should i brave a Ridden Cob class?

merlin&brigit<3

merlin&brigit<3

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So my 6yo 14.1hh spotted cob Merlin is a dude but he's not exactly the most graceful of animals.. He's very willing and a flashy little cob with his nice head and colouring but doesn't go in an outline really yet.

He has no feather at the moment but isn't hogged as i think he'll look like a bit of a thug.:rolleyes:

We're usually ambitious happy hackers (we hack out every day and occasionally attempt competitions) but i'm aiming for a local ridden cob class on the 21st of July- Is it worth it do you think?

I was thinking of doing a running plait and really scrubbing him up so even if we fail at least we look smart :D but do you think i'll able to get him to showing standard in two months? He's just starting to consider an outline..

APLOLOGIES FOR THE RAMBLING ESSAY!!
 
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Yes ! He is so lovely!

Can I just ask, how did you remove his feather? - this is something I want to do to my cob at some point in near future but I am wary of messing it up! :)
 
Sorry I have no advice other than go for it, what's the worst that can happpen - and to say that your boy is *gorgeous* :D
 
Honestly I wouldn't bother.

He is too small for a show cob.

If you do decide to try, he needs to be hogged and all the feather off and tail pulled. Some judges will send you out of the ring if you dont.

The alternative is the traditional cob classes which are becoming more popular. For that you need full mane and tail and feather.

Might be better in the coloured class, spotteds are allow at a lot of local shows.
 
Of course you should! I was like you with my coloured cob as I didn't think he would be good enough and we only went and won the class, so you never know, plus it's all good fun! :)
 
Seriously if your local shows are anything like mine they are very encouraging and want the entries. I would say just leave him natural and don't do anything with his mane!
 
rockysmum said:
Honestly I wouldn't bother.

He is too small for a show cob.

If you do decide to try, he needs to be hogged and all the feather off and tail pulled. Some judges will send you out of the ring if you dont.

The alternative is the traditional cob classes which are becoming more popular. For that you need full mane and tail and feather.

Might be better in the coloured class, spotteds are allow at a lot of local shows.
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It is only a small local show and obviously i'll smarten him up! But I don't think we'd have a chance in coloured as most are tb/ warmbloods not cobs
 
I think you should do the coloured class too, you never know what the judges favourite type of horse is, she/he might actually be a con person anyway?!
 
merlin&brigit<3 said:
It is only a small local show and obviously i'll smarten him up! But I don't think we'd have a chance in coloured as most are tb/ warmbloods not cobs
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If you are just going for a bit of fun, it doesn't matter really. It can be a bit embarrasing being sent out of the ring though. It does happen, even at local. I once took my cob in plaited as a warm up for another class, and got asked to leave.

If you just want something to enter, without drastically changing his appearance, why not go for family pony, riding club pony or something like that.
 
I think he would look lovely hogged and with his feathers off!

If you want to show him as a cob, even at local level, he either needs to be a show cob (hogged and feathers off) or a traditional (flowing mane and tail and feathers) and as Rockysmum said he is too small for a show cob and he is probably not hairy enough for a trad cob. A coloured class might suit him better, there are usually all types entered at local level so I wouldn't worry about it just being TB types. You could also do PC pony/RC horse and definitely handsomest gelding.
 
He would fit right in at most local shows, the judges often arnt that worried about being turned out to true showing standards. Obviously if thats all thats in it then the correctly turned out one will win but from what I have seen as long as competitors are smart then they dont worry to much.

I wouldnt force an outline from him either for it, just make sure he is in a contact and going forwards and if it happens then great if not dont worry for now.
 
Afraid I disagree with some of the posters on here.

Showing is all about being correct, type and turnout. I know there is some lousy judging at local level, but that aside, why bother if you dont make an effort to do it right.

Its like entering the showjumping if your horse cant jump. Although I have actually seen quite a lot of that at local level too.

I would be the first to say dont spend a lot on expensive new tack or clothes until you know whether you like it and your horse is good enough. But putting the horse in the right class is common sense.
 
Defeather completely,tidy up the mane/tail and plait;he could do family pony etc..but def not show cob,too small and hairey. Aim a bit lower and enjoy!
 
rockysmum said:
Afraid I disagree with some of the posters on here.

Showing is all about being correct, type and turnout. I know there is some lousy judging at local level, but that aside, why bother if you dont make an effort to do it right.

Its like entering the showjumping if your horse cant jump. Although I have actually seen quite a lot of that at local level too.

I would be the first to say dont spend a lot on expensive new tack or clothes until you know whether you like it and your horse is good enough. But putting the horse in the right class is common sense.
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It's a sweet horse on a younger rider who clearly wants to have a nice time on said pony (horse?). He's cute as they come, and as local classes cost about £6 to enter I don't think she has anything to lose by scrubbing him up and going along and having some fun.

He's not county level, no. But he's sweet and he's a cob so although he's not perfect he fits the criteria basically enough.

OP, I did some showing on a cob just likes yours. We had an absolute blast and some lovely comments from judges who agreed that he was a cracking little family horse who' I was having a great time on :) They all loved him :D
 
Lolo said:
It's a sweet horse on a younger rider who clearly wants to have a nice time on said pony (horse?). He's cute as they come, and as local classes cost about £6 to enter I don't think she has anything to lose by scrubbing him up and going along and having some fun.

He's not county level, no. But he's sweet and he's a cob so although he's not perfect he fits the criteria basically enough.

OP, I did some showing on a cob just likes yours. We had an absolute blast and some lovely comments from judges who agreed that he was a cracking little family horse who' I was having a great time on :) They all loved him :D
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I agree he's a great little cob and that he will do well in the right class.

Its not about the £6 entry fee, its demoralising to always come at the bottom of the line. If you put all that effort into getting ready and entering, you want to have a chance.

How much nicer to come on here with a Rosette and raving about how well you did than asking why you always come last.

The OP asked if he would be OK in ridden cob and all I said was, no he would be better in another class.
 
Lolo said:
It's a sweet horse on a younger rider who clearly wants to have a nice time on said pony (horse?). He's cute as they come, and as local classes cost about £6 to enter I don't think she has anything to lose by scrubbing him up and going along and having some fun.

He's not county level, no. But he's sweet and he's a cob so although he's not perfect he fits the criteria basically enough.

OP, I did some showing on a cob just likes yours. We had an absolute blast and some lovely comments from judges who agreed that he was a cracking little family horse who' I was having a great time on :) They all loved him :D
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^^ this exactly - OP if your local shows are like mine we dont tend to have 'show cob' we have cob/cob type so if this is the sort of class you are looking to enter i would deffinatly give it a bash - i doubt the judge is going to send a child and her pony out of the ring because she didnt think he fitted if your judges are as lovely as ours even if your in the wrong class they still have a little chat and give you a special :D i took my youngster in a pretty mare class when she was a baby for the experience and there was a gelding in there :L the girl leadin him was ment to be in the next class - they didnt send her out she got a special and was allowed in the next class to :D the judge is more likely to encourage you than dishearten you at this stage - agric and county are a whole different ball game! - just go and have fun - i would be tempted to plait him more traditionally with 'golf balls' though - ime running plaits spend more time falling out than staying in!! tidy up his tail too if you can it makes a big difference! - Good Luck x
 
Another what lolo said. OP go along have a great time and let us all know how you get on. He could do the odd coloured class and the family/rc/pc pony if he jumps.

Dont forget to smile as you go round :)
 
:D thank you all for being so honest! I think i'll just do a jumping class and maybe coloureds if im feeling prepared- if i do a nice simple show and turn us out smartly plus he's an unusual colour so i think the judges will like that ;)
 
There is a difference between Cob and Cob Type.

But whatever the class description you need to either be totally hairy or totally not hairy (if you see what I mean!) At the moment you are a bit of both - and plaiting would be wrong as no type of cob should be plaited. It is a bit of a minefield and as RM has said, it may be better to enter riding club type or family pony for example - (and also see what time of day the classes are and what clashes etc). We used to do all sorts of classes wtih our old pony who was spotted - coloured, workers, family, even riding horse! Sometimes he did well on them and other times the judge did not like him. But although he was cobby we never did the cob classes as he always had his feathers off so showed him as a plaited.

Whatever you decide, just make sure you both have some fun!
 
FMM said:
There is a difference between Cob and Cob Type.

But whatever the class description you need to either be totally hairy or totally not hairy (if you see what I mean!) At the moment you are a bit of both - and plaiting would be wrong as no type of cob should be plaited. It is a bit of a minefield and as RM has said, it may be better to enter riding club type or family pony for example - (and also see what time of day the classes are and what clashes etc). We used to do all sorts of classes wtih our old pony who was spotted - coloured, workers, family, even riding horse! Sometimes he did well on them and other times the judge did not like him. But although he was cobby we never did the cob classes as he always had his feathers off so showed him as a plaited.

Whatever you decide, just make sure you both have some fun!
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:( unfortunately there is no family pony or pc pony at this show.. would do whp but too high a standard...
 
LeannePip said:
^^ this exactly - OP if your local shows are like mine we dont tend to have 'show cob' we have cob/cob type so if this is the sort of class you are looking to enter i would deffinatly give it a bash - i doubt the judge is going to send a child and her pony out of the ring because she didnt think he fitted if your judges are as lovely as ours even if your in the wrong class they still have a little chat and give you a special :D i took my youngster in a pretty mare class when she was a baby for the experience and there was a gelding in there :L the girl leadin him was ment to be in the next class - they didnt send her out she got a special and was allowed in the next class to :D the judge is more likely to encourage you than dishearten you at this stage - agric and county are a whole different ball game! - just go and have fun - i would be tempted to plait him more traditionally with 'golf balls' though - ime running plaits spend more time falling out than staying in!! tidy up his tail too if you can it makes a big difference! - Good Luck x
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Ok i'll give it a shot- im not too bothered if we dont do well- im sure he'll make up for it in jumping ;)
 
There have probably been enough replies on both sides for this, but just to say that i have showing my boy in cob/cob type classes over some years in local level shows - he has always been hogged and originally had feathers off too, which is the correct form. however, we recently had a bit of a showing 'revival', and have done quite well (cue proud face!!!), and he has had feathers for several years now whilst still hogged. One judge referred to this when she gave me the frilly and said it was ok at local level but I would need to consider removing his feathers if I was to move up to County shows (I was amazed she was suggesting moving up!!)
I would say think carefully before removing feathers as it takes a long time for them to grow back to a fully natural look.
 
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jojo5 said:
There have probably been enough replies on both sides for this, but just to say that i have showing my boy in cob/cob type classes over some years in local level shows - he has always been hogged and originally had feathers off too, which is the correct form. however, we recently had a bit of a showing 'revival', and have done quite well (cue proud face!!!), and he has had feathers for several years now whilst still hogged. One judge referred to this when she gave me the frilly and said it was ok at local level but I would need to consider removing his feathers if I was to move up to County shows (I was amazed she was suggesting moving up!!)
I would say think carefully before removing feathers as it takes a long time for them to grow back to a fully natural look.
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She has already removed the feathers but left the mane long.
 
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