Stay True to Type- a quick reference guide to showring turnout

If you're new to showing, knowing how to present your horse and yourself can be rather daunting. Doing your homework before the big day is a must, so you can prepare to get your tack in order and make sure your turnout as a rider is correct. Deciding which category your horse fits under can often not always be clear, so take notes and decide where your horse or pony falls.  It is always helpful to go to county shows to get a feel for how to present yourself and horse or ask someone who has good knowledge of showing is always a good idea too.

 Mountain and Moorland (M&M)

Native breeds such a Shetlands, Welsh Mountain , Newforest, Dartmoor and Exmore ponies fall under this category for example.

• Should be presented in the native state i.e. not trimmed or plaited. Tail should be long but not dragging on the ground and feathers should not be trimmed. Mane to be left long but not untidy.
• Brown plain tack, no coloured or "blingy" browbands. Ideally shown in a snaffle or pelham for open classes.
• Rider should wear tweed, shirt and tie. Canary or buff jodhpurs. Children riding the pony should wear brown boots with jodhpur clips for a neat and tidy look. Adults should wear long boots. A show cane or long plain leather whip should be carried. 
• For lead rein the handler is also encouraged to match the rider as closely as possible. A tweed jacket 

Photo used with kind permission of Claire Bell 

Hunters

Hunters are divided into three sections; lightweight, middleweight and heavyweight. A rough guide to help you decide where your horse falls is a lightweight should be able to carry up to 12.5 stone and be between 16-16.2 hands. A middleweight should be able to carry 12.6 -13 stone and be around 16.3 hands. Lastly, a heavy weight should be 17 hands or above and capable of carrying 14 stone and above. They tend to be Irish draft cross with something with less bone like a Thoroughbred but horses must have a stocky athletic build and a good amount of bone.

• Horses should be plaited with nice chunky plaits (teeny tiny plaits are a no no, as they make the neck look long), tail should be pulled and cut relatively short (although not too near the hocks!) and have plain quarter marks with just three stripes and sharps teeth. Don't over do the make up on Hunters either!
• Brown double bridle with a thick plain noseband, and plain or plaited leather brow band, to suit the head of the horse. no   coloured brow bands. A good comfy saddle with sheepskin numnah. 
•  Riders should wear tweed jacket with a shirt and plain tie. Canary or buff breeches and long boots. Hair should be put into a neat bun in a hair net with no coloured scrunchy. Spurs complete the overall look but if you prefer to not have spurs, use dummy spurs to keep the traditional look.

Riding Horse

A Riding horse falls between a Hunter and a Hack. They should have a pretty head, elegant way of going and have some substance to them. Usually a Thoroughbred type with a bit more bone, a nice round bottom and deep girth. They should be well turnout with a gleaming coat, well muscled and have a good top-

line.

• Riding horses should be plaited, again you want a nice size plaits to enhance the neck of the horse, have neatly pulled tails, trimmed just below the hock. Quarter marks should be applied with strips on the top and sharks teeth on the flank. You can apply a reasonable amount of makeup to compliment and highlight the head of the horse.
•  Brown double bridle with a noseband which suits the head of the animal. A coloured browband should also be worn. A saddle which shows off the shoulder of the horse and a neat sheepskin numnah finishes the look.
• Riders should wear a tweed jacket with shirt and tie (maybe to match the browband of the horse). Breeches can again be canary or buff/fawn depending on what colour looks best with your tweed jacket. Hair should be in a neat bun, in a hair net, with a plain scrunchy. Long boots to be worn with spurs, or dummy spurs.

Hacks

Horse that fall under the Hack category are usually a Thoroughbred type but the finer type with less bone,  Anglo-Arab crosses also do very well along with part Warmbloods. Good conformation, a natural carriage and exuberant movement is essential along with faultless manners. 

• Hacks should be plaited to enhance the neck, not to large or to small. Tails should be neatly pulled and trimmed to a shorter length to around the hock region.
• Quarter marks can be complex with a checker board effect on the bottom and then sharks teeth on the flanks. Hacks should be well turned out with a gleaming coat and have some make-up on to highlight the pretty head.
• Brown tack should be worn with a double bridle, a coloured brow band should also be worn. A saddle which allow the judge to see the shoulder and show off the free going and light movement is also a good idea. Some riders like to wear a white girth for their hacks but this is personal choice and not essential.
• Riders should wear a navy jacket with shirt and tie (maybe to match the browband of the horse) as well as yellow gloves or brown gloves. Breeches can again be canary or buff/fawn depending on what colour looks best with your jacket. Hair should be in a neat bun, in a hair net. Long boots to be worn with spurs, or dummy spurs.

Working Hunters 

A working hunter can technically be any breed of horse so doesn't slot so easily in to categories like all of the above. As this part of showing also includes jumping tack, horse and rider turn out can also be different. The winner will ideally be the horse the judge would most like to take on a day out hunting or would like their child to go out hunting on so manners, brakes and jump style are important!

• If your horse is a Mountain & Mooreland breed then leave them unplaited. However any other breed should be plaited. If you're showing your M&M breed as a show hunter pony in a working hunter it is fine to plait. 
• You are able to wear a martingale, a subtle three point breast plate and a flash or grackle nose band and a different bit; don't go over the top though, remember, you're still showing and will need to do your ridden show in the same tack as it cannot be changed between the jumping and showing parts. Saddles should be a jumping or general purpose saddle, but as mentioned, you have to do a ridden show in this saddle or have the judge ride so bear that in mind. 
• Jumping brushing boots can be worn on the front legs only and should be plain and matching your horses leg colour. These must be removed before the showing. 
• Brow bands should be strictly plain leather or plaited leather, no coloured brow bands and definitely no bling!
• Quarter marks are optional but remember they're used to enhance the horses bottom so if that will help you in the showing part of the working hunter class then by all means add them. They cannot be added after the jumping so make a decision to mark them on or not.
• The rider should always be in 'rat catcher' style which in hunting terms means tweed jacket, velvet hat or helmet and tall boots either brown or black. Spurs are allowed but should be subtle.