Mascara on ponies?

[ynl063w]

I saw the picture when it was published online and my first thought was to wonder how long it would take for the COTH hunter/jumper forum to pick up on this and make it a huge, gigantic issue that had to be discussed at length. Thanks to all of you for not disappointing me. My favorite posts are the ones that are concerned for the pony’s health and welfare. Because MASCARA might kill a pony.

For sure I think it’s incredibly silly to put mascara on a pony, but it’s just stupid to be concerned for the pony because of mascara. Mascara, people. Really.

[keysfins]

It’s all fun and games 'til someone pokes a pony in the eye. Corneal abrasion, anyone?

[chunky_munky]

This is not something traditionally done in the hunter world. In the model judges look for correct conformation and condition, not for the color of anything. Someone was ill advised to color any part of a pony.

[missbliss]

Our sport is such a beauty contest

[OTTB2]

[QUOTE=missbliss;8683771]
Our sport is such a beauty contest :([/QUOTE]

To a certain extent that is the point the the hunters, no? Besides the point of putting mascara on a pony which is absurd, it just brings to mind to me competing in the hunters. Its not like the jumpers where I don’t need to worry about if there are 2 flawless trips and ones me and my OTTB and one a warmblood chances are the warmblood will win. I used to event and moved to a place without eventing and only showing and went straight to the jumpers. Sucked at it and then had the realization. You need to be able to ride a hunter to do the EQ and you need the EQ to ride the jumpers. So I bite my lip most of the time to crap like this get the key takeaways from the show and look forward to hearing the sound of the buzzers someday.

[snaffle1987]

I also find it absurd, especially for pony hunters. I have also frequented pony breed shows as a braider and groom and have never seen it done there either. I just do not understand the reasoning and actually think it takes away from the pony.

[jhg140]

[QUOTE=missbliss;8683771]
Our sport is such a beauty contest :([/QUOTE]

A model class is essentially just that, a beauty contest (once you weed out the non-contenders from the top 20 ponies in the country, of which there are few).

[Mango20]

My chestnut has long chestnut lashes. They make her look kind of sleepy in pictures, even when cross country jumping. I don’t think I’d ever consider mascara, though. Of course, I’d also never consider entering a model class.

[Pennywell_Bay]

Can anyone tell what brand it is? I look like a raccoon in mascara at a horse show. That mascara held up well in the humidity and heat in the Gold Ring so perhaps I need to up my make-up game! [fyi- this is a one-off. Hunter ponies are not running around wearing mascara but perhaps the new trend will be BLUE or PURPLE mascara - circa 80s- to match fun colored braids :)]

Not. Concerned. At. All. Untwist thy panties. No ponies were harmed in the filming of the Revlon commercial.

[Sparrowette]

All the cosmetics comments are fun, but I don’t think this is done to the pony for “appearance” sake.

Dark around (and in football players, under) the eye will help reduce the glare of the sun. If the pony has had trouble judging his jumps due to the sun’g glare in his eyes, then something like this would be appropriate from a competition/performance standpoint. A dark colored horse has this naturally, but this poor grey guy also has the sun glaring off his cute, light-colored self.

Same reason all those ancient Egyptians had all that dark liner. The sun can be bad that way.

Personally, I’m very fond of Kohl, and get mine from MAC.

[vxf111]

[QUOTE=Sparrowette;8684046]
All the cosmetics comments are fun, but I don’t think this is done to the pony for “appearance” sake.

Dark around (and in football players, under) the eye will help reduce the glare of the sun. If the pony has had trouble judging his jumps due to the sun’g glare in his eyes, then something like this would be appropriate from a competition/performance standpoint. A dark colored horse has this naturally, but this poor grey guy also has the sun glaring off his cute, light-colored self.

Same reason all those ancient Egyptians had all that dark liner. The sun can be bad that way.

Personally, I’m very fond of Kohl, and get mine from MAC.[/QUOTE]

Except it was being done for the MODEL where there’s no judging of any jumps.

[vxf111]

Honestly, sometimes I feel like at Devon people are being over-the-top just because it’s Devon. Like there’s some competition to see who can be the most outrageous.

Last year it was “what animal can you carry around.” Small poof dogs were so LAST YEAR. First there was someone with a purebred cat. Then someone with a lamb. Then someone with a damn groundhog.

It’s all about who went to more effort than the next person.

Who has the biggest/fanciest hat? Who is the hottest mom with the most cleavage in leadline? Who put out the biggest show setup? Who has the fanciest picnic spread?

I swear no judge could possible notice/care in the model whether a gray pony has black or white lashes. From the POV of how the pony pins, there’s really no chance this makes ANY DIFFERENCE. But it’s all about who can be seen to be going to more effort than everyone else. One big keeping up with the joneses contest.

[Sparrowette]

[QUOTE=vxf111;8684051]
Except it was being done for the MODEL where there’s no judging of any jumps.[/QUOTE]

I thought that was a demonstration photo on how to apply the product… just me though…

[BritishEquestrian]

[QUOTE=Pennywell Bay;8684024]
Can anyone tell what brand it is? I look like a raccoon in mascara at a horse show. That mascara held up well in the humidity and heat in the Gold Ring so perhaps I need to up my make-up game! [fyi- this is a one-off. Hunter ponies are not running around wearing mascara but perhaps the new trend will be BLUE or PURPLE mascara - circa 80s- to match fun colored braids :)]

Not. Concerned. At. All. Untwist thy panties. No ponies were harmed in the filming of the Revlon commercial.[/QUOTE]

I believe its the rimmel scandal eyes mascara although could be wrong… Think they probably do a waterproof one which may stay on better in the heat?

[Pennywell_Bay]

[QUOTE=BritishEquestrian;8684087]
I believe its the rimmel scandal eyes mascara although could be wrong… Think they probably do a waterproof one which may stay on better in the heat?[/QUOTE]

Scandal Eyes- how appropriate for hunter ponies . Next year I’m going to get one of the photographers to get a picture of me with Kardashian style fake eyelashes hovering near my pony’s eye- just to kick it up a bit on COTH.

(for the record- I think it is ridiculous to mascara a pony)

[vxf111]

[QUOTE=Sparrowette;8684075]
I thought that was a demonstration photo on how to apply the product… just me though…[/QUOTE]

These are “action shots” COTH took on the ground during the DHS. There are no “grooming demonstrations” going on. The timing of the photo makes sense that it was before the pony model. And the photo caption is pretty self evidence “Every pony needs to be ready for his close up when it’s time for the model.”

This was being done to a pony to go into the MODEL for pony hunters at Devon. Not as part of a demo of some sort. Not for a jumping class. Not for any performance class of any type. Literally the pony was being made to look like he had darker/thicker/longer lashes for the model class of the pony hunter division. A class judged on conformation.

[Raymundo]

Has the COTH photographer weighed in? My first reaction to the photo was that it was staged as a joke since the pony was preparing for the model. Can you tell if there is actually mascara on the lashes? Honestly assumed it was a joke.

[MuddyHalter]

To me, it’s another example of our h/j crowd favoring appearance over substance. The model is conformation and movement - a pony’s eyelashes are completely irrelevant. It’s just unnecessary and over the top. Good grief. And vxf, I completely agree about the displays people put on at Devon. It’s usually extremely hot at least some of the days, and yet everyone feels the need to bring their dogs. Bringing other animals (a groundhog, seriously, people?) is crazy. :rolleyes:

[sarcam02]

When we did the medium pony hunters we used black cosmetic chalk and or mascara for the model class on one small old injury where the hair grew back white (yes I freely admit it). There were one or two ponies that had mostly black eyelashes with a few white lashes mixed in. I did see the handlers use mascara on the “rogue” white lashes at the bigger shows

[Sparrowette]

[QUOTE=vxf111;8684100]
These are “action shots” COTH took on the ground during the DHS. There are no “grooming demonstrations” going on. The timing of the photo makes sense that it was before the pony model. And the photo caption is pretty self evidence “Every pony needs to be ready for his close up when it’s time for the model.”

This was being done to a pony to go into the MODEL for pony hunters at Devon. Not as part of a demo of some sort. Not for a jumping class. Not for any performance class of any type. Literally the pony was being made to look like he had darker/thicker/longer lashes for the model class of the pony hunter division. A class judged on conformation.[/QUOTE]

It appears I stand corrected. Not unusual for me…

I thought the caption was just someone being editorially cute… I mean really - Who would put it on an animal for no other reason than LOOKS? I thought there had to be a “functional” reason.

Learn something new every day…