Getting a coat good for showing

madhector

madhector

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I am really not great when it comes to showing, the few times I have times Ive done any have been with nice sleek TBs which with a quick bath and a polish look great, but now I have the welsh A I really want to get him out and seen, but his coat is awful still. He came off the mountains and had rain scald on his back and bum, but it has all cleared up now, but he is just left with a really tufty coat. No amount of brushing/bathing seems to help and I am at a loss as to how I can make his coat any better.

He has a show on Saturday, and then will probably leave him till the spring, and someone said I should clip him out a couple of times before then to get a really good coat through, but is this a good idea? he has enough rugs to cope if I did, but don't want to take all his hair off if it isn't going to help
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Any ideas showing people?
 
ideally start rugging at least at night to get the coat to lie flat and feed linseed oil, and give a good groom daily, you'll see a difference in no time at all.
 
Have you pics of him ?

If you where to clip it would be too late for his coat to have the " no so clipped " look . Just really plenty of brushing and give him a good wash , what are you feeding him ? as in any oils ?
 
i havent a clue about how to improve his coat but i do know if you put baby oil around their eyes it looks lovely, i did it to my welsh A at a show that was at the beginning of the season, and he was still like a wooly bear!!
i know some top showy people rug them in the hot weather to make them loose their coats

im sure if you say that you haven't had him long and he came straight off the mountains they'd understand, my friend bought a welsh D a few months ago who had had really bad rainscold where your pony had it, and he's got long tufty blonge hair on top of his bay fur! poor boy.

good luck!! in-hand is alot easier than ridden (well thats my opinion)
 
I was thinking of clipping him after the show, in preparation for the next season. I brush him daily and tbh it seems to make the tuftyness worse
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He is fed a handful of chaff with a vit and mineral supplement, and no oil as he is fat, and on a constant diet

here is a pic, he is probably a little tuftier in RL

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My horse is always lovely and shiny and I put it down to nothing particularly special except for a few simple things...

I brush him really well every day.

If he's got sweaty or has dirty patches I sponge him down with warm water and a tiny bit of shampoo that doesn't need rinsing. In fact I probably do this most days. I don't use loads of water but keep rinsing through the sponge. Then if it's not hot weather I towel dry him with clean white towels so I can see if they're dirty or not. Tbh I usually towel dry him so that I don't get a 'crispy coat' if you know what I mean!

Then I turn him out and more often than not he has a roll in mud or dust! The whole process only takes about 10 mins and is well worth it for a beautiful coat!
 
His coat really isnt that bad, I would probably clip for the next season though, I think if you rugged him up his coat could probably come up nicely, When you wash him, stick some baby oil in the water, you want the slicker look not the fluffy look if you know what i mean . Try using him coat sheen also .
 
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My horse is always lovely and shiny and I put it down to nothing particularly special except for a few simple things...

I brush him really well every day.

If he's got sweaty or has dirty patches I sponge him down with warm water and a tiny bit of shampoo that doesn't need rinsing. In fact I probably do this most days. I don't use loads of water but keep rinsing through the sponge. Then if it's not hot weather I towel dry him with clean white towels so I can see if they're dirty or not. Tbh I usually towel dry him so that I don't get a 'crispy coat' if you know what I mean!

Then I turn him out and more often than not he has a roll in mud or dust! The whole process only takes about 10 mins and is well worth it for a beautiful coat!

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what a pampered horsey!! i did actually towel dry bear one morning before a show as i had to wash his mane and tail and legs and it was quite early, he was so well behaved that i had to do it!!

what a lovely welshy! he looks like my boy!
 
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So if I maybe clip him after the show on saturday, and then again next year he might look a little more even? I really want him ready for county level next spring

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I would rug him now to stop the coat going really thick then Full clip end of January and rug well, no point clipping several times through winter if he isn't workin
 
Ditto to what zigzag has said, no point in going for several clips, Just keep him rugged up if you want to show and then come jan, feb possibly later on then clip him by then he will be ready for next years showing seaon . What age is he ? hes lovely
 
maybe not right for a good doer but I swear by baileys showmix - love it. My TB is sane on it too - and I add linseed oil to his feed. He also gets quite a good groom everyday....he's extremely shiny!
 
if you do clip him dont touch his legs, big nono for M&M's to have clipped legs.

I would probably clip him after the show and see how it grows back before deciding if i clipped him again.

An oil in thier feed generaly helps alot, for one of my native ponies we only feed him happyhoof and oil.
 
This is what I did with my very hairy 3 year old gypsy cob this year.

In late January he was full clipped out apart from areas supposed to be hairy, ie below the knees etc.

He was then kept rugged until late spring - I just used light rugs on warm days - this kept the coat nice and flat and it grew not too thick.

I then fed black sunflower seeds and instant linseed for a good gloss to the coat. He was given a quick groom most days to get the natural oils distributed.

Day before a show he was washed - have to as he is skewbald with tresume deep cleaning shampoo - using as little as possible on the brown areas. I then coated him with coat conditioner and brushed very firmly to get coat flat then put on his dress circle body suit and a light rug. In the summer he is living out with no rugs apart from his rambo protector.

On the day about 2 hours before class I coat him with alva dazzle and brush and then rub all over with a cloth - more you rub, more the gleam and flat coat.

This is him at Easter

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This is him a couple of weeks ago, you can see the coat has stayed flat and smooth over the summer.. He is now moulting like mad but for me it is no problem as I am giving him time to chill and drop muscle back to being a baby until next year.

Chancer-trottingup-BSPAWCC.jpg
 
ok my shetland goes to shows here is what i do...
fed dengie good doer and baileys lo-cal balancer,
in january i feed a teaspoon of linseed oil for 2 months ish added in feed, doesnt make them fat!
she only had a trace clip over winter as she gets to hot with her double coat and shes driven too.
i dont grrom every day only when shes going to be worked, so her natural oil and grease protect her...
day before a show shes bathed, i use loreal elvive shampoo with nutragloss (pink bottle) wash shampoo away with cold/luke warm water... then spray head to toe in canter coat shine, allow to dry, and then put a rug on and stable over night, mane and tail are brushed through and plaited into sections which stay in until we get to the show...


i would do as you are doing with your pony sounds like he has had a rough time, and time will sort out his coat, so i would not clip unless he will get hot and just allow nature to take its course, you could start feeding linseed oil now, a teaspoon a day for the little ponies, i find this works really well.... heres is a pic of my girl in june...

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and a wooly bear in winter...

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other pic in signature x
 
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