EC’s Ultimate Congress Packing List

By: Brittany Bevis

26 days- 624 hours- 37,440 minutes… No matter which way you square it, you’re going to be spending a LONG time at the Congress this year. It’s likely that most of your horses are already on their way up to Columbus, Ohio, or will be leaving within the week. However, if you don’t arrive until week 2, like most of us, you probably haven’t even started to think about packing yet…

Never fear! The Equine Chronicle is here to help. We have scoured our past articles, researched the Internet, and relied on our own personal, and professional, expertise to come up with the ULTIMATE Congress packing list for 2018.

Enjoy.

Clothing (for humans)

• A week’s worth of jeans, at least
• short sleeve and long sleeve shirts
• insulated socks and long underwear
• rain jacket and rain boots
• light jackets
• heavy jackets
• sweaters
• scarves and gloves
• baseball caps
• boots
• tennis shoes
• Show Kit- (makeup, mirror, bobby pins, safety pins, needle and thread, hairbrush, hair nets, hairspray, ect.)
• Show Clothing-  (hats, helmets, boots, show pants, chaps, spurs, jacket, shirt, breeches, ect.)

Clothing (for horses)

• heavy blankets
• sheets and sheet hoods (extra straps and buckles)
• slinkies
• light cooler and heavy cooler
• leg wraps and standing wraps
• bell boots
• ice boots

Tack

• show and work saddles
• underpads
• bridles and bits with extra curb chains
• martingale, draw reins
• longe lines and whips
• show and work halters with extra lead ropes
• Grooming supplies- (brushes, curry combs, tail brushes, vacuum, shampoo, conditioner, Show Sheen, fly spray, hoof pick, hoof dressing, hair detangler, baby powder, colored chalk, disposable razors, baby oil, sweat scraper, ect.)

Barn Supplies

• Registration papers, Coggins, membership cards, entry receipts, printed show bill, ect.
• buckets with extra straps and snaps
• fans
• extension cords and adapters
• rubber mats
• hay and feed
• clippers and cooling spray
• twitch
• cross ties, double ended snaps, and carabiners
• hole punch and Chicago screws
• stool
• silver and leather cleaning kit
• rags, baby wipes, and paper towels
• banding and braiding kit (different color bands and yarn, scissors, thinning shears, spray bottle, comb, seam ripper, latch hook, apron, hair clip, ect.)
• tool kit- (hammer, screwdriver, nail gun, nails, staple gun, staples, handsaw, ect.)
• flashlight and extra batteries
• zip ties
• knife and box cutter
• fuses
• WD-40, Gorilla Glue, duct tape, electrical tape
• lint roller
• trash and laundry bags
• locks and chains
• hoses and extra nozzles
• folding chairs
• disinfectant
• wheelbarrow, pitch fork, broom, leaf blower
• rasp, nippers, and file for removing loose shoes
• saddle racks and metal hangers
• dry erase board
• stall decor- (stall fronts, plants, curtains, ect.)

Human First Aid Kit

• Tylenol and Advil
• Vitamin C, Zinc, Echinacea, and Elderberry
• Emergen-C, Airborne
• band aids
• chap stick
• muscle relaxing lotion
• Epsom salts
• Kleenex

Horse First Aid Kit

Emotional Support

• your sanity
• a lot of patience
• kindness and empathy
• sense of humor
• EquineChronicle.com in your web browser

Check out this previous Equine Chronicle article about packing for the long haul.

Packing for the Long Haul