Hey everyone,
This is Katie, the Chronicle intern!
With winter upon us once again, and for those of us unable to travel to the warmer states and escape the cold, I was wondering: what are some of the tips and tricks you use in keeping your horses clean when a bath is just not accessible due to the cold weather?
What are your go-to products for keeping your horse show-ring ready?
Do you have a strategy for body-clipping your horse? Do you leave them hairy?
A blanket. A clean stall and a dry paddock.
We don’t need to be show-ring ready 
That said, I find a horse with a healthy coat stays clean. In the summer, dirt just brushes off, even her white spots. And in the winter, her coat puffs up and doesn’t collect dust. No dandruff.
Other than that, a hot wet washcloth will spot clean quite nicely if needed.
I pray to the gods of mud and irony. And then my prayers are not answered…
Body clip, blanket, and a vacuum.
I body clip, blanket and vacuum too.
I blanket my horse even if I don’t clip. Then I give up on mud on their legs unless I’m going to a lesson in which case I knock the mud off because it drives overnight while stalled. It’s not like I show during the winter and if my trainer can’t handle a hairy horse then they don’t need my money.
I am not showing, but I still like my horses to look good. Neither of my TB mares grows a very heavy coat. They are both blanketed. I do a modified Irish clip on my younger horse as she is more prone to sweat than my older mare. The older mare just gets a bib clip. I groom them almost every day and use a coat conditioner a couple of times per week.
Mine lives out 24/7, stays blanketed, including hood at all times because he’s got a partial clip and lives in the great white north. That keeps the body clean. Since it started snowing, we haven’t had enough melt to create any mud. Everything’s still frozen. So no issues with mud! Just a good curry and brush every day. Coat conditioner every few days. C’est tout!
Come springtime when mud IS a problem, I usually clip his fetlocks to prevent bacteria growth in the long hair, and liberally showsheen or similar to help prevent mud and dirt from getting really stuck on - its much easier to brush dried mud off a showsheen-ed leg. Also - a heated hose is your best friend if you have wet mud needing to be cleaned. Quick spray with the hose before a lesson (yes you will have wet legs which attracts arena dirt so towel dry like crazy before putting boots on!) or deal with muddy legs (and no boots for the lesson) a quick spray with the hose AFTER the lesson, then show sheen and send them back outside.
[QUOTE=Melissa.Van Doren;8481117]
Body clip, blanket, and a vacuum. :)[/QUOTE]
This, exactly!!!
I live in a southern state but grew up in the north blanketing and vacuum cleaners spot shampoo or spray for white or gray horses body clip when needed to work and prevent sweating/cooling out issues
What coat conditioners do you guys use? I don’t like to use Showsheen much as it doesn’t breakdown when bathed…so it goes into our water system. Also it can be very drying. I’m assuming the coat conditioner is a leave in spray since you can’t bathe in frigid temps?
Hot towelling! Get some really warm water, put it in a bucket, or just run the tap (if you’re fancy). Saturate a towel and wring it to get almost all the water out. Lay it on the horse and leave for 1.5-2min and then vigorously rub the coat with a dry towel (or the damp towel, depending on how cold it is).
Also, curry before and after your ride and brush with a stiff brush, then follow with Perfect Touch (lanolin solution) sprayed all over. Then use a softer brush all over. I like using a metal curry comb to stimulate the skin and muscles (soft rubber, toothy one on the face, legs and other joints).
Have multiple blankets and rotate with clean ones biweekly.
I french braid my grey horse’s tail at the top to keep it cleaner and spray in no-tangle to keep the rest of the tail brush able
Hot towels. I use regular shampoo or dish soap. Boil water, add a little soap, soak and wring out towels. Wipe/rub horse all over. Kind of like a steam bath. Gets them clean without getting too wet.
Beyond good nutrition, which is always first on the list, I partially clip my horse and keep him blanketed. (Except for the unseasonably warm days when they go naked.) My horse is also on Omega Horseshine this year (which I love!) because his coat would get dry and brittle in the winter. Not this year, though. Horses at our barn also only go out when the ground isn’t too soft and muddy. He’s only 4 and didn’t really do much until last year when I bought him, and he’s not quite used to the noise of the vacuum yet.
Grooming always consists of rubber jelly curry, this Winner’s Circle brush, a soft flick style brush, and wiping him down with a towel all over. For stains, I like to use a spray such as the Wow! Whitening spray. (Trot the Spot also works well, but I don’t like the smell very much.) After riding, any damp spots get rubbed as dry as possible with a towel, he gets a wool cooler thrown on until completely dry, and then gets rubbed down again with the towel. He LOVES his towel and especially loves having his face rubbed with it.
We have a former groom in our barn who worked for an Olympian, so when she tells me that my horse looks good, I can take that to the bank.
Blankets, brushing, and snow, snow, and more snow. That snow really does a great job keeping the white socks nice and clean! Having said that, I ride a chestnut not a light grey
Clipped horse kept blanketed. When I don’t clip, a slightly damp towel rub really helps get that extra dust off that doesn’t seem to with just brushes. Brushing a winter coat the opposite direction helps get that dust out too. Muddy legs haven’t been an issue but if they were, the barn has a hot water tap in the wash rack. I curry well all year round, and have started using Healthy Hair Care conditioner to keep him extra silky to prevent blanket rubs. My horse is one that doesn’t really get that dirty on his own. Summertime grooming is a lot harder for me, I can’t miss a day or else I have to spray him off prior to riding (mixture of both dried and wet sweat is impossible to groom).
Honestly, keeping a chestnut clean during the winter isn’t much more work than keeping a chestnut clean during show season (all bets are off with grays!!!).
Good nutrition = shiny, glossy coat (even in the winter!), so the majority of the mud and dirt just slides right off. If he does manage to get muddy during turnout, I let him dry off and then grab the curry comb. A pass with the vacuum gets the worst of the gunk off, and then I’ll finish with a flick brush.
My boy is a TB with a wimpy winter coat, so blanketing is a must - I may have to send his blankets off to the cleaners a few times in the winter, but at least he stays clean underneath! He’s not body clipped, but I still keep up with trimming long hairs around his fetlocks, jaw, bridle path, etc. (same with mane and tail pulling).
If his paddock is really sloppy, I’ll put his tail up in a mud knot, but I’ll take it down when things dry out because he tends to rub at the knot!
If we ride in a clinic with a BNT, I’ll pull out the spot remover (Carr, Day and Martin makes a fabulous spray) and make sure his socks gleam. Right before we go into the ring, I’ll spritz a little Dream Coat on a sheepskin mitt and swipe it over his neck, shoulders, and bum for a little extra gleam.
We’ve gotten lots of compliments on how well he is turned out, even though he lives outside except for absolutely foul weather - I guess we’re doing something right!
Snow.
I clip as often as needed and blanket. I put my mare’s tail in a tail bag even though I hate them to keep it from getting muddy, stuck to things, and pulled out. I line her run with old shavings from her stall to help soak up the water and mud.
I also use one of these filled with Vetrolin shampoo for legs below the knee/hock to get mud off. Has to be the best five bucks I’ve spent! It makes it sooo easy to get the gunk off with minimal effort and without getting her too wet.
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