Best turned out

[molliemol]

Hi - i have had a break from 'active' horse ownership for some years. i still have my old pony from my teens, and we have just had his four yr old companion broken in. I am looking forward to my dc having some fun with her now, and they are keen to go to some local shows. They are novices with their riding, so I thought best turned out classes might be a gentle way in. Does anyone know what the usual expectations of turn out are ( the pony is a welsh native breed), for pony and rider - show jackets/ tack etc? Thanks

Such a difficult thing to answer as this is the one class we hardly ever do because often judged by non-experts.

Although we show to a high standard and turn out immaculately we've never won the 2 or 3 classes we've gone in - even though the ones above us have being what we'd consider to be the wrong gear (ie blue jackets with natives and overly dressed up leaders etc, no jod clips/elastic etc). They often go for bling over correctness.

Our biggest problem is that we show As and Bs and we therefore never plait because this is correct. However we've found the sort of judges who do turn out classes love ponies to be plaited - sometimes their tails as well!

I think just turn out to your best possible standards with immaculate pony, clean cloths and tack and then keep your fingers crossed!

They are a bit odd, but useful to settle nervous rider IME! Make sure the kids say they washed the pony and cleaned the tack themselves. DD's pony is a welsh b so I refuse to plait and she wears tweed, she also has a bling browband which isn't really correct but she bought it with her own pocket money so it gets used for this, not been a problem locally. Horse gossip had a thread from a T&T judge looking for tips earlier in theweek which might be helpful. The only time DD has won it was because the judge liked her sense of humour.....

We don't bother. Tack and turnout is judged on things like plaiting. We have an A and a shetland. Neither should be plaited and we always got marked down for this. T&t is always run by the same lead rein mum and swanky show pony combo! Could you start with small local shows? We used to do 'pony the judge would most like to take home' and 'prettiest mare' type things. Our local riding club is great, they have their own small shows.

Always won, not run!

Agree with Saggy - the best place to start is with the Novelty Classes at local shows like best gelding, prettiest mare, longest tail etc. Very uncompetitive but not as soul destroying as Tack and Turnout!

Depends on they type of show - if more..."casual", I'd plait, maybe put on one of those godawful browbands, HOOF OIL (!), tack coordinated with horse colour, and saddle matching bridle, beige jods, tweed jacket, joddy clips and jod boots (I take it the children are quite young?) Never ever wear black/navy jacket or white jods unless specified - it the most irritating thing known to man! I have been out of the 'scene' for a while, but used to do these week in week out. If being led, dress smartly yourself and get a proper leadrein, not a lead rope. If it's abit more serious, leave the horses main and tail loose. Plait when wet into some thick plaits for slight wave. You have to pay special attention to where to trim and where not to trim - maybe a breed specific book can help. If it's a cob then you usually go for thicker nosebands etc. It can be a minefield!

Thanks for the tips- haven't been on here for a few days. The pony is a section a, and the girls are 9 and 10. we will probably go for the novelty classes- sounds like a good idea, rather than anything too technical and demanding. We just want to have some fun with it all at the moment- I've had an almost 20 year break from it all ( where has all the time gone?!)