Tips on how to keep a horse clean for showing?

I feel your pain. Daughter wanted to try showing in her grey (White) and never again. We bathed day before (mistake should have bathed on day) as even with a Snuggy hood Spick and Span rug he still got dusty underneath. I obviously didn't wash his mane good enough either as in-between his plaits looked grubby. He also constantly farts liquid when travelling (altho was much better that day with the help of Coligone liquid) so spent most of the time washing his back end. I will watch this post with interest as I too would like to know how to do it. Mind you we came home with show pony trophy so not a bad day all in all!
 
I use a lightweight turnout with a full lycra rug and neck underneath. I wash him fully the day before and plait up his tail into three sections (plaiting each section individually) If his tail was fuller and longer I would probably try to tie it up in some way too without using a tail bandage (perhaps a pair of tights or a tail bag??).

Then on the morning I scrub his whole legs again.

I leave him out in the field over night!
 
Although our cob is bay, he loves rolling in anything thats going. Although stains don't show up, the dust and grime does.

If we are doing county I start bathing about 2 weeks before the show maybe once at the weekend and a couple of times during the week, and rug both in and out the stable. In the last 3 or 4 days before the show I will bath him every day.

I have no experience of trying to keep a grey clean and I really sympathise with you. Just thinking if you bathed a couple of times during the week before you may only have the 'surface' stains to deal with. It would certainly help with getting rid of the grime.

hope this helps. x
 
For my grey when I'm feeling keen I bath him (twice with blue shampoo) the day before, then leave stable bandages, a fully lycra hood rug rug with a show rug over the top, and bandage his tail up.
 
rara007 said:
For my grey when I'm feeling keen I bath him (twice with blue shampoo) the day before, then leave stable bandages, a fully lycra hood rug rug with a show rug over the top, and bandage his tail up.
Click to expand...

ooh i have never thought of washing him twice :rolleyes::rolleyes: typical.. bet that makes him liik lovely too!
what do you bandage his tail up with??
thank you
 
Here is my grey beast
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I recommend a full neck lightweight, snuggy hood, tail bag, in the night before with a very deep bed, skip out as often as you can and leave time in the morning for any emergency stains. Full neck rug is a must! :)
 
We wash our white grey with Tesco Value Shampoo, put his Snuggy Hood rug & neck on & put him back in the field. Next morning we have to wash his legs again - but rest of him is usually fine.
Here he is
s0xulw.jpg
 
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i don't do showing and i have a fleabitten grey but either way i like her sparkly clean for sj too, i tried lycra rugs and thousands more rugs on top. she lives out atm. and guess what, i wash her twice with fairy liquid, first time wash with sponge to get top easier dirt off then second time serious scrubbing with a body brush to get all the stains! then, i spary her with show shine spray, let her dry, turn out with no rugs. next morning pony still clean, just need to clean up the legs and tail a bit, put chalk on legs and rub it into tail and done! :D
 
I wash my grey (who is pretty much white) the night before then usually stable him overnight - otherwise if I turn him out (he lives out) he knows he's going somewhere and simply trots about ALL night! I usually rug him in a full neck Kool-Coat (cotton sheet), plait his tail (after loads of coat shine to try and ward off stains) and then spot wash and plait the next morning. If I'm plaiting then I wash the mane a few days before so its not too clean and wont plait easily - often that means he has brown bits in his mane by then but tough! I dont do showing with him, only BE & BSJA so he doesnt have to be absolutely spotless thankfully!

I'm showing this weekend, but luckily its a dark bay... SUCH a more practical colour!
 
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