Plaiting Heavy Horses - THE BRITISH RIDDEN HEAVY HORSE

Obviously there isn't much history to this, but I hope that below you can use this as a point of reference for turnout.

The British Ridden Heavy Horse's are the four main breeds - Shire, Clydesdale, Suffolk and the Percheron. With qualifiers for Equifest and HOYS being the pinnacle, but of course there are also "unaffiliated" ridden classes open to all the heavy breeds - these can be found at agricultural shows and even some local shows, given the rise in popularity.

Dressage is also popular for our ridden heavies, with British Dressage holding a Heavy Horse championship as part of it's Associated championships, from Introductory level this is accessible to all - and our heavies are more than capable of dressage!

SHIRES 

 Wearing a mane roll, tail flights and tail ring - some people even just put a neat tail bow in and this looks equally smart.

CLYDESDALES 

Mares don't require manes to be plaited, so just tail decorations - geldings can wear a mane roll.

SUFFOLK'S 

Bass mane roll and tails decorated

PERCHERON 

Mane roll and tail decorations 

As with in hand, the first rule is to pick colours that compliment your overall appearance, there are traditional colours but as ever, your colours are your own choice and are never judged.

I have found for ridden classes, it's becoming increasingly popular to use just one single colour and this can look striking.

For those new to the show ring and ridden showing this may seem like a minefield but the golden rule is KEEP IT SIMPLE ... A good flat nosed hunter style bridle, and ridden in a Pelham or double - snaffles can be used in Novice classes and obviously snaffles for dressage (please refer to the BD handbook for rules on bits)

If using a double or a Pelham, remember your curb chain and a lip strap.

Browbands - plain or plaited - NO bling in the show ring but for dressage you can bling it up if you desire.

Saddles - a good straight cut saddle is best, but a GP is acceptable. And a discreet shaped saddle pad is ok - for dressage a plain white square or conservative colour like black, navy and brown is also now accepted.

Tack is ALWAYS brown in the show ring

I love seeing our wonderful heavies thundering around ridden show rings and of course the highlight is HOYS, watching the big guys share the stage with showing elite and smashing it