How do you disguise your horsiness for work?!!

Trish C

Trish C

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What measures do you take to de-horse yourself before work, and does your work combine with horses ok?!

Today I realised why there aren't many musicians with horses (aside from the fact that we never have any money :D)

Reason number one - vulnerable hands. Was turning out a pony with my boy this morning and pony took exception to something and bolted off giving me a nice dose of ropeburn. Then I somehow scratched the same hand on a wall. Said hand is now black and blue and painful and teaching three hours of piano this evening was uncomfortable to say the least!

Reason number two - not fit for public consumption! Took Monty out for a hack (on which he behaved impeccably, yay!) before teaching and I'm pretty sure that, despite thorough showering and scrubbing, between riding and work I still smelt like horse and also still had most of the yard's mud down my fingernails!

Tomorrow, for St Patrick's Day, I'm performing as part of a live broadcast to the States. I NEVER wear nail varnish, but I'm going to have to because I guarantee the cameras will be pointing fairly consistently at my filthy nails!
 
everything gets scrubbed because we have to look "presentable" - iow, boots have to be shined and suit trousers must have train tracks (which i'm useless at)

would much rather go to work in my jodhs with hay in my hair but hey ho :rolleyes: suit and work boots it is
 
Hope the performance goes well!

I'm also being filmed tomorrow, for The Weakest Link with Anne Robinson in the U.K. I'm about to give myself a French Manicure - it's neutral, classy and can be drawn low enough to cover any dirt behind the nails!
 
I work in a dry cleaners part time (one extreme to another!)....in afternoons so after mucking out horses in the morning.
Maybe i do have a tiny whiff but it's hard for me to notice it. I always scrub hands and face, dry shampoo hair if no time to wash it and use body spray where need be!
No one has mentioned it yet so i must be doing okay.
 
I do confess to having gone to staff meetings and rehearsals in jodhs when there hasn't been time to return to my flat first...I do honestly try to avoid doing that though... :o And I have played a church service in riding clothes before---at least I was in the organ loft, well away from the eyes and noses of the congregation. :o I don't lecture or do concerts in pony gear, however. :D
 
I do the ponies before going to school to teach, and come home to shower etc before going in. I have acrylic nails that are done every 3 weeks and are fabulous at surviving the horses, so when I'm playing piano/flute my hands look presentable. I have gone straight from the stables once or twice, and then I have clothes on top of clothes at the stables, wear gloves while doing the girls, and deo and a hairbrush in the car!
 
"Tomorrow, for St Patrick's Day, I'm performing as part of a live broadcast to the States. I NEVER wear nail varnish, but I'm going to have to because I guarantee the cameras will be pointing fairly consistently at my filthy nails!"

Very best of luck with this (and the nails) very special day tomorrow (its my 50th) I really wanted to be in New York as I understand St Patrick's Day is celebrated big time there but instead I am taking a friend up to London to see War Horse (along with a box of tissues!).

To de-horse myself I change more times in one day than a don't know what.... I have a better dressing-room in my barn than I do at home! I work for a printers, don't have too much contact with customers face to face, and I can usually hide behind my Mac! I don't have fingernails they are bitten (my worst vice) but I don't smoke so gotta do something to cope with stress!!!

Happy St Patrick's Day and very best of luck with the broadcast. ;)
 
I cover over with waterproofs and have a hat on or hood up, then take the horsey layer off...quick deodorant a d hairspray and I'm done.
 
Good luck with all filming :D

I used to ride the Dizz before work, which meant getting up at five o'clock and getting to the yard and on by six, so as I had time to ride and get cleaned up before leaving for the eighty mile drive to work :D

My clean up consisted of a bucket scrub down and a change of clothes donned in the stable or the loo :eek:. Then work suit on, with trouser legs rolled up so's nothing smelly got on them. Wearing of riding boots 'till back to the car and work shoes on, so I went to work non-horse smelly :D

Had to be really well organized for the mornings lol
 
I just chuck in feed or turn out in the morning, I don't do any stable chores til after work!!! I once went in after skipping out and they could smell me a mile off! My fingers are disgusting though.
 
With a lot of body spray, hair spray and perfume :D

I muck out and turn out in the morning before work. Survived by wearing a lot of layers over my work clothes so that I can strip off in the car before going straight to work.

My only big problem is my hair which always ends up looking like i've been dragged through a hedge (which I probably have been that morning knowing my horses).

I sometimes do envy the girls in the office that come in looking stunning, with perfect curls and a gorgeous outfit that doesn't have bits of hay sticking to it!!
 
I am the only "horsey" one in my office and even I know I sometimes really stink of horse wee after mucking out before work (even with long boots and coat on it somehow penetrates everything, including my hair). My question to add to your thread is....
WHAT IS THE VERY VERY BEST PERFUME TO WEAR AT WORK THAT IS FRAGRANT ENOUGH TO COVER THESE SMELLS AND CLASSY, WITHOUT BEING TOO HEAVY? Serious question.
Best of luck with your performance by the way! x
 
I've always been very lucky, used to work in pubs so earliest start was 11, giving plenty of time to do horses, go home but had to have a shower and wash hair before work and then again in afternoon if working a split shift. Not pleasant having your food served by a smelly horsey lady.....

Now I'm even luckier, I don't have to change at all! I'm a groom so therefore spend my life smelling like a horse! Although I got sent on a course the other day (riding for disabled, so a horse related course!) and the lady I was sat next to complained that someone smelt of horses!!!! Worst bit is she is a client at our stables, but helps at another rda group! At least I looked reasonably smart, changed from jods, smelly hoodie and wellys to jeans, non smelly hoodie and dublins!!!!
 
As OCD as the Turners are renowned for being with their horses appearance...I am also as OCD with my own appearance.

-Keep horsey clothes TOTALLY separate from non horsey clothes, it's incredible the amount horsey odour transfers.

-Moisturizers are my best friend, especially for my face and hands as they're so exposed so much of the time.

-I've taught myself how to give pretty decent manicures, and can do a near perfect nail varnish job.

-Tie my hair back to avoid attachment of shavings and haylage and horse snot (thanks Bruce), wear a hat if I'm not going to be able to wash my hair before being around people.

JoBird - I love really floral, quite strong perfumes (they stay on all day). My faves are: Coco Chanel EDP, Daisy Marc Jacobs (black bottle edition), Ralph Lauren Romance.....and my absolute top top top numero uno: Jo Malone Red Roses Cologne. Also the Pomegranate Noir Cologne is gorgeous. The ones I've mentioned are prettyyy expensive, but because they're strong, you don't have to spray so often :)
 
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Current (and hopefully forever) job is bliss as I spend the day with vets and don't have to worry about a bit of horse smell - in fact I think it enhances my credibility!

Last job was a bit more of a pain. I had to do horses very early so I could go home to shower and change into a suit before heading out to work.

Issy Miyake was my scent of choice back then.

Now I don't actually bother....and I'm SOOOOO much happier!
 
I'm a groom so don't have to bother changing after I do my boys in the mornings but my sister works in a nursery and she wears old joggy bottoms over her work clothes and her riding jacket but we dont muck out in the mornings cause she would stink and the kids parents would notice.
 
Clever manipulation of my job description! I'm a teacher and started an afterschool activity for horse riding (which means I get to ride along with them), then I organised an interhouse equestrian event for all the school riders - then I've got a team of more experienced riders who compete for an Interschool event for Harpury college! I'm actually a geography teacher but nobody seems to notice!
 
I keep horsey clothes separate from work clothes and luckily can always squeeze in a shower before work, but everyone knows about my horses anyway! I have a private bet that I must include one horsey reference in every course I do so there is usually a horsey example of some kind or other!
 
Well, I don't own a horse, but I certainly don't hide the fact I love horses, when I am at work! I have photos of Horlicks (horse in my avatar) on my desk, rosettes I have won, and on dress down day I often wear my Joules t-shirts and river boots (they are cleaned first!!)

If I owned a horse and had to see to it first in the morning, I would probably just feed and chuck out, and do the "grubby" chores after work. I would take a change of clothes to wear for work though.
 
Vixen - best of luck with that, let us know when the air date is!

Some good ideas... I think I may look into the purchase of an extra layer for over work-clothes, could be a real time-saver for the 5am morning starts. That extra half an hour in bed means a lot sometimes!

millreef - I very much like your ideas and you now have me thinking! Maybe I could get the composition class to compose something for a freestyle dressage test... ;)

Booboos, I've played that game before, great craic! When I was on my BA, my entire class (who were almost all non-horsey but who all enjoyed the Friday morning H&H reading as a diversion from our incredibly boring 2 hour 'folklore' lectures) decided that we all had to get the words 'horse' and 'hound' into our final exams. Some interesting metaphors/similies cropped up out of that one :D
 
Lots of perfume and will always always have a shower but if that really is not possible then a fresh set of clothes. The thing is that I think we all become immune to the smell....... if I come home then non-horsey siblings will immediately comment where as I don't smell anything!! So I would not even dare it at work!! :D
 
I don't hide it very well I'm afraid!I work for a large American computer company in Reading which is a bit of a drive from the yard. So I have to budget my time carefully. I do gget to work from home 1 day a week which is great as I can ride that morning and not worry too much!

I am up at 6, put my work clothes on with trackie bums over work trousers, I wear a vest top under my horse jumper and take my work top separately. I'm at the yard by 6.50. all chores done by 8, cup of tea and a smoke and drive out the yard by 8.15. Wellies off, trackie bums off, whip my horse jumper off, spray some body spray, work top on. Done.

Fridays are dress down days and K is on PL so i can ride. I ride in my jeans and just change my top and go straight to work.

I am lucky in that everyone I work with knows I have a horse and none of the team i work with mind. I mean I am there to work, not look like I am in a fashion show!
 
I work for a law firm and apparently don't hide it very well!! one of my work mates said to me the other day that I surprise her when I dress up to go out as I'm usually so "outdoorsy" ha ha
 
Not a prob these days as keep horses at home but when I used to keep them on DIY away from home and called in on my way to work I covered my work clothes with a huge lightweight stone coloured Danimac, (showing my age here!) and wellies. Always felt I looked like a flasher but kept me presentable for the day.

I used to muck out while horse ate from a portable manger that i would hook on to the bull bar on the front of my Daihatsu I had way back then. I remember one day driving off to work approx 4 miles further on, to have a parent (I teach) ask me what that thing was attached to the front of my vehicle. I'd forgotten to remove the portable manger!!

Oh, and Issey Miyake for me too. Kept a bottle in the car.
 
I work in a very boring office job but the advantage is because we work within the port (ferry company) I don't have to dress posh as no one other than work collegues see us, so have been known to come in wearing jodphurs (same as jeggings and leggings to me, which we all wear so why not?). I'm usually more covered in mud and dog hair in the morning as I don't see the horse til after work and they are well used to be taping dog hairs off my clothes and wiping mud from my trousers and jackets!!
 
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