Please share your hints and tips on maintaining the coloured horse/cob/pony!

[SavingGrace]

I recently purchased a 14.2hh HW coloured traditional cob whom to say was minging would be an understatement so I am looking for any hints/tips/ideas you have for keeping them relatively clean or easier to get clean!

 

[TuscanBunnyGirl]

I'm not doing a very good job of keeping my coloured clean *cringes at the thought of her coloured turned bay out in the field*

I've heard about these horsey 'socks' that keep legs clean

 

[Enfys]

Hosepipe

Snow is also good

Alternately, you can go with the "A good horse is never a bad colour" brigade and put up with mud for the duration

 

[Sparkles]

Tail bags in winter for sure! Hoodies can be good, but make sure they're really good ones with a satin like lining to stop hair being rubbed

 

[Queenbee]

re: tailbags, this is something I want/need to invest in, any recommendations?

 

[tasteofchristmaschaos]

... don't bother. They will only take joy in getting twice as dirty as before, in as short a time as possible...

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

Clip 'em out & then rug 'em out in a combo rug is the best thing. I won't use hoody's as had a bad experience with one that slipped down and got all over my boy's face & eyes.

I put pig oil on my boy's legs so that if he does get mucky (which he frequently does) then mega easy to wash off. What I also do is to get a body brush or similar and then dip it into the pig oil and then brush that lightly through the coat as well, incl the mane & tail - this basically provides an oily coating and so mud etc is much easier to get off; don't put it on the saddle/girth area though!! Baby oil will do as well.

The other thing I couldn't live without is Lynn Russell stain remover; fantastic stuff!

 

[JFTDWS]

Did it not come with instructions? Mine read:

"Purchase horse. Purchase field. Purchase rug.
Insert horse into rug and field, in that order.
Visit regularly with feed / forage as appropriate.
Remove all packaging before use.
Hand wash only.
Do not tumble dry."

 

[SavingGrace]

Did it not come with instructions? Mine read:

"Purchase horse. Purchase field. Purchase rug.
Insert horse into rug and field, in that order.
Visit regularly with feed / forage as appropriate.
Remove all packaging before use.
Hand wash only.
Do not tumble dry."

No she didn't... I wonder if requesting the same model in black, bay or chestnut would work? Or maybe some hairdye?lol

 

[sally87]

just pretend its meant to be brown

or cover it nose to tail

& remember why you always had bay horses in the past

 

[Jackson]

Heheheh. Impossible.

Invest in a grooming stone, great for removing dried poo stains without water.
Clip and rug!
Tail bag (there's a tutorial somewhere online how to do this witout actually buying a bag, even complete with twine 'fly swat' which I found very creative )
Put mane in twists/really loose braids before turning out.
When you know that it is going to rain, groom horse, spray a light covering of whitening shampoo over exposed parts of horse, coat mane and tail in conditioner, turn out and pray that horsie doesn't roll, for a complete winter self bath
Wait for your horse to pee in his stable and catch it in a bucket before you leave the yard at night, so there is no wet straw hanging about.
If you have a sand school, remove mud and turn out horsie nekkid until he rolls, bring in, dry and brush sand off to reveal a much cleaner pony!
Abandon all hope of keeping legs clean. I'm happy to hose them off in most weathers, so put all of your effort in to keeping the rest of them clean instead, and just hose off for important occasions!!

 

[Queenbee]

just pretend its meant to be brown

or cover it nose to tail

& remember why you always had bay horses in the past

LOL ^^^this^^^

 

[SavingGrace]

just pretend its meant to be brown

or cover it nose to tail

& remember why you always had bay horses in the past

I have mostly had bays and chestnuts in the past, had 1 coloured but I don't recall him being quite as discusting as Grace lol x

She is very cute though so that makes up for it...

 

[juliette]

at this time of year i go for the "clean above the knee, filthy feather" look. It's much easier!!!

 

[Fiorano]

When I first got mine, I used to stress like mad trying to keep her clean with very little sucess . Now I just go for the hoody look lolol

but you are always fighting against this...

 

[sally87]

I have mostly had bays and chestnuts in the past, had 1 coloured but I don't recall him being quite as discusting as Grace lol x

She is very cute though so that makes up for it...

thats how basil gets away with it too

 

[Queenbee]

Heheheh. Impossible.

Invest in a grooming stone, great for removing dried poo stains without water. Have one, currently unused LOL
Clip and rug!
Tail bag (there's a tutorial somewhere online how to do this witout actually buying a bag, even complete with twine 'fly swat' which I found very creative )

Will look into this
Put mane in twists/really loose braids before turning out.
When you know that it is going to rain, groom horse, spray a light covering of whitening shampoo over exposed parts of horse, coat mane and tail in conditioner, turn out and pray that horsie doesn't roll, for a complete winter self bath Fantastic Idea... will give it a try...
Wait for your horse to pee in his stable and catch it in a bucket before you leave the yard at night, so there is no wet straw hanging about.
If you have a sand school, remove mud and turn out horsie nekkid until he rolls, bring in, dry and brush sand off to reveal a much cleaner pony! I am loving your style
Abandon all hope of keeping legs clean. I'm happy to hose them off in most weathers, so put all of your effort in to keeping the rest of them clean instead, and just hose off for important occasions!!

Thanks, some really useful tips there

 

[Archina]

rug them up to an inch of their life lol

tbh, most of the horses i have owned are bay but i do have one grey gelding and he is left o naturelle.

PS loving the pictures of the horses with their hoodies!! ahahaha

 

[s4sugar]

Choose a frame overo instead of a tobiano!

Dark legs and the white is all along the sides so easier to cover with rugs.

 

[ShadowFlame]

My piebald is unrugged and lives out 24/7/365. Some days I ask myself what possessed me to bring home a white horse.

To be fair, though, I've had a few comments of how clean he stays! Only thing I do is give him a good scrubbing with a plastic curry whenever he's dry, and stick some pig oil on his feather. Seems to be working well enough up 'til now