News: Articles: The Finishing Touches
The Finishing Touches - A Guide To Show Ring Appearances
By Mary Kirkman
In an ideal world, a win in the show ring is based only on the ability of the horse and rider - and even in a less-than-ideal world, 99.9 percent of it is. But in order to make a decision, each judge formulates an image of each contender, and if the competition is close, every rider wants that image to be as impressive as possible. A well-turned out horse or habit won't win a class, but it will catch the eye. And it will tell the judge that the rider is serious about what he or she is doing, and no detail is too small for attention.
"The pride in the finishing touch has got to come from within yourself first - from pride in your horse and your presentation," explains Russ Vento of Battaglia Farms Ltd. Over the past 20 years, he has put countless amateur and juvenile riders into the ring and watched them collect championships.
For those who want to nail down every advantage, Russ Vento can cite some common mistakes and some easy finishing touches for both horse and rider.
Ladies first - the mistakes most often seen. Starting at the head and working down, he doesn't mince words.
"The buns are just atrocious," Russ says, and chuckles at how the comment might be misinterpreted. "Hair! They're either too big, or poorly done, or too small. Buns should fit right under your hat; usually that's about an inch down from the brim, about in the middle of your ear. If you feel the back of your head, you have a little knob there; the bun should fit right on top of that, just above the round bone. The size of your bun should be the size of a medium-sized man's fist. And it doesn't need a gardenful of attachments growing out of it."
What kind of accents are acceptable? "A bit of baby's breath is nice, especially for the equitation riders. And the little sparkly jewels - they're like cubic zirconias on a little screw. I think they come in packages of six; you can put three on either side or develop a pattern in the back. That's particularly nice for nighttime classes. But remember - less is more."
He adds that while the jewels are nice for adult amateur English and western riders, they have no place for most hunter riders. "Basically your hunter colors are very subdued," he says. "The whole idea is subdued. You're giving the appearance that you're running through a field, that you've just jumped a jump. Granted, we've 'Arabianized' the hunter division; we've got bows in the horses' manes and tails, red coats, green coats, plaid coats, striped coats. That's not true hunter style, but we're Arabian people and we dress it up." Even so, he says, too much is still too much.
Women also suffer from too-flashy earrings and too-subdued makeup. "A simple pearl earring, or a simple diamond stud - real or fake - is just an accent piece. But a big dangly hoop or a dangly anything - anything that hangs below the earlobe - well, just remember: you're not going to the prom!"
The most common makeup transgression is too little or none at all. Sure, on a summer day, that makeup can be sweated off in no time, but in that case, he says, reapply it. The overall picture needs to include your face.
"It does make a difference, especially in the young kids or the young ladies," Russ says. "I'm not talking about nightclub makeup, but lipstick, a little eye shadow, a little mascara, blush - facial color. Just a little more than what most women wear every day. Our lights are so bad in those arenas; they tend to wash you out. If your face looks pale, you give the impression of being tired or exhausted or stressed. You need the freshness. You don't want people to think 'the horse is doing good, but that lady doesn't look like she's having a good time.'"
Working down the body, the next stop is the habit. It's fairly well known that a rider's habit should coordinate in color with his or her horse. Russ advises that in selecting a color, you view the fabric both indoors and out, because most riders will show in both light situations. Start by figuring out your own needs and budget: Will you be showing nighttime and daytime? Indoor and outdoor? If budget is an issue, find the color that best satisfies your agenda. Does that mean everyone should have two wardrobes? Not necessarily.
"Almost all of our riders have two different looks," he says, "but that may mean just a different vest, shirt and tie. It could mean a nighttime look in addition to the one they use during the day, or it could be simply a different color combination."
It's also important to take into consideration a rider's figure or build. "Larger riders need to stay away from the light colors," Russ says bluntly. "They need something darker. If you're a larger-chested woman, first of all, you need a good sports bra. Then, if you have a dark suit, have a lighter colored vest or something that breaks up that chest area, because when you are posting, you will be bouncing around. More color in the chest area breaks it up. It's more slimming."
Making sure the clothes fit correctly is invaluable, he adds. "If you're a little bigger in the hindquarters, adjust your coat in the way it's tailored Maybe it needs to sit up a little higher in the back, so that it sculpts your body a little bit."
Specifics? "For instance, in equitation, the back is a huge issue, and the clothes need to lie correctly and sculpt the children's waists," he says. "There is not a standard pattern that fits everybody. Sometimes the buttonholes need to be moved to adjust, or the under-the-arm areas need to adjust for the chest. The hips are an issue, so there's tailoring there. With the boys, it's the same thing; their shoulders are developing, and the clothes all need to fit. And when boys go from 14 to 16, their whole bodies change. They do it more drastically and quickly than the young girls do. I make their mothers check them monthly."
Giving the women a break, what is the worst fashion faux pas among men? "They wear the wrong hats," Russ says, "and they don't pay enough attention to their tailoring."
The tailoring problem can be common; unfortunately, everyone gains weight now and then. Men who have gained weight have been seen to pull their coats up to the top of their bellybuttons, or use button extenders or pieces of elastic to close their coats. "It can be pretty comical," Russ notes. "Now, tailoring is not that expensive or that hard. Plan ahead!"
He speaks from personal experience. "My weight fluctuates pretty much 20 pounds up, 20 pounds down. I just call Show Season and say, 'I've done it again.' I FedEx them my coat on Monday and I have it back on Friday. It costs between $50 and $100."
Once a man has his well-tailored outfit, Russ notes also that he should keep it clean. It's easy to get a habit dusty in the show arena, and just as easy to run a damp towel over it. "Men are so hands-on, especially the trainers who are putting amateurs into the ring and showing open themselves," he explains. "They need to take that extra minute to get their boots dusted off and put on a fresh shirt."
With amateurs, the biggest problem is getting ready too soon, and then sitting around getting dusty and wrinkled. "Get your numbers ready ahead of time, make sure your suit pants have the underpasses attached and in good order," he says. "For western riders, make sure the silver on the belt buckle and on the chaps is polished. Then you can wait longer to get dressed and your outfit will look sharper."
The hat issue simply requires honest evaluation. "It's my understanding that the homberg was traditionally designed for nighttime, and the snap brim or straw hat was used more during the day. I think that in the Arabian industry, we've developed the attitude that a man should just go for the hat that fits his face. Judge your facial structure as far as the hat fitting. Take the initiative and do it."
The riders aren't the only part of the competitive team that frequently needs help. Horses need to be well turned out too.
"The horses need to have slick hair," he says. "I'm talking at the regional and national level here. They should have slick hair coats and baths. They don't have to be washed at 5:00 a.m. on the day that they show, but they should be washed and not have shavings in their mane and tail. (As a judge, I see this far too often.) Also, the tail doesn't have to look like it was just unbraided - all curly and permed. That was a phase we went through sometime back, but we don't do it today."
Don't overdo the washing, he cautions. "Washing isn't always the best thing for a horse's coat. The best thing for any horse's coat is simple elbow grease with a currycomb. It breaks up all the oils and gets out all the dander. Then towel or soft brush the horses off."
Feet also come in for comment. "We don't need to sand the nailheads off the horses' feet," he says. "It's wonderful to have them looking like you're looking through a looking glass, but it's not good for them. The thing is to make sure the horse's foot is clean, and if you use a wire brush, steel wool or something like that, you'll get a good sheen to it and it'll look like a healthy, clean hoof. Also, our horses all have Hooflex® on before we wash, because the water dries out the feet."
Manes and tails, he says, are fairly simple to maintain. For the most part, just taking the time will do the trick. "It's all part of taking the extra 30 seconds here or one minute there for the greater goal," Russ says. "It you say, 'I'm tired, I don't want to undo my horse's tail today,' you'll wind up losing the tail. Just remember that you don't need a tail so long that it drags four feet behind your horse. The horses will step on them, particularly the country horses when they back. A respectable length of mane, to the shoulder, is great - it doesn't need to be to the knees. On the western horses, the forelocks should hang quietly in the middle of the face. The English horses should hang to one side or the other; they don't need to be cut off to where there are just three hairs."
Is there anything special about show grooming a halter horse? Sure. "I think a light oil to enhance the natural dark pigment of the skin is great," he says. "They don't need to look like they were sprayed with lacquer. For instance, in Scottsdale, where they stand in the hot sun - grease dripping into the horse's eyes is not representative of what we want.
"What halter horses need most is extra care on their coats, because they're sweated so much. That dries out the coat. It's easy for them to get dull or get a fungus. When they're showing, they're doused with coat spray and so forth, so it's important to get them washed at your earliest convenience following your presentation."
Another area that needs attention, Russ says, is the braiding of manes. "You need to look at how the horse is formed and use a type of braid that enhances the line of the horse's neck or the carriage of the tail. It needs to be somewhat tight, but of a small, clean braid. It doesn't need to be big, huge chunks, and it doesn't have to be a braid followed down to where it's a loop. Some horses wear white bows, some dark bows. That depends on how you want to present yourself to the judges."
The flashier white bows are the trickiest. "White bows should be about four inches apart - just something to highlight. They don't need to be the size of a dime; they should be more like the size of a winder on a watch, just an enhancement."
As important as horse and rider is tack."You have to clean it everyday," Russ says.
"You have to take care of it. Keep it clean, keep it oiled and protected."
Take care of it, he says, and it will reward you with long life - and at the cost of tack these days, that's no small reward. "Bob Battaglia's been doing business for more than 30 years, and he has some of his first long-lining equipment," Russ reports. "Hucklebey Berry is 20 and Gai Argosy is 23, and their bridles are still hanging in the tack room. He could show with them today. You buy quality equipment and you take care of it, whether it's show tack or work tack. Clean it every day. It takes 10 or 15 minutes. Spend the time."
In the end, the secret is spending time. That's how you get the finishing touches - you spend the time to evaluate your appearance and your horse's appearance, and you spend the time to improve it. It's that little bit of extra attention that draws the eye to one rider instead of another, giving the impression that one rider is more serious than another is.
But as Russ Vento says, the final and most important finishing touch is seen on the horse and rider who know that they are the best they can be.
"We can doll you up all we want," Russ says, "but the true finishing touch comes from within yourself."
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