Quarter marks

Having the right quarter marks enhances your horse’s natural good looks and really completes his look.

CREATING THE LOOK

To create quarter marks you will need the following:

• Your full grooming kit, including a finishing brush

• A small comb

• A bucket of water

• A small sponge

• Coat spray

• Small steps or a block to stand on

MAKING THE BASIC QUARTER MARKS

1. Groom your horse thoroughly. The coat must be clean all the way through, as any dust will come to the surface when you start to draw the marks.

2. Wipe the coat with a mix of water and setting spray using the damp sponge.

3. Take a comb and confidently comb the hair down from the spine about 30-40cm down from the rump (further than you want the marks to extend). Then move along and create your next ‘stripe’ with the comb.

4. Once you have completed the third stripe, repeat on the other side. Keep comparing the two sides as you draw, so that your quarter marks appear even.

FOR A CHECKERBOARD EFFECT

1. Use a very small comb, or even cut the end of a standard comb and use that.

2. Create a line of blocks from the spine.

3. Create the ‘opposite’ line of blocks below it.

4. And so on until you have the look you desire…

FOR SHARKS’ TEETH

1. To create the sharks’ teeth, wet a finishing brush and shake off the excess water.

2. Start by swiping a stripe from above the stifle to the top of the tail.

3. Your second swipe comes from the hip to the bottom of the hamstring. This makes a sideways V (your first tooth).

4. Now swipe just below your first upward swipe, following its line.

5. Then swipe in the downwards motion, in the same way as you did your first downwards line (Step 2) to create the second tooth.

6. You can tidy up your lines with the brush afterwards to ensure that they all end neatly.

NOTE

A horse with a well-muscled behind can benefit from simple, yet bold, quarter marks to really show off his musculature. However, if your horse is slightly weaker behind you may want to avoid drawing attention to his quarters until you have built his hindquarter up with some correct schooling. You can, of course, try and be clever with your quarter marks to try and distract from the weak musculature but most judges will spot this.

TAKE HOME MESSAGE

Creating quarter marks that show off your horse’s hindquarters takes a lot of practice and a good shiny coat. Topquality brushes will help to develop a real glow to the coat and enhance all of the effects you can create.