KYMBERLEE COCKREM
Preparing for a show
In my 20 years of showing horses, I have successfully
competed in pony, galloway and hack classes along
the east coast of Australia, from agricultural shows
to Royals and in that time I have learnt that the
preparation of show horses doesn’t happen overnight.
It is important to have a healthy horse, as healthy
horses will have a naturally shiny coat.
When we are preparing horses for an event,
the preparation starts months before the actual
competition. Up in far north Queensland we are a
little disadvantaged because we show in the winter
Preparing for the shows I make sure I have the
equipment required to show up to 2 months before the
first show I want to attend, as some of the equipment
needs to be specially made, e.g. Browbands, numnahs.
Once this equipment is ordered I then make sure my
bridles, saddles, stirrup leathers etc. are all clean and
in good condition.
months. During this time our days are shorter and in
Malanda we see a lot less sun, making it perfect coat
growing weather. At this time of the year I make sure
all our show team are locked in stables with lights on,
which tricks the horses into thinking it is still summer
with longer days and as the weather continues to get
colder I continue to add more rugs to the horses to
ensure they don’t get cold.
In the weeks leading up to the shows I make sure the
horses manes are pulled if required, false tails are in
good condition and dye their tails if required; a few
weeks before the first show I also ensure my grooming
box is complete with everything that I will require plus
more, e.g. bands, hairspray, cotton, needles and lots
of pairs of scissors, as I can never find scissors when I
need them!!
© Horse North 2016 HORSENORTH.COM.AU AUTUMN 2016
In the week leading up to the show my first priority is
for the horses to be well worked, to make sure they
are ready for the show and secondly all my gear is
clean and packed into the right spots.
After the horses are all prepared I then prepare the
gear I will require the next day, making sure this is all
clean and neatly set out so it is easy to find if you are
in a rush the next day.
The night before the show I like to be extremely
organised so I work my horses and then give them
a really good wash; after their wash I put their clean
show rugs on and boot their legs so I don’t have to rewash in the morning.
On the morning of the show I ensure I’m up early as
this is the key to not being stressed on the day: give
yourself plenty of time for hoof black, make-up and
quarter markers. Most importantly, enjoy what you do
and be polite to other competitors, volunteers, judges
and officials.
After working and washing comes the plaiting process:
with this process, I section the mare into an odd
amount of plaits; once plaited, I then sew the plaits
into little rosettes and I then braid the forelock and
shave their tails. Finally, I hairspray the rosettes and
put a skinny hood on to keep the plaits neat and tidy.
© Horse North 2016 HORSENORTH.COM.AU AUTUMN 2016