What do you guys use as an after ride coat rinse in the summer? Trying to keep color (yes, he has a fly sheet and goes out at night), remove sweat & grime, but not dry out the hair or skin. He is almost shed out and his coat feels great right now, just looking for new ideas to help keep it that way through summer, as I ride almost every day. I tried to search first, but most threads were at least several years old if not 10+, and I figured maybe there are newer options. Thanks!
Good ol’ dihydrogen monoxide! (water)
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I find nutrition is key to keeping color. I supplement zinc/copper because our hay and soil are a bit iron rich, and that can contribute to sun bleaching and skin issues.
I haven’t had any luck personally with the color enhancing shampoos (except for Quicksilver, which I do find essential for grays and horses with chrome). I don’t use too much shampoo on a daily basis, because that can be very drying and stripping. You want to preserve the natural oils in the coat. When I bathe with soap, I use either Dawn or Cowboy Magic for most of my horses. If they have sensitive skin, I have a prescription shampoo from the vet that I use instead.
I also regularly condition with the pink concentrated spray on their coats. I believe it’s the Healthy Hair products conditioner. It gives a nice shine without drying the skin (unlike things like show sheen).
Just water. I bathe as needed but haven’t seen any topical product make an impact. I supplement with biotin and copper/zinc to support coat health and hopefully prevent some bleaching.
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Spray him off with the hose. If that doesn’t work because you’re in a dusty or pollen-y area or the sweat mixes with red clay in the soil and you feel like he’s getting grimy, Vetrolin liniment cuts through that kind of scuzz well, smells nice, and is not drying.
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Ok, I did the math and between his feed and hoof supplement he should be getting about 700mg of zinc and 225mg of copper, plus any in his hay and pasture.
Water. But most often let it dry and brush out if at all possible.
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Water, hose all the sweat out. Then water/vinegar if any grimy areas.
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If you can do a spray, rather than a straight shoot out of the hose, and spray the coat against the direction of growth, you can get out a lot more sweat and dirt than doing everything with the direction of growth.
700/225mg is plenty for most horses, and nothing short of no sunlight at all is going to prevent some level of fading for the horse with nd1, much less 2 copies, all you can do it reduce it to some degree.
That said, sometimes a horse doesn’t read the numbers and needs a bit more, 300/900 cu/zn, occasionally a bit more. It’s too late for any increase to help this current coat, that needs to start in Jan or early Feb at the latest. So you can see what this Summer brings and if you want to try adding a bit more, that’s fine.
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You didn’t ask this directly, but be careful of flyspray because it does bleach coats. I’ve heard people like Santa Fe’s Marigold spray product for protecting against sunbleach. I’ve never used it.
Turning out a wet horse in the sunlight will also bleach it out. I try not to hose down unless they’re really sweaty. Usually just a lap with a wet sponge in sweatier areas will do.
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I almost never shampoo and don’t really spray anything onto the whole horse except fly spray. However, rinsing well with water and then doing about 1 cup of white vinegar in a bucket of water and sponging that on does seem to help keep the coat very clean and strip any last sweat off the hair. Last year I started using this and it’s even easier than the bucket and sponge.
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Rinsing with lukewarm water until the sweat foam stops washing out. A cup of flax in the mash and make sure your copper and zinc are good.
Healthy horses will be beautifully shiny under the mud even on pasture vacation. That said some colors do fade faster in turnout, like palomino and some black horses.
Water/ACV mix!
Nothing much new. I did a search and here’s a 15 year old short thread with pretty much matching information to this current one. Just the names have changed. This one was before my time but I’m sure some of you oldies but goodies on COTH might recognize a few.
On subject, I use just plain old water and live with bleaching. Though my elderly dark bay mare sure looks good right now after shedding out - almost a glossy black. Makes her birdcatcher spots really stand out.
I do a shower (water no soap) after every ride on days it is warm enough to do so which is nearly every day from now until October. I find getting the sweat out of the coat keeps the coat nicer vs letting dry and currying. It also made a big difference in my grey and how clean she looked day to day. Soap was reserved for shoes or clinics. I did not find any issue with rinsing then turning out.
In addition to what has been suggested in this thread, I also put a little bit of conditioner in my horse’s mane and tail before I hose him off and then I rinse it out when I rinse his coat. I think it helps with breakage and maybe helps a little bit with bleaching.
Darn…mine is already bleached
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I seldom bathe my horse. When I do, I still can’t get out all the dirt so it is a lot of work for not much reward, especially when she immediately goes and rolls 
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My barn only has 2 wash racks and in the summer, you usually end up waiting in line so I get a bucket and some water and use a shower loofah. The mesh is good at rapidly getting the sweat marks gone.
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She is beautiful!
Regarding rinses, I use water and I always turn the nozzle to “flat” which has more oomph than “shower” but without it being a focused stream like “jet” or “full”. My horse seems to prefer the “flat” setting to “shower” maybe because it kind of massages and gets itchies instead of being too light and tickly for his taste. I like it because it blasts the sweat (or soap if I’m bathing) off better and faster.
When I do shampoo, the only shampoo I’ll use is Equiderma. He is super sensitive skinned and gets all the lumps and bumps and itchy crud that goes along with summer and flies here (in the armpit of Hell). Equiderma really helps with all of that and doesn’t strip his coat of oils. Love that stuff.
But yeah…I usually just do warm water (even in the brutal heat of summer) on the “flat” setting and make sure I really rinse him off thoroughly. Face, under tail, between butt cheeks, sheath area, etc. I scrape excess off his body, towel dry his face and legs, and hand graze until he’s mostly dry (if time permits).
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