Feathers - cob novice seeks knowlegeable advice

DabDab

DabDab

Ah mud, splendid
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Evening knowledgeable HHOers. This summer there has been a new addition to my little herd in the shape of a very lovely cob x clyde called Hetty who has full and very attractive feathers. I have never owned a cob or heavy horse before, and have only ever dealt with clipped out ones, and as I am keen to keep the feathers I have suddenly become painfully aware that I have absolutely no knowledge of how to keep them in good condition and comfortable for the horse throughout winter.

So I'm hoping that some feather-experienced HHOers might be generous with their knowledge and share some top tips and tricks for easy and effective maintenance. Things like do you wash them or just brush mud out? If so how often and what do you use? Do you treat with any lotions or potions? Is pig oil still a thing or horribly outdated?

Any help or advice gratefully recieved. TIA
 
They can hold water so I wouldn't think washing was a good idea because of potential mud fever. I hear of people applying coconut or pig oil to help water proof.my answer to feathers is to clip them off.
 
I use pig oil all winter to keep them mud free ish 🤞 I’ve just got some Keratex powder which I’m going to try this year and see how that works.

I don’t wash my boys feathers unless they are really bad as he has feathers for a reason and they do a job so I leave be as much as I can, I’ll brush them out every few days or so and pig oil every day and so far so good.
 
Just pig oil them once a week. No need to brush, just detangle with your fingers.

Avoid washing them (unless you've desensitised to a hair dryer) because the hair will hold the cold water next to the skin which is not pleasant for them in winter.

Look out for stamping because this can indicate feather mites. If your horse isn't sensitive to sulphur in the pig oil, that will help otherwise you can get a flea treatment from the vet to put on them.

Get some fleece bandages and wrap the feather up for the farrier. Not only does it keep the farrier happy but it makes it easier to see the shape and state of the hoof.

Get used to feeling the legs under the feather and check the skin remains smooth and flat. You are checking for early signs of CPL and swelling of the legs. Clydesdales are particularly susceptible but cobs get it too so better to be aware.
 
Do you trim hooves yourself or use a farrier? If a farrier then be prepared for muddy trims by having some sort of bandage around to keep muddy or wet feathers out of their way. My littlest cob looks ridiculous with polo bandages all round on feet trim day.

She looks all wrong without her feather but I clip out baby cob - so much easier to manage!
 
Thanks for the bandage tip O&L and SEL - in my trims and foot care of her so far I've been wondering how on earth people manage to see properly what they are doing!

I trim myself SEL. She's a very good egg so far and I can do her fronts with her just stood loose on the yard, but with the back ones I've been struggling to see what I am doing so much that I'm not being particularly effective in training her to hold them up nicely, so will be attempting bandages tomorrow.

Glad to hear pig oil is still a thing, so my limited knowledge at least isn't also out of date. How do people tell whether the horse is sensitive to it? Do people do a patch test first? Or is it not the sort or irritation that you can detect with a patch test?

Appreciate the suggestion to clip out and the very good reasons for it, but am going to try to keep the feathers initially and see how we go.
 
Petmurf said:
I use pig oil all winter to keep them mud free ish 🤞 I’ve just got some Keratex powder which I’m going to try this year and see how that works.

I don’t wash my boys feathers unless they are really bad as he has feathers for a reason and they do a job so I leave be as much as I can, I’ll brush them out every few days or so and pig oil every day and so far so good.
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This one? https://gsequestrian.co.uk/products...U-k9Ox9hUEUl_S0XbiSIUwV6WkaJRlDIaAtIMEALw_wcB

If it does what it says on the pack then that does sound ideal...hmm
 
How silky is Hetty's feather? Is my experience that the thick feather hair is more likely to hide problems, while the silky stuff is reasonably easy to manage.

Mine was silky, I rarely washed him and never had any issues with either mites or hyperkeratosis.
.
 
Oo, dunno on whether it would count as silky vs hairy. It is much more similar to coat texture/softness than mane texture.
 
DabDab said:
Oo, dunno on whether it would count as silky vs hairy. It is much more similar to coat texture/softness than mane texture.
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Silky!

I never needed to do anything to mine who was full feathered, but if we had a lot of mud I would have used pig oil. I always suspected mine was Clydie cross and Hetty looks that way too?
.
 
Mine has silky feather, has never shown any signs of mites and his skin underneath is smooth and very rarely scabby, except around his ergots which I keep oiled and regularly massaged (which he loves!). The scabby bits only occur when I have forgotten to keep them oiled and massaged.

I do brush the feather regularly, to keep the oils distributed and that also seems to work.

I use pig oil and sulphur from Auchengree Clydesdales - applied twice weekly in winter.
 
When I had a cob I didn’t do anything with his feather, unless I was going somewhere. I used a sulphur dip every month (just stood his leg in a bucket of solution for a minute) to keep mites away, but found them excellent as keeping mud away from his skin.

Tubigrip is easier than bandages. The thigh size is perfect.
 
I've always used diatomaceous earth for mites, bumbles likes a good brush of her feathers occasionally so its easy to apply, she absolutely hates getting them wet :) If you do get mites, deffo shave, they will still grow back again
 
DabDab said:
Glad to hear pig oil is still a thing, so my limited knowledge at least isn't also out of date. How do people tell whether the horse is sensitive to it? Do people do a patch test first? Or is it not the sort or irritation that you can detect with a patch test?
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yes, patch test.
A reaction would be unlikely and rare but you never know

(My chestnut didn't react to it and he was very sensitive, once reacting to fairy liquid suds - not even direct contact with actual fairy liquid)
 
DabDab said:
Evening knowledgeable HHOers. This summer there has been a new addition to my little herd in the shape of a very lovely cob x clyde called Hetty who has full and very attractive feathers. I have never owned a cob or heavy horse before, and have only ever dealt with clipped out ones, and as I am keen to keep the feathers I have suddenly become painfully aware that I have absolutely no knowledge of how to keep them in good condition and comfortable for the horse throughout winter.

So I'm hoping that some feather-experienced HHOers might be generous with their knowledge and share some top tips and tricks for easy and effective maintenance. Things like do you wash them or just brush mud out? If so how often and what do you use? Do you treat with any lotions or potions? Is pig oil still a thing or horribly outdated?

Any help or advice gratefully recieved. TIA
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Would love to see a picture of the feathers 👀🪶🪶🪶 🤔😳 best just to ignore hairy legs unless you’ve a reason to brush out. There are lots of lotions and potions sold some more effective than others. Frequent washing is likely to lead to problems especially in winter when it will be more difficult to dry. I would try and avoid stabling on straw as this may exacerbate a feather mite problem as straw can hide all sorts of creepy crawlies you might not otherwise know are hanging about. Feather in horses is usually referred to in the singular. A horse may have feathered legs but the hair on the legs is usually referred to as ’feather’ it may be fine, straight and silky or coarse depending on blood lines.
 
If your feathered horse lives out, does not go near straw and never gets her legs washed, she should be fairly
maintenance free. I have not found a trace of mallanders or mites on my little cob since he has been living on a track. I had to treat him for mites a couple of times after he had to be stabled on straw and had to regularly moisturise the back of his front legs to keep mallanders at bay when he was stabled overnight.
 
I get dectomax injections for my girl use selsun or head and shoulders shampoo and deep conditioner and use b51 trinity consultants tonic if she gets any skin issues I’ve even got her a hot shower but I’m fed up of the constant care the feathers need and am debating clipping there not silky though there thick and course
 
planete said:
If your feathered horse lives out, does not go near straw and never gets her legs washed, she should be fairly
maintenance free. I have not found a trace of mallanders or mites on my little cob since he has been living on a track. I had to treat him for mites a couple of times after he had to be stabled on straw and had to regularly moisturise the back of his front legs to keep mallanders at bay when he was stabled overnight.
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Mine doesn’t go near straw and unfortunately a whole range of other things set her mallanders off
 
gallopingby said:
Would love to see a picture of the feathers 👀🪶🪶🪶 🤔😳 best just to ignore hairy legs unless you’ve a reason to brush out. There are lots of lotions and potions sold some more effective than others. Frequent washing is likely to lead to problems especially in winter when it will be more difficult to dry. I would try and avoid stabling on straw as this may exacerbate a feather mite problem as straw can hide all sorts of creepy crawlies you might not otherwise know are hanging about. Feather in horses is usually referred to in the singular. A horse may have feathered legs but the hair on the legs is usually referred to as ’feather’ it may be fine, straight and silky or coarse depending on blood lines.
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Duly noted!

(If I was adept enough with image software I would have absolutely pbotoshopped some wings onto her and posted. I hope you appreciate that the thought and commitment was there even if the technical ability was/is lacking)
 
Have to keep coblet’s legs clipped, he started scratching horrifically last winter so I took everything off, found mild CPL underneath so now he has to stay clipped.
CPL is very common in heavily feathered breeds, so I would be regularly checking the pasterns for any ridges/folds developing.

As for before, pig oil + sulphur once a week but generally leave alone. Maybe brush through occasionally on a dry day. If you plan on doing any inhand showing or something I would leave 48hrs after last application. Don’t know about other people but Dex was always super greasy/oily one day after application then silky smooth thereafter.
 
DabDab said:
Evening knowledgeable HHOers. This summer there has been a new addition to my little herd in the shape of a very lovely cob x clyde called Hetty who has full and very attractive feathers. I have never owned a cob or heavy horse before, and have only ever dealt with clipped out ones, and as I am keen to keep the feathers I have suddenly become painfully aware that I have absolutely no knowledge of how to keep them in good condition and comfortable for the horse throughout winter.

So I'm hoping that some feather-experienced HHOers might be generous with their knowledge and share some top tips and tricks for easy and effective maintenance. Things like do you wash them or just brush mud out? If so how often and what do you use? Do you treat with any lotions or potions? Is pig oil still a thing or horribly outdated?

Any help or advice gratefully recieved. TIA
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way back when we did this for my BHS


Water:

Advantage:
Feathers can be good to protect heels as rain washes off them thus keeping skin beneath dry.......................................................... also look lovely for showing

Disadvantage

if the field gets waterlogged and they stand in deep mud then they are no help at all and the skin remains damp for longer causing skin irritation and mud fever an other skin related issues.............................................................. so needs to be removed in this case and skin barrier used.



Mites


advantage

trimming them make it easier to teat skin issues..................................................................





Disadvantage

leaving them on ......................................they can be a perfect hiding screen for fox mange or mites and make it harder to treat
 
Pig oil but only on the feather, trying to waterproof the actual skin makes CPL worse.

I recommend melting a pot of coconut oil and mixing it into a 5l of pig oil. It'll stay liquid and acts as a conditioner.

You can also melt coconut oil and experiment with adding pig oil until its a thick soft paste which you can apply by hand. The consistency will vary according to the temperature of your stables so I tend to have pots of several ratios sat around and use whichever one is workable. This is also good for the bottom 12" of tail.
 
After having two cob types and keeping their legs clipped J came with his legs clipped and I let them grow out and they've stayed.

I pretty much ignore them, very rarely wash them although he goes in the sea a lot which dipoles a lovelyjob of making them white and fluffy. I make sure I have a thorough check of his legs regularly and occasionally in the winter I'll put a bit of pig oil on them. He's not shod and other than making sure they're cleanish and dry for the farrier he doesn't want them wrapped. I do use a hair scrunchie to pull them out of the way if I want to take photos or do anything special with his feet. He can get a small, less than £1 coin size, scabby bit behind each knee which is usually at coat change time. I'll use udder cream on it, if it doesn't clear up straight away I've clipped that tiny area out so I can see it clearly and the rest of his feather covers it. I'd have no problems and would immediately clip all his legs out if he needed it for any health condition. His feathers get wet and muddy but about 1cm from his skin and the skin itself stays dry.

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