Desperation setting in.

[Annagain]

My share horse and I have qualified (with my lovely teammates) for the BRC Winter Dressage Champs at Harpury at the end of March, which is fab and I'm quite excited. BUT he's grey and has a terrible yellow stain on one flank. I've been scrubbing it nearly every day for a fortnight and it's no better, it is properly stained, even down to the skin.

I've been so careful all winter and tried washing stains as soon as I see them (which I was promised meant they came out straight away) but it hasn't worked and this is a really horrible stubborn stain that will not shift.

I've tried all sorts of whitening shampoos, fairy liquid and even washing powder (I patch tested first!) but no luck. Does anybody have any tips? I'm even considering some very dilute bleach! Again would patch test first, use as little as possible and rinse straight away, but want to exhause all other options first. Please help!!!

Clipping it off won't do much good as his skin is yellow too and he has seasonal alopeacia so it would really expose his bald patches on his legs which look terrible! At least with some hair I can do some creative combing to cover them up! Chalk doesn't really work either as he's very fleabitten so it looks too white if that makes sense!

 

[Arizahn]

Wait for it to grow out, and in the meantime consider it to be a normal marking for him. If anyone comments, explain that he hasn't greyed out fully yet...

Seriously, don't use bleach.

 

[Love]

I know this might sound silly but are you sure its a stain? I only say this as my grey connie was a lot darker when we got him. We reckon he was dun before as he has a dorsal stripe and now that he is greying out the dun colouring is still visible around his flanks. When he was darker grey it wasn't as obvious and I too spent ages trying to wash out the "stain" when it first came through before realising it was his colouring!

 

[Patterdale]

Try some cheaply shampoo with a BIT of blue or purple food colouring in.

 

[NellRosk]

Try some cheaply shampoo with a BIT of blue or purple food colouring in.

This, or with some purple spray if you have any lying about your grooming kit.

 

[putasocinit]

Please do not use bleach, also all the rubbing could be causing a skin condition underneath like dermatitis. Could you chalk it out on the day.

 

[showpony]

Ariel gel the blue one!! Works for me on the most horrific stains - just do a patch test before hand...
Leave on for 10 -15 mins & then rince.

 

[MasterBenedict]

What works best for me is really scrubbing and shampooing 2 - 3 times with the blue fairy liquid, and then making up a blue rinse with this stuff -

http://www.horsehealth.co.uk/grooming/featured-brands/supreme-products/supreme-blue-rinse

Make sure you only put about 1 teaspoon in a full bucket of water though, or you will end up with a smurf horse!!

Leave on for 10-15 mins and then rinse with water, no need to shampoo again.

 

[Liane]

I have stains on my horses that do not come off, I know what you mean. The best thing I have found is supreme products, they have a white chalk power that you can use as a final rinse (handful in bucket of water) or as a paste or dry onto an area, it is completely amazing at covering up stains, they also have white 'make up' that I used to cover scars/marks on my horse and it really does hide them. I would go for covering it up rather than trying to get it off!

 

[xgemmax]

Are you sure it's a stain and not a marking?? would have thought it would have come off by now! Please don't use bleach though, get some chalk powder to cover it up

 

[Holly Hocks]

If it definitely is a stain, I would put chalk powder on when it's wet and then when it's fully dry, brush it out - it's worked fantastically on my coloured's white legs before!

 

[poiuytrewq]

Whats with the blue things? I know diamond white etc is blue and designed for greys but didn't realise the blue was relevant? ....duh!

 

[Annagain]

It's defintely a stain. He's 18 so not just greying out and it was bright yellow - now faded to a lemony sort of colour but still very visible. He lies down on the same side in his stable - right on top of where he wees and despite a thick bed and leaving his turnout rug on (thought the waterproofness might stop it soaking it, but alas, no) he's got a stain there most mornings. I've been washing it regualrly but it's still not enough unfortunately.

Chalk is tricky as he's not really white, he's very fleabitten so it looks really odd as it's very white and the rest of him isn't, but it's better than a yellow stain I suppose!

I've got lots of purple spray (although I thought the blue rinse thing was just to make white bits appear whiter rathen remove stains?) so will give that a go and the blue Aerial. Thanks

 

[LisaS]

Try the Lyn Russell Siper stain remover. My boy is a grey who's favourite thing is to roll in his poo !

I spray and leave it on for a while and then use one of those loofah puffs that you can get from boots ( you know the round puff ball ones that is like a bunch of material gathered up), and then shampoo, repeat if necessary.

Works amazingly well and I use before a show or Dressage competition. You can also spray onto tails and let it work it's magic there too, once again spray, leave for a while, work it through the tail with hands, shampoo,rinse etc

Good luck and let us know what works best for you.

 

[blackandwhite]

Possibly a daft question but are you using warm water? I see a terrific number of people desperately washing grey horses and getting nowhere because they use cold water. Personally I wouldn't use fairy liquid and certainly not frequently because it's designed to strip grease and it's drying. Personally I use cowboy magic greenspot remover as a spot treatment and a slug in the washing water. The shampoo (blue stuff and absorbine stuff) goes into warm water and is then sponged on. Then we "wax on, wax off" using small round brushes, sponges and plenty of elbow grease. My poor coloured is scrubbed and scrubbed but he loves a good scratch so he's ok with it. Rinse top to toe with more warm water. (There are photos of my horse before and after on here somewhere). If you're totally sure it's not a marking then just try and distract people til his coat comes out! I'm sure people will be so dazzled by your dressage that they won't even notice. Good luck

 

[L&M]

I have the same problem with a blue and white cob. Somone on here recommended white wine vinegar - think it was about 1/3 rd of a standard bottle mixed with warm water.

Have yet to try it but if you have any in the store cupboard may well be worth a go.

Good luck and report back if you find a miracle cure!

 

[Annagain]

Thanks my list of things to try is growing! Yes I'm using warm water - as hot as he can cope with in fact in the hope that it'll do the trick! Have tried the green spot remover, but not putting it in the water.

I tend to wet the area thoroughly, apply the washing product (shampoo/fairly liquid etc) to my rubber mitten and then scrub the area using that before rinsing thoroughly (I also use his tail as a scrubbing implement, partly as it washes his tail at the same time and partly becuase it seemed to work once! Before going jumping on sunday I did that 4 times - twice with head and shoulders, once with fairy liquid and once with washing liquid (Tesco own brand non-bio!) and although it faded a bit, it didn't get it out and I had to give up as had run out of time.

 

[Bobbly]

Someone recommended using tomato sauce to me.....supposed to neutralise the acidity in the colour on tails, also human 'touch of silver' purple shampoo. Let us know what works, I could do with any tips too!

 

[NellRosk]

Whats with the blue things? I know diamond white etc is blue and designed for greys but didn't realise the blue was relevant? ....duh!

Blue or purple, removes stains and reflects light which makes the horse seem even cleaner. It really works! I wouldn't waste my money on the expensive horse shampoos though, cheapy human shampoo and food colouring/ purple spray works just as well.

 

[Annagain]

Blue or purple, removes stains and reflects light which makes the horse seem even cleaner. It really works! I wouldn't waste my money on the expensive horse shampoos though, cheapy human shampoo and food colouring/ purple spray works just as well.

Ahh, just spent £40 on stuff from Supreme Products. Most of it on white cover up type stuff though, although I did buy a pot of the blue rinse. Will report back!

 

[honetpot]

I would second chalk powder either applied wet or dry well rubbed into the coat.

 

[NellRosk]

Ahh, just spent £40 on stuff from Supreme Products. Most of it on white cover up type stuff though, although I did buy a pot of the blue rinse. Will report back!

Supreme Products is good stuff! Good luck, as an owner of 2 filthy greys you have my full sympathy

 

[Colivet]

you could try Swarfega, which is a green gunk (sort of jelly like) that mechanics use to get greasy/oily stains off their hands. I used to use it on my boy's white legs and it worked brilliantly - not likely to cause an allergic reaction either as it is designed for using on human skin.

 

[Nugget La Poneh]

I am going to try this on a tail this weekend - others have tried and had results so could be worth a shot?

http://andalusianworld.com/blog/tag/stained-horse-tails/

 

[Annagain]

Supreme Products is good stuff! Good luck, as an owner of 2 filthy greys you have my full sympathy

I have two as well, this one is the cleanest of the two! The other one though gets very muddy and that's easy to deal with as it doesn't stain. This one doesn't roll much, but lies in his own wee. He must lie down as soon as he's weed as it doesn't have time to soak into the bedding!

I have some Swarfega at home, will give it a go!

 

[Annagain]

I am going to try this on a tail this weekend - others have tried and had results so could be worth a shot?

http://andalusianworld.com/blog/tag/stained-horse-tails/

Thanks I was wondering about Bicarb as it seems to clean so much else. Will give it a try! I'll buy some white vinegar on the way home tonight!

 

[ROMANY 1959]

This worked on my coloured... May sound daft as it's so simple... Half bucket warm water and two cups white vinegar, sponge it on soak area well and leave for 10 mins then rinse off with clean warm water. Worth a try.

 

[Annagain]

This worked on my coloured... May sound daft as it's so simple... Half bucket warm water and two cups white vinegar, sponge it on soak area well and leave for 10 mins then rinse off with clean warm water. Worth a try.

Thanks, at the moment if anybody told me to rub my favourite chocolate into it and then rinse in Champagne I'd think it was worth a try. Although I would think twice about the chocolate

 

[cabrach]

Another vote for Supreme Products white paste. Its brilliant, and we've used it for years. Its the only thing I'd use having tried virtually everything else. Being a paste, you don't waste it as you do with powder.
Definately don't try bleach.
Good luck.

 

[Colivet]

Any report from OP on what worked and what didn't? Hope you got the stains out