Cleaning up

Getting your horse clean

I have a gray horse.  His coat is white, which mean getting and keeping him clean is a pain in the rear end!  But, over the past couple years I have found a few things that really help get him shiny.  

1. I wash my horse with… Purex… shhh.  You know, the laundry detergent.  You have to be careful with this one though.  If your horse has sensitive skin, don’t use it.  I tried it in a small area the week before the show to make sure that he didn’t have an allergic reaction.

2.  The Cowboy Magic greenspot remover is the best thing for early show mornings to clean in manure stains.

3. Baking soda is good for getting really tough stains out of tails.  It takes a bit of scrubbing, but a water baking soda paste is helpful.

4. The Cowboy Magic detangler is awesome for brushing knots out of manes and tails.  I show Arabians, and mane and tails are our pride and joy, they have to look nice.  This product is great for untangling.

5.   Then after your horses are clean you can spray them with a body shine.  I have…..um, Cowboy magic…. *cough*.  It is a really good product line!

6.  

Washing horses is one of my favorite parts of working with the horses.  My horse tolerates the baths.  He couldn’t care less whether or not he is clean and clipped.  

It is especially fun if you can wash your horses with friends.  I wash and clip my horse the night before the show then wait until he is completely dry.  I braid his mane and tail (learned how to do a four strand braid recently!) then I put him in a smaller pen with hay and water so he can’t roll.  If he has the ability to roll I would have to completely have to rewash him the next morning.  I have had to do it before.  I will not do it again.

Once I get to the show, I pull Silver out, brush him down with a freshly cleaned soft brush, use my green spot remover to clean up his legs.  Then I take down his mane and tail and brush it our so it is long and flow-y and beautiful.  Use my awesome little horse shaver to take off any few whiskers I missed, use a wipe to clean out his  nostrils, hips lips and ears.  Spray on body shine.  If there are flies I will put the white SWAT in his ears and spray him with a fly spray.  Then we are all ready to show, and he usually stays fairly clean for the show.