Showing Secrets [Hardcover]

There have been a number of books on showing published during the last ten or twelve years, but none quite as comprehensive as Carolyn Henderson’s ‘Showing Secrets’. The book covers every aspect of showing, from choosing a horse to schooling and turnout. It gives good, sound advice on starting out in the showing world, covering the different types of show horse (hunters, hacks, cobs and riding horses, show and native ponies, coloured horses, horses for breed classes and veterans), and giving basic definitions of weight classes (i.e. heavy – middle- and lightweight hunters), together with a few common-sense observations regarding those definitions.
Some readers, new to showing, might still feel a little confused about the difference between a hack and a riding horse; it would have been nice to have a few more photos giving a side-by-side comparison between the two. However the section on breed classes is excellent, especially those parts dealing with Mountain and Moorland breeds and classes based on colour. As an owner and breeder of Arabs I was especially heartened to see some very sympathetic – and accurate – comments about the breed and about some current showing practices in the Arab world.
In the chapter about conformation and movement I would have liked to see some rather more precise definitions: what exactly is mean by a ‘good shoulder’? And what kind of back is ‘too long’ or ‘too short’? Not every horse owner or rider knows as much about such matters as one would like to see. However, perhaps this is carping; this is after all a book about showing, not conformation. Still, it would have been helpful to see a bit more explanation of such subjects; some line illustrations would have been helpful here, too.
The chapter on management issues provides a lot of sound, common sense advice on subjects which are often a matter of controversy in the showing world; I think this and the chapter on turnout for horse and rider will be particularly valuable to readers new to the showing world. However, there is one issue on which I do strongly disagree with the author: this is the question of whether or not the whiskers round the muzzle should be trimmed off. She states that ‘Whiskers on the muzzle might be used as ‘feelers’, but horses do not seem to notice their loss.’ In fact scientific studies have shown that horses do indeed notice their loss; this is one area in which I think a little research might have helped.
There are some good remarks from judges on the subject of bitting, but I think they would have been even more helpful if they had included some rather more specific reasons why a particular bit works well (or not!). Still, it is good to see sensible comments on the much maligned pelham!
The illustrations are generally good, with some of those showing younger riders providing a delightful picture. However, the same cannot be said of some of the photos of older riders; some are good, but others are quite frankly horrible, depicting everything that is bad in the peculiarly British style of riding. It would have been nice to have rather more illustrations, too.
However that is carping; in general this is an enjoyable, extremely useful book which I would recommend to anyone wishing to get started in showing. Some rather more experienced exhibitors could benefit from reading it, too!

If you want to help make your horse/pony look it's best and get a better chance of winning but aren't sure how to do this, this book will tell you!