Scruffy competitors - we should ask h&h to show pics and shame them!

If I can make my scruffbag look presentable, anyone can!
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He was plaited for everything, bar SJ when I was only doing one class, but he would always be immaculate.

It never lasted though, he always slobbered down his front and me usually, and it was always green, even if he hadn't eaten grass for months!
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[/quote Im fed up of being cooked alive at BE or BSJA purely because its "tradition" to wear stupid show jackets!!!

[/ QUOTE ]

If you expect spectators or non horsey people to take it seriously then competeiors must be turned out correctly because if we look like [****] it gives the impression that we dont care and therefore why should they, you would NOT see a professional athlete turn up in either dirty or lacking kit so why should any other sport be different, if you dont like the rules dont take part!
 
so what would you prefer... my awful attempt at plaiting, with them all falling out as I go into dressage arena... or nice groomed neat mane, but unplaited?
 
I don't plait for unaffliliated SJ but I always try and turn out well- jacket, stick, cream jods and ALWAYS a hairnet. And gloves.

However, for showing I plait (my horse has a pit pony mane) and it takes me 20 mins per horse- I rubber band them in regardless of standarn. When my sister does her BE stuff her pony has banded in plaits, and they always look neat and tidy. I hate not looking good- makes me feel a bit silly, tbh.

I always think that even if we mess up, t least we looked good doing so...
 
Oo Kerilli, you should have seen the woman we saw at Somerley - I looked smarter than her and I wasn't even competing
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(sorry another stickler for decent turn-out (even ride in a hair net!) - had it drummed into me the moment I set foot at my RS/where I ended up working)

Maybe as a side point, do you think it's partly to do with affiliated events being open for more people? (ie: lower classes; people who have never read the "going to a show/competition" section of the Manual of Horsemanship, let alone ever been through the PC system?
 
I rarely see bad turnout for affiliated dressage. Most people look smart and clean. I can forgive those who struggle to plait well or gray horses that poo down their legs (I had one of these!). Its dirty clothes and horses that bug me.

I was mortified a few months ago to realise that I did a dressage test (affiliated) with boots that were heavily splashed with mud from the lorry park. I honestly didn't realise they were dirty until I saw the photos
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. I'm guilty of not wearing a hairnet but my hair is always tied back neatly in a very tight bun and not escaping all over the place!
 
Confession time.

I competed today in unaffiliated dressage and didn't plait. His mane is full and not pulled - because he lives out all year and is a TB X Spanish. I confess to liking his mane full, because it does make him look even more Spanish. I had intended to do a running plait on him this morning, but forgot to bring any cotton or elastic bands. My boy was clean and presentable, though and I did have a hairnet and otherwise correct attire!
 
Hmm, know what you mean about scruffy cometitors, but feel the 'I got my pic in H&H' thing might turn it around! Also the 'accidentally scruffy' compared to 'no effort' may not be easy.
Acknowledgement for best turned out is a good idea though
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Perhaps pics in H&H for those who have put in loads of effort to look smart or get to a certain competition, even if it doesn't always work out!
 
I actually prefer to see horses with their manes loose, if their manes are good ones.
Of course riders should look clean, neat and tidy unless having had a very recent fall causing staining.
A few SJ events give turn-out prizes - for the horses that is (as do some races) - and it would good to have some more giving recognition to the grooms.
 
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