On Friday we took my boss's broodmare Heroine and her filly Tigger (born 10 June) off to a show. It was run by the stud where her daddy comes from, and all 2012 foals sired by their stallions were eligible. We knew we wouldn't realistically be in with a chance of winning anything, but not only would going out to a show be good experience for Tigger, it's also a handy thing to do with a foal you are trying to sell 
Our “raw material”
After we'd entered the show my boss found out that she would be away in Ireland this weekend, so it fell on me and her mum Penny to do it. We were initially worried that we wouldn't be up to standard with the turnout etc, and also that we didn't have the experience to show the foal off properly. However about a month ago the organisers announced a couple of measures they were taking to make it a more level playing field - as some of the entrants would be professional producers and others would be showing amateurs like us.
All the foals would be presented in the ring by a team from the stud, and whilst judging took place the judges would not have the name of the owner or breeder at their disposal (there is a LOT of name-related bias in the Selle Francais world!) All entrants could request to have their mare and foal plaited up by grooms from the stud - we opted for this without hesitation. Plus, in the first round they were splitting the foals into two age groups - those born in March and April, and those born in May and June (and the handful born in July) - meaning that the younger and less-developed foals weren't immediately being judged against those who were up to 4 months more mature.
Friday morning at about 10.30am we loaded them up and headed off to the Haras National at Saint Lo (our local branch of the Selle Francais National Stud) where the show was taking place. We unloaded them in the car park and then had several minutes' walk across the open yards to the mare-and-foal barns. Heroine had competed at Saint Lo a fair bit in her showjumping days, and she seemed to recognise where she was, even though she's been retired for 5 years anf not been to a show venue since. They had a lovely thick straw bed in their loosebox - we gave Heroine a big haynet but she was FAR more interested in eating her bedsheets :giggle: Tigger exchanged noises with a few other foals and then settled down for a snooze.
We had about an hour's wait then, before the plaiting team came and worked their magic. They did a super job with Heroine's unruly hair and somehow managed to get some teeny tiny plaits into Tigger's almost non-existent mane. We attacked them both with hairspray and then stopped for our picnic lunch - our showing time was at 13:42 so we had a bit of time to kill. Then we finished getting the horses ready... baby wipes, baby oil, coat sheen, hoof oil and a LOT of polishing! I had already cleaned Heroine's showing bridle to within an inch of its life, we just had to attach her number and then we were good to go.
The walk from the barn to the arena took a couple of minutes. Heroine was like a different horse to the laid-back, droopy-lipped, scruffy field-kept mare from home - all shiny and neat, walking along "on the bit" with her neck arched, looking all proud and youthful with her little filly trotting along beside her.
Our “raw material”
After we'd entered the show my boss found out that she would be away in Ireland this weekend, so it fell on me and her mum Penny to do it. We were initially worried that we wouldn't be up to standard with the turnout etc, and also that we didn't have the experience to show the foal off properly. However about a month ago the organisers announced a couple of measures they were taking to make it a more level playing field - as some of the entrants would be professional producers and others would be showing amateurs like us.
All the foals would be presented in the ring by a team from the stud, and whilst judging took place the judges would not have the name of the owner or breeder at their disposal (there is a LOT of name-related bias in the Selle Francais world!) All entrants could request to have their mare and foal plaited up by grooms from the stud - we opted for this without hesitation. Plus, in the first round they were splitting the foals into two age groups - those born in March and April, and those born in May and June (and the handful born in July) - meaning that the younger and less-developed foals weren't immediately being judged against those who were up to 4 months more mature.
Friday morning at about 10.30am we loaded them up and headed off to the Haras National at Saint Lo (our local branch of the Selle Francais National Stud) where the show was taking place. We unloaded them in the car park and then had several minutes' walk across the open yards to the mare-and-foal barns. Heroine had competed at Saint Lo a fair bit in her showjumping days, and she seemed to recognise where she was, even though she's been retired for 5 years anf not been to a show venue since. They had a lovely thick straw bed in their loosebox - we gave Heroine a big haynet but she was FAR more interested in eating her bedsheets :giggle: Tigger exchanged noises with a few other foals and then settled down for a snooze.
We had about an hour's wait then, before the plaiting team came and worked their magic. They did a super job with Heroine's unruly hair and somehow managed to get some teeny tiny plaits into Tigger's almost non-existent mane. We attacked them both with hairspray and then stopped for our picnic lunch - our showing time was at 13:42 so we had a bit of time to kill. Then we finished getting the horses ready... baby wipes, baby oil, coat sheen, hoof oil and a LOT of polishing! I had already cleaned Heroine's showing bridle to within an inch of its life, we just had to attach her number and then we were good to go.
The walk from the barn to the arena took a couple of minutes. Heroine was like a different horse to the laid-back, droopy-lipped, scruffy field-kept mare from home - all shiny and neat, walking along "on the bit" with her neck arched, looking all proud and youthful with her little filly trotting along beside her.
