This is a blog post I've had floating around on my hard drive for a couple of years on the subject.
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A suit starts with good care, including good feed and regular grooming. If there's a stain on your shirt you throw it in the washer. The following picture is a horse I had and all I did was give him a bath and comb out his mane and tail. There are no shine products on his coat, though there is some detangler in his tail.
That sort of shine did not happen overnight. That's four months of effort.
Shoes:
You don't put your mud covered barn sneakers on with your dress pants, you shine up your dress shoes. Take your pictures after your horse gets a trim. Long toes can indicate lack of care, and you want people to know you're taking good care of your girl.
I did not put hoof polish on him, since it would have just ended up covered in dust. It does pain me that his feet look rather invisible. In a perfect world he would not be standing in the grass.
Think ahead:
There's really no question which one is more likely to get a buyer's attention.
Background:
As flashy jewelry and pink hair would distract an interviewer, so would trash and junk distract from a nice photo of your horse. If you don't have a spot that meets these guidelines you really need to clean up your place.
Persistence:
You don't apply for one job, you apply for many. Take lots of pictures of your horse. I took 80 shots to get the one at the top.
Show off her skills:
The interviewer is going to ask what you're good at, show potential buyers what your horse is good at. Make sure the rider is appropriately and non-distractingly dressed. You're not selling the person, you're selling the horse. Put the horse in their normal (cleaned) tack, as potential buyers will want to see what the horse normally goes in. If you don't get any pictures of the horse at their best then it's better not to show them.
I don't have any good pictures of this horse doing anything. Here are some ones I wouldn't use, from when I tried him. They point out why you want a good rider (this is me, and I hadn't ridden really in about six months.)
Photoshopping:
Generally, just don't do it. Unless you're a photoshop wizard someone will be able to tell. Badly photoshopped pictures are often the recipient of much ridicule on various blogs. The top picture is actually photoshopped, not perfectly at this point, but it looks decent enough I have to point the difference out to people. What's the change? He had his penis hanging out.
The next nicest picture wasn't nearly as nice as this one, so we went ahead and edited out some of his male anatomy. Getting rid of something like that is one thing, trying to put the legs of another horse on yours is another.
Lying to the interviewer:
If you can't speak Swahili, don't tell the interviewer you can. Be realistic about your horse and her skills. It will save you and potential buyers time. If she has a big fault, mention it. It may be a deal breaker for some people, but better they know early in the process so your time, and theirs, is not wasted.
The top picture? It sold that horse. The horse in question is the one I refer to as "The Bay Bolter." I fully disclosed the fact that he had bolted and I came off. The person that bought him took him out on trial anyway and fell in love. They're in a great relationship with each other and I couldn't be more happy for the both of them.
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