Grooming Advice!

[FurstPlaceMiniatures]

I got my little man from a 'less than ideal' situation. Anyway, when i purchased him he was grossly overweight with a winter coat from heck (think, eh, 2" thick miniumum? No, he does not have cushings, just had never had a stall, or a blanket, this year his coat was much more normal). Anyway, when i clipped him the first year, I noticed a pretty good scar on his right hock,, on the outside. Being that's the side he always lays down on, and it looks exactly like the hock marks cattle get that have too little bedding/are too big for their stalls and their hocks run on the curb, that abcess, and break open, its very safe to assume its from a capped hock. The hock is in 100% fine condition, no swelling, raised spot, etc, BUT that scar is hideous. I've tried every trick in the book to get the hair to grow back on it. Shapleys oil religiously for over a year, nope, nothin'.

I love my guy, and a huge blemish like this is something i don't want people to see and think i had any part in as I show pretty regularly with him. How do you think is the best way to cover this up? I was thinking to clip a little closer around it, and touch it up with a little spray paint. Any other tips?

Also, my guy is a mostly white pinto. The lower half of his tail is black, the upper half is white. The top half is SUPER thick, and as my 13 year old horse show crazy cousin puts it "fake-a-licious," but the bottom half, the black part, is super thin. He had most of it chewed off a year ago when i purchased him, so the thick stuff is all that he has been able to grow in a year, which is still impressive. The shapelys has worked pretty amazing-ly, all things considered, but he still has a crappy tail. Where do I find a fake one? Obviously a half or a quarter pound is all i need, but where do i find one so short? Even teased up, his tail looks horrible. My big mare I was blessed with a tail that looked fake after shapelys for 6 mos, but poor Mr Cloudy does not have her luck!

 

[rabbitsfizz]

If it is worth it to you- and bearing in mind that I do not know exactly where the scar is, although I have a pretty good idea- you could have it surgically removed. This would leave a thin line of a scar instead of what you now have- I have had it done on an Anglo Arab filly I wanted to show, she had run into a scaffold pole (ouch!!) and had a big, nasty, lumpy scar on her shoulder. It was cut out as it was, literally, skin deep only, and it actually left no scar at all, but I was lucky.

I am afraid you are stuck with the tail as you can't use fake tails in Mini showing!

I have the same problem with my Pinto stallion, but I have found that regularly trimming the tail, in winter I cut it right back, does help eventually. At least now it is even, even though it will never be a lovely full tail as my other stallion has. He has the "two tone tail" as yours and I am convinced the different colours have different constituents....

 

[chandab]

What color is the hair around the scar on his hock? I know you say he's mostly white, but what about where that scar is? If its white, perhaps white grooming chalk would cover it up for showing. If its colored, then what you can try will depend on what color the hair in that area is.

 

[Riverrose28]

I don't think that the judges will mark you down for the scar, but, you can cover it with a color that is the same as where it is located. As for the fake tail, it's a no no in the states, you don't tell where you are located, but if in the states, it is not allowed.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Not allowed in Europe, either....