How to get a white horse CLEAN!!!

[Helicopter]

It seems endless and in vain trying to get a white (grey) horse clean and ready to be clipped. The dirt just goes on and on. Think long coat and a winters worth of dirt.

I'm sure someone out there has some tips for making the job a little easier.....a lot easier would be nice too.

 

[HGStables]

i swear by Quick Silver shampoo.

 

[JMS Miniatures]

You may need to do a couple of baths. I really like and wish I didn't change is Jeffers shampoo. They are very reasonable in price and they really do work. This is the one I use before I clip them:

http://www.jeffersequine.com/product.asp?camid=EQU&pn=12028

What I am using right now and will be the last is EzAll. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Loved it at first but later thru the show season its just failed for me.

 

[targetsmom]

Raising pintos, I have to learn to live with this! One thing I would advise is that you try not to leave the dirt until you are clipping or showing. Daily removal of manure stains and dirt will go a long way! Ditto with braiding and bagging a white tail - especially on mares!! - to keep it as clean as possible. Then I use some type of shampoo with bluing, such as Quick Silver (my favorite) or the cheap Dawn dish washing detergent version, which also works. For white socks (we have LOTS of those) I put the Quick Silver on and leave it for a few minutes, but not too long or you will end up with purple socks!

Baby wipes are the about the best thing for getting out manure or urine stains, although those waterless spray cleaners (sprayed on a baby wipe) do a good job too.

 

[Minxiesmom]

I have found if I use the vacuum reversed so it blows their coat, I can get the grit out for that first clip. I have an attachment that goes onto the end of the hose the narrows it down to a small opening. This really gets the volumne of air it takes to get down to their skin. I spend a good amount of time blowing every bit of dirt/dust out of the hair all over their body. I then use whatever shampoo I have to clean the hair. I use show sheen on wet hair and stiff brush it in, then clip wet. Works well, but still will dull the blades, but it is better than clipping with the dirt on their skin. I use this same proceedure before every clip. My boys are DIRT CLODS!!!

After clipping is when I use the purple shampoo to make them gleaming white.

 

[Wings]

Car Wash?

It's what I've threatened my palomino with! I swear by the Cowboy Magic 'Yellow Out' shampoo for his mane and tail, nothing else has improved it that quickly.

I badly want a horse vacuum though.

 

[LittleRibbie]

As soon as you see dirt..at the very least brush it out. Curry, curry curry just till your arm falls off then use the other arm. I dont have a horse vac. but i do have a small shop vac that i picked up at lowes for little $ that attaches to the wall and it does get used often!! both as a blower and a vac.

Cowboy Magic Yellow Out is my best friend and i do like QuickSilver but it really is important to brush the first sign of any dirt right away.

 

[Lizzie]

And don't forget to use some Sham Wows, to dry them. That is of course, if you can catch them before they roll!

Lizzie

 

[wingnut]

Well, I'm happy to see this posted! While our show season is over (and has been since July), I am already starting to think about next year. I plan to show one our Pinto 2 yr olds this year. Which means, dealing with the white!!

I had read somewhere about cutting the tail in the fall (after the flies aren't an issue) to the hock so that it grows out fresh, white hair over the winter. Once cut, a good bath and soak of the tail especially to get as much of the yellow stain out. Then braided and bagged (or wrapped?) for the duration of the winter. Is this a viable option?

I think my pinto is going to spend a good deal of time with a sheet on throughout the show season.

 

[ironbessflint]

Joy - that sounds about right. Just make sure the tail is TOTALLY dry before you put it up or it will turn yellow. And if your method of putting up a tail includes vetwrap, use white vetwrap or the color will bleed onto the tail. I showed once with a blue tail

Outside of THAT issue, I like wrapping better than bagging (at least mine seem to hang on to them better than bags, even braided ones). And then I make sure to let it down once a week and brush it out, and then put it back up.

I tend to like Absorbine's Show Clean a bit better than Quic Silver, but both do a great job. For pintos I also like Quic Color, as it really brings out the contrast nicely.

Also, as far as brushing out stains as soon as they're there, good quality brushes really do make a difference. And yes, by all means vacuum!

 

[Matt73]

Ditto on the Quick Silver. That's all we used when I groomed A Circuit Jumpers...Every morning, during shows, that's what we bathed the greys with...they were gleaming

 

[Helicopter]

Thanks for the tips so far.

A couple of people mentioned using a vacuum on reverse to blow out the dirt. Is this a special vacuum for horses? Never heard of such a thing but it sure sounds like fun. Do you also use it to dry the horse?

Is there a way to bag tails without connecting the bag to a rug?

 

[Eagle]

I just have a few things to add to the good advice above.

1) Never feed carrots to white horses

2) Be very careful when leaving a braided tail. Once a horse in a yard where I was got it caught in the door, he panicked and ended up really hurting himself. He needed stitches on his legs and above his eye as he must have fallen.

A hold up stocking ( the ones with rubber) will hold well with an elastic band as a tail bag and very cheap.

3) We get a fantastic soap in Europe called Marseilles soap which will remove any stains at the first wash.

My grey pinto lives out and this is him after one quick wash

 

[Riverrose28]

A vegtable brush works wonders to loosen dirt under the coat, and on those white legs.

 

[Jetiki]

having a pinto with all white legs in this Carolina Orange Mud I have learned a few things. 1. Orvus soap big tub but a little pinch of it goes a LONG way. Gets the orange out. I use this before clipping Then I use the Brite and White shampoo (or other expensive brand Quicksilver etc) before showing. This way I don't go through the expensive stuff so fast.

If you put too much Orvus it will be a pain to rinse out, just a small amount will do nicely.

Karen

 

[Minimor]

I would point out that when it comes to simply getting the dirt out of the horse's coat prior to clipping it makes no difference if the horse is white, chestnut or black--the dirt is never ending in all of them, it is just that on the white horse the dirt is easier to see. On the dark ones you can convince yourself that you got it all with the first rinse!

I would recommend a vacuum--I always use mine on vacuum but the blower works too (it is just that I am allergic to horse dust & so prefer not to blow the dust out of the horse's coat--would rather vacuum it up!)--then the bath will go much better. But, if you don't have a vacuum and just have to bath the dirt out--make sure that you have good pressure to your stream of water. Use one of those nozzles with the multiple stream selections--and use the strong spray setting (not sharp stream, that hurts!) Just shampooing and then rinsing with the hose won't wash the dirt out of the base of the coat.

When it comes to cleaning the white coat for show day, I usually use Superpoo shampoo and for the stains--Show Clean. This year I used Bio Groom shampoo and it works well too.

 

[wingnut]

Joy - that sounds about right. Just make sure the tail is TOTALLY dry before you put it up or it will turn yellow. And if your method of putting up a tail includes vetwrap, use white vetwrap or the color will bleed onto the tail. I showed once with a blue tail

Outside of THAT issue, I like wrapping better than bagging (at least mine seem to hang on to them better than bags, even braided ones). And then I make sure to let it down once a week and brush it out, and then put it back up.

Do you braid and roll it up before wrapping or do you just braid it and leave it long?

 

[disneyhorse]

I like using the vacuum on "blow" (any shop vac works!!! does not have to be a special "livestock" vac) to get rid of dirt to the skin during regular grooming.

That said, the BEST way to keep a white horse white is PREVENTION. If you can keep your horse out of the mud and out of anywhere the horse pees, you will be a whole lot better ahead of the game. Keeping the tail up will definitely help a lot, to prevent any urine from touching it. It's the mud and especially the urine that turns white hair yellow.

Andrea

 

[mydaddysjag]

Wingnut, I have heard that about cutting the tails off at the hocks too. I got a new stallion this year who is a pinto with a white tail. His tail was stained when I got him, but nothing too awful bad. Im considering cutting his tail to his hocks, but Im worried it wont grow back for show season in april. Talk me into it guys, I dont have the guts to cut 14" off lol

 

[Minxiesmom]

MDJ - PUT DOWN THE SCISSORS!!!! Tails are my passion! Comes from the old days with Saddlebreds.

Unless he grows a whole lot of tail per month, you won't have a show tail by next spring. I would guess, max you would get is 6-8 inches.

Wash the white tail in purple shampoo and leave it on for 5 minutes,(make sure you scrub the bone very carefully) rinse and put your cream rinse in, then wash it out. Use what ever product you like. Spray the tail with Show Sheen and gently pick out the tail until all the tangles are gone. That means take 3-5 strands of hair out at a time and ease the knots out. By the time you have your tail completely picked out, it will be close to dry.

When the tail is completely dry, loosely braid below the tail bone, leaving the top "feather" out of the braid,. I also leave a little piece of the long part on each side of the braid lose to swat flies with. I braid to the end of the tail, then wrap the end of the braid with black electricians tape. Fold the end of the tape back so you can find it when you want to take it off. (It will not leave any residue) Fold the braid up through the top of itself below the tail bone, (that's why you want to braid loosely). Wrap the entire folded braid with electricians tape or vet wrap, encapsulating it completely, but not touching the tail bone. Make sure everything is lose at the bottom of the tail bone or it will pull hair out. This needs to be taken out every few weeks and rewashed in purple shampoo to keep whitening it even more. Mind you, I only have male horses. If your mares won't hold their tail enough to the side to not pee on the bundle, you will have a problem. If the bundle gets wet and not dried out, it can mildew.

By next spring you will have more tail than now(thicker), and it should be long enough that you will want to cut off the excess at your preferred length and shape. Personally, I cut the tail off straight like the qtr horse show tails, at the ground. Some people like a more natural shape. You will lose some tail everytime you shampoo and pick out, but this is natural shedding, if you are not breaking the hairs when you pick. The tail should be nice and white be then, if you are using purple shampoo (whatever brand)

I find the trick is to never leave the tail unbraided. Each time they swat a fly, it can break hairs. I have used this method on every horse I've had. It works even on horses with not much hair. Max had a nice tail. Some of it was the silver color, and that will never be white. But the white part was very white.