Prevent Horse Coat Bleaching

[ncsuequine]

Two out of three of my horses are bay and dk brown. I am trying to figure out a way to help them not bleach out. The bay only bleaches out in his mane (at the tips he gets blonde/red streaks). The dk brown bleaches through his whole body. My barn set up is an in/out setup, so getting them out of the sun is difficult. The dk brown sweats like crazy so he isn’t a candidate for a fly sheet, especially here in humid NC.

Do sunscreen sprays work? Does anyone have any tricks of the trade that they could share?

Thanks!

[JB]

The only way to prevent ALL bleaching is no sun exposure, and immediate washing off of any sweat.

That usually doesn’t make for a happy horse though.

You can minimize it a lot by making sure there is enough copper and zinc in the diet. I dramatically reduced the fading of my black horse when I did this. He would get to looking like a buckskin, and now he’s just sort of reddish black.

I use polysaccharide copper and zinc from either Uckele or, currently, Horsetech. I mix the 2 equal parts by volume, and use 1 scoop a day, for a half scoop of each.

[luvmyhackney]

Turn out at night, Sunscreen sprayed on the body. Make sure you are feeding copper/zinc/flax. I use the Ulta oil with sunscreen and it seems to be working well. If your horse sweats though not much you can do. Many people in NC body clip during the summer to keep hair as short as possible. For manes and tails, a bottle of hair dye can work to get it back black otherwise put the tail up.

Not much you can do on 24/7 turnout in NC

[Lord_Helpus]

I am also in NC and have a black (registered as black and black in the winter) horse. He bleaches out terribly and turns a buckskin/grulla color in the summer. He is in from 7am - 7pm from May - Sept and he still bleaches out. I am considering dying him this summer. I found a company in Australia which sells a horse dye, but it is expensive to have it shipped to the US.

Have you (or anyone else)tried dying their entire horse (not just the mane and tail — that is easy)? I would be interested to know the product and procedure. Obviously the dye cannot have a caustic base, but what else should I look for?

[Sansena]

Goodness, I’d never consider dyeing a horse.

I believe Santa Fe coat conditioner has sunscreen in it.
Agree with nighttime t/o, but see Lord Helpus’s post above. Otherwise, perhaps a fly sheet with neck cover might help?

JB always gives good advice. I’ve also heard cinnamon is helpful in keeping coats dark nutritionally.

[JB]

@Lord Helpus

He bleaches out terribly and turns a buckskin/grulla color in the summer. He is in from 7am - 7pm from May - Sept and he still bleaches out.

To me, that level of protection already from the sun, yet still bleaching like that, really says there’s not nearly enough copper and zinc in his diet.

And short of bleaching, no supplements will fix that now. But adding the cu/zn now, at a high enough rate (I might do 1 scoop of each for a couple weeks, then 1/2sc each thereafter) will affect the new coat which will start kicking off internal production here in a month or so. Sustaining that level of supplementation will then also affect next year’s coat, and I bet you see a fairly significant improvement.

[luvmyhackney]

@Lord Helpus

I am also in NC and have a black (registered as black and black in the winter) horse. He bleaches out terribly and turns a buckskin/grulla color in the summer. He is in from 7am - 7pm from May - Sept and he still bleaches out. I am considering dying him this summer. I found a company in Australia which sells a horse dye, but it is expensive to have it shipped to the US.

Have you (or anyone else)tried dying their entire horse (not just the mane and tail — that is easy)? I would be interested to know the product and procedure. Obviously the dye cannot have a caustic base, but what else should I look for?

I have dyed a white pony before with all natural food coloring. I know you can get henna dye, that is what I use on my ponies tail which is the only part of his body that bleaches at an Indian Market and its all natural no caustics would probably work. Otherwise Lucky Pony Dyes are made/sold in the US. Might want to add copper/zinc to horses diet.

Lord Helpus’ is your horse under fans or still sweating in his stall. He probably needs to be fully rinsed prior to going out and coming in to get the salt off.

[beowulf]

Flyspray bleaches coats like no other. Make sure if you have to fly spray, that you either find one that has sunscreen in it (if they’re even available) or after it is dry, follow up with a sunscreen type spray like Santa Fe.

Sweat is also a color killer, extreme – sweat seems to act like a colorstripper in some horses. Same for horses who get caught in the rain and dry in the sun.

There is not much you can do to prevent bleaching otherwise, that doesn’t impact the welfare of the horse. Night turnout is okay but often the bugs are the worst at dawn and dusk, and it often isn’t as much time out as most horses need.

A fly sheet will help protect the sun from bleaching too much, but you run the risk of the horse being too hot.

Paprika is what I think people use – however, it’s a little late for that as the summer coat has already grown in.

I do think some horses do have a naturally lighter summer coat - not from lack of sun, but just genetics - my gelding is a very dark bay once his fall coat comes in - in the summer he is a very warm mahogany color.

Like JB mentioned, it’s worth testing for copper and zinc - some horses can have sneakily low amounts without us ever knowing.

[JB]

I wouldn’t even bother testing. Just add. The amount added in the products I mentioned aren’t enough to cause an OD, and since most horses have way too much iron anyway, adding more cu/zn will help balance that ratio.

Also, testing only shows you if you’re in a “normal” range, and that’s just for normal health, or at least no real issues. It doesn’t tell you if you’re low for that horse, and it doesn’t tell you the ration of fe:cu:zn. The darker the coat color, the more copper is needed to produce melanin, and testing won’t tell you that.

[Peggy]

@Lord Helpus I have a friend who used to bleach her black horse who lived out. Used several containers of Lady Clairol, IIRC.

[PonyPenny]

@Lord Helpus

I am also in NC and have a black (registered as black and black in the winter) horse. He bleaches out terribly and turns a buckskin/grulla color in the summer. He is in from 7am - 7pm from May - Sept and he still bleaches out. I am considering dying him this summer. I found a company in Australia which sells a horse dye, but it is expensive to have it shipped to the US.

Have you (or anyone else)tried dying their entire horse (not just the mane and tail — that is easy)? I would be interested to know the product and procedure. Obviously the dye cannot have a caustic base, but what else should I look for?

Yes, I have. My horse is a true black and I have found that semi permanent hair color works the best. It takes about 10 boxes of human hair color for an entire horse. If you just do the mane and tail, use a ton of thick conditioner under and around the area you are coloring, so you do not color areas you do not want colored.

[PonyPenny]

@Peggy

@Lord Helpus I have a friend who used to bleach her black horse who lived out. Used several containers of Lady Clairol, IIRC.

Yes or any other brand. I found semi-permanent works the best. Clariol Balsam Color works good.

[TWH_Girl]

My black Walker turns burnt orange by late summer. I started feeding Black as Knight in mid to late March, rinsing after summer rides, and using fly spray with sunscreen (I use Absorbine ultra in black bottle). We’ll see if it helps this year. Not sure yet. It’s a tough one.

I also got a Kensington protective sheet but I haven’t had the heart to put it on when he’s in blankets all winter.

[JB]

@TWH Girl

I started feeding Black as Knight in mid to late March,

The BAK likely won’t do much for this Summer coat. The new coat starts being made as soon as the daylight hours start increasing enough, which is shortly after Dec 21/22. So really by early-Mid Jan, anything needs to be started. By mid-March, most of the pigment has already been formed.

BAK works (if it’s going to) because of the copper content, and it’s cheaper to feed straight copper and zinc

[TWH_Girl]

@JB

The BAK likely won’t do much for this Summer coat. The new coat starts being made as soon as the daylight hours start increasing enough, which is shortly after Dec 21/22. So really by early-Mid Jan, anything needs to be started. By mid-March, most of the pigment has already been formed.

BAK works (if it’s going to) because of the copper content, and it’s cheaper to feed straight copper and zinc

Mmmmmm thanks for the tip. Too late now, maybe next time around.

[JB]

Better to start now for the next coat, than wait

[tinah]

Going to bump this up.
So the horse is already on copper and zinc, medium fat diet, and the new coat is still coming in washed out. Any ideas? His feet, including new growth, seem healthy and tough, no thrush, but he does have a tendency towards skin issues. I’m still leaning towards it being nutritional.

[CindyCRNA]

How about Black As Knight? They still make that stuff? It’s a feed thru.

[JB]

@tinah

Going to bump this up.
So the horse is already on copper and zinc, medium fat diet, and the new coat is still coming in washed out. Any ideas? His feet, including new growth, seem healthy and tough, no thrush, but he does have a tendency towards skin issues. I’m still leaning towards it being nutritional.

How much added cu/zn is there, and when did you start? What’s the rest of the diet and how long has he been on that?

[tinah]

@JB

How much added cu/zn is there, and when did you start? What’s the rest of the diet and how long has he been on that?

a generous scoop of uckele poly copper and poly zinc mixed together, so a little over the recommended serving size. . He’s been on it since he came home in October, and a scoop of tri-amino. 3 lbs a day of bluebonnet omega force, 3lbs alfalfa pellets, split into 2 feedings. and free choice prairie hay.