Showing greys ahhhh!

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weebarney

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So I'm new to showing and pretty new to grey horse ownership. I have a show tomorrow and its only just dawned on me that you can't get away with just giving a grey a good brush to get them to show standard :( my horses live out 24/7 so I'm not a fan of bathing them but is this my only option or are there any tricks of the trade ? My class is at 9am so it means a half 5 start if I have to bath.
 
Why does everything I enter have to be 1st thing in the morning. I'm going to have to bite the bullet and bath in the morning, I don't even have running water where the horse is, I really haven't thought this through!
 
Every time my daughter wants to go to a show I think please no! It's so hard keeping him clean but a bath is a must when it's warm enough. Sometimes if we are pushed for time we give half a bath! And have you any chalk or talcum powder to use on the bits that maybe don't come up that clean, I wouldn't be without one or the other now.
 
Too late for tomorrow's show but I have two greys (one pure white) and swear by Absorbine Superpoo and Show Clean - worth the money as a little product goes a very long way. Best of luck!
 
Ella19 said:
A bath really but depending on your horse you may get away with hot clothing, cowboy magic spray and chalk!
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I have a skewbald cob who has alot of white!!
Depends what am doing, if A showing class i bath the night before at the livery yard with warm water, normally takes me a good hour to get her clean, then she has to be turned out but most of the stains come away easy as its just surface stuff not inbedded grease!!
If i have dressage i go early before we have to leave (about 1hr30) (like you i have no running water) so i just take a canniser of water and a bucket and sponge with a bit of horse shampoo! i brush everything well first then tackle the stains with a water brush/sponge. When its clean (look out for dirty water marks though which run down!!) and about 90% dry i get the chalk block out and chalk her up, rubbing it into the coat against the hair. When i get to the show i take a soft brush and brush the chalk off, normally this is enough to left the dirt from the coat.
Good luck OP! i feel your pain, and to make matters worse daughters loan pony who is arriving next month is a grey!!
 
cob&onion said:
I have a skewbald cob who has alot of white!!
Depends what am doing, if A showing class i bath the night before at the livery yard with warm water, normally takes me a good hour to get her clean, then she has to be turned out but most of the stains come away easy as its just surface stuff not inbedded grease!!
If i have dressage i go early before we have to leave (about 1hr30) (like you i have no running water) so i just take a canniser of water and a bucket and sponge with a bit of horse shampoo! i brush everything well first then tackle the stains with a water brush/sponge. When its clean (look out for dirty water marks though which run down!!) and about 90% dry i get the chalk block out and chalk her up, rubbing it into the coat against the hair. When i get to the show i take a soft brush and brush the chalk off, normally this is enough to left the dirt from the coat.
Good luck OP! i feel your pain, and to make matters worse daughters loan pony who is arriving next month is a grey!!
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Thank you I will give it a try I have a chalk block from my pony club days 15 year ago, I wonder if it still works ha ha. I must go to bed now before it gets so late I talk myself out of going.
 
Depends if dirty with mud or stable stains. When I was competing my grey I used to bath the night before if covered in stable stains, rug her that night including neck hood then just wash legs & tail morning of show if need be. I would use chalk on legs and in tail if it was a bit yellow.

I think my girl must break dance in stable at night because she even gets poo on her forelock :rolleyes:

They look great when clean but high maintenance :)
 
My grey boy needs a bath every time we go out in summer. (In winter, if it's dry, it is easier as he is rugged up from ears to tail.) Bathtime is the afternoon before the show. I then put him in the stable, unrugged this summer as it's been so warm here in Suffolk and sponge off any stains the next morning. . I am only going to local shows, not anything grand, so the standards of others might be higher, but even if we are doing performance classes I want him to look presentable (to ne, at least :-)..

One thing I have found out, from comments from strangers when we are out and about, is that if his body is clean-ish (ie no stable stains) then having a really clean mane and tail deceives the eye, and makes people think he is incredibly clean. So when I am in a hurry, I concentrate on the mane and tail.
 
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