Just curious the tactics used to make nice, precise quarter marks for dressage & stadium. Also, favorite styles?
I’m a big fan of the square checks. My guy has a big hindquarter so I can get away with big wide squares. Its pretty simple. I use a spray bottle of water to dampen his hindquarters, a soft brush to brush the hair down, and then I just use a mane comb straight down from the point of his croup, more or less perpendicular to the way his hair grows, to make the squares. I finish it off with a spritz of hairspray and then try my best to get the other side to match!
If you have a finer horse you can get one of those cheapy plastic black combs and break it to the size you want your squares to be. You would probably end up with about 5-7 “teeth” left. Then you can repeat the process using the small piece of the comb to make your smaller squares.
There are plenty of other ways to do them. They sell all kinds of stencils, and you can easily make your own out of thick cardboard. Then you can do anything you want! A lot of the upper level horses will have something as simple as a few lines going accross their hindquarters which can look very classy. Certain styles look better on certain horses, experiment a little and see what you like best.
As far as the process goes its always the same no matter what pattern you’re doing: dampen the hair, brush it down, use your comb or whatever you’re using against the grain of the hair, and spray with hairspray to make it stick.
Jesus. Just realized xctrygirl taught me how to do good quarter marks almost 10 years ago!!! Wow…time flies.
My technique is similar to JFC’s. I use a flat, short bristled brush, similar to this. I dunk it in water, then brush the horse’s haunches with the hair. I then take my comb (which are chunks of a plastic, fine toothed comb), and comb perpendicular to the ground. So, not completely against the grain, but from top to bottom. I typically do a diamond but I have played around with different shapes and patterns. With the way one days run nowadays, I don’t do them as often, but every now and then they are fun. Here are some on Toby. Not my best, but you get the general idea. I like to spray them with flyspray or maybe even a little QuickBraid to help them “set”.
I HATE the stencils. They are often far too big on the smaller horses (which is what I typically ride). I much prefer doing to by hand.
Now, someone tell me how to do shark teeth! I haven’t mastered those at all.
I like Vs or straight lines.
I can never get my sharks teeth to stay in place they always seem to disappear. Tried water & coat spray.
I loathe stenciled quartermarks and prefer to do them by hand. But I can only pull it off on the bay horse–quarter marks don’t work on the appy and the pinto! :lol:
Practice, practice, practice, and “set your canvas” by brushing all the hair in one direction first. Don’t start with the hair just lying wherever it naturally does–I brush it ALL horizontal first with a stiff, wet brush and then start doing my shark’s teeth. For checkers up on the croup I just use a metal pulling comb.
^^^ Yep! I used the comb method on my dark bay TB - set with a little hair spray to keep it in place!
Now that I have a leopard Appy - do not get to do fun quarter marks any more, but hey, she has her own “decorations”!
On a pinto, sometimes you can do really pretty sharks teeth down their haunches. We used to do that on my advanced horse and it was lovely. All depends on how they’re colored though - need a decent sized patch of the same color.
I also don’t tend to like stencils unless there’s a specific connection with the horse/rider, but love the look of freehand sharks’ teeth on a shiny bay. I’d rather see time/effort put into basic grooming first (e.g., if your horse isn’t already glossy, don’t spend the time on quartermarks), but they can be a gorgeous final touch. I start by heavily fly-spraying the coat, then brushing it all in one direction. Then I take a short stiff brush and make a V on their hips, and then alternating diagonal sweeps on their haunches, so you get the sharks teeth pattern below. Finish with a vertical brush down the back to give a clean line.
Sharks teeth are easy, well IMO. Wet with brush, swipe hair up then swipe down. Be exact on how you want the point and where you want it. Lookk on your width to make sure it is perfect. Repeat twice or just once depending if you want 2 or 3. I dont use spray to set just leave it and it lasts. If they arent showing, use more water.
Checkers are fun. I have plastic combs with numerous sizes to set them. Diamonds are easy as well.stripess and Vs are also easy and add just enough.
I hate stencils. Hate, hate, hate! Never look good imo. Pratice makes perfect and they are not that hard. Step back to make sure its perfect. I only spray if a horse will be wearing a cooler, like before the jog. Then I use hairspray or flyspray depending.
Add me to the ‘I hate stencils’ club. I only mentioned them because they may be good for a beginner to get the idea. And yb, I started to write instructions for shark’s teeth and then I realized I was probably just going to confuse everybody further! They are actually super easy, just not so easy to explain in words.
Now now, I have seen DW’s bay horse sporting an absolutely lovely celtic knot stencil in person (when ridden by her trainer) and it was absolutely stunning (as noted by more than a few of my companions at that show)!
There is a website with really fun stencils, maybe http://www.thequartermarkerco.com/ ??
I have an all black horse with just the littlest white snip on his nose, so I like the option of putting some “spots” on him, especially now that we actually have a butt (him, not me… I’ve always had more than my share of hindquarters…) 
My trainer can also pull off riding with white gloves. :lol:
She can do anything she wants to any of my horses. When you can get not-a-great-mover Bonnie to pull scores of 28, you can put whatever you want on her big butt! 
I create custom quarter marks for people! I have done several, my seahorse I did for a friend was even featured in the AEC’s section of eventing magazine!
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y106/ilyrya/375811_10100862201867548_1304683835_n_zps44c336b8.jpg
I can make them any size, just provide me the artwork.
I did one for my own horse of my business’ logo which is quite complex. I apply it with a little oil based fly spray to help the hair lay flat and use a toothbrush to brush it on. If needed I’ll add a little hairspray at the end.
Send me a PM if you’re interested in having a custom marker made!
[QUOTE=yellowbritches;6761855]
Jesus. Just realized xctrygirl taught me how to do good quarter marks almost 10 years ago!!! Wow…time flies.
My technique is similar to JFC’s. I use a flat, short bristled brush, similar to this. I dunk it in water, then brush the horse’s haunches with the hair. I then take my comb (which are chunks of a plastic, fine toothed comb), and comb perpendicular to the ground. So, not completely against the grain, but from top to bottom. I typically do a diamond but I have played around with different shapes and patterns. With the way one days run nowadays, I don’t do them as often, but every now and then they are fun. Here are some on Toby. Not my best, but you get the general idea. I like to spray them with flyspray or maybe even a little QuickBraid to help them “set”.
I HATE the stencils. They are often far too big on the smaller horses (which is what I typically ride). I much prefer doing to by hand.
Now, someone tell me how to do shark teeth! I haven’t mastered those at all.[/QUOTE]
I KNow!!! Where did the time go??? LOL
I will say the best combs I have used are:
Ace Brand Black hair combs. Cut into sizes you want, either fine end or fat end
Flea combs for cats. Either cut into sizes or whole.
Also big trick on the horses is to brush the hair down pre combing with a thin layer of hair spray. Spritz on and brush straight down towards tail. Not too thick. Then comb in marks immediately while damp.
Also. Try to remind yourself you’ve done the marks and not to touch the rump. I end up undoing mine often as I shove the horse over when trying to brush his tail. But that’s probably just me!
Em
An easy way to do a good check board (small) is to use a small clipper blade…start at the spine…it does 1" checks. Or use a large clipper blade and get 2" squares. They also create stars, just wet the hair and drag. AND it stay ‘in’ better.
A really cool stencil was on Spindletop Showdown (a top strip hunter yearsss ago): they used an american flag on the flank/quarters. When he trotted the flag waved. It was really awesome.
[QUOTE=ideayoda;6765423]
An easy way to do a good check board (small) is to use a small clipper blade…start at the spine…it does 1" checks. Or use a large clipper blade and get 2" squares. They also create stars, just wet the hair and drag. AND it stay ‘in’ better.
A really cool stencil was on Spindletop Showdown (a top strip hunter yearsss ago): they used an american flag on the flank/quarters. When he trotted the flag waved. It was really awesome.[/QUOTE]
Someone years ago taught me to use clipper blades. They work fantastic!
Eventing noobie here… What is the purpose of quartermarks? Just to look fun? It’s neat to see the different designs you all do. Thanks in advance for clarifying about why they are used in XC.
In the old days they would be used to denote horses that were for sale, if I’m not mistaken. Nowadays it’s just for fun and properly done on a CLEAN AND SHINY horse they are, to many people, very attractive. They may or may not “show off” the horse’s hindquarters, whatever that means. :lol: That term always struck me as something only a butcher would value. 
I am the ‘seahorse’ friend of @Action42 and I love the stencil she did! I usually combine that with sharks teeth down the flank (or a basket weave) and a few freehand squares.
For my schooling show I made a fleur de lis stencil. I did it with a damp brush, then used (ahem, sparkly) hairspray when I was done. It stayed all day.
