"How do you keep your pony so clean all the time ??"

Shysmum

Shysmum

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I've been asked this loads of times, and another livery told me a friend asked her the same thing about Shy today . I think people must think I'm a slave to grooming :eek:, but nothing is further from the truth. I am soooo lazy, just got it sussed now.

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I wash his mane and tail with Tesco cheap tea tree stuff, maybe every two months. But the main thing is that I always coat them, and his legs (up to the tummy) in pig oil and sulphur. (patch test first) . That makes his hair grow soooooo fast, keeps it pure white, and any mud just slides off overnight.

At the moment, he's moulting, so a dabble with that metal thing, and a quick flick with a dandy, and that is it. Never have I had it so easy.

I hope this helps someone - with my last coloured I was just fighting a constant battle. Does anyone else have a similar way of grooming ?
 
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My haffy has a super long mane and people often say they are impressed I manage to keep it clean. I get all the credit when all I do really is coat it in baby oil and pick out clumps of mud when it is dry :-)

I need to get one of those metal blade things, shall add it to the list although I don't think she will be very keen!
 
Baby oil is supposed to be just as good :) Shy quite likes that metal blade thingy (damn what are they called ??), I think it must feel like having a good scratch all over.

Ah thank you Rainbow - he has grown into quite a BIG character, and i love him dearly. His latest "thang" is to lick my hubbie's ears, apparently very gently, and he's very studious about it. Probably best not to ask. Oh and to carry sticks wherever he goes when he's with Percy Pup....as in;

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My trick is to have a horse whose coat colour does not show poo or mud stains, who has no white socks or feet, and who has a black mane and tail :D

Grooming usually involves a quick flick of a brush under the belly.

Winter
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Summer
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In case anybody's thinking he was recently cleaned in either pic, I don't do cleaning - I groom the bits touched by tack. He's just naturally clean - he rarely mud wallows. I won't say never, because he does have his days, but it would be once a month if that. He enjoys a scrape with a shedding blade too! Shy is superbly white and gleaming, I have to admit I would have thought twice about mine if he'd had a white mane and tail, but you are clearly demonstrating that it can be done ;-)
 
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He's gorgeous! Pretty sure it's called a shedding blade? Or something similar anyway!

I loan a grey, so will bear these tips in mind for when it's warm enough to bath her :)
 
Shedding blade :D The Current Appy loves it, as does the Old Cob. The Big Girl isn't too keen, she says she is a senestive soul (hide like a rhino and more coat than a yak!) and that it pulls :( She is currently shedding enough hair to stuff a bus load of sofas :eek:
 
yup, shedding blade is the RIGHT answer, haha! Shy especially loves it very gently on his face, sends him into another secret horsey world.. he was clipped months ago, but as he's not sweating, I've not bothered again (money), and he's chugging along fine. Even naked today *gasp*.

Fab to have a pony that nothing can show up on - that might be my next move if my low-grooming regime fails. He might have to be dyed - ooo black ?
 
Standard neck rugs but have a sweet itch neck rug underneath so right up to ears, manes coated in Equine America coat stuff, tails washed, plaited and bagged all the time, legs up to knees/hocks washed and coated in pig oil, faces wiped over with oil or EQ, under feet coated in field paste.

Mine live out 24/7 and i am not a fan of grooming at all so the minor hassle of every couple of wks coating them in stuff above in well worth it for me over winter.
 
Shysmum said:
yup, shedding blade is the RIGHT answer, haha! Shy especially loves it very gently on his face, sends him into another secret horsey world.. he was clipped months ago, but as he's not sweating, I've not bothered again (money), and he's chugging along fine. Even naked today *gasp*.

Fab to have a pony that nothing can show up on - that might be my next move if my low-grooming regime fails. He might have to be dyed - ooo black ?
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No not black, they get dusty, go for a sooty buckskin/dun colour, doesn't show a thing!
 
My lad has a lovely clean and shiny body which is due to his PE rug, but I've yet to catch him doing headstands...how else does he always get mud all over his ears??! His feet, especially the white ones are, well, normal...so muddy :D
 
Or have a horse that hates mud :D new yo thought he didn't roll in the fields for months as he always came in so clean, now she's seen him pick the least muddy patch to have a good roll in.
 
they are funny, aren't they ! Shy is not a dirty roller at all - in fact when he does get dirty, I'm quite chuffed with him - usually he only has a tiny bit of mud on his head when he's been rugged.

When he's moulting, he should just kick his heels up and get down and dirty :D
 
This is mine after five minutes cantering round, bucking, squealing, rolling, smooging his face in the mud. He's stood at the fence line at the bottom of the slope where the runoff has created a stream down the lane. He was eating the mud!!
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Now THAT is a an excellent picture of a very happy horse !!! Got OH laughing too

Was that rug once mauve ? And the horse black and white ? you see, he wanted to be matchy matchy brown.
 
I know it's quite a novelty to have to remove mud off him, he at most gets a patch at the top of his neck. His legs get muddier from me riding him as I make him splash through mud and puddles than they ever do in the field. He's very clean in his stable as well, very rarely lays in poo, his stable rugs are still clean on the out side after a winter of use.
 
This winter I've discovered Snuggy Hoods for both of mine: an absolute godsend and a real "don't know how I managed without" item. I've used other cheaper lycra hoody's (never EVER again - after finding my boy with one over his head & eyes completely up in the field one day) - but I feel safe leaving the Snuggy Hoods variety on and turning them out in it.

But would recommend anyone buying - unless you KNOW that your Ned is gonna be fine about something pulled on and off over his/her head, to go for the ones with the zip-up fastening. They're a bit more pricey but well worth the extra IMO.

I use baby oil on the feet as opposed to Pig Oil: Pig Oil brought my traddie boy up in a very nasty rash when I did it.
 
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