According to Wikipedia, life hacking refers to any trick, shortcut, skill, or novelty method that increases productivity and efficiency, in all walks of life. It is anything that solves an everyday problem in an inspired, ingenious manner.
Whether we realize it or not, we all have our own hacks that we use around the barn as well as at the horse shows. Hacks are incredibly useful when it comes to our everyday life. They help us optimize our time and save us some money. After doing some research and testing it out myself, here are some tips and tricks that could be useful in your barn or at your next horse show.
We want to know about your horse show hacks! Please comment below and share your tricks and shortcuts with GoHorseShow.com readers.
1.To keep dirt from sticking to the top and the inside of hoofs, spray WD-40 on them. The dirt just slides right off.
2. After you shampoo your fake tail, use fabric softener on it for a leave in conditioner. Makes the tail soft, easy to brush and static free.
3. If those leather ties on your reins break, use a plastic zip tie for a quick fix instead of buying new ones.
4. Pledge works as an excellent leather cleaner and dirt repellent for your saddle.
5. To get that “ready for the show pen look”, try substituting body oil or even baby oil for those with sensitive faces. Stay out of the sun, though. Much like using baby oil while laying out in the sun, it can really bring on the sun burn!
6. Do you have a horse with a lot of white? Baby powder works as an excellent replacement to white spray. It makes those whites stand out and you can even use it on the face.
7. Some horses like to chew off their wraps which can be very annoying. To help that issue, just spray some hoof enhancer on the wraps. The flavor creates a bad taste and they leave them alone.
8. To significantly reduce your fake tail from clinging to your horse’s back legs, take a dryer sheet and wipe down the tail and legs. It removes the static cling created from the movement of the tail.
9. If your buckets crack and you don’t have a replacement, just line both sides of the crack with duct tape. Most horsemen know that duct tape is one of the best hack tools. There are even websites dedicated to life hacking using nothing but duct tape.
10. Do your boots not stand up on their own? An inexpensive solution is to cut down Styrofoam pool noodles and stick them inside your boots to create a boot tree that will help your boots keep their shape and not fall.
