Lots of good tips here; we have leased a very light coloured grey for my son. I have always had plain bays with minimal white and this is my first grey. I am :eek: about the extra grooming!
I have an Appy with a white blanket, and I have never seen anything work like Cowboy Magic Spray N White. No extra scrubbing, no streaks or stains left, and glossy white when done. Absolutely incredible stuff and I’ve tried everything else, I used to own a gray.
While we are talking white horses, what can I do about noses that sun burn? He won’t keep a fly mask on. I’m using sunscreen daily but he is getting red already!
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You might have to try something thick that will stick on, like zinc oxide and really slather it on there…I’m not sure there’s much else you can do unless you can keep him inside during the day (at least during midday when the sun is high) and turn him out at night.
I’m lucky that my horse, though mostly white, has a dark nose. 
I too have those issues, how to keep a Paint gelding white and sorrel, and how to keep his nose from getting sunburned. I have always Show Sheened his tail to keep it nice, but I guess now I’ll tackle some other areas, including his white hock.
Someone on this forum suggested Goop from the auto section of Walmart. I have yet to try it.
As far as sunburn, I’ve had good results with Coppertone Sport Sunscreen, which is about a SPF 50. I put it on everytime I ride, which is usually 6 days a week. I have long nose Cashel fly masks which I really like, but he manages to lose them. I think they work on the fly masks when they can’t play halter tag.
My mare stays pretty white - but - I do not live in a red clay area and her turn-out is a nice pasture or her sawdust paddock. She has nice smooth hair that would be nice and shiny if she was not so white and the marks do not stain too much. She has no mud!!
I have a pure white/pink skinned TB and my favorite time of the year is when he can wear a blanket!!! We have black dirt/clay and there just isn’t anyway to keep him white and sparkling without a “suit” on. Riding at home… I do the best I can with grooming tools. When he is leaving the farm… I resign myself to a longgggg scrub bath!!!
I’m going to try the Dawn liquid and see if that works. Jackie lays in his poop and tinkle, one side only that I’ve seen. When grooming him, I didn’t realize how hard it is to get that stuff out of his coat. I’m kind of concerned that his skin might be getting burned, his coat is so thick. Can’t body clip just yet and don’t have a blanket for him.
- Diet- have a good source of fat.
- Environment- Try to keep the mud at bay, I’ve heard people have had good results with putting down some sand in an area wear their horses like to roll.
- Grooming- Clipped (short hair is easier to clean and rinse), Bluing shampoo, The old lady hair dye mentioned earlier, show sheen (or some such), Green spot remover, Hot toweling, baby wipes, talc powder. Regular grooming, but not too often on the bathing with soap.
Best of Luck…Cause you’re gonna need it!!
There’s nothing like the day before an important event cleaning, and then show up to the barn the morning of to find you almost need to start ALL OVER AGAIN!!!
I know you said you won’t or can’t blanket him but will throw it out there that here in Oz everything gets light sheet in summer - ears to tail covered. I thought it was crazy when I first got here but the horse is actually cooler with one. They seem to reflect the sun. Fabric wise I don’t think they are really any different then North American sheets though most have a high cotton percentage.
It would also keep him from getting sunburned.
Good luck!
P.
[QUOTE=jawa;6958488]
Best of Luck…Cause you’re gonna need it!!
There’s nothing like the day before an important event cleaning, and then show up to the barn the morning of to find you almost need to start ALL OVER AGAIN!!![/QUOTE]
I learned a long time ago that doing it the day before is pointless. 
You just have to get used to being the first one in the barn on a show day.
(and damn you people with solid color horses who just roll in and throw your horse on the trailer!! :D)
It might not be a pee stain? If he was born chestnut, they can sometimes keep marks that look like stains, but will never wash out. My Connie/TB had a tail that looked permanently stained at the bottom, but was really just residual chestnut mixed in with the grey. He had to grow it out.
If it is a pee stain, clipping (do a full body clip, not just the mark!) makes it easier to manage, and using an enzyme type spray or shampoo will break down the biologic component to the stain.
Overall, clip, groom meticulously, and keep the stall clean and deeply bedded.
we have brown dirt and ALL the horses want to be Buckskins
My grey is now pure dazzling white…and once show season is over, I just give up.
My guy lives out most of the year. Some things that I find help. 1) I feed 1 cup of ground flax seed daily, which make him more stain resistant. 2). Get manure stains off ASAP before they set. 3) Quic silver directly on stains and scrub in with a curry comb. 4) For quick spot removal cowboy magic works better than anything else I have tried. 4) I bathe with a mixture of Quic silver and dandruff shampoo. After I do face and other sensitive areas, I add a generous glug of liquid oxyclean. (Don’t do this without testing your horse’s sensitivity first. 5) I will sometimes use a bluing agent. After I rinse I will add about 1/2 cup to a gallon of warm water, sponge on and leave for 5 min or so. This is especially important if I am wearing white breeches as in the picture.
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Live someplace very cold where you can blanket 24/7. Otherwise, use all the techniques in this thread and still expect your grey or pinto horse to be dirty.
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I live in central Florida and my white-gray horse goes out daily in a fly sheet. I dont think he really gets any sweatier than the other horses who are naked. He is a roller, so mostly the neck gets full of sand. Thankfully he rarely has poop stains as he is tidy in his stall. I power hose almost every day unless we have a cold spell. Wash the tail maybe 2x per month and do full body bath only maybe once/month unless its a show week. Then we have serious bathing. I use cheap shampoo on the body and tail but also mix in the bluing stuff when doing tail. I’ve read that vinegar can help whiten a horse; its helped on the yellowish dirty tail for sure, but it has to be soaked. Haven’t tried on poop stains.
I’ve had fairly good luck with the Lucky Braids spray on whitener & separate shampoo for helping to lift stains from my mare’s white hind leg and tail. But now that it’s Mud Season - yes, by all means, a sheet makes a world of difference.
As far as a pink nose, I tried sunscreen, but realized it gets washed off almost immediately when she heads to the water trough as soon as she’s turned out. Clover also makes her much more photosensitive. I’m doing stall board in large part because our BM is willing to keep her inside during the most direct-sun parts of the day.
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