Clay survival cleaning tips :-)

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bouncing_ball

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Tips for competing horses turned out and hacked on clay? Seem to have mud everywhere!

Am thinking clipped oiled legs.
Snuggy turnout hoods.
Tail gators
Oiled clipped bodies
separate hacking tack

Embrace the mud.

Any tips / tricks / gadgets / recommendations? First winter on clay, have been on sand last 5 years, chalk before that etcetera.

THANKS :-)
 
As a fellow clay-dweller, my best advice is to cover up well for turnout, and resign yourself to the fact that the rubber curry comb is about to become your best friend. Also those little plastic pan scourers you get from pound shops in packs of 5, they are great for getting the small and determined bits of mud off, and for delicate places, and then it's just a question of flicking off the dust.
Do not be surprised if you find you can't lift your turnout rugs after a couple of months' use due to the weight of the mud concreted to them, you may need to wash them more often than you expect!
Welcome to my world!
 
I have one of those green pad thingies with a yellow strap. I've no idea what it's called and I can't seem to find a pic of one atm, but it is THE most amazing thing for getting concreted mud off of woolly coats, it literally just makes even the toughest of mud merely drop off. I will try to find a link or something.

Other than that, embrace your mud monsters and cling to the fact that spring will be here again one day! :)
 
If you can get it to stay in place use a thin undersheet or 'body suit' so that when the mud gets up under the rug it soils the sheet not the inside of the rug. Use 2, one on, one in the wash. Nothing worse than spending ages cleaning mud off only to put it back on from the underside of the rug. Washing heavy rugs because the inside is filthy is not fun in the winter.
 
I used to use baby oil, applied to a sponge and lightly wiped over legs.
I never hosed.
I put him to bed as he came out of the field, by the morning his legs would be clean, clay/mud dried and just dropped off overnight.
Tails were ALWAYS braided and knotted for turnout.
Those wool riding gloves with the little rubber pimples on them worked very well for getting mud off delicate areas, my horse (white) wouldn't have any sort of brush on his face or ears.

Oh, and clay was the reason I first bought synthetic saddles ! I used to hose my wintec off after hunting :(

I give thanks every winter that we are on sand here.
 
Oh yeah, welcome to the true joy of clay, good for making pots, crap for everything else!

I wouldn't clip legs, the extra hair helps to protect them for wind rash, mud burn etc.

I use the gold label mud stuff, but actually baby oil probably just as good and a third of the price.

I try to resist washing, tempting though it is as legs get chapped and sore easily.

2 sets of thermatex leg wraps are great, I stick them on over the wet muddy legs and when I take them off in the morning they are clean and dry.

Cowboy magic is amazing for tails and on their ears where they hate being brushed.

Exercise tack makes life much easier even if it is only martingales and girths.

Otherwise I tend to just scrape off what I need to to ride and leave the rest until we go hunting when he will have his head, mane and tail and legs washed and any other essential bits the day before!

Just wait till January, you will loose your wellies on a regular basis!
 
I have been on clay for the last 20 years, and some years its been a foot deep bog. I would not clip out legs and keep away from the hosepipe, the mud worries you far more than the horse.
We hunted out off grass, I trim the legs with scissors just to tidy but not short, stable the night before and brush off. I do sometimes use a show shine product before shows, but not on a regular basis.
 
I don't clip or hose legs. Mine come in at night into deep straw, this usually chips a good deal off the legs and dries them. When rugs are dry give them a good bashing over a gate with something like a carpet beater, gets lots of the dried mud off fairly easily. I ride in hi viz leg bands (I try to do the road section first otherwise pretty pointless!), this also keeps a lot of the mud off the legs. Rubber curry comb and a shedding blade I find gets a huge amount of dried mud off in seconds. Lastly always wear tight fitting wellies and make sure they are still on your foot when lifting it!
 
Yeah, I'm depressed, the mud has just started in clay land. I too don't wash legs. I use squares of old towel to hold hooves to pick them out. I have just discovered Magic Brushes (Amazon) which get dried mud off a treat. I think I have them mud free & then once on board can see mud bits all over the place . Doh. I'll get used to it soon, just like I do evey year��
 
I dont clip and never wash legs/use a towel to hold feet when picking out/brush dry mud off legs once or twice per week and apply large amounts of pig oil/just rush the mud off where the bridle sits and the girth goes when ridden/an hour long groom from head to toe once or twice per week but I would never use a hood that covers the face after seeing terrible accidents with them when they have slipped over the eyes.
The mud bothers us more than the horses
 
Here is my magic green mud removal pad. I have searched t'internet high and low today but cannot find any for sale anywhere, boo! Better not lose mine, I'd be utterly lost without it!

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Clare85 - I've got one. Always known it as a mudbuster.

I'm in the London clay basin here.

When the fog cleared and the sun came out I took the rugs off while I mucked out - big mistake.

I used about 5 different tools including a metal scraper and the aforementioned mudbuster. Got the top layer off but left with that slightly curly coat where the mud was.

 
I've always been on wonderful sandy soil but recently moved house and the horses. The bridleway near my field is called the Clay Way so I will have to get used to muddy everything 😣 I have lots of magic brushes already so hopefully they will do the trick!
 
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