in-hand showing help welcome

lucindakay

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so this year i plan to do a lot of in-hand showing as i have one nervous ex-racehorse who hasn't done anything but racing and potentially one nervous/rescue 2 year old NF.
my question is how can i make these horses look best so tips ect, i haven't done any showing since i was 11 when i started eventing more, i have completely forgotten how things run, i know you stand by the horses shoulder and never get ahead of said horse, so what shoulder do i stand by? and how do you do a good show for the judge that isn't long or boring?
also last thing i have a black velvet riding hat so what do i wear with this?
thank you for any help
 
Good luck hope it goes well!

The general way of things goes as follows:

-enter ring going round clockwise so you are on the left as normal and then the judge can see the horse clearly.

-you will be asked to halt then in turn trot in hand round the ring to the rear

-judge will then pull in and you will all halt and stand in a line

-in turn each goes forward to stand square in front of the judge who will have a closer look at conformation etc some judges run their hands down legs etc some dont. will usually ask a few questions like age etc. Always make sure you are polite and say good morning etc and never be in the way of the judges view so when they are looking at each side stand in front of the head then when they look head on stand to one side.

-you will then be asked to walk away and trot back towards the judge. Walk straight and purposeful. Go wide when you turn (always away from you) so you trot durectly at them and they dont have to move. Keep trotting past the judge all the way back round until you can re-join the line.

- you will then be sent back out and then pulled in for final placings and hopefully you'll get a pretty rosette!

Practice standing at home and walking away and trotting back from some one. They need to be patient as in big classes you will be standing around a lot!

sorry mega long response!
 
It depends on the classes so can end up with a bit of a mine field! I'd get on ebay or find a second hand hacking jacket - theres a few good places in Suffolk now that have them :) And you want to be in a shirt and tie - considered more correct. If your horse has dark legs go for lighter coloured trousers or if light legs go dark colour. Bridles to be traditionally correct should be brown/havana and if your doing ex-racer classes he can have a velvet browband.

I'd recommend going to a few shows to watch some classes and to see what people are wearing as will help give you a clearer idea of everything :)
 
me in my summer show gear - was way too hot for a jacket! oh and make sure you can run in the shoes you decide to wear! ;) also check rules regarding head wear some shows state you have to wear a hat.

picture.php
 
For details of how an in-hand class is run and what you need to do look at http://www.equine-world.co.uk/horse_sports/in-hand-show-procedure.asp

There is also a page about practice training you can do before at http://www.equine-world.co.uk/horse_sports/in-hand-show-training.asp

As lottiepony says shirt and tie, dark trousers if the horse has white legs, light trousers if the horse has dark lets. If you don't have a tweed jacket and it's a nice day you can just wear a waistcoat with your shirt like lottie did in her picture.
 
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