Show Ring Essentials - What I Have In My Basket

After reading showing mad mum Julia Gaukrogers post this week "What's in your basket? Baby wipes and gin" in Horse & Hound I thought I'd do a little blog post of my own about what show ring essentials I take into the ring with me in my basket when grooming for Georgie.

1) All my Smart Grooming products, obviously! -

As their brand ambassador and avid user of their products, of course my basket is going to contain these things! They're absolute life savers and however much prep you do leading up to them entering the ring, there will always be last minute smudges or brush over.

I'll use all of these in the run up. Coat shine to make him sleek, soft and shiny, leg and body whitener on his white socks, mane and tail detangler, perfect plaits - you name it!

2) Water -

A big essential item is water and lots of it. In summer showing its going to be sunny and hot (well, we hope!) so keeping the rider and yourself nice and hydrated is really important.You both sweat a hell of a lot in the ring so replenishing that with some nice cold water is a must. Don't want people feeling faint during their class now do we?

3) Brushes -

It wouldn't be a proper grooming kit without brushes. Both to wick dirt and dusty off but also to do quarter marks etc.

Make sure to give them a good washing after each use to stop them getting grubby and holding onto the dirt, oil and dust, otherwise you're just putting them back into the horses coat.

4) Hoof oil - 

Whether on grass or in an arena you always have to hoof oil your horse or pony. Things will stick to it and it will rub off a little but you must make sure you always do them before going into the ring. Shiny nice hooves make a final touch.

5) Baby products - 

I take in both baby oil and shampoo. You know the situation where you're just about to go into the ring and your horses gets a mark on its leg. You can't just leave it there so a quick dab of shampoo on a damp cloth and you can rub that mark off in no time at all. 

As well as highlighter I like to also have some baby oil to hand to just put a little on their noses before they go into the ring.

6) Cloths -

I do take more than 1, usually older tea towels for rubbing (a slightly damp) over the body with a little bit of super shine on to really make the coat gleam. As well as a dry towel for getting rid of Beanies slobbery saliva off his lips and chin, it's all about finishing touches.

7) Hair brush and hair wax. 

Usually to seal in stray hairs after plaiting we use styling wax, just helps get them looking neater.

Hair brush to run through a soft sleek tail to get rid of any tangles.

8) Plaiting equipment - 

Plaiting would obviously of been done long before entering the ring but it's always good to take to the ring side with you. You'd hate to be a bit stuck sprinting back to lorry to get your plaiting stuff cause you've got an unravelled plait 10 minutes before your about to go in! 

Honourable mentions are polos or treats to give your pony after they've been in the ring, no matter how they did. They've worked hard and should be rewarded.

Another mention is perhaps a sponge and saddle soap, you never know when you might need to rub it over your tack.

Everyone has different things they like to take with them but these are my essentials, what types of things do you use? Maybe I might pick up a new amazing product I didn't know about!

Hope to see some of you at Hickstead this weekend,

Sophie x

Riding Helmets - Why Do We Value Style Over Safety?

Earlier this week I posted on my Facebook this very interesting article where a final year Industrial Design and Technology student at Loughborough Uni has designed a new polo helmet prototype with new and improved safety ideas. You can read more about what he's up to in the article or his blog. But it got me thinking about a variety of safety problems in equestrianism and thought i'd write my thoughts.

Photo by Robin Spicer

 From what I understand the HPA don't require polo helmets to abide by any British safety standards (Kite marks etc) but see it as the riders responsibility to wear a hat that they want and be responsible for their own head.

Also from what I understand (kindly explained by my friend Becx) that UKPA at Polocrosse tournaments check that your hat meets current safety standards and fits properly otherwise you're not allowed to compete. They sticker your hat with a sticker so that you don't have to have it checked each time, great idea!

I am under the impression that British Eventing and British Showjumping associations do 

similar (by all means correct me if i'm wrong as we don't compete under either) in that they check your hat meets current kitemarks and regulations and if you don't then you cannot compete.

I am absolutely all for these regulations. I've heard time and time again people say "but it's my head and I should decide" but have they really thought it through, who's going to look after them and take on that huge responsibility if they were to be paralyzed or suffer brain damage!?

Another thing that came to my attention of safety was back protectors. Recently I read this article from Horse & Hound  after the death of Canadian eventer Jordan McDonalds. The inquest into his deathfound he was not wearing a body protector that would not meet British Eventings standards. 

When this article was posted on the Horse & Hounds facebook I read some comments saying that some riders who are competing at CCI 1-3 levels have been personally adjusting and removing parts of the back protector to make it more stylish and comfortable!

Yup, you read that right, they're adjusting the back protector and in doing so are compromising its effectiveness in doing so. 

Showing is another realm that safety comes into play. Don't get me wrong, I love traditional dress in showing. To me top hats and beaglers looks absolutely awesome, but I would never ever wear one while riding a horse as the risk is just too great and unpredictable to risk my life for the sake of looking cool. 

Same with polo, I think i'd much rather wear a Charles Owen polo hat which is safety regulation compliant than risk a brain injury. Here Horse & Hound published an article in which a study found that nearly 50% of polo players valued look over their safety when buying a new helmet. Yes, we get it, you wanna look hot playing polo but you can still do that safely!

So how does change in values regarding safety happen? Myself and others while discussing it have said that in order to get these things changed it comes down to the manufacturers and the high profile people wearing them to make that transition and lobby for better standards.

Would it take top polo hat manufacturer Casablanca to make a hat that was safety regulation compliant and that reduced the severity of the impact injury? I'd say probably so. And if they did, it would no doubt take the high profile professional high goal players to wear them just to get the amateurs and low to medium goal players following suit. Again, I think it probably would.

Polito Pieres, polo's showman. Would it taking him or another higher goaler wearing a safer helmet to make you change?

Photo by Images of Polo 

But why is that? Well I think it comes down to everyone looking up to and having someone they aspire to be like. At any age we all have someone we'd like to ride like, whether that be a high goaler, an eventer, a dressage rider, or even a top show rider and what they wear does shape (whether consciously or unconsciously) what we want to buy and use. Why do you think manufacturers have sponsored riders and ambassadors? For just that reason..

It took Charlotte Dujardin in dressage to stop wearing a top hat for other professionals and amateurs stop wearing them to. I read that Mary King said she stopped wearing a top hat when performing the dressage stage at three day eventing because she was following in Charlottes example. If both those high profile rider choose to compete at the very highest level of dressage and eventing and not wear the traditional hat then amateurs thought why can't I? and opted for a safe reg hat with a harness.

With all that said, with showing still being so traditional in it's dress, as little has changed in the turn out of a horse and rider for the ring, it's very hard to go against the masses. 

Riders are reluctant to go against that traditional turn out in fear of being penalised and miss out on winning their class. I've known people purposely use a double bridle or pelham on their show horse, knowing their horse goes better in a snaffle for fear that the judge would mark them down for it. So they're compromising on way of going all to suit that tradition. That is how stuck these things can be and that's just one example.

Photo by Nico Morgan

Riders in ladies side saddle hunter are still wearing top hats to compete because they want to keep to that very traditional style of turn out of top hat, veil, habit and tails. Yes, a smaller amount of people are hunting and showing in proper hats as they don't want to compromise on their safety, but should the professional producers stop wearing them, and will that help the masses be persuaded to look after their safety more?

I hope so, but sadly I do not have these answers.

All that associations and governing bodies can do is to put rules into place and enforce them, we cannot physically make someone wear a safety reg hat. But by putting rules into place and making sure people abide by them is one way in making sure that events are as safe as they can be.

I applaud these high profile riders for going against these traditions and choosing to be vocal in their change, as that is how change happens. By someone feeling passionate about that cause and helping to change people's mindsets to ensure better safety.

Photo by Dressage News

I hope I haven't offended anyone reading this post. All the views expressed are mine and if you disagree with them that is fine

Look after your body, bones break and some heal and fix themselves but some things cannot be fixed like a spinal cord or brain stem so I urge you to always wear a proper hat and if jumping, then a back protector too

Sophie x

Smart Grooming Review - Black Show Make up

As I am sure you're aware by now, I swear by Smart Grooming for show prep and Georgie and I will be using them from now on.

After the lovely ladies at Smart Grooming sent me a little care package a few weeks ago i've been trying out all the lovely products. I've been a very busy bee lately but a couple of weeks ago I tried black showing make up on a friends retrained racehorse, now polo pony, called Aggy (Annia Galeria)

She's a light bay and very dark legs. Unfortunately she also has some scars and white fur on her from old injuries from racing, but this also meant she was a perfect test pony!

To start we brushed off all dirt, dust and any dry sweat etc from her legs so they were nice and clean. Then, using a small clean piece of cloth (wrapping the end over the index fingertip) and dipping it into the pot. Making sure to get a decent amount of black make up on the tip. I should note that we had a good few white fur marks to cover up so did use a good covering on the cloth but if it's a small blemish then sparingly if it's just a small blemish as does go a long way (As previously mentioned in older blog posts, all Smart Grooming products go a long way). Depending on the type of blemish, you can also use a small sponge if you'd prefer - This will be better for dabbing on and using more on larger areas. We wanted to cover the white dots so choice a more sweeping motion of going with direction of the fur. The pot is only about an inch and a half wide so it would have to be a small sponge to fit.

Going with the motion of with the hairs direction we made sure to cover all the white hair underneath too, rather than just cover the top layer of fur as with work this may rub off more easily.

Test one was Aggys white marks on her knee, cannon bone and back of her tendon are.

This is before applying the make up - 

Rather a lot of white spots from old nicks and cuts..

After - 

Completely covered up! Can you find where they were?

Now that is impressive. They were pretty prominent white marks on her legs and now they're completely hidden. Covered really well, and from a foot or so away you couldn't tell she had white fur scars at all!

We also had a bigger scar to cover- Before Aggy was a polo pony she used to race, and must have had an incident racing or while in training as when my friends Steph and Francis bought her she already had this scar just below the knee. It doesn't bother her or affect her performance but it's pretty noticeable as it doesn't have any fur coverage..(As you can see)

Doing the same as above with the white marks, we got the cloth over the index finger and dipped it into the pot to cover it generously.

Then in a more circular motion set to covering the scar.

Me and Steph were impressed by the coverage of the white marks so were keen to see how it would cover something this large and prominent. Well here's how it turned out - 

Yup, I can hardly see it either! It's covered the skin of the scar and blended it into the black fur making it pretty darn difficult to see! I am seriously impressed.

As my background is showing I am aware that this kind of scar would be no doubt be seen by the conformation judge and held against the horse in a show setting such as ROR competition (Although it would be ignored if it were under TARRA rules) but if you were wanting to hide a scar or knock such as this, then this makeup would do the job spot on! I'd even go so far to say that if it were a small enough blemish that this makeup would camouflage it sufficiently for it not to be seen

(Note - use to cover blemishes in showing at your own discretion)

I am absolutely amazed at just how well it worked.

The above pictures were taken on a Saturday, Aggy was left out overnight in a field, rolled and got rained on and it still stayed on all day Sunday without needing to be reapplied.

A week later after multiple rides and a couple of wash off's after polo it still stayed on (yes we checked)

It had faded a little, but it did stay on which really is a credit to it's staying power. 

Another time i'll try the brown one on the chestnuts and see how well that covers on them. 

It can also be used as make up around the eyes and muzzle of a bays and black horses to accentuate those areas.  Once the black make up has dried highlight then using enhancing gloss 

Overall I'd highly recommend Smart Grooming make up! I've never used make up on a horse before so went into this review with no idea how it would work or if it would work at all. But from the photos you can see it really does work! 

I'd highly recommend it. They're only £8.95 and will last for ages! 

I know some people use boot polish and such would I wouldn't recommend. They're made for polishing boots and could highly agitate the skin and could a reaction.

Smart Grooming products have been specially made for horses to avoid such things happening 

Aggy will be appearing in this weekends Mansfield Advisors/Tattersalls Flaming June Tournament at Suffolk Polo Club so I can't wait to use my Smart Geooming products to make her and Boo look amazing and fingers crossed they win best playing pony! 

Jakeira Polo Team - Greenheath and Newmarket Liner Tournament

After a busy weekend it's nice to actually sit down, so I thought i'd write a little summary update of this weeks polo tournament.

It started on Wednesday night as team Jakeira headed down to Cambridge County Polo Club in Lode for their deciding match for the weekends Greenheath and Newmarket Liner tournament. 
It's a little odd for us as we're used to playing Saturday and playing the final match on the Sunday so the ponies got a little bit of an odd surprise to be loaded up into a lorry to be taken to a match, rather than their usual evenings ride!

The weather was beautiful if not slightly chilly! But the sun was shining and the ground was dry! 
This match saw the first time that Emma Darrington would play for team Jakeira so everyone was keen to see how she'd do and she did not disappoint. As everyone rode their ponies onto he field Jakeira gathered for a little team talk and tactical discussion on who to mark, who is going to be the player to watch out for on the opposing team etc!

The team they were up against was Frolic Farm Polo Team and with their goal handicap they started on 3 goals ahead of Jakeira, so they definitely had making up to do!

After some slightly scrappy stop start chukkas and Jakeira slowly but surely were making the goals up but it was going to be extremely tight. It looked like Jakeira were going to loose their match by the skin of their teeth, but with just seconds to go Phil Seller clouted the ball down towards the goal and with no-one from Frolic being able to catch him and everyone trailing behind, he whacked it through the goal to bring the score up to 7! 

The deciding goal about to do scored!

The whistle blowing literally seconds later. They'd done it, they were through to the final!

The ponies were boxed up and off they went home to rest up and be ready for the weekends final.
In good ways and bad, the rain came on Saturday, making the ground soft for the weekend but also verging it on slightly too wet and risking it being cancelled.
Our match was moved from 4pm to 5pm allowing the pit slightly longer to dry earlier in the day before the games began on Sunday so when we arrived the ground was in pretty good condition. If not slightly divoted from earlier matches.

The Ponies were tacked up and ready to go, riders donned their whites and polo shirts and made their way to the pitch.
I warmed up Emma's horse Priscilla so I made my way to the side of the pitch to watch and Tweet from Horseback  

From the very beginning Jakeira were dominating the ball and had scored 2 goals in the first chukka. Secret weapon Emma being left unmarked meant she funneled the ball into the goal just before the whistle ending the first chukka bring their score up to 3.

In the second chukka they'd rehorsed and were back on and straight on it. Another goal was scored, followed soon by another. The Buccaneers trying really hard to mark the Jakeira players and making them work but by the end of chukka 2 Jakeira were leading 5 - 1.

Fresh ponies were bought on and chukka 3 commenced. If they could keep up this great team work and pace it was going to be in the bag.

Buccaneers were not going down without a flight and held the ball for a lot of chukka 3 but Jakeira marking their players really well meant they only scored 1 more goal bring them up to 2 against Jakeiras 5. With just 30 seconds before the whistle and some great team work between Carl Harris and Francis Molyneux Jakeira were able to tap in a goal ending that chukka 6 - 2. 

Fourth and final chukka, would Jakeira be able to hold on to their winning lead? Buccaneers were absolutely on it with some tough ride off's trying to keep Jakeira away from the goal and to their credit they went on to score 3 more goals in chukka 4. They were going down fighting! But Jakeira rose to the challenge and scored another 2 goals. The whistle went and the match ended 8 goals to Jakeira and 5 to The Buccaneers. 

The ponies were walked back to the box, with very happy faced riders. 

Ponies were untacked and washed off, equipment was bagged up and final beers were shared in celebration just before the prize giving.

Everyone left to put their ponies away fed and rugged for the night before we all met up for a lovely drinks and celebratory meal.Thank you so much to Carl and Jo for treating all of us to a delicious sit down Chinese last night, very very kind of you!

I know I speak for the rest of Jakeira when I say everyone is very much looking forward to Suffolk Polo Club's Mansfield Advisers & Tattersalls Flaming June Tournament at Hare Park Stud! It's gonna be some very smart turned out ponies and hoping for another winning match!

See you there, Sophie x

Smart Grooming Review - Perfect Plaits (Including how to video by Show Producer, Robert Walker)

As followers of this blog will know, for the last few weeks i've been working with Smart Grooming to try out and thus review their show prep products, and am now a Brand Ambassador, which I am incredibly excited about. They've been really successful (even featuring in Horse & Hound) so I've been very kindly given a few more products to try out, as I am totally sold on just how good these products work! 

Manes - 

We had Suffolk County Show last week so up at 4am to start prep and plaiting! Luckily the sun is up that early in the morning.
I'd washed Beanie's body, tail and mane the day before to get rid of flakey dry dandruff in the mane and also remove dust, dry and oil.
Now by shampooing it meant the mane was now lovely, shiny and clean but now also slippery. That's where Perfect Plaits comes into play. Previously we've used VO5 hair wax for this, which is great at keeping the hair together but by using that, it makes the hair have a matte appearance and very sticky, rather than shiny.

First, we sprayed the Perfect Plaits all over the mane; so it was well covered and all wisps of hair were combed down, then split the mane hair into sections which were the length of the comb, which is about 3 inches long.

Perfect plaits make the hair slightly oily and tacky which keeps all the fine hairs stuck into the main plait, so no fly away bits!

Then, making sure the base of the plait was high enough, we plaited the hair fairly tightly all the way to the bottom and put a band round it (Like the end of the neck plaits below)

 We did this until all of the sections were plated in length.

Once that was finished, we went back up to the first plait, nearest the pole, and threaded the very end of the plait. Then took the needle under and thread it through the base of the plait and rolled the end under so it was now at the base of the plait length (to make a loop) 

Then folding the length of the plait in half again until it creates a ball. 

With the needle and thread we sewed the plate in securely making sure it was not too tight as that it will damage the hair follicle; which would cause the hair to fall out.
We did this for the entirety of neck until all of the mane was rolled up plaited.
(Note - It's recommended to sow in plaits as with bands it's harder to get the desired round ball shape that you want)

To finish off we then sprayed all of the plaits again with Perfect Plaits to help seal in any escaped wispy hairs and seal the overall plait. 
Here is the finished product -

I also watched this very helpful video from Horse and Country TV a couple of weeks ago, which is with show producer Robert Walker on plaiting your horse to add top line, which is really helpful in explaining why you do this, why you thread in plaits and how it looks better. 
Hope it helps -

 
I think he explained it very well, don't you?

We vary B's work a lot so he doesn't get bored. We lunge him regularly in a pessoa to build top line and he is fed on Equi-Jewel to keep him nice and covered (but not fat!) but unlike some racehorses who were cut later (thus meaning they have a more cresty neck from being entire for longer) we do do as Robert suggests and plait to add top line. 
Unfortunately there is only so much neck work you can do (without having your horse stood in his stable in draw reins. Yes some show riders do this) and a horse will get to it's maximum neck muscle mass, so using the different plaiting techniques to your advantage is perfectly fine. For example if you had a pony with a spring grass cresty neck then people will plait down flat, with smaller plaits and more of them, to not accentuate that crest. All show riders we know plait this way using the illusion effects to give a better overall picture.

Tails - 

We shave Beanies tail for showing thus meaning we're unable to plait it, so I was very kindly allowed to try out Perfect Plaits on various friends Polo Ponies a couple of weekends ago for a polo tournament!

It was a little bit of an experiment to see how well it would work. Tails were first brushed through with no product on (to make sure multiple products we're mixed together), then once tangles were removed we sprayed through the hair from about 10cm away so to get even coverage.

Left to work in slightly for a minute or so before I commenced plaiting. The product is a little oily but makes the hair slightly tacky to stick in stray hairs, as mentioned above.

After slowly but surely adding a little extra hair into the plait each time, until finally all the tail was fully plaited all the way to the end, ready to be taped up.

Perfect Plaits leaves the tail seriously shiny and looking very impressive. Here it is on a black tail of polo pony Thunder.  Very shiny, neat and very few hairs escaping.

We came back the next day to plait the ponies tails up for day two of the tournament and Perfect Plaits was still in the tail, they were very shiny still and very easy to plait back up.

This product works really well - although be warned it does go a long way so make sure to not use too much (all of Smart Groomings products only need a little) as it will make the hair too slippery. Also something I found is make sure to fully press the lever on the bottle down quickly to make a mist, as if pressed too slow it comes out in a stream and isn't evenly covering the hair, leaving an oily patch, which you don't want) 

Now that's a beautiful tail on Boo!  

I hope you find it helpful too in keeping your horse or ponies plaits sleek, shiny and none fly away!
A little goes a long way, remember that! 

Sophie x

Photo Compilation - Accents of Horse & Rider

Accent - Noun A distinctive feature or quality, such as a feature that accentuates, contrasts with, or complements a decorative style.


Recently I got some inspiration and I thought while I was out and about I'd capture the small little accents of larger picture to create a more close up, draw your eye picture. They're of both showing, riding and polo.. 

I like the idea of highlighting the subtle things that make an riding outfit or horses tack from standard or boring to effortlessly cool