Owners of hairy legged horse who compete through winter

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Welshie95

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How would you go about making this look more presentable?
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If the horse spent a large chunk of time stabled in the worst of the winter he would be clipped out ears to toes.
If half & half I'd probably run very course blades down back of legs and heels. Or clip out fully first clips but leave legs on a reclip mid winter.
If mostly out the legs would stay on.
 
What are you concerned about, and what kinds of shows?

My older mare has that kind of fluffy hair... I clip her legs out these days as it's neater and easier to keep her clean and dry.

My welshie has her full feathers. Getting her clean for shows is a little irritating as she has 3 white legs but it's not really a drama... I clip down the back of her legs to the knees/hocks to get rid of the really long fine hairs, that makes her look a bit neater.
 
ihatework said:
If the horse spent a large chunk of time stabled in the worst of the winter he would be clipped out ears to toes.
If half & half I'd probably run very course blades down back of legs and heels. Or clip out fully first clips but leave legs on a reclip mid winter.
If mostly out the legs would stay on.
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milliepops said:
What are you concerned about, and what kinds of shows?

My older mare has that kind of fluffy hair... I clip her legs out these days as it's neater and easier to keep her clean and dry.

My welshie has her full feathers. Getting her clean for shows is a little irritating as she has 3 white legs but it's not really a drama... I clip down the back of her legs to the knees/hocks to get rid of the really long fine hairs, that makes her look a bit neater.
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Just dressage mostly, he suffers terribly with mud fever and isn't really a fan of being out (gallops round frothing with sweat) so spends a lot of it in. I want to be able to clean them up and treat easily, but when I did have to clip them completely towards the end of last year I found it even harder to get the mud totally off, I'd have to run the hose in the opposite direction of the hair growth and really rub to get it really clean - not good for either of our skin! I also found his usual boots and wraps would rub the skin raw with no hair to protect. I've invested in wicking stable boots this year so hoping we can get away with less maintenance as such!
 
tricky one, we are on clay and it comes off my girl's short hair really easily. I do have to choose boots carefully, even in the summer any boots with binding will rub her. Have you tried decent turnout boots? Not everyone's cup of tea but I've been pleased with my premier equine and equilibrium ones, I have 2 sets so I can clean and dry them in between use.
 
milliepops said:
tricky one, we are on clay and it comes off my girl's short hair really easily. I do have to choose boots carefully, even in the summer any boots with binding will rub her. Have you tried decent turnout boots? Not everyone's cup of tea but I've been pleased with my premier equine and equilibrium ones, I have 2 sets so I can clean and dry them in between use.
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Turnout boots are next on my agenda, friend had good results with the short ones from PE but I think the amount of mud he creates would come over the top of them :/

be positive said:
Clip and use pig oil to prevent the mud sticking, stable boots should help keep the mud fever away.
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Any particular brand? Do you just bring in and brush off when dry or differently? I've used udder cream in the past but was really difficult to get off when needed to let legs air. How would you get it off prior to a show? Just warm water and some soap? He is usually turned out for a couple of hours and then bathed the morning of his class (anything from 1pm) and left in to munch hay so plenty of time to dry etc.
 
Welshie95 said:
Turnout boots are next on my agenda, friend had good results with the short ones from PE but I think the amount of mud he creates would come over the top of them :/


Any particular brand? Do you just bring in and brush off when dry or differently? I've used udder cream in the past but was really difficult to get off when needed to let legs air. How would you get it off prior to a show? Just warm water and some soap? He is usually turned out for a couple of hours and then bathed the morning of his class (anything from 1pm) and left in to munch hay so plenty of time to dry etc.
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I just spray some on once or twice a week from the knees and hocks down, the mud doesn't really stick so there is no reason to do anything when they come in, a quick hose down will get rid of any thick mud and it washes off easily for shows with just a normal shampoo and rinse. I use it on the hairy legged ones but it works just as well on those that have clipped legs.
No idea what brand it is, you can get it with sulphar but some will react and it turns the hair yellow so best avoided, even a spray of baby oil will help although it is not quite so effective.
 
I have some trimmers that have a guard on them (lister legatos) so I just trim my boys feathers to the same length as the rest of his coat, keeps them tidy without having to clip legs completely everytime I clip
 
xgemmax said:
I have some trimmers that have a guard on them (lister legatos) so I just trim my boys feathers to the same length as the rest of his coat, keeps them tidy without having to clip legs completely everytime I clip
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Tried this, but the hair is so thick it came out in lines and missed bits no matter how many times and number of directions I ran them over :(
 
Pig Oil as said above should solve your problems with or without feathers, I have 3 natives all living out 24/7, weekly or bi-weekly in winter I just hose their legs and apply the pig oil whilst still wet, really rub it upwards into the hair to the knees. When they come in to their stables for any reason then I just flush them with a hose and the mud comes straight off, I don't need to shampoo at all all winter as it works so well. Then come spring I clip their feathers off and leave them all summer or I just leave their feathers on, depends what I am doing for the year, showing they are left on, no showing then they come off, makes it easier to bandage them for schooling or boot them etc with no feathers getting in the way.
 
Boysy said:
Pig Oil as said above should solve your problems with or without feathers, I have 3 natives all living out 24/7, weekly or bi-weekly in winter I just hose their legs and apply the pig oil whilst still wet, really rub it upwards into the hair to the knees. When they come in to their stables for any reason then I just flush them with a hose and the mud comes straight off, I don't need to shampoo at all all winter as it works so well. Then come spring I clip their feathers off and leave them all summer or I just leave their feathers on, depends what I am doing for the year, showing they are left on, no showing then they come off, makes it easier to bandage them for schooling or boot them etc with no feathers getting in the way.
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Ok brill thanks, I'd like to try turning him out every day, or if I really must, every other day, would this be too much hosing to still be effective?
 
We compete a part bred Shire in full feather through winter. I pig oil once a week making sure it is brushed well into the feather, I use a soft hair brush £1 from Wilko or similar. I never hose him. He will stand in overnight in the barn the evening before the dressage and in the morning I just body brush the feathers and he is fine to go.
 
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