry - enough to split the class to two of 20+.

Shortlisted five from each and brought them back in. One hunter stood out from the sidelines & there were gasps when he wasn't pulled in first. First went to a gleaming strawberry roan New Forest - unplaited as correct for a native with clean & well fitting plain tack. Second was an elderly TB who had obviously been polished and his tack burnished -not a speck of dirt on either. The hunter was immaculate, the rider equally so and she complained when I was handing over her rosette. I asked her to dismount and tell me whose initials were written in the dirt on her saddle's name plate.

Some of us are not swayed by the master's wife trying to beat the kids.
 
My friend and I used to do these turnout classes all the time when the kids were small, and continued successfully to do so with my own. Have had it come down to having to take off gloves to see who has the cleanest fingernails as a decider in a close called result. I also judge unaffiliated and have seen some sights and had to get fussy too....

Sadly both ponies now deceased :(
 
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