Dales ettiquette

[heathera]

With ribbons I stopped using red as I had to many stroppy people telling me I shouldn't bring a horse that kicks out to a busy show. I now use purple, blue and green.

Some judges will also ask why you have ribbons, others will tell you not to use them and others will tell you they should be there if you don't have them.

So basically do what you want because, unless you already know the judge in advance and what their preferences are, it won't make any difference.

The same goes for the bridle. I showed Drummer as a gelding in a white halter until he was 4yrs old then went to an in hand bridle. Once he outgrew that I just used his ridden bridle. With the current youngsters I used white rope halters on them but was marked down for it in one class as the judge said I should have had webbing ones with chains.

I'd go to the shows, use the equipment you have that you feel most comfortable with and just look on it as a fun day out.

[Deleted]

What what?! i'm a complete Dales virgin... I have a yearling (this year) colt and fancy taking him to the NPS Show.

What's more correct - the webbing headcollars or rope or does it really not matter?

What should I wear?

And what's with the ribbons!

Sorry for hijacking your thread but it seemed silly to start another... x

[Deleted]

Ah! I've found out about the ribbons!

[Anna]

Webbing or rope doesn't matter, I prefer rope personally and its far more commonly used.

Tweed jacket, shirt, tie, cream (light coloured) trousers and sturdy shoes plus a hat for yourself.

Yes at local level you will get the odd comment about red ribbons but I tend to use it as a chance to enlighten people on their real meaning and generally people are interested and then go on to tell other people etc.

[charliefar]

bought his ribbons yesterday... red, white and blue it is, now just need a larger rope halter... ;D

[DalesLady]

Jan 8, 2012 8:11:12 GMT -1 heathera said:

With the current youngsters I used white rope halters on them but was marked down for it in one class as the judge said I should have had webbing ones with chains.

Some judges certainly need educating. That is no reason to mark anyone or their pony down...its frankly ridiculous.

However, we have shown in all things...you must use whatever you as a handler feel safest with and that can depend very much on the pony itself!

[heathera]

Judge's wording was that she found the halters ugly and that it was hard to see the pony's head properly. She also said they had been placed down the line a they looked young which I found odd as it was a 2 & 3rd old class, I think it was just that they weren't fat. Her friend and fellow breed enthusiast won the class and we haven't been back to the show since. I don't need to expose myself or the ponies to that type of environment.

[NFK Dumpling]

Jan 16, 2012 14:05:16 GMT -1 Anna said:

Yes at local level you will get the odd comment about red ribbons but I tend to use it as a chance to enlighten people on their real meaning and generally people are interested and then go on to tell other people etc.

What is the significance of the colours? I use red, white and blue but I have seen yellow, green and brown too.....

[DalesLady]

I was told when we began with Dales that red, white and blue were traditional and we have always used those. However, its probably the idea of using ribbons themselves which is tradition, so people use their own colourways for them.

We had one youngster whom we showed her in baby pink, powder blue and white

The ribbons would originally have been used to tie tails out of the way (albeit much shorter than todays maginificant tails), when the ponies were working animals, much in the same way you see Shires/Clyesdales ribboned nowadays although they were more likely using jute string then LOL