Horse show pre/post/during care

[warmbloodlover11]

For those traveling to horse shows for the weekend and their horses are in stalls, how do you proactively try to keep your horse comfortable? Of course hand walking is priority #1 but recently I was thinking I should poultice and wrap as well. With the trailer ride, two tests per day, stuck in a stall 24/7, I could tell my mare was a bit sore and stiff on our last day even with trying to hand walk as much as possible. Just was curious if anyone had any good tips for what has worked for their horses

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[Mander]

I don’t do anything terribly special - hand walk/graze frequently, hose down legs after riding, carrot stretches, occasionally some standing wraps on horses that tend to stock up.

Keep in mind the level of fitness your horse has (especially coming out of winter). If they’re only used to doing 20-30 mins of work a few days a week, it’s unrealistic to expect them to bang around on a trailer for X amount of time, do a schooling ride on Friday and then two 30 minute warmups + 2 tests + 2 cool downs Sat AND Sunday and still feel great afterwards. You may have to cut down your warmups (the non-walking portion of it, that is) as much as possible, or consider not doing as many tests if your horse gets sore.

[Cowgirl]

I give mine ulcergard because I find they are more comfortable and less stressed if they have that on board. I try to ice or cold hose (I even have a portable freezer for my ice boots that I can use if there is electric available). I will use a legal dose of NSAID if it’s a multi day show. I hand walk a lot. I use nibble nets in the stalls. I wrap at night with back on track wraps and use a back on track sheet. I have a Bemer blanket and that helps too. Use a Posture Prep or a massage tool. When we were in drought and the ground was kind of hard, I would pack the feet at night with Magic Cushion. If there is anywhere to hand graze, that helps a lot. I try not to leave them alone for too long during the day. Also, hang a fan. If the sun is going directly in your horse’s stall, hanging a fly sheet on the stall front can help. I time my warmup to allow for a lot of walking.

[exvet]

Because mine spend a lot of time turned out, I try to spend a lot of time hand walking both of my boys while at the show. If my daughter comes to help, she grabs one and I grab the other. Usually the show stalls have mats and I bed pretty thickly. I also give ulcer preventatives. I try to make sure I give my horses plenty of walk warm up and cool down for each test. I usually don’t ride more than one test in a day if I’m competing above third level. If I don’t have to leave them overnight, I take them home (one of our venues is very close to my house in the Valley) for the evening so they can sleep in their own beds/stalls. I’d rather drive the short distance back-and-forth so that my horses can really relax in their own barn than leave them overnight if that’s an option.

[joiedevie99]

Nothing too special. We hand walk/graze as much as possible. Some get ulcerguard starting 4 days before we leave. Some get standing wraps at night. Some sleep in Back on Track sheets. Most only show one test per day (unless intro/training). The 16+ schoolmaster types doing the lower levels with amateurs and kids at national shows often get legal amounts of banamine. If the footing is awful we scratch. Where we can, we just go for the day and show off the trailer or out of daily stalls so they don’t miss too much turnout.

It also just really depends on the horse. I have one now who hates hand walking. He just did a CDI with no special care to speak of at all. He got hosed off after our rides, and mostly chilled in his stall with a lot of nice hay and some wither scratches. He has a Back on Track, but doesn’t like to wear it when it’s warm out, and will tolerate standing wraps but would rather skip them. He is, however, quite fit and his daily workload at a show is probably half of his daily work load at home. I make sure to leave 15-20 minutes to walk at the beginning of warm-up. Then we do 10-15 minutes of real warm-up and a 6 minute test.

[Foxglove]

Our goal was to keep the horse’s routine as close to what he regularly does while preparing or attending a show (two day fox hunt, week long archery match, 3-Day event, whatever). We keep our horses out 24/7, so clearly that’s not possible at a venue. However, we feed the same feed at the same time and the same hay. We hand walk and graze the horse as often as time permits, often taking turns (isn’t that what the entourage is for?). If it is an off day, or the horse shows early in the AM --he may be ridden a second time that day --again, trying to have everything the same as at home. IF he shows late in the day, a morning ride is ideal.

[2DogsFarm]

Trusting my aging memory, as my days of showing frequently are in the rearview 30+ years ago.
At H/J, Dressage or Eventing, horses lived pretty much as where we boarded, save for zero turnout. Stalled between classes, bute P.M. if footing was particularly hard.
We did “trailride” the grounds & parks if nearby, after finished showing. Pretty much leisurely Walk Only rides.

My mini & I go to The Ntl Drive, where he’s stalled when not driving. A 12X12 is Taj MaStall for him, so plenty room to move, lie flat.
We drive 5-10mi daily, including playing in the water obstacles & gates. I try to book a 1h private session with a clinician too.
Stay is usually 4 days.
I might hose him off if he’s sweaty, nothing else special in the way yif feed or meds (his daily Thyro-L).