New to Cobs!

[AlohaCob]

Hi everyone! Short background information: I bought my first horse back in 2003, and retired her in April 2016...however she had completely destroyed my confidence in the last 2 years. She is at a great place and looks fabulous. And that brings us to today: I found a beautiful cob or as they are called over here (I am in the US) a Gypsy Vanner. His temperament is great, and I felt safe riding him when I tried him out, so he has now been with me about 3 weeks, and I think is settling in fine. He is super sweet and super cute too. Here is my question though: I live on the island of Oahu, and our autumn and winter is wet. How do you keep the feathers dry in wet weather? I figured I would come here to a UK site because I would find more people knowledgeable of cobs/feathers and wet weather. lol he was on the Big Island in a much dryer spot before. Any tips are much appreciated! I cannot seem to get the insert image function to work, or I would have posted a picture. :-( Mahalo!

 

[Floofball]

Aloha! Just thought I’d welcome you to the forum and bump your post. Hopefully someone will come along with advice for you as I’ve no experience keeping hairy”s. I used to have a Clydsdale X but kept him trimmed. If you search the forum there is advice on how to post pics so hopefully you will be able to show off your newbie. He sounds lovely, good luck with him.
I got married on Oahu, beautiful place - can’t imagine it ever being as wet as the UK!

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Hello there, most people use what we call 'pig oil', spray the feather every few days and comb it through, to waterproof the feather. You will probably find that even if you do nothing the outside of the feather is wet and the inside and skin, dry.
Pig oil is a pharmaceutical grade oil, apparently.

 

[AlohaCob]

Trying to post a pic of my cute boy

 

[AlohaCob]

Thanks! I wonder if I can get pig oil here. And yes, I am almost positive the UK gets way more rain (I feel for you guys!) than Hawaii, but we do have our moments. lol Glad I figured out how to post, as his cuteness should be shared.

 

[cobsarefab]

Use imgur to post pics. I used to comb olive oil through my mare's feathers every couple of days. The main thing was to keep them well oiled and free from tangles.
If you want them really white for a specific time then I'd was them in diamond white shampoo. This is what it did for cobbus:

 

[DaisyMoo]

Hello there, most people use what we call 'pig oil', spray the feather every few days and comb it through, to waterproof the feather. You will probably find that even if you do nothing the outside of the feather is wet and the inside and skin, dry.
Pig oil is a pharmaceutical grade oil, apparently.

Aloha! Whilst it's mostly ok if used sparingly pig oil is very corrosive to horses skin. For this reason I have always avoided it and used mane and tail spray or baby oil instead. Sometimes I use nothing and just rinse the coblets feathers when she comes in

 

[AlohaCob]

Thanks for the suggestions! I have been using a spray for manes and tails, which so far has been good. Will look int olive oil and baby oil for occasional use. I can get the Diamond White shampoo, and strive for lovely white feathers such as cobsarefab has! I see that photobucket let me down on sharing my beautiful boy, so will try imgur instead.

[/url][/IMG]

 

[AlohaCob]

[/url][/IMG]

 

[shirl62]

welcome ..What a lovely boy you have..

Shirl

 

[DaisyMoo]

[/url][/IMG]

Your horse is so beautiful. Good luck with him x

 

[laura_nash]

Welcome, your cob is gorgeous! I would say that though because he looks a lot like mine

I got my boy in the South West of England and we are now on the West coast of Island so I have a bit of experience in managing him in wet weather. My tips are:

As others have said, its impressive how well the feathers work on their own a lot of the time - they can be caked in wet mud outside and clean and dry underneath. You do need to check them properly regularly though, sticking you fingers underneath the hair, so you catch any problems early.

I feed micronized linseed (flax) in winter, alongside a good mineral balancer, which helps to keep the skin and hair healthy and resistant to disease. I also don't shoe, which I find helps avoid mud fever presumably due to better lower limb circulation, but that is a whole other topic!

Washing the legs gets water under the surface of the hair so make sure you don't wash them unless you have the time to do a really good, thorough job and ideally then let them dry out somewhere dry and clean. I only wash mine's about once a month in winter.

After washing I always put on a barrier, I use pig oil which is basically unperfumed baby oil it is just much cheaper since its sold in bulk for pigs rather than in pretty bottles for babies. I prefer to let them dry before I apply the oil, but you can put it on wet legs if you have to. If there is any evidence of skin problems, or I want to get them whiter, I use flowers of Sulphur in it. If you google pig oil and Sulphur you should find plenty of info on this - always patch test first as some horses are sensitive to it. It turns the feathers yellow at first, if you want them white for a specific day you need to do it a few days in advance.

You probably won't get this, but here in Ireland I also have to watch out for something called "bog burn" which is where the feathers at the bottom (hanging over the hoof) are weakened by being constantly wet and snap off - giving a "badly trimmed" look. Its mostly cosmetic and they do grow back, the solution is to make sure they have some time standing somewhere dry every day.

I also cut mine's tail a bit shorter in winter, but that is more for mud than wet which may also not be an issue for you.

Its not related to the wet, but if you are new to cobs keep an eye out for mallenders, which is scurfy / crusty stuff behind the knee. Mine has only ever had it mildly and I find the best solution for me is carefully combing it out with a nit comb or similar.

Have fun with him.

 

[Bernster]

Welcome, and well done on getting to upload pictures, I still haven't cracked it!

 

[meleeka]

I do nothing with my cobs feathers. As others have said if you part the hair you can usually see how white they are next to the skin. Mine has access to his stable but lives out. As I’m sure you are finding out a cobs main/only focus in life is eating so his hay goes in the stable which encourages him to stay in there more. I had much finer horses before and was amazed at how much mud mine makes - another reason to make sure you have a hard standing of some sort.

Your boy is lovely btw. How do they cope with the heat? Do they grow a thick coat still? Mine is not made for our weather at all and usually has to be clipped as his coat is so thick.

 

[Beth206]

Aloha!

Your cob is lovely I think my mare would definitely have a crush on him!

I do nothing with my cobs feathers.

I do nothing with my cobs feathers either ^, my mare also lives out but does have access to her stable and a hard standing where her hay is. I keep her in overnight when the farrier is due and it just gives her feet chance to dry out and I will rub some antibacterial powder in at that point too. In the meantime I do try to keep her feathers and mane brushed and oiled with baby oil to protect the hair.

 

[Snuffles]

and you might like to do a search for the Why do people want to own cobs threads!

 

[AlohaCob]

Mahalo to you all...some really great tips! I have noticed that he is fixated on food quite a bit. lol My retired mare is too, but he seems really extra keen. I am fortunate that I have dry areas for him to stand in, and I have noticed that the feather is dry underneath unless I have given him a bath. I have a blow dryer to use on the feathers too, although I have not used it yet.

He had a pretty thick and shaggy coat when he arrived on Oahu, so I had to clip the poor boy. he is much more comfortable after that. he has lived in Hawaii since he was 3 (he is now 7 1/2) but his first island home was in a cooler and dryer spot. He is barefoot too, and I want to keep him that way, although the coral rock base here may not suit too well. So far, so good.

Thank you for the explanation of what pig oil is! I had no idea. Lots to digest, and I really love the answers of doing nothing. lol I so far have been a bit paranoid about them, and he gets a little pissy with me at times when grooming him takes too long and he would rather be grazing.

I think we are going to have a great time together. I have had him 3 weeks already, and he is a sweetheart. I am now a converted cob fan! I think he is a cutest thing in the world, but can you believe someone told me is is 'so ugly that he is cute?' lol What a thing to say to someone, especially since its their new horse. lol Not that I care, I think he is beautiful, but have a bias of course.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Aloha! Whilst it's mostly ok if used sparingly pig oil is very corrosive to horses skin. For this reason I have always avoided it and used mane and tail spray or baby oil instead. Sometimes I use nothing and just rinse the coblets feathers when she comes in

I would never use baby oil, as it is perfumed, which can cause skin problems for people, never mind horses!

 

[jojo5]

I would never use baby oil, as it is perfumed, which can cause skin problems for people, never mind horses!

^^^^^definitely this - a well meaning yard neighbour rubbed baby oil into my boy’s leg as she was convinced it would prevent mites. The following morning his skin was red under the feathers and he was stamping and chewing the affected leg .......

 

[Pinkvboots]

^^^^^definitely this - a well meaning yard neighbour rubbed baby oil into my boy’s leg as she was convinced it would prevent mites. The following morning his skin was red under the feathers and he was stamping and chewing the affected leg .......

one of my horses had a terrible reaction to baby oil not applied by me might I add but it cost me a nice £200 for a vet as his legs swelled to about 3 times the size, so please be careful using baby oil.

 

[AlohaCob]

And thanks for the warnings too. Yikes! Before using anything, I will do a spot test to make sure all is well before using a product on a larger area. Luckily, he won't get too much mud, but definitely will get some wet with rain and the humidity here. I have been using a dog flea comb to go through the feathers and check underneath as well as get out smaller gunk that gets caught in there.