We asked top professionals your biggest questions about keeping a show-worthy hair coat. Here’s what they had to say…

When you’re showing, how much does ring strategy really matter? Devising a plan counts, say the experts, and practices like utilizing corners for rail position, looking ahead to obstacles, timing your reverse on the rail, and thinking on your feet (or in your stirrups) can pay off in the show pen.

The leggy, five-month-old colt loped everywhere. He was the “one” his breeders had planned for and waited for all their lives. But when he ended up on the surgery table with a suspected impaction, a belly tap that produced red fluid and overwhelming pain that would not cease, his owners learned in the hardest way that science and nature sometimes have their own plans despite our best attempts to protect our beloved horses.

Any savvy competitor knows that the pivot is an essential maneuver for any pattern class, and the proper or improper execution of this maneuver can make or break the final result of a class.

At the age of 16, the biggest decision facing most couples is whether to splurge for a giant chocolate heart in February, or, if things are serious, whether to exchange class rings.