Supreme Products Turnout Tips for the Show Ring

When you enter the show ring you want to catch the judge’s eye as soon as possible. Therefore, turnout is the essential element for creating a good first impression. Once you have the judge’s attention it will become easier to impress them with your horse’s paces and manners.

At Home

Trimming

First make sure your horse looks elegant by trimming out the ears, muzzle and bridle path. Also trim out the heels to remove any unnecessary leg hair.

Mountain and Moorland Ponies should be shown in their natural state, however you can do some trimming on the pony’s head to make it appear more defined.

If you want to trim the mane be careful to make sure it still looks natural, and the tail should be left neat and tidy, but again in a natural style.

Show horses should also have their tails pulled. If you are not comfortable with pulling tails, use a Supreme Products Thinning Comb. This is a humane and efficient bladed comb which thins tails and manes easily and quickly.

Bathing

Firstly wet your horse all over with lukewarm water. For that ultra clean and shiny look choose a shampoo specific to your horse or pony’s colour. These shampoos really help to enhance the colour of the coat.

Once you have the shampoo to hand you can either put some in a bucket of warm water or place it straight on to your sponge. Get a good lather on the coat and where possible leave the lather on the coat for a few minutes to work in. In stubborn areas you can apply the shampoo neat and leave for a few minutes before washing off.

Thoroughly rinse the shampoo off the coat and sweat scrape the worst of the water away. If you want to enhance your horse’s colour further use Supreme Blue Rinse as a finishing touch as this will add shine and enhance the depth of colour for all coats.

After washing the tail spray with Supreme Products Detangle & Shine to help gently brush through the tail when it is dry. You want to leave your horse or pony’s tail as thick and lustrous as possible so only brush through the tail when you really have to.

Plaiting

When it comes to plaiting you want to be able to stand back and be happy that the number of plaits suit the length of the neck.

Sewing in plaits always leaves a much smarter appearance and is the only way to plait for showing classes.

If you find plaits become loose before you sew them in you can always secure with a rubber band at the bottom of the plait and then start to roll the plait up.

There may be occasions when it is easier to plait up the evening before to save time and reduce stress on the day of the competition.

Using Supreme Products Easy Plait will help you achieve a good professional finish. Spray the section of the mane with Easy Plait and this will help you get a good grip and also hold the plaits in place, without being sticky or greasy.

Once you have plaited, fitting a Supreme Products Lycra Mix Hood will protect the plaits and help lay them and keep them pristine. A hood will also lay the coat, as well as adding condition and shine to the neck.

Plaits can be used to disguise problems with your horse’s neck. If your horse has a weak topline then plaits will need to be pushed up onto the crest to give him a better overall appearance. If he has a cresty neck then he will require small plaits set low down.

For a long neck you need fewer larger plaits, and more plaits for a short neck. Stitch in the plaits to keep them secure.

At The Show

Quarter Marks

All show horses can wear quarter marks apart from Mountain and Moorland ponies.

When applying quarter markers use Supreme Products De Luxe Coat Gloss to help provide the perfect canvas and leave a natural looking shine on the coat.

For Show Ponies and Hacks the traditional markings are an upside down V checked board with sharks teeth, for this you will need a small quarter marking comb.

Start on the left and gently comb down to create a small square, leave a space of an equal width and comb in another square. Continue until about 6 squares have been created.

Then comb directly under the blank squares on the row above. Each row should have one less square, this should create the V shape. Then repeat on the other side, making sure they are symmetrical.

Hunters markers are much simpler, they have two or three rectangles which are produced with a wide body brush with closely knitted bristles.

Once the desired marks have been created, it is now time to add the sharks teeth. With a body brush, brush in an upwards direction in one stroke, you should see that the hair is now laying in a different direction. Starting at the same point brush downwards in a diagonal movement.

The next step is to brush up and try and meet the last point down, repeat this exercise until three or four shark’s teeth have been created.

Finishing Touches

Once you have arrived at the show add the last minute finishing touches to your horse or pony before you enter the ring.

Painting feet is a must’. Supreme Products Hoof Paint is great at producing shiny hooves to give your horse that top class effect. It is a paint, not a varnish, so it allows the hooves to breathe whilst creating a shiny finish.

If your horse has any scars or blemishes, or you want to add extra definition around the eyes and muzzle add Supreme Products Make Up

Finish the look by applying Supreme Products Glistening Oil to add those final touches and enhance and highlight your horse’s best points.

Now head off to the arena with a smile on your face and plenty of confidence!

The Supreme Products Guide to Bathing and Trimming: Part Two

At first glance, it would appear that all horse shampoos are the same. However, there are important differences between each type. Choosing the right one, depending on the colour of your horse among many other things, can make bathing a whole lot easier and the end result much more spectacular!

The Horse That Attracts Dirt

We all know how frustrating it can be to spend hours scrubbing at a horrible yellow stable stain or mud patch. Fortunately, things don't have to be as labour intensive anymore, thanks to Supreme Products Stain Remover Shampoo.

Designed specifically for targeting affected areas, this shampoo needs to be worked into the skin and is perfect for use on older or more established stains on the body, legs and even yellow stains in the tail.

If you feel your horse is really dirty turn to Supreme Products Stain Remover Spray, developed to dissolve and lift vegetable based stains quickly from the coat, legs and hocks.

Ideal for use as a precursor to bathing or even on the morning of a show, Supreme Products Stain Remover Spray is an essential emergency piece of kit.

Black and Brown Coats

It is important when looking at shampoos that you choose one that will bring out the true bloom, as well as adding lustre and shine.

Bay and Brown coats can often look dull, which is partially due to the scurf and dirt that is most visible in this colour of coat.

Supreme Products High Shine Shampoo has been designed specifically for challenging the build-up of coat preparations which have built up throughout the show season. This is a valuable shampoo in the early season and is brilliant after clipping. High Shine Shampoo is highly effective in removing grease, dirt and scurf and leaving the coat silky and shiny.

Whilst great for Bay and Browns this shampoo also adds shine and lustre to all coat colours, making it extremely versatile.

Chestnut and Bright Bay Coats

With a specialist colour enhancing formulation, Supreme Products Chestnut Shampoo is highly concentrated with added conditioners to increase depth of colour, promote chestnut tones and eliminate fading.

Supreme Products Chestnut Shampoo produces a beautiful and highly lustrous finish to your horse’s coat, making him look and feel like a true champion. This shampoo can be particularly beneficial in restoring colour to faded coats during the summer months.

Palomino and Dun Coats

Supreme Products Palomino Shampoo contains natural brighteners and honey conditioner specifically formulated for use on palomino, golden dun and light coloured show coats. It helps enhance their natural colour and produces a brilliant show ring finish.

Palomino and Dun horses are a minority colour group therefore they do stand out in the ring. This product will make your horse look extra special in the ring and can bring an extra shine to a coat that very rarely glistens and gleams.

Brighter Whites

For those of you who have grey, white or coloured horses, you will be inundated with whitening products and shampoos, so how do you know which one to choose?

Tried and tested by many showing professionals Supreme Products Blue Shampoo adds a bright and white finish to show ring turnout. This shampoo, containing optical brighteners for light coats, is sure to make white and grey horses stand out from the crowd. It is also really effective and useful on coloured coats – for brightening and whitening the light coat and for adding depth of colour and shine to the darker coat.

For extra definition and whitening, Supreme Products Leg and Body Whitener can also be used to whiten the body, mane and tail, and is perfect for covering stable stains and unsightly marks. The powder can be mixed with water to create a paste and then applied to the legs to create the whitest and brightest socks in the show ring, socks that really dazzle!

Damaged or Dry Coats

New to the Supreme Products Professional Collection is Supreme Products Show Shampoo and Conditioner which is suitable for use on all coat colours and textures to restore lustre and shine. This almond and coconut shampoo contains conditioners to help restore damaged or dry coats, manes and tails. This shampoo will help to produce a brilliant show ring finish to all coat colours.

The Secret Weapon!

When you feel you really want to get ahead in the turnout stakes and want to pull out all the stops, why not go for something a little extra?

Bearing in mind a little goes a long way Supreme Products Blue Rinse has been described as ‘magic’ in a pot and can be added to the final rinse to accentuate and add definition to grey’s and all coat colour’s.