Horse Show Ribbon Displays Made Easy

From hunter-jumper to dressage to pleasure classes, my young equestrian and her horse have emerged victorious often. Because of this, we have amassed a large collection of acetate, in the form of horse show ribbons.

Multi-colored rosettes, bold blue ribbons and even several reds, yellows, pinks, whites and greens adorn her bedroom. Truly, when visitors enter my equestrian daughter's room, they always remark about her many horse show ribbons.

As a family, we enjoy looking at all of the horse show ribbons, with their printed logos and event names. On the back of each horse show ribbon, the name and date of each horse show is printed, along with the class and placing. My daughter's horse show ribbons tell the story of her horse show career.

DISPLAYING HORSE SHOW RIBBONS

Of course, most equestrians enjoy displaying their horse show ribbons on their horses' stall fronts at the stables, at least for the week after a horse show. Before long, however, it's time to take the horse show ribbons home.

Saddleries, tack stores and horsey catalogs sell lovely horse show ribbon display racks and glassed frames. However, these can be quite pricey.

What are some creative ways equestrians can display horse show ribbons at home?

A SIMPLE RIBBON BORDER

To display my daughter's horse show ribbons, we created a colorful border, which stretches all the way around her room.

Together, we strung sturdy cotton yarn around the perimeter of her bedroom, right where the ceiling meets the walls. We attached the yarn to the walls with little cup hooks, which we affixed to the seam at the top of each wall.

These hooks are available at the hardware store in brass, silvertone and white. They screw right into the wall.

The horse show ribbons hook right over the yarn. The yarns do droop a little bit, but this makes a pretty scalloped effect between each hook, as her horse show ribbons hang down proudly. The multi-colored horse show ribbons almost look like an equestrian curtain or horsey border print around the top of each wall.

A VERITABLE VALANCE

Some equestrians hang their horse show ribbons over a curtain rod, perhaps even in a window. The horse show ribbons form a sort of equestrian valance. Lovely!

Other equestrians pin each horse show ribbon directly on the wall, using tiny nails or thumbtacks, which line up to the hole in the clip on the back of each horse show ribbon.

PRETTY UP A PICTURE

Still other equestrian stick the ribbon clips on the back of each horse show ribbon into the bottom of frames on pictures, mirrors or bulletin boards. What a wonderful and sporty way to dress up a familiar frame.

DON A DOWEL

Still other horse lovers attach small wooden dowels into mounted brackets to hold their horse show ribbons. The dowels are placed horizontally between two brackets, and the horse show ribbon clips hook over them. This makes the horse show ribbons hang down smoothly on display.

These dowels are available in the drapery sections of hardware and decorating stores. The wood may be left plain or they may be painted or stained to match the room's decor.

TUCKED IN A TUB

My own horse show ribbons are in a sealed plastic tub on the top shelf of my closet. Of course, no one can see them there, but my horses and I know who won at the horse show! It's our equestrian secret.

Can you guess how many horse show ribbons I have?