what to do with grooming a wet muddy horse...? PLEASE HELP!!

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mutley1987

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Sorry please excuse the long post I'm just tearing my hair out :S
I was really just hoping for some advice/ see if anyone had any bright ideas on what to do about a very muddy mare...!

One of my horses who is on DIY livery at the moment seems to have an absolute addiction to mud just before I bring her in. She has come in the last 2 days covered in the wettest slimiest mud I've ever known and I've ended up having to hose her and her rug off, try and dry her and re-rug. The trouble is I really need to be riding her most evenings as its the only time I can ride but when it is wet mud I don't know what to do.
Her face and her belly seem to get incredibly muddy especially where the bridle and girth go (she can be funny about her girth as well at the best of times!)
Now if I wash her off (we only have cold water) I'm not sure whether I'm being fair to her given the evenings are so nippy at the moment and then to tack her straight up but even having a thermatex/ similar on her she doesn't dry very quickly and would still be damp by the latest point I could feasibly tack up to ride :S So at the moment she is only getting ridden on the odd day she isn't too muddy or its dry enough to brush off but I need to fitten her up.
I was wondering whether to clip her but to be honest she doesn't need it from a work point of view and she is a full up 17h warmblood who is returning to work after having her foal, isn;t a particularly good do-er so had lost a bit of condition and I don't want her to lose condition from being cold without her coat (despite being rugged she can be a bit of a tit!)
Sorry again for the long post but any ideas/ moral support would be much appreciated!!!
 
p.s. I use leg guard on her legs which works well to just brush the mud off when its fairly dry on her lower leg but I'm not sure whether its ok to use all under her belly and girth/ round her face or not? :S
ok I'll stop posting now!!!
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Not that it will help you much, but mine comes in during the day...mud dries I arrive from work, groom and ride then he goes back out for the night.
 
Could she be getting cold in the field? One of my mares used to do that on days when she was left out for longer and she seemed to roll and cover herself in mud to warm herself up. I found getting her in earlier tended to help as she didn't roll as much and had time to dry off in plenty of time for me to ride in the evening.
 
Unfortunately because she is on DIY she has to be out during the day and in at night and again unfortunately I can't get her in any earlier due to work
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Seems to be a no-win situaton. She did have a mw no-neck rug on before the weekend but when she drenched that in mud I replaced it with her h/w full neck rug and she still keeps doing it :S She tends to come in at about 4 so it shouldn't be too cold for her before she comes in she just seems to love the mud. The others in her field also get muddy but nothing like this little madam. good job I love her to bits!!!
 
buy a snuggy hood?
will keep her face free from mud, particularly where the bridle goes.

can't see why you couldn't use leg guard on her girth area- is she clipped out in that area?
 
don't know why I didn't think of a snuggy hood! thank you both! Unfortunately finances cant stretch to the fal pro rugs with belly flaps at the moment but possibly after xmas or for next year!
She isn't clipped and doesn't seem to be sensitive skin-wise to leg guard when its on her legs so may try it under her belly and just see if it helps at all.
Also with the snuggy hoods do you think its ok to use one of the lycra style ones outdoors under a rug? There seem to be the 2 types the lycra and also ones that say turnout but as she already has a full neck heavyweight rug I think her neck may cook with a t/out snuggy as well! (plus the lycra ones seem a little kinder on my bank balance :S!!)
thank you again to everyone who has replied so far!!
 
Is she clipped? if not it would make a huge differnce in the amount of time it takes for the mud to dry and how long you take brushining her?
 
You can get belly pads. Ive got one for my shetland as she's horrendous for lying in the grossest mud - you just thread it onto the surcingles. You do need to make sure the straps are done up tight enough though as you dont want them getting their leg caught on it. You can get ones for stable rugs and for turnout - I got mine off ebay for only about a fiver each.
 
My pony is the same!! Premier Equine rugs are excellent as the full necks are elasticated up to the face so less mud gets down. Pig oil/baby oil up to the top of the legs (not near girth as may cause slippage) is brilliant, the mud will just fall off. Show Sheen over face/neck/everywhere except saddle area. And finally, just embrace the mud!! Could you do a little clip under her belly so you can sponge the mud off her girth area and around ears? Then just do like I do and ride it covered in mud. I have to ride every day under vet instructions for spavins and theres no way I can get all the mud off him for half an hours walk/trot. I'm anticipating this to last for the next few months!!
 
I use a Snuggy Hood turn out hood on my mud dwelling tb who comes in thick with the stuff. I have a FAL full neck rug - medium weight and a under rug with a belly pad so along with the hood I can strip him off and he is clean enough to ride. i hav ejust had ears added to my turn out hood as the little horrer could burrow into the deepest mud and grind it inside the ear holes, stopped that game now.
 
thank you all for your comments I'm sorry I've not been able to check up on the forum the last couple of days!!
I think having looked up all the reviews on hoods and knowing she can get a little bit stressy I may just end up trying to give her a trace clip and see how much that helps with her muddyness!! She is now gaining a bit of weight has a decent h/w rug with a full neck and I think she'll probably lose less weight if she's clipped than if she's trying to keep warm after I've had to cold bath her tummy every night! that and leg guard for her legs teamed with the fact I can cope with her not looking pristine for a ride every night and I may just get through this winter heh thank you everyone
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ooh also magic magpie do you know what they call the belly pad you have for your shetland? I can't seem to find any on ebay and don't know if I'm being a numpty searching for 'belly pad' rather than some fancy name! I can find rugs with belly pads attached so don't know if its just a case of waiting for someone to buy one of these, decide they don't need the pad and sell it off seperately but if you or anyone has any suggestions I'm happy to be a sponge!!
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thank you
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I have a mud wallowing shire/hippo who lives out all the time and I have no hardstanding and only a cold hosepipe. He loves nothing more to roll everytime sees me coming. I don't have the time or patience to clean him off everytime i ride so if its wet and sticky I tack up over it!! It sounds bad but its not an ideal world and he isn't at all bothered (although I cringe when I'm spotted by posh people on their 24/7 stabled pristine horses!) My cob has never suffered any rubs/lumps/bumps and seems more than happy with this arrangement!
 
I would do a neat clip where the girth goes so you can wipe the mud off with a cloth.

I only brush the mud off where the girth and bridle go. He is rugged so the saddle area is covered.

I was told - don't brush the mud off, it will only be there tomorrow.
 
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