Help!

P

Peggy4

New User
Joined
16 August 2016
Messages
7
Visit site
My 5 year old gypsy cob Peggy doesn't lift her tail up enough when she goes to the toilet, and she now has all the remains of this in her tail! It is dried and now very hard to remove!!

I am "training" and loaning her from a friend who has had her since she was a yearling, and she hasn't really done anything about it, so it is a bit stained!

Need some help on what to do about it! I am going to try a new shampoo, (Dirty Beastie by Wahl), this weekend and see if that helps with anything!
 
Is she spraying her tail or more solid?

My first thought would be to get her checked for a physical problem - check if there is any physical reason why she can't move her tail far enough. In a gypsy cob I'd be worried about a cracked pelvis. But it could also be an obstruction or something that changes where the stream goes. Alternatively if she is so loose that she is covering her tail in dung then there is a digestive issue which needs to be resolved.

Horses are still very must prey animals and covering your tail like that would make you more of a target for a scent driven predator - and make it less useful for keeping flies off yourself - so it is more likely to be a physical issue than habit.

That said some mares in season will allow their tail to become fouled because when flagged it will carry the scent further - but that is (pardon) lady juice. Not anything else.

Once you are sure that there is nothing physically wrong (I have an appie who is the dirtiest beastie I have ever had in decades of horse ownership. Before him I would have said horses do not glue their eyes shut with their own poo in the stable - but this one does!) try a shampoo with oil or a conditioner in it. You don't want to wash any oftener than you have to because you dry the skin so the next step will be to make the stuff slide off easier. But check there is no physical issue first.
 
My friend has a gypsy cob with extra flaps of skin on her 'lady bits' - so the poo goes everywhere. She has to get washed and covered in udder cream daily but they've also trimmed the tail back so it wasn't getting too caught up in it all.

She used ketchup to clean the yellow off. Slathers the tail in it, ties it up in a plastic back for 30 mins or so then washes out. Seems to work!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top