Keeping a very Hairy Traditional in Winter....

[winchester]

Right I am going in to my first winter with a very hairy traditional cob...... I need all the help i can get!

I bought him in March and he has been out to a few in hand shows but has now just been left in the field - and is honestly looking - well filthy!

I am on clay which is a nightmare with my non-hairies so please can you help me be prepared before the winter comes...

How often shall i pig oil & Sulpher legs?
Do you keep his tail in a plait & bagged up? If so how often do you take it out? how long do you leave it out for etc? what about if they are living out?
Mane - do you plait this in long plaits? One plait? put it in bags? should i pig oil and sulpher this too?
Do you give them regular baths to keep on to of the mud and dirt?
What shall i bath in before a show to get his feathers nice and white?

Thank you in advanced from a Non-Hairy (for the past 11 years) owner who is very worried about the forthcoming Winter months!

 

[Mince Pie]

PO&S will be your new best friend! Before I hogged my boy I used it 1/2 times a week liberally and then brushed the mud off in the morning before turnout. Tail was plaited from the dock down every morning and then folded up (hunting style) and he didn't roll that much so mane was left alone. What about a lycra hood for turnout?

 

[Highlands]

Don't panic, mud washes out!

If you over wash then I would worry about mud fever. I clip mine several times and out. Her tail is chestnut do do not bag.have two snugly horse turnout and a headless hood for her jams. Keep the mane sprayed but not combed and then out hood over, wash and swap hood as the grease makes them rub.

Pig oil once a week, just a spray

Feather, hit water, fairy liquid and ariel liquid in equal parts. Leave on for 10 mins wash off then hint of silver shampoo, don't leave on too long or blue pony! Hot towel body

 

[Sophstar]

I let my cob get hairy in the winter AND he's naked most of the time!

Legs - thick layer of sudocrem in heels and from knee downwards soaked in baby oil/vegetable oil. Legs only ever hosed down entirely and mud removed by hand once a week and everything reapplied after getting a good inspection of skin. A brush doesn't touch his lower legs unless they are dry all through the wet/muddy season.

Tail and mane- oil is your winter best friend. Baby oil brushed through prevents it from getting dry and being impossible to brush through. His mane is allowed to grow a good 2 - 3 inches up to winter but I trim his tail up higher than normal as he has a tendency to rest in the muddiest patches and promote the mud dreadlock look

Body - well whatever state he comes in looking like! I have been seen to hack out riding a mud monster with only his head, back and belly brushed as with lack of daylight, it's a real race to get on and go! Plus he obviously wants to have a rhino covering of mud for his own 'mud rug.'

The more fiddling and brushing you do with the legs the more likely mud fever can set in as the skin gets irritated. Neither of my 24/7 living out ponies had a scab of mud fever last year

 

[eriskaydales]

I've got a hairy cob who lives out naked all winter P&O on legs, tail trimmed for winter, minimal washing, i also just brush where the tack is going to go when i ride, he's a mud monster. Never hose legs off, i just turn a blind eye to the scruff he looks in the winter, cos in the spring, good bath, handsome man again lol. Dont plait mane, i think it weakens the hair and i hate all those mane and tail bags. Oil tail and mane it prevents the mud sticking.

 

[Janette]

Totally agree with oil and sulphur. I keep a white tail in plaits, it keeps it tidy and stops the dread locks forming. I leave the mud on the legs and then remove it when it's dry. I used to wash it off every night, but when I looked at the feather closest to the leg, it was clean and beautifully white. The skin was in excellent condition.
We struggle with thrush when the ground gets wet, and I've found that Red Horse Sole Cleanse is good applied at night, when in. I intend to get another product they do for turning out during the day. Our goal this winter, is to stay thrush free.

I don't use hoods, or neck rugs because they rub the mane out. It doesn't matter how clean I keep them, or sprayed with slippy stuff. I clip, and if the weather is going to be vile, then I use detachable neck rugs for that time only. No neck rugs. If you choose to use a hood, the check that it stays where it should as I've heard of several cases where the head has slipped and covered the horses eye.