Grey horse cleaning

[kaisius]

I have had bay horses all my life so getting a dapple grey one suddenly has got me in shambles. What are the best cleaning products? And are there any good sport removers?

Also, have anyone tried the Haas brushes? I have wanted the for the longest time, but I would have to spend a lot of money so I just wondered if they are worth the price?

 

[The Jokers Girl]

Haas brushes are a total revolution. I invested in some about 3 years ago after being lent a set by another livery.
My horse is not grey but a skewbald who is very white on one side and I find the best thing for getting her stain free and gleaming without bathing is hot clothing. I use a couple of microfibre cloths, very hot water and supreme hot oil

 

[dixie]

You could be me. I’ve had bay horses all my life and have just bought a beautiful dapple grey. He does seem to like laying his face in his droppings though ?‍

 

[kaisius]

You could be me. I’ve had bay horses all my life and have just bought a beautiful dapple grey. He does seem to like laying his face in his droppings though ?‍

I haven't gotten mine yet, vet check on Thursday so hopefully going to bring him home on Friday. I've been horseless for a few months so I'm just looking at everything I might need to buy for him???

 

[Meowy Catkin]

Cowboy magic green spot remover works on my grey's stains.

 

[my bfg]

I use the supermarket version of Head & Shoulders for day to day, Shapleys colour revieve is great for heavy stains

 

[Snow Falcon]

Embrace the fact that unless it is rugged to the eyeballs and you bath it every day, you will have to learn to accept a stain or two. ?

They seem to relish scrubbing their head into the mud too. My old boy used to see me coming with a saddle and go and roll. You could almost see him smirking as I went to get him.

At shows I used Tesco's lemon antibacterial wipes. Removed stains a treat. ?

 

[AmyMay]

Embrace the green! Well, that’s what I did with my grey horse anyway ??

 

[Meowy Catkin]

I have to agree with the above. A relaxed approach makes for a happy owner and I think a cleaner horse (they know all about rolling in the worst muck when their owner desperately wants them to be clean).

 

[teddypops]

I love greys, 4 out of my 8 are grey. I think it’s funny when they are filthy and they all have lovely farmers tans in the winter. I have nice dry Sandy soil though and for most of the time, they live out and don’t get that muddy or poopy!

 

[RachaelJC]

Mine is paper white with pink skin and I use:

Cowboy Magic green spot remover
Orvus shampoo
Haas brushes

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

Welcome to the "Bay Horse Club"! Honestly embrace it. You will drive yourself insane otherwise and it's not worth the stress. The more you wrap them up the worse they are because they will be too hot and will roll more to try to get rid of their clothing. A good brush on before you ride and they will look bay anyway. No brush will save you from that!

As an aside for showing The Wee Coloured Job I used sheep face chalk on his white bits - it's chalk with a slight dye in it so it gets them super super white. You won't be needing that for a while though unless the horse has socks.

 

[BaronSamedi]

Diamond white shampoo, and elbow grease I also keep mines tail plaited and it makes such a difference

 

[Sail_away]

Greys are fab, welcome to the club ?
I actually managed to keep mine relatively clean when in work. Top tips would be to cut tails short in winter, don’t leave mud on legs overnight or eventually they just go yellow even when washed. When washing for shows, I do two washes of fairy liquid on the tail, then the ‘touch of silver’ human purple shampoo, then a human conditioner if I have one at hand. Legs get fairy liquid too but patch test that first, then touch of silver again. Mane is washed with tressemé shampoo (easiest way to do the forelock is to push it under the headpiece of your headcollar and wash it with the rest of the mane). His body will get stain removing shampoo or tressemé, whatever I have to hand, and purple shampoo on the worst stains. I did used to faff with stain removing shampoo on the legs/stains but touch of silver seems to whiten them more than anything else I’ve found and I just chalk anything yellowy left when he dries. Chalk is very useful for legs, especially if you’re running short of time.
If I needed him to stay clean overnight I found he stayed cleanest turned out with a thick, freshly washed fly rug on. Kept in they get all kinds of stains, unless it’s cold and you can leave them in a turnout or thick rug.
Oh and Haas brushes are lovely, I have the cavalier and it’s been so useful I have another coming in the post this week.

 

[pansymouse]

You have to face the fact the a grey horse's sole ambition is become a bay through the application of mud. Anything you do is just a temporary blip in their journey.

Haas brushes are a very worthwhile investment as a monthly scheduled tanker delivery of shampoo.