I’m new to the world of a gray horse. I’ve had chestnuts, bays and blacks, with and without chrome. We just got a lovely mare how happens to be gray. For now, she’s quite dark, but that won’t last. What are your best suggestions for keeping her lovely and clean?
Unfortunately, you kind of have to accept that she isn’t going to stay as clean as you want her to. You can do your best with thorough regular grooming and spot cleaning as needed, but I’ve found that they tend to be irritated by attempts to keep them clean and will just get even dirtier after a bath. My guy is almost entirely white and I’ve had to train myself not to worry about stains and stuff (unless they’re easily removable) until I go to shows. He gets groomed thoroughly every day and I’ll use green spot remover or rubbing alcohol to spot clean before lessons, but I haven’t found anything that keeps him clean all the time. Sorry!
I had a nice ottb grey mare years ago who stayed clean in a 12x12 stall. Apparently that is not the norm. The grey gene apparently requires that most grey horses lie down in manure to camouflage themselves from predators. :lol: Cloudy at the last 2 barns over 7 yrs has had the “foaling stall” and still manages to cover himself with manure stains. At our first barn years ago, the kids used to run up to me when I got there from work to tell me how many manure stains he had and how large they were. (He went from dapple grey and white pinto to now looking “white” most of the year.) Fortunately he sheds out to “bald” almost, so manure stains can be wiped off easily.
I used all the products for grey horses when I got him. Best is just to wipe the stains with a wet cloth. Hopefully your mare will be like my mare Trouble was, and not like Cloudy. Worst was when he dismantled his auto waterer one weekend overnight at first barn and in the morning I found him with manure and urine stains on both sides from his face to his tail. His matted 12/x12 stall kept the flowing water puddled for him to lie down in. I love winter when he can wear his rug and neck rug and keep part of his body clean!
Y’all aren’t giving me any hope!
I leased a gray and after that vowed “never again, unless the horse comes with a groom”! I spent more time trying to keep that horse clean and cleaning his stall almost continuously at shows. After a week at a AA show without a groom, I was about in tears. He was very messy in his stall and no sheet I tried worked to keep him clean. It was truly about hopeless (and I started the same thread on here, got lots of tips but nothing kept that boy clean.)
oh man… and I wanted my next horse to be a gray!
Never let them get that dirty if you can help it, it prevents those old, yellowed stains. When you’re showing, being clipped and show sheened seems to help repel stains a bit. Sheets, slinkies, early morning wash stall trips for the legs. Bluing shampoo is your friend. In the winter I do a lot of super hot, wrung-out towels and green spot remover.
Also - it’s a scientific fact that all grey horses use their manure as a pillow every night during show season. You can’t fight it.
[QUOTE=Hunter Mom;8071078]
What are your best suggestions for keeping her lovely and clean?[/QUOTE]
Some things are worth paying for 
I would have no issue taking care of a gray at home and have no issue taking care of my dirt-colored bay horse at shows, but I don’t know that I could deal with showing a gray without some sort of grooming assistance!
My mare is now nearly all white and like EquitationNewbie I’ve just learned to live with her being dingy most of the time unless I can’t stand it. In the summer I mostly just rinse her off when she’s sweaty and might make a quick pass over stains with a soapy scrubby sponge. I do have some tips for white tail maintenance though. If you’re lucky your horse still has a gray tail. My mare’s tail is white but she’s a little lax about lifting it when she pees, especially when she’s in season, so her tail is perpetually yellow, or even orange from the VA red dirt.
I’ve tried every type of shampoo and stain remover you can think of, nothing removes the yellow completely short of keeping it wrapped 100% of the time which I do not have the time to do. So, I have learned the best method to removing stubborn yellow stains is to use Dawn dish soap on the hair only, not the tailbone because it strips all the oils which is what you need for the next steps. If the tail bone is dirty I wash it with regular moisturizing shampoo first. Next, on the stained hair I use copious amount of Quic Color. Not Quic Silver, that is for gray/silver hair. Quic Color is for white hair. I leave it on until I start to worry that the tail will be purple, then wash it out. Then finally I dip the tail in Mrs. Stuart’s bluing (available at Walmart). I make the solution dark enough that the tail looks a little blue when I take it out. I don’t soak it in the bluing. Then I use a tiny bit of water along the line at the top where the blue solution didn’t get to in order to blend it out. After that I just let it drain and dry on it’s own. Before a show I’ll do that a few times over several days until it looks white. I also do this a few times throughout the year in additional to normal shampoo washing but I don’t obsess over it.
I had a 17 hand gray mare some years back. For shows, she lived in a sheet or blanket and a neck Sleazy that also covered her face - eyes and ears exposed. Invariably she would have poop stains on her ears. Or her cheek where the poop material seeped thru the sleazy fabric.
Currently leasing a gray - he goes out in fly sheet and mask, that helps. He is also fairly tidy in his stall, pooping in one area and laying down in another. But best of all we are in Florida where there is only sand, no mud and it is rarely too cold for a touch up cleaning. Prior to shows I do two rounds of tail bath with a bluing shampoo for the tail.
[QUOTE=VA_Hunter_Aside;8071151]
My mare is now nearly all white and like EquitationNewbie I’ve just learned to live with her being dingy most of the time unless I can’t stand it. In the summer I mostly just rinse her off when she’s sweaty and might make a quick pass over stains with a soapy scrubby sponge. I do have some tips for white tail maintenance though. If you’re lucky your horse still has a gray tail. My mare’s tail is white but she’s a little lax about lifting it when she pees, especially when she’s in season, so her tail is perpetually yellow, or even orange from the VA red dirt.[/QUOTE]
I have four greys (yeah, yeah I know) and frequently show all of them. I get a lot of really gross looking tails (poop, pee, mud, you name it) and nothing works better than Goop + White 'N Brite.
Make sure you purchase the white cream goop, not the orange/gritty stuff.
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Slather it on when the tail is dry and dump copious amounts of White 'N Brite on top.
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Rub it in vigorously everywhere, particularly the ends, and leave it sit till you finish washing the rest of the horse.
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Rinse out the Goop & WNB concoction and use liberal amount of conditioner, I just use the $1 per bottle cheap stuff.
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Rinse conditioner out and spray with Show Sheen
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Stand back and look in awe.
I promise it really works. I’ve never had any problems with purple tails and I only have to wash them right before shows. If the tail is really bad it might take two rounds of Goop & WNB before it really gets white, but the results are much better than what I’ve had with just liquid blueing or any other shampoo.
solution… get a bay :lol:
A friend at the barn has a gray, and she is really proactive. She shampoos her horse’s tail every day. Every day. The tail is gorgeous and white. Really.
I’m in the “I give up” crowd. He’s a godawful mess from day to day, especially now during mud season. When shows start up, I don’t bother bathing him til the day of the show - no matter what sheet, wraps, slinkies, I put on him, he lays in his poo and it all soaks through, so why bother??
For a temporary fix for white tails, Fanci Full White Minx hair rinse is awesome. It covers up the yellow and makes it look very very white. You’ve got to put on a bunch, but it does work. You can get it at almost any drug store chain or WalMart. (Note: only get White Minx - other colors of this rinse may give the tail a gray or yellow cast. Not good!) Also, old lady gray hair shampoo is great for their bodies - even better than horse shampoo. And then there’s good old Orvus, shampoo of champions!
I’m apparently a masochist 'cause the horse I had before this one was a palomino with a perfect white mane and tail. And two high whites. And a love for green manure. :eek:
I’m leasing a grey, the third grey I’ve ridden regularly, plus a few other random ones here and there. I seem to attract them like they attract grass stains. And I just discovered that my lease horse isn’t that fond of the barn wash stall. This should prove interesting when the weather warms up.
I’ve just learned to look away.
I don’t show, so I don’t need a pristine white horse up to show standards.
But I do like her clean.
She is kept in/out - does not have to lie down in a poopy stall.
She has a very clean paddock that has a base of crushed limestone that drains perfectly. Manure picked up daily.
We have NONE of that red staining dirt up here that defies shampoo.
She has a large pile of yellow cedar sawdust that she uses for sunbathing, rolling, and sleeping - sleeps hours out there at night.
She wears a sheet almost all the time, and a blanket in winter. In summer she has a nice green field and is allowed to get a bit of green on her when she rolls, but the grass is nice and clipped.
She is not clipped, but gets an oilrich feed and her coat is sleek so dirt does not really stick. I think that is a key part…a silky coat.
Everybody comments on how clean my milk white mare is…but it is no fuss at all.
Love my gray (white) girl
Former groom to SEVEN greys :eek: Whose owner liked to look out of his back window and see gleaming horses in grass pastures 
Keep the tail braided and in a tail bag. That helps a lot! I took tails out and re-braided every other day. They also had long grooming sessions, and soap-free baths a couple of times a week, with a good sudsy bath about twice a month. I used Costco shampoo which worked just fine! I would take the hose and hold it up to the horse with the “shower” attachment on low pressure, and then use one of those rubber curry combs (the ones with the little bristles) and gently rub all over the body. They got awesome massages and loved it. I did this with my own dark bay mare too, and she was always super duper clean, because I groomed her this way after every ride.
The most important thing… they have to be tied to dry until they are totally dry or the results will be maddening :lol: The owner of these horses had a water heater and heating lamps for the winter months!
It can be done, it just takes diligence. One mare in particular seemed determined to keep herself as a mosaic of green, yellow and brown. That was the hardest one! I think I had some sort of “spot remover” but I can’t remember the name of it now.
Try Ecoliscious products! They work wonders
[QUOTE=beowulf;8071203]
solution… get a bay :lol:[/QUOTE]
I did exactly that after 12yrs of fighting the good fight with a grey 
My go to product was Orvus…best product ever for a white horse!
[QUOTE=All_the_Shenanigans;8071202]
I have four greys (yeah, yeah I know) and frequently show all of them. I get a lot of really gross looking tails (poop, pee, mud, you name it) and nothing works better than Goop + White 'N Brite.
Make sure you purchase the white cream goop, not the orange/gritty stuff.
-
Slather it on when the tail is dry and dump copious amounts of White 'N Brite on top.
-
Rub it in vigorously everywhere, particularly the ends, and leave it sit till you finish washing the rest of the horse.
-
Rinse out the Goop & WNB concoction and use liberal amount of conditioner, I just use the $1 per bottle cheap stuff.
-
Rinse conditioner out and spray with Show Sheen
-
Stand back and look in awe.
I promise it really works. I’ve never had any problems with purple tails and I only have to wash them right before shows. If the tail is really bad it might take two rounds of Goop & WNB before it really gets white, but the results are much better than what I’ve had with just liquid blueing or any other shampoo.[/QUOTE]
I will definitely try this method. Thank you!
