Please help me prepare for showing!

[BellasFormerFriend]

From next year my two children will be starting to show our pony in lead rein and first ridden, it is all very exciting! If it takes off we also have a young pony who will come through the next year, if not we will concentrate on other areas with her.

Anyway, I have no kit for myself so I was wondering if anyone could point me in the direction of some clothes, gloves etc that will fit the bill. I am happy with second hand and don't want to spend too much - this may be a one season thing if we don't take to it! I just have no idea what is expected! We are talking about local shows although some of our local shows are quite big! (Qualifiers etc).

Thank you in advance for any help - oh and any top tips for the ring would be gratefully accepted too

Find yourself a trainer locally that is really experienced in producing/breeding ponies and ask their advice ,this will be like gold to you so mouth shut ,eyes and ears open LOL!!!Be mega respectful because these folk work v hard 24/7.Get a rule book and read it cover to cover re tack etc but once you get started its great fun,you can look fabulous doing lead rein ,my friend got loads of outfits from charity shops but others do completely OTT matching tweeds Anyway you want to look as professional as possible doin your show then the judge can see your pony at their best.Have fun that is the main thing ,do your homework and you are more relaxed on the day,try and get a few small shows under ur belt if u can first ,by the end of 2011 you will be an expert mum LOL!All about experience really but be warned some take it v seriously,but dont let them put you off most of the professionals will give you help and advice along the way ,is it BSPS or NPS ur doin ?

Hmm, not sure tbh. As a yard we get taken en-masse to local shows, no idea what they come under though Hehe, so much to learn

Luckily we have some very experienced people who are on the yard so I have got some people to turn to - just don't want to be doing it constantly IYSWIM!

Another storke of luck is that our older pony was bought with all the tack ready to go as he is an old hand at this!

My plan is to do small shows this next year and see how myself and the dc take to it before going any further, I have a nice young, small dd so plenty of time for her to take advantage of the young pony if it takes off. Ds will probably do this year for fun before choosing his own route, I suspect he may be subverted into polocrosse though!

Ok, so I can safely hit the charity shops for clothes at first then? I have this weird feeling that everyone will "know"! Do I need gloves? Hat?? (that may be the first nail in the coffin though!)

Hi we are an experienced showing family. We have a Sec B FR with a professional producer and have other ponies/horses at home. We've show up to RIHS/HOYS and DD recently rode the Blue Riband winner at BSPS.

Feel free to ask anything you need to know.

For a start off what type of ponies are you showing? M&Ms, Show Hunters, Show Ponies etc? This make a difference in terms of turn out and classes you'll be doing.

You are asking about kit for yourself so presumably you'll be doing the leading.

With our M&Ms DW (who leads) wears a tweed jacket matching DD's (but you can get away with any smart tweed to start with). She also wears long blue skirt but many wear blue culottes or even blue trousers are fine.
Sensible shoes or boots to compliment the outfit.

You should definitely wear a sensible hat - usually cloth or felt to match the tweed/bottoms and brown leather gloves.

You should use a leather lead rein (attached to the noseband not the bit) and carry a leather (or similar) show cane.

Have a look at photographers websites showing good show classes to get the idea or rread Horse and Hound (although the show season is nearly over now).

If going for show pony classe this is completely all wrong so if this is the case let me know!

Wondered if you do Pony Club ?Your DC might include a showing rally in the winter if you ask ,might be good to learn some top tips without the pressure of a competition ,we used to to a working hunter rally and get the children to turn out their ponies and themselves as they would for a show and invited an affiliated judge to teach that day.Perhaps you could suggest something along those lines for the classes you are doing.

Patience - we also do PC and that sort of thing would have been wonderful. However we've found that none of instructors and very few of the parents in our branch know anything about showing! Maybe I should volunteer to do something like this although not sure what the uptake would be.

DD's Pony Club instruction and her lessons with her show producer are almost extreme opposites - especially when it comes to hand position!

She loves it all though and adapts to her situation.

I just picked a judge that had never taught with us b4,a new set of eyes who just taught what he saw.Kids and parents could ask lots of questions as they panicked about their first competition.Re style i think i am of the opinion that if i can get the kids to sit in a balanced secure position and become sympathetic yet effective riders then i have done my bit and specialist trainers from individual disciplines can tweak away ,but the kids are adaptable.I like to think showing offers the kids boundaries re style ie pulling and kicking should be frowned upon.
But most of mine were green as cabbages ,but we could teach them the basic recommended show so that they looked like they knew where they were going once they got into the showring alone {well that was the plan LOL!}Also showed them how to show their pony in hand,it just makes such a difference after a few tips from a producer that knows what they are doing.I think it inspires the kids as well when everyone gasps oooo look at Muffin ,as the laziest pony in town trots up like a supreme champ !OP really is nothing like experience,you will be amazed at how much you pick up along the way ,we did M&Ms and i have a lot of fond memories.

just finished our first season with dd aged 5 and her l/r m+m who had come ot us unseen ( ie i didn't have a lcue what he had done) he is not hoys satndard but defintiely county level. I was horrified by the "competition" and how serious it is taken ....." kids must be in this make of boot, must be this type of saddle " etc. You can feel very amateur if you sticj your foot down and refuse to spend big bucks . so this is what i did ( with advice fron butkin - thanks butkin)
Child = showing selection jacket of ebay at £45 ( new would have been around £140), brown boots also off ebay then handed to grandpa to polish up . she only wears them for showing and has cheap synthetic ones for ordianry days. white shirt from asda, jods have to be canary yellow - again ebay . I chose a tie for her from pretty ponies website ( hideaously expensive) once the jacket arrived. Bought tie pin of ebay aswell. Tan leather gloves also of ebay ( the more worn in the better) child needs a navey velvet hat with flesh straps. these are pricer , ours was £100 new but again ebay have them all the time - the make you want is Charles owen. Though i have heard toggi ithink have bought out a cheaper version. also matching hair ribbons to tie £1
Me = matched up childs jkt with adults hacking jacket form shires ( it is alomost identical tweed) at cost £89 ( remebre if you go to a showing company hte mathcing adult jkts start around £200) I then got a stock made to match her tie by a local seamstress for £10 and I wear dark navey 3/4 capri trousers from m+s £25 , i bought a navey straw hat from charity shop £2 and a stock pin of ebay, dark gloves had already. Black loafers already in wardrobe.

I bought plastic box with lid and keep all teh hair ribbons, gloves , spare stokcings for me, ties etc in it complete with tissues , wet wipes, emergency polos, hairbrush and dark elastic for attatching number to rider. after each show i re kit box and keep in wardrobe.

showing hat and boots in another box.

each show has been fun and we have won every tack and turnout class we enter, it all added up to prob about £300 but i wear the shoes and trousers often to work and it will all fit for a few yrs.

Now the pony = he has a fylde bridle ( new £70) and fylde bit ( new £45) and a fylde saddle ( second hand £400) ouch , but we use this tack all the time , he doesn't have it just for best - i was told judges like to see saddles a little worn in and not everything brand new.

hope this helps

apologies for appaling typos hope you get the gist

Mummydoc - sounds like you've got all the kit and are really hooked, I'm really pleased!!

Have to say doesn't get any cheaper. We've now got 3 Fylde saddles (one for each pony and one for the producers bigger bum!) and have I told you about Courtlea Numnahs? All I can say is if you don't want to flex your credit card don't let DD anywhere near their stand!

DW and DD have also been to see Mrs Candy to get matching tweed jackets for "pairs". It can become an obsession.

Delighted that your pony and DD are doing so well. We've got them both turned out at the moment and DD is off to pony club X country training on the roan tomorrow.

Can't wait for HOYS - we are going on Thursday and we're taking DD on Sunday to see the LR SPs.

we are off to hoys on saturday to see my best friends daughter ride her SHP in LR class. all terribly excited, am trying not to take credit card and trying to rememebr we are just local level showers therefore do not need new stuff !!!:)

Showing ponies scares me witless! DD will be sticking to gymkhana games unless she begs to be allowed to go showing . My showing experience and knowledge is all to do with show hunters - bigger, but infinitely less scary than the pony world!

However, might I politely point you in the direction of the people over here? There is a small token fee to join, I believe - can't remember if it is still there as I've been a member for years. (It used to be £5 and it is used to keep the site going, and any surplus goes to charity.) The knowledge there is immense, and there is barely a HOYS or RIHS class out there that does not have a Show Ring member in the rosette line-up. The Philanderer and The Humdinger are both Show Ring horses - so they know their stuff there!