Grey horses....HELP!

[Fiorano]

This has probably been done a hundred times before but I've never owned a light coloured horse before, only ever had dark bays and chestnuts. HOW ON EARTH DO YOU KEEP THEM CLEAN???

We have sandy soil so no mud - great - but very orange legs...lol Any tips gratefully received.

 

[Cliqmo]

In all honesty I normally fail

He tends to be green in summer and brown in winter

 

[nemo_]

I know exactly how you feel! My old pony was grey and disgusting, always covered in poo... and when i got my current horse the first thing my instructor said was "why did you get ANOTHER GREY?!" My little grey has to wear a snuggy turnout hood at any sign of mud and when he lives in and my big grey had he legs hosed every evening before coming in to keep him clean and to prevent mud fever (keeps his legs clean). Have found coat shine on their bellies prevent stable stains! And of course we have the chalk handy for shows in times of desperation!

 

[ForeverBroke_]

HOW ON EARTH DO YOU KEEP THEM CLEAN ???

You don't

 

[CastleMouse]

Hibiscrub, IV Horse shampoo and chalk powder for his legs!

 

[LittleSoph]

Yeh, agree, you don't! You learn not to worry about the dirt, lol.
And you learn to get super good at bathing before shows...

 

[GLEEK]

Hibiscrub is great for getting orange off legs etc. Used to work in Newmarket so used to use this alot on greys and white legs. Infact hibiscrub is a must.
My grey uses poo as a pillow.I will NEVER have a grey again!!

 

[Cliqmo]

[ QUOTE ]

My grey uses poo as a pillow.I will NEVER have a grey again!!

[/ QUOTE ]

So does mine!! Every day his whole cheek from the top his muzzle up to, and sometimes including, his ear is covered in poop

 

[GLEEK]

I also try and have some kind of rug or sheet on all year round espeially when she is in to minimise poo stains. When she had sheep in her field last year she used to lie in the sheep poo aswell!!!

 

[JessandCharlie]

Fairy liquid!!! But only a little bit or it will dry out skin, followed by diamond white shampoo! Xx

 

[SirenaXVI]

Welcome to my world.

Be glad you only have ONE grey horse - mine are all grey, except the yearling who WILL be grey

Copious amounts of Quick Silver Shampoo and even more copious amounts of a new american product I found - it is called WOW whitener and it disolves protein stains - absolutely fantastic product and is one I will now never be without, spray it on a yellow/brown tail, wrap the tail up (using a tail wrap/plait - another must have) and hey presto - white tail the following morning - brilliant!

I also use summer sheets constantly and found the Rambo Dustbuster an invaluable dirt repeller

 

[FleabittenT]

Another vote for Hibiscrub! Have spent a fortune on shampoo but find hibiscrub works better than anything else.

We're on clay so I do a leg & tail wash with hibi every weekend, helps stop the orange-ness building up

 

[Hippona]

Turn out boots.

Plaited tail.

Combo rug.

Vat full of Miracle Groom.......

And a gentle weep every now and again....

 

[alliebaxter]

try 7 day mud away for prevention i spray my cobs white feathers every other day it makes for a quick wash on show days

 

[kal40]

A tail bag is essential for my piebald.

 

[MagicMelon]

I don't keep mine clean. He lives out 24/7 so at this time of year only his rugged part is clean, his head, legs and tail are normally brown! I compete him like this too, Im not going to wash him when its freezing. During the summer, I just wash him the day before an event and either turn him out overnight in a full neck summer rug or stable him overnight.

 

[Faro]

Just like Magic_Magpie, I don't keep my 4 greys clean either. Too frequent washing is not good for the coat, removes all of the natural oils etc.

Mine live out 24/7/375 and get absolutely filthy (and happily so!). However it's just mud and that's easily brushed off for work.

Fortunately, my dressage horse is my brown/black horse, so he's not too much trouble at all. Two of the greys are completely retired, and the other two are endurance horses, where fortunately there is no requirement to have a pristine snowy white horse.

Having said that, on the rare time that I do venture out to a show with one of the greys, getting the body clean is no problem. The main problem is with getting stained tails back to white. For that, I have found "Astonish" soap block pretty good (or the same thing "Vanish" brand if you can find it.)

 

[Porkie]

My friend uses a big tub of white goo that's meant for cleaning cows!!

It brings her grey up super white!!

It is safe for using on horses

- she was brought up on a dairy farm and has had horses since she was tiny, hence she knows the trick of the cow shampoo!!

 

[RobinHood]

I'm very lucky as my grey is pretty good and only occasionally uses his poo as a pillow! People do comment that I keep him very clean but tbh it doesn't take that much time and it makes a change from the last 3 bays I had.

My tips
- invest in a snuggy hoods sweet-itch suit (or a turnout hood but make sure it has ears, my grey got his ears covered in molasses - absolute nightmare

) and leave it off at your peril!
- wash any stains off as soon as you notice them, over time they are harder to get off
- keep tail tied up, if you know any polo people get them to teach you an argentine tail knot
- once a week unknot tail, wash in very hot water and fairy liquid, condition, brush and reknot (whole thing takes less than 10 mins)
- once a month wash mane in cowboy magic shampoo and then condition
- avoid molasses likits

I only hose hooves when I bring in (so I can put hoof stuff on when dry) and leave legs to dry as we're on clay so no orange legs.

 

[Fiorano]

Thank you everyone. I can see the tack shop is going to love me going in to buy more hibi or shampoo...lol. I had better take a couple of photos while she is clean to remind me what she SHOULD look like!