Introduction

Welcome to the 6th New Rider newsletter. I do hope you enjoy reading them and from the comments you sent back about the last issue we will continue sending them out in this HTML format

Firstly we'd like to say thanks to Miriam, RoxR, Katie_85 and Monty who are joining us as moderators of the message board. With so many posts it's hard for Sarah and myself to see everything that gets posted, so some extra help will be great in keeping things running smoothly.

We've had some warmer days recently here in the UK and out come all the flies and midges to tormet horses and riders. If you've good tips as to how to keep them away, your 'special' fly repelant formula that you'd like to share do visit the Tips area of the mesage board. We've already got some excellent ideas for home-made recipies in there that you might find useful.

I'll also take this opportunity to shamelessly plug the Open Day at Court Equestrian near Worcester on Sunday June 16th. Court Equestrian is a small but friendly riding school a few miles south of Worcester and the open days are a great chance to see the horses and meet the people if you are around the area. There will be demo rides by the clients - including drill riding demos, teenage jumping pairs as well as pony rides, refreshments and a raffle. Proceeds are towards the county air ambulance. Full details can be seen in the General section of the message board.

Thanks for reading!

Mike Tomlin
mike@newrider.com

25% off Aquacat Boots

For the remainder of May we have a special offer of 25% off the normal retail price of many short boots including the Aquacat range.

Equimix hold a large stock of boots, so there's every chance they'll have your size in stock for speedy delivery.

View details in the shop

In the Shop

	Reiver body protectors by Airowear. Complete with sizing and fitting instructions on the shop page.
	The complete range of Prolite products
	Rawhide range of Walsall made bridles in English Leather

If you haven't visited the shop for a while, do have a look. It's running on a new improved system and all orders are handled for us by Equimix who are a long established tack shop.

Getting started in in-hand showing

In-hand showing is a great way to introduce your horse or pony to the fun of going to a show without you having to worry about your riding at the same time! It is also a good fun discipline to compete in, and a lot of the tips shown here are relevant for other disciplines and for how to present a horse that you are trying to sell.

Firstly we'll start with how to kit out the horse and handler. This article has been written with showing in the UK in mind, so there will be some differences between this and what happens in other countries.

• Hacking jacket for native breeds, show jacket for others or you can wear a waistcoat for both!
• Shirt and tie that complement the colours of the jacket
  
• Beige, dark blue or dark green trousers (again, complement the jacket), with a straight-cut leg, ideally no turnups, perfectly pressed with front crease (the deliberate vertical type, not the oh-my-god-why-won't-it-lie-properly-on-the-ironing-board-type)
  
• Jodhpur boots, black or brown, whichever goes with the rest of the kit; long boots are impossible to run in, especially on long wet grass
  
• Velvet cap - ideally a beagler or old-fashioned style of hat with the elastic strap removed, or next best is a velvet covered riding hat; if you've only got a skull cap, try and use a dark coloured velvet cover which goes with the rest of your outfit, or failing the velvet cover, a dark coloured silk
  
• Gloves that match your outfit
  
• Showcane

• Spotless all over
  
• Feet and feathers totally grunge-free, oiled inside and out - as the entire sole of the foot will be on show in the individual display away from the judge
  
• Clean bottom
  
• Either leave the mane down, plait it up or do an arab plait or Mountain and Moorland plait, depending on what is appropriate to the class you are entering. If it is Mountain and Moorland then the ribbon in the plait shouldn't clash with your outfit.
  
• Gleaming bridle
  
• Snaffle bit (toothpaste brings it up lovely if you can't get it shiny)
  
• As much coat and mane/tail polish as you can get away with, but keep the fragrance to a minimum
  
• Only apply fly repellent to the insides of the horse's thighs and the underside of the belly; as you don't want a Readybrek aura of citronella around you, but you want your horse not to fidget in the line-up or when standing up for the judge.

Helper

• Enormous box of grooming kit, with most important items being:
  
• CLEAN lightweight rug to keep the rain off your horse as much as possible (if raining), as otherwise the coat will go droopy
  
• Old bath towel to cover the neck and mane and keep the horse dry if raining
  
• Damp cloth to remove poo marks from under the tail as you stand waiting for her class
  
• Dry cloth or very flicky brush to keep dust off the coat
  
• Very soft body brush; if it's too hard, you will make streaks on the coat when you inevitably keep fussing unnecessarily at her
  
• Large can of fizzy orange to swig after the class is over
  
• Money for a burger/bacon roll (absolutely essential!)
  
• Video camera/ordinary camera
  

by Catherine

Next time - your performance in the ring.

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