Keeping a grey horse grey (or white)

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Ive got my first grey horse and just wondering if anyone has any tips for keeping her white?

I plan to show her next year but honestly have no idea how to get her looking show ready. She is a Poo, mud and grass stain magnet!

Anyone recommend any good shampoo's, or tips?
 
The purple shampoos do really help.
And was them regularly don’t just leave the Pooh on it stains them. And once their clean douse in showsheen does help repel it a little.
 
zoelouisem said:
The purple shampoos do really help.
And was them regularly don’t just leave the Pooh on it stains them. And once their clean douse in showsheen does help repel it a little.
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Yes someone at the yard said purple shampoo is good - any specific one or are they all much the same?
 
I use either the one by naff or diamond white whichever is cheaper in the shop!! They are better. I’ve tried everything under the sun convinced the cheaper stuff works just aswell but they don’t.
 
Get the body wash stuff from safe equine. No suds, it's basically wet the horse, spray on the stuff, rub in, wait 6-7 mins and rinse off. So easy, it made my horse really white and he'd have been cleaner if the idiot had stood still.
 
Keep on top of your poos stains, the longer they stay on the harder they are to get off!
Purple shampoo is good, although be careful Flynn has had a lilac mane before now 🦄
Johnsons baby shampoo (the yellow one) is my go to for tails- always gets Flynn's bright white 😊
 
Wahl Diamond White shampoo, and, speaking as someone who has had several greys and at one point had a livery yard with 8 grey hunters to get ready every week, Reckitt's Blue. It's an old fashioned thing, and a trick that the head groom at Badminton stables taught me. You can get it on Amazon, and it comes in individually wrapped cubes of hard powdery stuff. Bucket of water as hot as you can stand, and a whole cube for a whole bath, and a half cube for stable stains. For stable stains just scrub at them with a sponge and they'll vanish, and for a bath just sponge over head to toe after rinsing, dunk the tail in the bucket and then chuck the bucket over them to get all the lovely blue goodness out. Never fails!
 
Depending on the level of work and how your horse is kept, we used to clip our grey out all year round and dealt with any muck on his tail quickly, he was in hard work and stabled at night with good rugs, wouldn't advise it for a horse turned out 24/7 that is in light work though.
 
i have several white horses, rugs are the best thing ever.

you have to change your mind set, i look at mine and sigh with pure love because i can see past all the ***** marks, thick mud etc and they still look wonderful to me!

i must say though when groomed , i just love to see the sun shining on the shiny clean bits, sometimes they look like molten silver
 
As the owner of many grey ponies..... You learn to lower your standards most of the time, when you go out somewhere special and you wash them, they cannot but look shiny white compared to the off yellow/patchy brown colours they look the rest of the time :)) Seriously, I recently discovered Cowboy Magic. No idea what chemicals is in there, but wow, they came up white!! Dont try ketchup - its a lie. I tried it before going to a show and pony had a sort of orange tint and smelt awful! Maybe I should have used Heinz and not Tesco's value ketchup........
 
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At this time of year, bath and then rug. This summer was quite easy because of the weather, dry fields so no mud to stick, and warm enough to bath when necessary.

Fiona
 
Quigleyandme said:
After a thorough groom, hot water, a flannel and a bit of elbow grease will usually shift any stains before riding. Sprays are great but are very expensive for every day use.
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Hot/warm water is key!

I use a "normal" shampoo first to get him clean, then a small amount of the purple/blue stuff in warm water if I want extra sparkle. A drying rug is essential in my eyes too, especially for colder weather.
In the summer he's washed the night before and wears a Rambo hoody to keep him clean, then gets a touch up in the morning. Over the winter he's rugged in a full neck, and I have a snuggy hoods turnout hood (the headless one) to get as much coverage as possible.

Day to day I brush the worst of the mud off, and don't worry too much about his tail except when we're going places. Have never had any major issue getting stains out, but his main dirt is mud, so doesn't stain as much. When he was stabled at night I just made sure he was skipped out as late as possible and had a decent bed, so had plenty of space to not lie in the dirty/wet shavings.

He's clipped out over the winter, which makes things a bit easier. He runs warm though, so needs to be clipped out for his own comfort when he's in work.
 
mustardsmum said:
As the owner of many grey ponies..... You learn to lower your standards most of the time, when you go out somewhere special and you wash them, they cannot but look shiny white compared to the off yellow/patchy brown colours they look the rest of the time :)) Seriously, I recently discovered Cowboy Magic. No idea what chemicals is in there, but wow, they came up white!! Dont try ketchup - its a lie. I tried it before going to a show and pony had a sort of orange tint and smelt awful! Maybe I should have used Heinz and not Tesco's value ketchup........
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KETCHUP! lol - Ive not heard of that one! Thank you for the tips though
 
As the owner of 2 greys, lower your standards especially over winter :) good grooming practice will help a lot and don't forget to clean your brushes. clipping them in winter helps and for shows I have a block of vanish soap which is great on mane & tails really whitens them. I get lazy over winter and let both of them get muddy and stained then just give them a flick over, both being natives their coats get really thick so when spring comes I can groom /shed most of the stains out.
also when showing chalk can hide a multiple of sins on the day
 
Rugs are your friend, and elbow grease ! Keep on top of grooming and keep brushes clean , a good old metal curry is great for getting rid of the cack build up in your brushes . Purple shampoo is great , I've also used plain old shampoo, stores own baby shampoo and blue food colouring . Do a patch test of course, mix food colouring and shampoo and apply . Not too much food colouring or you'll end up with a blue / purple horse ! Mine gets smothered in a chalk and water paste , this helps keep the most of him clean . Always need to touch up knees and hocks but a quick hot cloth will help shift overnight stains. Pig oil is good for keeping the thick of the filth off ,applied once washed and dried , it'll make future bathing easier .
 
Keep a tail bag on all year round the tail will stay white which will save you a huge amount of time when you bath, purple shampoo, chalk paste, leg wraps or bandages to keep legs clean and the lycra neck covers are good for keeping them clean.
 
This time of year you don't have to do much because the dirt comes off as they shed their coats :-). If the field isn't too muddy they are often cleaner coming in than if they had stayed in the stable overnight. Mine just loves lying on her poos!
 
Day to day I don't worry about it. I do bag her tail over the worst of winter but like to leave her fly swat as nature intended whilst they are about. For shows its cowboy magic shampoo and cowboy magic green spot/stain remover. The shampoo does the job for bathing and the spot remover gets rid of any stains that appear overnight/post bath. I do rug her with a hood the night before a show.
 
Cowboy magic stain spray is good 😁 normal shampoo is okay, then rinse with the blue tabs, or supreme do blue powder only a pinch needed
 
Used to use talcum powder years ago on my grey (turned white) horse on his legs to whiten before the show ring. Worked a treat and he smelt lovely!
 
I share everyone's pain. Since mine lives out unclipped, I've resigned myself to having a mud ball in the winter...it just seems so very mean to give her a bath when it's cold and awful out, and the first thing she does after a bath is try to find the biggest patch of mud she can to get as much dirt as possible on any bits not covered by my rugging efforts. So now I bathe her only if the event is really important to me.
 
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