Iberian & native owners- hair advice please!

noblesteed

noblesteed

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Hi
I was just wondering how people keep their 'long' haired horses manes clean and tidy during winter. My grey Iberian x has his hair 'au naturale' and his WHITE mane is quite long. However despite the snow cleaning him, the mud has come back and he now looks like an unkempt scruff bag with dreadlocks! It is too cold to keep washing his mane (I do wash his tail before an outing so that isn't too bad), I have tried a hooded rug but it just rubbed sections of mane and he lost clumps of it. In summer I put it in little plaits to keep him clean and cool but I don;t want to do this in winter as I keep him underrugged as it is. I also try not to brush it too much as it snaps...
So what to do? Any ideas or wonderful products I can add? Should I just lop it off and start again??
 
Plait it with cond/oil it will be curly but the curls fall out.. I put mane & tail cond on tail ends and feathers to help mud fall off quicker. or baby oil, or veg oil on the ends work too.
 
Please don't lop it off!! If you can wash and condition it then put some baby oil in it and tease any tangles out by hand. Spring isn't that far away and a bit of mud won't hurt it!!
 
Hi, I second the baby oil. It's good for removing mud that has dried like concrete too! I just put some on the dried mud and leave until the morning and it seems to desolve it:) handy this time of year when it's too cold to wash it off.
 
The best thing you can really do is to ignore it. My grey connie has a brown mane that looks a real mess as I've not touched it in months, except to remove the odd twig.

Once the show season returns and you need it to be clean, set aside a week to give it lots of washes and you'll never know what it used to look like!
 
I live with the mud on my hairy one. He seems to like it. However, putting baby oil or pig oil on manes and tails helps to prevent the mud sticking and can be brushed off when dry.
 
I use extra virgin olive oil on my hair and my horse's :) though, my pone has a pulled mane it's nice to keep it looking clean and healthy, his forelock has never been pulled so that needs the most maintenance!

Also, to keep it white, wash with warm water and use a whitening shampoo (human shampoo works best but they do some other stuff for horses now). Always use warm water as it lifts the dirt away better :)
 
i've got one of those scruffy git iberian types, body beautiful, mane, well what can you say, started on it today, new years reso, find olive oil very good, and mane and tail conditioner essential, the mane can certainly make or break the look of a horse
 
My native has a mane that falls past his shoulders and this time of year looks like a birds nest. I just ignore it I'm afraid, time enough to pretty him up when the spring comes. If the knots get too big I put a dollop of pig oil on the knot and untangle with my fingers, otherwise it just gets left to fester.
 
Cheers guys I will leave it for now, as it's far too cold to wash (he is a wimp and start shivering even in summer!) I will continue apologising for his scruffy rastafarian state to people I meet out riding! At least for winter dressage a running plait hides the grubbiest bits.
Will stock up on Baby oil tho in time for spring. I am guessing it need to be applied regularly like once a week or so?
 
lauraandjack said:
I've also found that rugs with separate attached necks are less inclined to rub than the combo type.
Click to expand...

Ditto this. During the summer it depends if you want it long and thick or long and thin. For long and thick, keep it in plaits and replait once a week. For long and thin, brush out every day using copious amounts of mane and tail conditioner. I find canter the best, personally.

For my boys white tail I use Ace Stain Remover which you can get in summerfield. It's very gentle (safe for humans to use without gloves) so might work well for white mane. Obviously a patch test before would be essential.
 
Some good tips on here, thanks for sharing. I have a young Spanish cross, tail to the floor, mane really long.Again I have the problem of the mane, in winter time activities.
I agree with the mane can make or break the look, off to find Ace, and baby oil!
JC
 
My fell's is plaited in 4 thick plaits and replaited every couple of days. He rubbed it last year a little bit so I'm working hard on it through the winter to try and get it for this summer! :)
 
I am lucky that my iberian is a bit of a prima donna who doesn't like mud. He doesn't roll often and tiptoes through the mud to the gate each day.

I used to have an irish bog horse though, so I feel your pain - covering his mane and tail in canter and combing them through every day was the best thing I found for him. If done every day, they didn't get too tangled and so not much hair came out.
 
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