People with full feathered cobs that live out...

Mince Pie

Mince Pie

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...how do you stop 'bog burn'? Do you leave feathers on or take them off? I do use PO&S but last year it didn't seem to make much difference :(
 
Pig oil and sulphur. Smashing stuff for manes, tails and feathers to keep clean and in good condition. Buy from ebay. Used by many heavy horse owners. Applied to feather, as close to the skin as possible. May look a bit yukky for a few days, and then feathers look clean and stay clean until next application.
 
We don't use anything on the ones turned out in particular. The show stock stay in more which keeps them longer and are coated with silicon based products when washed out to stop them snapping off. Cold water can make them keep growing hair too, though can't say we do that!
And we make sure they're kept up to date with worming the and DM jabs to stop them scratching them off.
Make sure any prickly or rough weeds/plants are chopped from the paddock, as thistles etc are what the majority of the time rips the hair out.
If really boggy, spray them out so no mud ends up plastered round the ends in matts, as this also breaks the hair off eventually.

Generally the less you do with them, the stronger they stay we find. I detest pig oil and sulphur personally as it's a complete messy fuss to put on and plus we have 30+ to keep, so just isn't realistic to keep doing it to all of them! All ours are just bought in after a winter, washed out and still end up having hair like this:

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when i had my traditonal last winter i done a trial PO/S verses baby oil and salt.

the legs with the baby oil and salt styed the cleanest tbf i had no issues with anything on any of the legs, where possible i stuck his legs in buckets of water and gave them a light wash off here and there (mainly cause i have ocd and couldnt stand mucky legs.)

the salt in the baby oil not only acted as healer but the grittyness of the salt. took off the dirt and muck!
 
I don't find the pig and sulphur messy to apply as I make sure it's not too thick. I use a spray bottle and just spray on skin and feather.
 
Agree with Binky01, -very good adivice.
I generally do very little with hairy boy's legs. Hate PO & S, as the only time his feathers burnt off was when I used the combined sulphur with the pig oil.

He has pig oil alone or avon skin so soft, but usually during the winter, I leave them alone, just check the skin with my fingers to make sure there aren't any cuts or sores and pretty much do little else. Too much brushing and washing stops the feathers doing what they are designed to do -protecting the skin.
He lives out and during the snow last year, his feathers were blindingly white and thick. Pity the snow melted to leave mud everywhere.

This is the neglected one's feathers;

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Lovely set of feathers horserider! I found the snow great as well. My horses never lookes so clean, and any trace of thrush etc disappeared like magic.
 
jennyf said:
Lovely set of feathers horserider! I found the snow great as well. My horses never lookes so clean, and any trace of thrush etc disappeared like magic.
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Although I end up with big blobs of snow attached, I agree my cremello cob looked nice and clean in the snow. I do trim to keep off the floor and my farrier hated the long feathers as he would singe them. I use to trim them just before he turned up. I did use to rub in Aqueous cream just to try to waterproof the hair a bit sometimes?? Wet fields mud..try to avoid.
 
indie999 said:
I do trim to keep off the floor and my farrier hated the long feathers as he would singe them. I use to trim them just before he turned up.
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Stand away from the scissors....:D

Feathers are the farriers pet hate. So they tell me. Often. :o
Get a piece of tubigrip and the farrier can put it on the footrest and then slide it up over the foot, pulling the feathers out of the way. Also helps him to ensure he has balanced the foot correctly because he is not working blind.
Keeps the farrier clean and dry when faced with muddy feathers.
 
I cant seem to load pics on here to show you but my hairy chap has masses of feather and I do nothing. I dont brush his legs from about end July onwards so his natural oils from his skin are on his hair. He doesnt mind and over winter last year when it turned really boggy, he was fine. I did worry about mud fever and did check him over obviously but I didnt wash him down just splashed water on his feet to check him as didnt want to interfere with nature. Hubby is very much of the opinion that the more you do, the more you can create wrong with them, he doesnt even like the fact I rug them!! Dont panic, I think in this case he is absolutely right although I would never tell him that ;)
 
Thanks all, only reason I ask is because he ended up with big balls of dried mud in his feathers last year so I gave up and took them off!
 
I don't and never have used anything. I have never, in all my years, had any mites or bog burn (fingers crossed and touching wooden head!)
 
Nope. me neither, my boy has masses of feather & mane, he gets absolutely plastered in mud (I call him my swamp cob.) I don't do anything with him during the winter months other than giving him a quick groom around the saddle area so I can ride him.

When spring comes around he gets a thorough going over :)
 
This may sound a bit silly, but I think it's largely to the type of mud! Sandy light type of soil is more manageable, but I have good old Essex clay, and it sticks and is difficult to get out. It sets in hard balls on the long hair; well they do still make bricks out of it in my area, so you can tell what it's like.
 
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