Dirty grey horse and dressage - HELP!!

G

GoneBust

Active Member
Joined
2 July 2007
Messages
48
Location
Essex
Visit site
Hi
I have dressage this weekend (first time in winter!) and my muddy, Stabe stained grey horse needs cleaning. Any one got any tips for cleaning him up and keep him clean without making him too wet in this cold weather?
Thanks
 
I think you can actually get stain remover for greys, infact I think I have some. Basically you spray it on leave it for a minute then you sponge it off. Great for stable stains, and quick to use in the morning before a comp. You should be able to get some from your tack shop, or even online if you can guarentee it will get to you ontime.
 
Hijacking post as I'm sure this will be me in a few months time with my new boy. What stain remover do you use Damnation? There's a few on the market...
 
It's difficult......I refuse to take my horse anywhere unless I've at least tried to get him presentable.
His body is pretty OK as he's Hunter clipped and there's no hair for anything to stick to! As he is a cob he always wears combo rugs! So his neck is also usually OK.
I have no hot water onsite so have to boil kettles and make 3-4 buckets of hot water - too hot, then add cold to get it to the right temp before washing.
I leave his T/O rug on but undo all the straps, brush off mud and untangle (snowy white ha ha!) tail. Peel back the relevant bits of rug (we have to wash outside!) as you get to that bit.
I use Natural Equine White Wash (horse has sensitive skin) and/or Tresemme clarifying shampoo. Dilute in a jug with the hot water and scrub - I do the tail first, rinse, repeat, then spray on Red Rum Whitener spray - leave it on after massaging to a lather then wash his legs with the diluted shampoo and a sponge/one of those shower scrub things.
Usually I just do his legs, near his ears/face, and his hindquarters.
Rinse with loads of hot water and use a scraper to get all the water off.
I then condition the tail and plait it v loosely. Wrap legs in Thermatex wraps, and horse in Thermo-cell combo (x2!) to dry off and warm up.

And here is the result!

100_1287-1.jpg
 
I've tried them all as I have an ID x hippo. Cowboy Magic Green spot remover is good and Wahl Dirty Beastie Shampoo - but I put in on neat rather than diluting it like it says on the bottle! I then use a rubber mitten to scrub at the stains before washing off. For mud, lots and lots of clean water is the best thing and just flush it out of the coat.

A friend of mine has resorted to Persil non-bio in the past and swears by it (has to be persil apparently!) for really stubborn stains. She dilutes it, applies it to the stain, gives it a scrub and then washes off immediately. I've never tried it. If you do I'd do a patch test first! It also works well for tails (have tried it on a tail as reaction is much less likely there). Some people have said soaking a tail in steradent works well, but I've never tried it.

The best tip I can give you though is go out and buy a bay.
grin.gif
grin.gif
grin.gif
 
jnb - wow! at least you get a chance to get near your boy! The grey i currently ride at the moment is a nightmare to keep clean - grooming him alone is like putting makeup on a boy!
 
If the horse is clipped, Cowboy Magic works really well. Spray it on and rub in the dirty bits. Get an old flannel and dip it in hot water and then use that to remove the Cowboy Magic and the dirt.
If you have to bath, try and stick to just the unpleasant bits and keep a fleece or similar across the horse's back.
With a thermatex on in a warm stable, they soon dry off, especially if they've got a haynet to pick at.
When the horse is dry, spritz with coat gloss to prevent any dirt sticking, particularly if you have to do the clean up the night before a competition.
Make sure you skip out well before leaving for the night - when we're away at shows, I always do a last poo pick about 10pm, between my mare finishing her haynet and crashing out for the night!
Try to keep them as clean as possible with full neck rugs that are cut deep, and a tail bag can be useful.
 
I posted similar question recently i.e. grey horse out 24/7, early morning start dressage. The only real solution I have is to a snuggy hood turnout (I also clipped her neck out completely although yours already is) and use a tail bag! Still have to wash legs but I hated washing her neck when it was long and fluffy and never dried quickly.
 
I have an old spray bottle with about a third cheap supermarket shampoo and two thirds v hot water. ( check on your hand that not too hot!) . Then spray on stains, and all over legs and even tail if needed. The very hot water loosens the stains and you can flannel ( or teatowel) the dirt off with a bucket of warm water, rembering to rinse the cloth out in a second buket to keep original hot bucket with clean water..( does that make sense?)
 
start washing a couple of days before hand! I find that if I ignore the tail/legs they turn a lovely shade of yellow so I do tend to wash them both most weeks but I do cream his legs with cow udder cream to compensate.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top