Event Grease!!

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connie1288

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Was just wondering when you started to use grease for XC, what level were you competing at? And which make did you use??
Last year the boss used Lincoln event grease (sponsored) but only used it at 3DE but not at advanced? but i wasn't sure if this was just due to time constraints of having 5 horses, 1 groom and 1 rider at a 1DE?!
Any help and advice much appreciated!!
 
We only use it if I think there are fences that may cause problems. Don't use it if it's really hot as it just runs off.

Never even consider using at PN just at Nov

The gold label grease is useless, far too soft and runny
 
i use it from novice or Intermediate upwards, depending on the horse. i use the cheapish stuff at 1-days, the stuff that washes off fairly easily, and the fiendishly greasy stuff (that is a nightmare to get off) at 3-days only.
 
I use it for Novice & above. I think last season's stuff was Hydrophane event grease but I am not really fussy about brands of grease.

I hate seeing horses plastered in grease, it should just be on legs & over stifles but not all over the chest. If you are hitting fences up there you are in trouble anyway!!
 
Oh no only my mum was asking me if i wanted to use it as going Intermediate but i said we didnt last year (at work), so then she asked me when we did and i couldnt really work out when we had?
 
What makes you put grease on? Ie. For what reason?

Do you use it at 1 days or 3?

Sorry to hijack, but really interested as hardly anyone uses grease here!
 
On the yard I worked on we used it at 3 days and intermediate upwards.
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I would be tempted to use it Novice upwards. I know people that have used it from Intro! Each to their own... I know Gina Ruck uses it through the levels, and it doesnt do hers any harm
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i use it mostly on hindlegs from stifles down, and front legs from knees down... but hope they won't need that bit! but i've had good careful horses get it a bit wrong and scrape their hindlegs on big fences occasionally, and it does help a lot, so i always use it at the higher levels.
as above, cannot see the point of putting it on tops of forelegs and chest - if the horse is that bad in front i don't want to be on it!
 
Can anyone recall a time when event grease has actualy helped them slip over a fence?....or is it mainly used as a precaution?...I'm curious as to how many possible falls/accidents it may have prevented. I wonder if there are any stats about it......
 
i thought about this the other day... i dont seem to see many people using it at PN but might at Novice... when i get there in a couple of months!
 
You cant really tell if its prevented accidents but you often see a good smearing of grease over certain fences. A roll top or log drop type thing into water would be a good example where many horses drop their hindlegs when they suddenly glimpse water.

I think it more often prevents scrapes & minor injuries on horses than it does prevent them falling. This is why its more important at 3DE's where you need them to pass a Vet the following morning.
 
I HATE roll tops as they have a false groundline so encourage the horse to bury themselves and then hit legs when they take off
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My horse has done that a couple of times, prob cos he is prone to going deep anyway!!
 
roll tops (which includes logs!) cause the most accidents because there are statistically more of them than any other type of fence... beware, there are lies, damned lies and statistics, as the man said!
i love roll tops, horses read them easily and i just leave them to get on with it 99 times out of 100.
the faster the horse can get its front legs out across the fence if it hits it, the more chance of it staying upright. there is a report on this, i've been told.
e.g. Andrew Nicholson's horse at the Olympics, how the hell it stayed upright is beyond me, especially as the fence was a brush so = more drag, although obv it gave in height which a solid fence would not have. if his horse hadn't been greased i think it would have landed on its head.
i agree with Joss, i think grease prevents injuries and helps a bit rather than preventing falls, for the most part.
 
I use it at intermediate at above: I just use udder cream at one days as it's slippery enough but not a nightmare to get off, then use the heavy duty stuff at three days.

My view on why you use it is that although it can help them slip if they ever so slightly leave a leg or skew over something, it's more about the kind of abrasions and grazes they can get when this happens. At a three day so much rests on you managing to trot up well and complete the third day, so if you can avoid any rubs and grazes it's a bonus.
 
All the pro's i've worked for have only used it for 3DE's and advanced. Agree its more to prevent injuries than accidents and as its such a bugger to wash off (fairy liquid is best) i dont mind not using it any other time!!

People do put it on in very odd ways though, it should be put on up the leg then smoothed down but not rubbed in. Not plastered everywhere or left in big dollops!
 
And beware applying it to too much of the horse in very hot weather. They did a lot of research for the Atlanta Olympics about overheating and found that horses need a huge amount of their body surface area available for heat transfer for galloping on hot days as they don't use their respiratory systems for heat loss (like dogs panting).

One of their conclusions was to be very, very limited in the area over which you apply grease and to definitely avoid the chest/upper forearms.
 
Gold label may slip off a bit but it's the only product (which I've found) which comes off with water only - a bonus if your horse has sensitive skin and you don't have hordes of grooms to rinse thoroughly after washing off the thick stuff.
 
I used to be an event groom and we only used it on Advanced horses - 1 and 3 day events. Never on anything below this as there simply wasnt the need
 
it would all depend on the horse for me.. But tbh it always seems to run off.
Somone said vaciline to me, but omg a nightmare to get off just when we use it on their legs to help mud feaver it causes a problem tryinmg to wash it off for events. . (big nono for me haha)
 
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