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Keuring Advice by Black Silk Friesians

1. It is more than natural talent. Sure some horses are perfect out of the gate, others need work. They need to learn to have a big walk, stay straight, keep their head down, and use their backend. My mare had a weak topline, so my trainer did a lot of long lining in saddle but less riding. It was more important to get her to MOVE. Hills, lots of forward and big movement. Lots of practice handwalking, in her Keuring bridle too. Lots of running in hand, keep her straight, really step big in the walk. The walk is VERY important to be active. Also important to take off right away, not drag them into a trot. Friesians tend to be more front heavy so she needed to really build up her backend and move from there. They need to know to really respond instantly into trot request and move into it with their whole body. Also to not turn their head up and away when being ran next to--that was what I saw she did before. She was in a 5 day a week work schedule. 2 days before I let her off work, to build up energy.
2. Runners know what they are doing, my opinion is to just pay for it.
3. Rules are barefoot is okay. I opted for shoes. I own a marketing firm and I know the visual impact things make that people don't even realize. I keep my 3 Friesians barefoot and show dressage with them barefoot, but to present her at the Keuring I put shoes on. Personally I feel shoes look more tidy, looks more serious. It's important to get them used to them well before, don't wait until the week before to put shoes on. I did them 8 weeks before, and then a 5 days before and did more work to get her used to them.
4. You can use purple shampoo, no dyes. I always keep fly sheets on mine anyway, she tends to sunburn and turn brown. I did everything possible to keep her black and out of the midday sun.
5. I like straight manes but looking at the horses that do well, curly is good. She is naturally curly, so I really did her doo nice so she was perfectly manicured. I braided her to give it nice waves. I did clip her face, jawline, ears in a taco clip.
6. I did use black polish her feet which in the rules is okay.
7. Belly lifts, everything possible to get that topline up. That was her weakest point was her back, she had 3 foals by the time she was 7 (before I owned her) and she was really out of shape when I got her. She had been in training for 2.5 years but majority of the Keuring prep was groundwork.
8. Get them to stand square, I saw a lot of videos--some were funny of horses standing wrong. One I remember the horse was standing back looking at the judge up and down like "what the heck are you doing???"
9. Keep them fit and trim. I saw videos of a lot of overweight horses presented. FHANA has a good webinar in their archive with before and after pics of a horse that was overweight, doesn't even look like the same horse. She was on a very controlled diet and I probably took a good 50 or more lbs off her before the Keuring. I watched one DVD series that showed the difference a few lbs makes--so she was very trim and fit at the Keuring. Your horse should be ready to shove their face in food. Not starving them or anything extreme, just that their weight makes a huge difference. Also shows their muscling better.
10. She has a scar she got during transport from Holland. I had a letter from the vet I presented to the inspectors explaining it. They know horses can get hurt and see through that--better to be prepared and not have any unanswered questions.
11. I used this grooming stuff that is kind of oily on her eyes and nose to make them nice and moist--she was perfectly groomed. She had major spa days before the Keuring and I spent a ton of time making sure that day that everything on her was as perfect as possible.
12. I chose to have my trainer walk her in the walk inspection, she was really good at getting her to step big, stay straight, and move out. She had been working with her for months prior and they had a good thing going. No last minute changes on handlers.


The result? I had a 9 year old studbook mare that had been downgraded from a 2nd Premie as a foal to a studbook mare after 2 persentations. I bought her at 7 years old as a studbook mare. After I did the work above, she made 2nd Premie Star at 9 years old! Here's the video below:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKM7yJ1twPw

 

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