Problems with hairy cobs?

Keeping the bleddi thing clean is gonna be your most obvious difficulty! If you think a grey is difficult, then just go and get yourself a pie or skewbald with LOTS of white........ the only solution is to rug the dang critter, and THEN you'll get a nice clean body and horrible stained mane, tail, neck & legs! You can't win, you really can't.

I've got two trads! The oldie, because he's got sweet itch, I clip out, legs & all, he's so much more comfy that way and its easier to see what you're dealing with.

Not being content with ONE traddie, I went and bought another! - in spite of saying ohhhh nooohhh not having another one!! LOL, WHAT is wrong with me :) - yep, she's got loads of white on her, loads of feathers, mega-mane & tail, the full works. So out came the clippers.......

As other people have said, the other problems you're liable to get is itchy legs and/or feathermite. Total PITA.
 
Well thanks for all your input. As it turns out i wont be going to view as my daughter whose farm I would keep my horse on has said definitely no to a coloured with white legs. She says its because of all the problems keeping them clean but I suspect she doesnt want her water and electricity bill to rocket! So that narrows my options considerably.
 
Cassy said:
Well thanks for all your input. As it turns out i wont be going to view as my daughter whose farm I would keep my horse on has said definitely no to a coloured with white legs. She says its because of all the problems keeping them clean but I suspect she doesnt want her water and electricity bill to rocket! So that narrows my options considerably.
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Sack the daughter thats an absolutely appalling reason! Embrace the dirt, seriously, who cares!! I know someone who dislikes coloureds, they are a self proclaimed coloured snob! So your well bred but broken brown horse is better than my p.key pony whose going eventing next year? .. yeah ok, good luck with that, lol ;) My mare is a cob X .. Dads a big traditional and mum was a IDxTB ... my mare acts like a thoroughbred but less likely to break, its awesome :)
 
Antw23uk said:
Sack the daughter thats an absolutely appalling reason! Embrace the dirt, seriously, who cares!! I know someone who dislikes coloureds, they are a self proclaimed coloured snob! So your well bred but broken brown horse is better than my p.key pony whose going eventing next year? .. yeah ok, good luck with that, lol ;) My mare is a cob X .. Dads a big traditional and mum was a IDxTB ... my mare acts like a thoroughbred but less likely to break, its awesome :)
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Lol, totally agree, my daughter wanted to go hunting on her tb but he was too broken, took my little 14.1 coloured, expected to be trundling at the back, he was in the middle, up front, had an awesome time! Go hairy cobs!I
 
Cassy said:
Well thanks for all your input. As it turns out i wont be going to view as my daughter whose farm I would keep my horse on has said definitely no to a coloured with white legs. She says its because of all the problems keeping them clean but I suspect she doesnt want her water and electricity bill to rocket! So that narrows my options considerably.
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well they don't all have white legs ;)

personally I think a native level of hair is plenty to deal with, my welshie still struggles with scabbiness, mites when in wiltshire (never a somerset issue, when actually on straw compared to wilts!) and cracked knees.
 
Skanky legs man. Mine came with full feathers and lots of stamping. Once the bleeding started, I shaved the feathers off and uncovered years worth of lumpy, thickened scar tissue, scabs and bleeding and oozing. I now have to keep her legs scalped year round to help prevent flareups, but when they do happen I have to be very proactive with treating them before she mangles them further. I don't touch the mane or tail though, might look a bit odd, but she's still my hairy pony :)

Vet had a heck of a time recently trying to take skin scrapes, as she had to really dig in to get some blood! Also made nerve blocking difficult as she couldn't feel the nerve bundle well. Was interesting to see the folds and lumps outlining her legs on her xrays though!

As for keeping them clean, I'm another with a piebald with hardly any black on her, I take the apathetic approach because trying to keep her clean drove me batty! Still, I did end up buying another coloured, a chestnut skewbald, although thankfully she's got considerably more coverage than my first girl!
 
I’ve never had a hairy cob either! My last was a tb and I have to say they really are worlds apart. Generally not had any problems with him, he is very confident which in the beginning meant he was quite bargy and rude regarding coming into my space but we have worked hard on this and he is now very well behaved. He lives on fresh air and is still naked despite it being minus temps up here. I still haven’t decided if I’m going to keep him hairy or have him all trimmed up. He’s only 2 so plenty time to decide :D

Be interested to see what everyone else says :)
 
I love my hairy cob - I might be lucky at the moment (touch wood) but I have had no issues with her legs so far. My mare is very low maintenance, she lives out 24/7, I trace clip her and she lives in a 100g rug all winter. I love grooming so her long mane, tail and feathers don't really bother me and are easy to maintain - I actually don't put anything on them apart from a squirt of mane and tail conditioner and baby oil now and again.

She is a good doer but I think we must be on relatively poor land as she is turned out on 4 acres with another two horses and whilst she is chunky she isn't fat. She is in light work 2 times a week in winter and 4 times a week in summer and I have her on a lite balancer and lite chop.

Temperament wise she can be quite bolshy when food is around, but great to handle otherwise. She is a nice steady ride and will happily plod along but will step it up if you ask - downside is she is quite spooky (and she was advertised as bombproof **eyeroll**) I do find she head-flings a bit in summer and im still trying to work out if this is because she gets hot underneath all the hair even though she is plaited to ride, or whether it's irritation from pollen/flies
 
I have a hairy piebald cob.
This is a lighthearted look at why it may not be a good idea but I've tried to answer my "cons" with some "pros" :)
Cons first:

He has mallenders and sallenders and an aversion to having his legs handled in any way - feet are fine, legs are a big no - so I have to sedate to clip and do as little as possible when using skin softening products etc
He has hair - lots and lots of hair - and an aversion to having his mane pulled or beard trimmed so it's generally chopped with scissors as I don't want that much hair! Can take several days to achieve...
He is forward going and known as the racecob - not always the most relaxing ride
He is not bombproof by any stretch of the imagination
He is largely white. He doesn't get his body that filthy but his mane is always foul. Because he's so hairy, it splits to both sides of his neck and in the summer he gets a delightful yellow line down the parting
He can bite and is definitely the mouthiest horse I have ever known. It is impossible to get a headcollar on him without him first having to chew the noseband.
He hates fireworks, shooting and any noises he can't identify
He starts to turn "feral" if he doesn't work for more than five days

Pros
He's fun to ride (mostly)
When he manages to be brave about something, he thinks he is brilliant
He adores having his photo taken - any camera is a magnet and he photo bombs everyone else's photos
He doesn't mind having his legs washed which helps with the management of the mallenders unless it's too cold
I've never know a horse open wide for the bit to go in but he does it without fail
He generally gets on well with other horses and, although he grizzles, can be left on his own if need be
He's happy to talk to children on our rides down the village
He loves builders and could watch them all day
He's low maintenance, lives on fresh air but is quite active so never gets ginormous!
 
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