Anyone use babay oil (or any other sort of oil) instead of pig oil ???

marydoll said:
Never tried it but heard that a 50/50 mix of vinegar and baby oil helps prevent mud fever by doing something to the ph of the skin .
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Thanks for that, my boy suffers from mud fever, i use vaseline. would it be better than vaseline. and does clipping off the hair on the legs make it better or worse. i had to last year to get all the scabs off but in general, whats best to keep it away. xx
 
I've always used baby oil. Never used "show shine" or pig oil.
Rub a few drops together in your hands then brush through the mane with your fingers..don't use too much though as the mane will look greasy. Then brush through thoroughly with a body brush that you have set aside ONLY for this. Don't forget the forelock if you're not plaiting.
If a ridden horse, more than just a few drops as above can get on the reins and make them slippery. Don't put it on the mane if you will be plaiting.
For the tail, I brush it through as normal. Then, holding the tail up and slightly to one side, I sprinkle a few drops through the hair on one side of the dock. Repeat on the other side then brush through thoroughly with your "baby oil" body brush.
Again, don't use too much or the tail will look greasy. If you're going to put a tail bandage on straight after grooming for travelling, don't brush baby oil on the top of the dock hair until you're at the show/event. (It gets absorbed into the hair, so is fine to bandage for the journey home).
For legs, after brushing, rub a few drops between your hands then rub your hands down over the knees/hocks, down and around the cannon, fetlock and pastern, rubbing it thoroughly into the hair then a final brush over with your "baby oil brush". For natives/horses with feathers, don't add any more to the feathers than you use on the legs..otherwise they will clog together and look greasy.
For a finishing touch before you mount/go in the ring (showing or if there's a prize for turnout), give the horse a brush all over with your "baby oil brush", followed by a dry cloth/stable rubber. Avoid the saddle area, as you would with show shine, if you will be puting a saddle on.
Rub 3 or 4 drops between your fingers, and very carefully smooth your fingers over each plait if plaited. I don't use any on the muzzle or around the eyes if there is the slightest chance of the sun burning the skin, I just wipe with a damp cloth...their muzzle/eyes don't NEED to look shiny, just clean.
I think that's showing/turnout covered :).

In winter or if the field is quite muddy, I brush a little baby oil through the mane & tail and over the legs once a week. It stops the mud from sticking.
For mud fever, I use the following to prevent it.....
Thoroughly wash and dry your horse's legs, stabling overnight if needed.
When the hair and skin is completely dry, brush the lower legs with a body brush.
Get a tub of sudocreme, and squeeze a little baby oil INTO the sudocreme. Mix it together with your fingers until you have a thick white liquid. You can mix enough together in the tub without using all of the sudocreme. You want a layer of mixed together baby oil/sudocreme in the top of the tub, but with "solid" sudocreme still underneath.
Then, massage your baby oil/sudocreme mixture very thoroughly into every part of the lower legs, from coronary band up to the knees/hocks. You want the skin covered entirely to form a waterproof barrier (this is why it's important to wash & dry the legs first - so you are not trapping dirt against the skin). After the mix is completely massaged into the skin on each leg, smooth the hair down.
The baby oil/sudocreme mix works because the sudocreme is antiseptic, anti bacterial and waterproof. The baby oil thins it enough to massage well into the skin and hair, and the hair then smoothed down lets any rain/water run right off the legs. If you used neat sudocreme it would get grit and mud mixed into the thick consistency, which could then scratch the surface of the skin (and potentially trap bacteria against the skin underneath the sudocreme). I do this around twice a month over winter, although if you needed to wash the horse's legs, e.g. for a show, you would need to apply again after cleaning and thoroughly drying the legs again.
 
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I mix baby oil with flours of sulphur to put on the feather. We also put baby oil on mares udders, to stop the fly's biting in the summer. Works a treat
 
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