Preparing for a show?!

I am just curious to see what other people do to get ready for a show? For you, your horse, the trailer, ect. ect.

It can be either just a fun local show, or one 7 hours away.

Well I like to look over the trailer about three days before the show. Clean it if it needs cleaning, tire check... etc...

For the horse the night before I give him or her a bath, bag up the tail, sheet him if its cool enough for a sheet.

I also the day before load up the trailer with everything I need (hay, tack, buckets ... etc). While taking the time looking things over to make sure they are not damaged and needing to be replaced.

I get everything ready so in the morning all I gotta do is load up and go .

I generally show at open shows no more then two hours away.

Other then riding ahead of time, getting my horse fit, and keeping the coat in nice condition this is what I do the night before the show:

-Get the horse clipped
-nice easy ride
-turnout the horse for a bit so she can roll and relax a bit
-clean her stall
-get the trailer packed (I have a checklist of everything I need to have- even though most of it stays int he trailer
-get the hay bags in the trailer
-make sure there is plenty of bedding in the trailer
-wash the horse
-band her mane
-but her to bed

the morning of the show
- I like to get to the show around 2 hours ahead of time
-warm-up ride
- let her sit for a little while tied to the trailer
- I will register
- then get her cleaned up- I like to start with the feet/legs and work my way up. Paint her feet, brush the body, put in the fake tail (if im using it that day), fix anything in the mane if I need to, put on her show halter, then her face make-up, and a good misting of peppy body spray along with fly spray.
-Then I get dressed and my hair put up
- final look over on the horse
- go to the ring to show!!!

When I get home from the show I will unload and rinse her off to get all of the sprays and whatnot off of her- and then I will clean out the mess in the trailer and unload the stuff I need to unload.

Night Before the Show:
- Wash him head to toe, once dry I wrap up his legs to help keep them white & add on show sheen to help keep stains off if anything happens and into his stall he goes.
- Clean all my tack and bleach my blankets white.
- Load up all my tack and attire needed, brush box, hat etc.
- Then giving the trailer a once over to make everything is in place.
- Put my money for my classes in my garment bag so it's not left at home.

Day of the show:
- Put in D's fake tail
- Put a flake of hay in the trailer for his breakfast
- get to the show about an hour early
- unload and tie D up then go and sigh up
- Get my hair done in a nice bun and give D a brushing
- Clean his feet and put on his hoof polish
- use white touch up where needed
- Hair gel his main down if it's not braided & his tail
- Show sheet his butt, neck, and fore head
- Then I get dressed
- Then put on his show halter and go over to the ring

Seems like such a short list without all the details lol. The only time this changes is I will braid his main before a 'bigger' hunter show or multi-day show and then put his sleezy on over might to keep them pretty.

Weeks before show- start conditioning and practicing dressage tests.

Day before show-

• Clean the trailer and make sure that the bedding is clean, fresh, and dry. I also vaccum out the living space and tack room.
• Clean all my tack and brushes.
• Load everything on the trailer and make sure that all my clothes are clean and we have extra everything.
• Give the horse a bath with Quic Silver/Black
• Condition the tail.
• Let them totally dry in the sun.
• Clip
• Braid mane and put tail in bag.
• Sleazy up.
• Put in for the night and go back around 9 to muck stall.
• Go to sleep early.

Day of show-

• Get the horse fed an hour or more before we load on the trailer.
• Wrap legs(polos for under two hours and standing wraps for over two hours)
• Load onto the trailer.

At Showgrounds-

• Have my mom check me in.
• Get horses off trailer and tied with water bucket and hay net.
• Undo wraps.
• Undo sleazys and tail bags.
• Groom and relax together
• Get tacked up
• Get dressed and do hair
• Go and win!