In hand showing

[Beth&Rosie]

hi, does anyone know what i would need to show my horse in hand?? i guess i cant do it in a regular headcollar,but could i use her bridle? and do you need a leather lead rope? and also do i just wear regular show clothes? sorry about all the questions but never done this before but i think that rosie would do well in in hand coloured classes as is well mannered and have been told that her symmetrical markings are a good thing!!

[Mellymoo]

Yes, her normal bridle is fine. I just use normal reins, as I am usually doing ridden classes too, but you can get a leather leadrope if you want to. Normal show clothes are fine, although if all you are doing is in-hand then you can wear normal trousers instead of jods (but jods are fine too).

If you are going to do affiliated showing, that is more complicated, and someone else will hae to advise!! Good luck anyway - we expect pics!

[arabiangem]

This was myself and Marjorie, my arab mare, at a local in-hand class last summer:



So I had her in an in-hand bridle as she doesn't have a leather normal one (only a red&black plastic one!). Her usual bit and a set of reins. I left her au natural as, since she is pure bred arab, that is how she would be shown in an arab class.

I wore pale trousers, my ariat trainers as she can really shift and I needed to be able to keep up, tweed, shirt and tie. You should wear a hat of some description. I wore my skull cap as it was her first show and I wasn't sure how she'd behave so took a safety first approach. Otherwise I have a brown felt fedora which I would have worn. You should also wear a pair of gloves and carry a show cane, but I can't find mine!

I thought we looked fine for a local show. Clean, presentable, tidy.

[orangetails]

I believe general rule of thumb is if you use your normal riding bridle (to suit the type of horse/class you are doing) then use your normal reins on it, over her head. If you use an in-hand bridle, use a leather show lead with it. In a mixed class, turn out as to type, as arabiangem says (eg my Welsh A is always shown au natural in a white webbing halter as that is correct for the breed) If it's a ridden horse being shown in an in-hand class I believe you can wear your normal riding clothes, but I prefer my fawn trousers and again as mine is a Welsh A a shirt and tweed waistcoat is more correct. I wear jod boots as I can run in those fine, and a tie to tone with my shirt/waistcoat and my posh velvet hat (with flesh harness) - you should never be penalised for choosing to wear a hat with a safety harness

[Beth&Rosie]

Ok thanks! Btw is it ok to wear a blue showing jacket or does it have to be tweed??

[Mellymoo]

Should be tweed for M&M, but TBH I don't think it really matters for local showing (well, not at the ones I go to anyway - how the heck do you turn out correctly with a fjord (no one knows ;D)