Cobs, feathers and mud

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flirtygerty

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How do cob owners cope with muddy feathers? I have seen a mini cob I think might be a childs pony prospect, but we get knee deep mud in winter, looking to correct the problem for winter, but there's underground streams so not that hopeful.
Any advice appreciated
 
I have never had a horse with feathers so not personally had to deal with it however having read threads on here alot of people swear by pig oil with (or without) sulphur! Like i say never used it myself though :)
 
My hairy cob has lots of feathers. She lives out all year round and have no problem with mud. When I bring her in I check her feathers and underneath the skin is dry. I don't wash them at all. Lots of people use pig oil on feathers which helps to keep them waterproof. The main problem I have had is feather mites.
 
I use cob oil on my cob's feather as it seems more gentle than the pig oil and sulphur. But don't have a problem with the mud. Never had mud fever and had mites once in 4 years.

The oil helps the mud drop off and just not stick so much. Even without the oil, I just let the mud dry and then brush off. His legs are always dry underneath.

Go for it!
 
My lad has feathers and only had a teeny tiny spot of mud fever in 2012, last winter I used baby oil on clean dry legs like it was going out of fashion when he was going out and stabled him a couple of times a week just to let him dry out properly so I could brush the mud off, check under the hair and re-oil before turning him out again and we managed to avoid it :)

Mum's mare has less feathers than my lad but she really struggles with wet muddy fields and gets mud fever on all legs so she was mostly stabled overnight for the wet weather :(

I think some of them are more prone than others. Do you have access to stabling?
 
If it's fairly heavy feathering, don't worry and leave them to their job. Be prepared for the fact they look a STATE, but the mud never actually hits the skin underneath - i.e. mudfever isn't usually an issue.

Don't wash, only brush out when dry. Lashings of pig oil / baby oil / mane & tail will make brushing out far less of a headache ;) Living out 24/7 is perfect, stabling means you can brush them out more regularly but it also means they tend to dry out and bog burn is more likely.

Feather isn't as high maintenance as you'd think :)
 
Leave them alone most of the time ! The feathers act as a natural barrier to mud, just check the skin now and then :)

If you cannot deal with the messy look it brings then put pig oil and sulphur onto the feathers as it stops the mud from sticking to the legs! Failing that we bought some leg boot type things that cover almost all of the feathers and keep them sparkly white !
 
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