Winter is pretty much here, and MAN does my horse have a fluffy coat! It’s cute when she’s basically a huge teddy bear, but that coat sure knows how to trap dirt and dust. It’s relentless and the more I groom the dirtier she gets. Tried to clean her up for the vet but she looked worse than when I first started! I used to have a Slick N Easy but that’s gone. Any tips for getting all this dust off of her? I’d bathe her but we’re getting into temperature high’s of like 50 now. I’ve also considered bringing my old shop vac to the barn and desensitizing her to it and using it but I’m not sure how well it’d work. Another question: In the summer my horse’s muzzle/eye area goes from a light brown to black and pretty much hairless. I wanna say my trainer said it was from allergies or flies but I can’t 100% remember. Is there any way to prevent her “hair loss” or darkening in the summer either way? Thank you!
You can use a shop vac on your horse. Just be careful of static and shocking your horse. I spray a very light coat of conditioner/water to prevent it.
To prevent hair loss you have to figure out the problem. Most likely the no see um bugs causing an allergy. A fly mask and a nose net might be helpful. Buy two, that way you will only spend half your time searching for them in the pasture.
Shocking? I didn’t know a shop vac could do that!
I did eventually stick a flymask on her but I think it was a bit too late by the time I did it. Thank you!
After you get all the possible dirt out with the brushes/curry, spray some coat conditioner on a towel (I like Healthy HairCare Moisturizer) and rub it across her coat. You only need a little. It picks up all the loose dust that clings to the ends of the hairs and makes ponies look shiny and new. 
Is it one you rub both against and with the growth of hair? Or like a slicker type product where you rub with the hair? Will it also work for dirt that’s up against the skin?
Horses get two types of dirt in the winter.
They get dirt from their environment, obviously. One way to cut down on this is to use a blanket. Another way is to monitor where they get to roll and sleep. A pasture with actual grass is quite clean. Sand or clay soils really do work dust in. Sleeping in stalls overnight pretty much guarantees poop stains. I find hog fuel wood mulch dusts off easily but wood powder bedding pellets have fine dust.
The other source of dirt is dandruff or scurf off the skin. That is never-ending until you fix the source. Good nutrition and flax.
Of course if you are working a fuzzy horse at speed and getting sweaty the horse does tend to get that dirty teddy bear clumpy fur thing that is hard to brush out. I find putting on a wool cooler after a ride so that the hair dries quickly helps.
Is also why folks clip though I haven’t ever to date.
The environment dirt is unavoidable at the moment, as she needs to be in a Smalll paddock but she stands in the same spot all day just eatin her round bale. I haven’t ever clipped her and I don’t see a need to, we don’t get to ride much in winter and I don’t know how she’d feel about it haha. Thank you!
Be careful with coat products like moisturizers if the horse is yak fuzzy, lives outside and you don’t or can’t bathe them often. Especially when applied to a yak coat that’s not completely dirt free, the stuff sinks to the root level, picks up the dirt and turns into a layer of gunk creating scruff and dandruff. They, in turn, create itchies and rubbing which looks ever more lovely when the resulting rubbed patches are 3 shades lighter then the rest of the coat.
If she is living outside and you don’t ride much this time of year? It’s not really necessary to get her sparkling clean, fact it’s impossible when they go right back outside . So tend to the basics and don’t worry about the polish. Curry, curry, curry and curry to keep the dirt off the skin around the roots. Stiff brush to flip it away or you can vacuum. You can stop there, a dusty coat due to hair length and static is really hard to avoid, that why many keep them clipped, blanketed and stalled in winter. If you can’t, it’s OK and it’s OK to accept the limits winter puts onfinishing touches to basic grooming.
Think many times advice gets given on what a poster assumes an OP has available but it’s not practical or possible with what the OP actually has.
OP here might want to try UNscented dryer sheets after the curry and stiff brush, like store brand equivalent of Bounce. Just swipe lightly along the top of the fuzzy coat the way the hair grows, DO NOT scrub down to the skin, last wipe the tops of the hair. Works good on dark horses that always have that coat of dust, gets rid of the static. Then you put them back out and watch them roll…
Alll of my horses have had little or no hair on their muzzles in late summer, especially the Arabs and finer coated TB types. It’s pretty fine there anywhere, no bugs or allergies, just normal shedding for them. Probably normal for OPs horse as well.
I just lightly run the towel in the direction the coat grows. It doesn’t “clean” at all, just picks up the static-y dust left over after you groom. It’s more of a cheat for when you need them to look presentable without a bath. Hot toweling does the same thing, only with more effort and drying time.
I don’t brush/ groom in the winter might comb out mane but that’s it. If i do ride i just tack up and ride no grooming. Horse hates being brushed in the winter anyway so why annoy him with it. Just makes them look filthy anyway.
I have found natural bristle brushes are better than synthetic ones for reducing the dust that remains due to static, although still not perfect. A just barely damp cloth or a dryer sheet can be used to get the remaining dust off.
I’ve really gotten into hot toweling. It has helped my itchy horse with his winter crud layer. He is mostly clipped, but it still helps. I would try that.
If the horse isn’t being worked I would just do basics. Finger comb msne and tail every couple of weeks so you don’t get dreadlocks. Rubber curry for mud. Hot towel for manure stains.
I would focus my grooming on health things. Attention to the hooves and whatever treatment your environment requires. I spray on iodine in wet weather, and have been trying out Venice turpentine which is a resin. I also rasp a bit between trims.
Attention to legs while doing this, check no injuries hidden under hair, no scratches brewing.
I also keep an eye on her butt itch because if she gets cruddy up there she will rub out her tail. So sometimes wash with a warm rag or baby wipes.
My mare doesn’t love being groomed but tolerates her natural hair bristle brush. Dirt slides off her summer coat and she is fairly shiny in the winter so she doesn’t get that dirty.
Hot toweling. It takes an entire afternoon if done correctly, but you will definitely see the difference.
Hot toweling after a thorough vacuuming is even better. And they can get static from shop vacs, horse vacs, or even just brushing.
Are you grooming correctly and with the proper tools? Those stupid “finger” style grooming cubbies are useless unless your sole purpose is to massage the horse or just remove loose hair.
In order to really CLEAN a filthy, mud/ dirt encrusted horse you need a good, old fashioned curry comb. One with concentric circles that is used in a circular motion.
Knock the curry against the wall after a few minutes of currying. You’ll know you’re at the end of your currying when the curry no longer picks up dirt. Then, when you start with your hard brush, go section by section, cleaning the hard brush against this same curry. When you aren’t seeing dirt flying off the brush, you move onto another section.
A good “old fashioned” grooming session, i.e.: no vacuum, just elbow grease, takes well over an hour when done correctly.
Nobody under the age of 45 knows how to groom a horse properly.
I take offense to your last line, as my arms are falling off from currying my pony today. I’m not 45 yet, getting there quickly though.:lol:
5 Minutes max for grooming. There horses dirt/mud isn’t gonna kill them.
5 minutes is plenty for my pally he’d rather not be brushed curried.He hates being curried it obvious by the pinned ears, and snapping teeth.
If you want a good ride it behooves too not piss him off with grooming to much.
Vacuum is for sure the fastest way to get the most out of the winter coat. It really does help. But the only way to really get the skin nice and some sleekness IMO is a good hot toweling, but yes, it takes more time and you need ample access to very hot water. I agree that the spray stuff over time will promote dandruff.
If you want to get the dust off you need to break the static charge that holds dust on the hairs (grooming tends to increase the static charge) and you need to get the dust off your brush as you groom.
A spray bottle set to mist takes care of the static charge.
Sansena had the right idea about using a curry to get the dust off the brush, but there is
a much better one than what she linked.
Like this! Old fashioned but they work!
https://www.countrywidefarmers.co.uk/kadence-square-metal-curry-comb-2
@Sansena THAT finger curry sucks, but there are finger curries that work far better on winter coats than the concentric oval kind you linked to. They are stinking hard to find though. says RedHorses who is constantly on the lookout for GOOD curries. 
I bathe at 50 degrees as long as it’s early enough they are dry before dark. I have unlined waterproof sheets on them so they stay clean.
If you try your shop-vac, try setting it to blow instead of vacuum. I found it blows the dust right out, unlike with vacuuming, where it tends to stick in there because of static. Some horses tolerate this better than others, and I’d suggest doing it outdoors.
