Anyone Ever Given Their Horse a Baking Soda & Vinegar Bath

[Pally]

So I guess with the smell of spring in the air, my mind got to wandering while I was in the shower, washing my hair. With my baking soda and vinegar. That’s right, I’m one of those people who hasn’t used shampoo in years thanks to COTH. [For those of you shocked and disgusted, here’s an old thread reference
http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showthread.php?335041-Baking-Soda-Shampoo-and-Vodka-Conditioner]

Now, since I know there plenty of other no-pooers on here…have any of you ever had the been curious enough to throw a bucket of baking soda water on your horse? I know the vinegar is a common wash rack item, but typically after a sudsy shampoo. I know you would lose the ability to make your horse smell like flowers, but perhaps it would scrub out that deep dandercrud (I’m thinking tops of butts here) a little more effectively…Even the mildest of winters still seem to be long enough to make filthy ponies.

[Beentheredonethat]

Awww. You make me smile. I’m over three years on no shampoo. I don’t do the baking soda and vinegar, though. Mostly I cowash with conditioner, and sometimes when I want an extra clean I use vinegar. Baking soda and vinegar seems too much.

That said, probably not for horses unless I needed to clean up some extra scrunge. I would probably go for vinegar. From the other thread, I am going to wash the tail and leave in my cheap $1 people conditioner in the tail, sort of like I do my hair, to see if that keeps it a little softer.

[tbchick84]

I have read that the vinegar deters flies and ticks. Is that true?

[goodhors]

Interesting. I would think this mix would strip any skin oil out of the hair, maybe doing some hair bleaching.

I used vinegar as a fly spray at some summer horse shows, did get some hair lightening with it. Worked about as good as the less expensive fly sprays with repelling flies, and he smelled nice. Didn’t have to give him another bath to get the oil off after the show with repeated applications of the cheap sprays to get any repelling effect.

I ended up buying a more expensive fly spray, Endure, which does a good job and lasts quite a long time. Too bad it is SO expensive.

[Peggy]

I would think that the acetic acid in the vinegar and the bicarbonate in the baking soda would react to make carbon dioxide and water, along with some sodium acetate from the acetic acid. But maybe that cleans stuff.

Vinegar is not a bad household cleaner. I was trying to move back into my house after having the wood floors done last summer and the furniture was piled up in front of the cabinets with the cleaning supplies. The guys that were supposed to help with the furniture moving got delayed and I wanted to do some cleaning while I was waiting. I had some vinegar in the garage and a spray bottle, so diluted the vinegar a bit more and put it in a spray bottle. I was pleasantly surprised.

[Texarkana]

I give vinegar baths a lot- a few glugs in a bucket of water. Never used baking soda.

[Rackonteur]

I use vinegar and baking soda to scrub my toilet and sinks and to clear drains (if not too badly clogged). I love the foaming fizziness of mixing them together. But I would not want to strip the shine off a horse’s coat, or try to rinse the caked baking soda out of his hair (especially his tail!).

Nope, wouldn’t use a toilet disinfectant on my horse.

Human dandruff shampoo – yes. Smells fresh and clean and cheaper than horse shampoo and works just as well! Equate if you don’t want to pay for H&S.

[Pennywell_Bay]

I’ve sponged with vinegar and bathed with it. I guess it keeps flies always as much as anything, it does make them very shiny.

[S1969]

@Peggy;8578988

I would think that the acetic acid in the vinegar and the bicarbonate in the baking soda would react to make carbon dioxide and water, along with some sodium acetate from the acetic acid. But maybe that cleans stuff.

Well, exactly. That’s why a lot of people use it instead of shampoo; and while it may seem “harsher” than normal shampoo, I think that’s just our upbringing - shampoo has a lot of chemicals that are not necessarily good for you.

I would think it would do a good job on top of tail scrunge…and certainly it wouldn’t hurt to do the whole body from time to time. I honestly wouldn’t expect vinegar to really cause any coat lightening unless you used it daily (and even then I’d be surprised.)

[Diamontaire]

The track I used to hang out at would put a capful of bleach in the bucket (5 gal) of final rinse water. They never had any skin grungies.

[Texarkana]

[QUOTE=S1969;8579074]
I honestly wouldn’t expect vinegar to really cause any coat lightening unless you used it daily (and even then I’d be surprised.)[/QUOTE]

For what it’s worth, I sponge my horses off with diluted vinegar in a bucket of water almost every day in the summertime. I don’t feel like I see any bleaching of their coat beyond normal.

It seems to cut through the sweat and dirt better than water alone, it leaves their coats nice and shiny (shinier than water alone), and it seems like it helps repel flies. The horses enjoy it.

A dilute vinegar bath has always been my first “go to” for minor hives. It really does seem to help get rid of them.

[theresak]

I do a vinegar/water sponge after every ride in the summer and after baths. It strips the dirt and sweat as well as any lingering shampoo better than just hosing off.

It actually prevents my chestnut from turning so yellow in the summer - it’s the salt from sweat that sunburns the coat and the vinegar rinse helps remove all of the sweat.

[IPEsq]

I use apple cider rinses in the summer. Often put a few glugs in with Vetrolin as well.

Baking soda is extremely “clarifying”, which means it could strip the dandruffy stuff but it will also strip some oils and moisture that you want in hair. I know colorists who use baking soda with shampoo (make kind of a paste) to strip color or to clarify bleached hair.

I think at minimum, you’d want to use sparingly and follow up with something deeply moisturizing, which is hard to do on a horse’s body without attracting dirt and crud to come right back.

[Scribbler]

In the summer, I just use warm water from a hose on the horse; shampoo doesn’t seem necessary. I do use a mild soap under her tail, when needed.

[yellowbritches]

I will rinse my horse with vinegar. It helps take off all the sweaty gunk and leaves his coat quite shiny. I RARELY give him a soap bath (with the exception of his tail and occasionally his mane). He has very sensitive skin, and over bathing for him is about anything more than 2 or 3 a year. And I don’t like him to smell like flowers…I like him to smell like a horse, which is one of the best smells in the world.

[Pally]

Ok it looks like I might have to be the one curious enough to do the experiment. I did recently acquire a beast with like 6" of hair, and imagine it’s pretty gross under there - a wee bit of stripping might be quite ok for the first bath of spring type thing. Plus I worry less about BS than shampoo if I can’t manage to get him really well rinsed out (come to think of it, it might be the first bath of his life, not the year ;)).

As for just how stripping the baking soda is, personally, I don’t find it too potent on my hair. It cuts out build-up for sure, but doesn’t strip the natural oils. Actually, one of the best benefits of this system I find is I guess, “oil balance” - doesn’t matter too much how little or often I wash my hair, it stays almost the same, whereas with shampoo & conditioner it needed to adjust to a schedule. I would say my hair stays pretty shiny, so long as I remember the vinegar rinse…

As for vinegar and horses, it definitely doesn’t lighten them up. That would have been bad bad not good for my black show calves, and we used to dump like half a jug over their back after a bath (cows like to get very dandruffy). Great for the horses too. As theresak said, cuts sweat. It also cuts soap residue really well. So shinier horses when all is said and done. Done it for the hives too Texarkana.

Vinegar is also great for the scummy buckets. The windows. The washing machine. The coffee maker. Oh and with baking soda, the possibilities are endless…As you may have guessed by my mind even going in this direction, I use that ^&$* to clean everything. After I gave up shampoo I actually went full hippie, and use very little “product” in the home and on my body, and feel much better for it.:winkgrin:

[Pally]

Diamontaire - I didn’t mean for the “scrungies” as in skin infection type things (though I can see vinegar helping in a mild preventative way). I mean that deep dirt and dander and coat oil mix that tends to especially build up on the top of the rump. The stuff that makes your fingers the colour of soot when you give them a good scratch. Not harmful to the horse, I realize, but it is to my clippers if I go that route!

[Beentheredonethat]

I think I’m going to practice with a vinegar rinse to clean up the winter scrunge over the weekend and then leave in some human conditioner in the tail and see what happens.

[CFFarm]

I use it on my flaxen tailed horse. A chemistry professor friend of mine turned me on to this. I make a mixture of shampoo (I spend the extra and get a shampoo formulated for horses because it rinses clean) and baking soda and slather the tail with it. After a few minutes I rinse with vinegar and again with plain water. If the tail is especially dirty I’ll wash it with GOOP (NOT GOJO) laundry additive first.

[Scribbler]

I know what you all mean by scunge under winter hair, but interestingly my horse had none this year. I’m not sure if it’s because I upped her flax and protein this past year, or because it has been a mild winter and she has only worn a blanket briefly. Her winter coat was as thick as usual, but has stayed clean and shiny. Usually she shows dandruff when she’s shedding, but not this year. It’s made me realize that alot of what I thought of as “dust” or “dirt” in her coat in the past was actually from her skin, not from her bedding or rolling.