Tips for getting the field boarded hunter presentable

[gypsymare]

I recently bought a farmette and it will be at least 6-8 months until I manage to get a barn put up… we need to sell the old house first. For the time being, I have a 3/4 acre muddy sacrifice paddock with run in and a couple additional small, hilly pastures. My “wash rack” is a cold hose off of the back of my house.

I would love to hear some of your tips and tricks for getting your hunt horses clean in cold weather. I’m a bit self conscious about it at the moment since I’ve joined one of the more prestigious hunts in the area and although not sticklers for turnout in general, squeaky clean is the norm. My main hunter is a close relative of the pig, and finds ways to grind mud into every square inch of his body. I thought keeping a black horse clean wouldn’t be so bad, but even curried and brushed he ends up looking dusty. Sometimes it seems the more I brush the dustier he looks.

How well do those shop vac attachments work? Should I forego the trace clip and just body clip so I can hot towel him down to his skin? I’d like to hunt tomorrow but it’s a high holy day and the windy, muddy, 35 degree weather today is making it seem impossible that I will get him anywhere close to presentable.

I need to start training up the liver chestnut for these kinds of days.

[romewhip]

I don’t have any helpful info- just tagging along hoping to learn something- but I LOVE your “close relative of the pig” comment. My pinto pony is the same, absolutely grinds every speck of dirt into himself. He’s trace clipped and wears a turnout rug, but still grubby.

[Thoroughbred_in_Colo]

If he will let you, the vacuum is a great idea. Curry and brush like normal, finish up with the vacuum. Still not “perfect”, but next best thing to a bath. You can also use a tack cloth (found at paint/hardware stores) to get any remaining dust if he doesn’t like the vacuum. They are mildly sticky and designed to pick up tiny dust particles before staining or painting, but they work great on horses too. I’ve used both on my show mare and actually prefer to use the vacuum and tack cloth instead of bathing unless there are stains to be removed or she is really sweaty from a ride.

[jawa]

I found the more clipped they are, the more you tend to keep them covered…the less dirt / mud / stains they pick up on the larger part of their body.

That still leaves head, neck and legs.

Legs receive the cold hose treatment. Head and neck can be vacuumed and hot toweled. The shorter the hair the faster they dry.

Best of luck.

[Appsolute]

First, blankets are your friend. A highneck one would really help keep him clean.

Vacuums work great, and I think they are a godsend for the winter.

A hot towel with a little bit of baby oil with help take away the dusty look, and if he is greasy, rubbing alcohol on a rag will also make them appear cleaner.

[KateDB]

I agree with jawa. I think it’s just way easier to keep them clean when they are clipped. All of ours are hunter clipped in October, re-clipped in November and then if they have to be clipped again in December/January I tend to blanket clip so that their rumps aren’t subjected to the wind/rain/snow when we are out hunting.
Ours are rugged ears to tail and are out 24x7. Like you, I don’t have a wash stall with either hot or cold water!
The shop vacuum works wonders, as does hot toweling.
I don’t tend to cold hose legs unless I really have to. I think they get more crud on them with the heavy wet leg hair. But if I have to (particularly AFTER hunting) I will do that.
I am a big curry-er all winter, especially with the rubber glove.
Also I use a dry towel to curry, brush and strap their coats. A bit of alcohol on a towel can help to pull the dust out of the coat as I am tacking up for hunting.
Hopefully our horses are presentably turned-out!

[BeeHoney]

Definitely skip the trace clip and go straight for a hunter clip. Clipping a horse’s body, face and ears thoroughly and neatly always makes even the messiest beast look sharp. Then use a blanket with a neck cover. Definitely buy a vacuum. You will never regret the vacuum purchase, so don’t skimp. I absolutely love my vacuum. I can get a hideously mud crusted pony very presentable in 30 minutes or less, and best of all, all the mud and dust and hair is NOT transferred to ME. Bye bye dust & dandruff! A hot towel is useful for the areas where the fur is crimped and rumpled looking. Also, Miracle Groom spray is great for help with cold weather grooming.

[MichMort]

A vacuum helps a ton, clipped and blanketed. I also spray Static Guard onto my soft brush or directly on my horse, to make the longer hair less likely to hold the dirt and dander and sweat dust. (I use Static Guard on my own hair, too, so I feel it is safe and effective)

[MandyVA]

I’m in the exact same boat and a full clip is a must. I also had the back of his legs clipped, where he gets the most filthy, and that helps a lot.

[AlmostDun]

A good horse vacuum does wonders. It’s a little easier to accustom the horse to a vacuum in warm weather, when the cool air being drawn over the skin feels so good. Approach the shoulders first; they’re less ticklish, and the horse feels less threatened.

[gumtree]

The only suggestions I have is;
Get up extra early
Keep a blanket or turnout sheet on
Don’t own a grey unless it can be cleaned up and kept in the night before.
Get a vacuum. No reason a decent size shop vac wouldn’t work unless your horse has problem with the noise. Though most should get used to it.

Not a fan of Electro-Groom, got one for Christmas a few years ago and it was no different then the ones we used as kids in the 60’s. It always gets clogged in short order, the attachments are “MacGyvered” to the hose. Ridiculous for something that costs $700+
If anybody knows of something better please post.
Thinking of putting in a “whole house” vac or a “Shop dust collector unit” Cheaper stronger and have a much bigger collection bag.

[candysgirl]

I have a dark bay Arab that shows every speck of dust. He is unclipped and at present un-blanketed (blankets will go on soon here). I cannot/will not clip him. He doesn’t do well in the cold with his full coat, let alone clipped even if he is blanketed.

I first use a cactus cloth break up the dirt chunks. Then I curry the heck out of his coat with one of the hard rubber curries with longer, pointier ‘fingers’ to really bring the dust up to the surface. Then I use a cheap $30 shop vac all over, usually currying the dirtiest parts as I’m vacuuming to make sure I get all the dirt. Then I brush with clean medium and soft brushes (these two only get used after he is vacuumed - not on normal days). Then I wipe him down with a very slightly damp sheepskin mitt. Once I’m done, he looks like he’s just had a bath and no longer looks like the feral beast he seems to think he is.

When I have my own farm again, I do plan on getting a bigger, more powerful shop vac to hang in a grooming stall/wash rack, but for now the small hand held $30 one does get the job done.

[Ambitious_Kate]

This has been a great thread. I had a few of these tips, but now I can put a bunch of them on a real procedure list.

I am imagining a really effective way to put a shop vac overhead, and let the hose hang down to where a horse gets groomed - assuming an indoor aisle, of course, I realize the OP doesn’t have that yet. Like overhead by the tackroom door, and a long hose to a cross tie right there. Have to be a strong vac, but I think it would work.

[McGurk]

I agree with all the suggestions posted above - hunter clip, blanket like crazy, vacuum and hot towel. A little Vetrolin shine, show sheen or miracle groom on your hot towel helps.

There’s a bit of a technique to hot toweling - you fold the towel in quarters so you have 8 clean sections. Use each section on one part of the horse until no clean spot remains, then flip or refold the towel to expose a clean section and move to another part of the horse. Repeat until very little dirt comes off on the towel. A really grubby horse can take 2 - 3 towels, but the efficiency of this technique is that you’re constantly switching out to a clean section of towel. (Apologies if you already know this; I felt like a dunce when someone showed me.)

Trimming the long hair on the legs without actually clipping them down to the skin is a great idea too.

In desperation, you can hook up your barn hose to the washer and dryer hookups in your laundry room and run the hose through the window and bath the horse outside but with warm water. Do not ask me how I know about this, or how those strange scuff marks got on the brick patio outside the side door.

[ISR]

I have a piebald princess, about 50% white, and fortunately, she is self cleaning. That said, she lives out 24/7, and I have no hot water. I wouldn’t miss a high holy day because I didn’t have a barn or hot water! It’s truthfully just a bit more elbow grease! I find hot towels, and a couple full buckets of warm water from the house in combination with a good turnout blanket work just fine. My horse lives out in a full neck, and I clean the blankets more than most to prevent dirt from getting lodged underneath. Otherwise, she’s almost tack and go once I remove the blanket! Punishment for getting legs dirty is a cold hose while I say, “it rubs the lotion on it’s skin, or else it gets the hose again”.

The routine is the same after hunting.

Admittedly, I hunted the other week at a joint meet, didn’t curry too much, since she looked very white and clean! After hunting, all the dirt came to the surface and she looked like a total disaster! If anyone had asked, I would have just said we went through some trappy territory

[beowulf]

I have a very dark bay that just looks dirtier the more you clean him. Since it’s cold, I can’t bathe him and I am a huge stickler about the horses looking spic and span.

I take a mechanic’s rag (you can buy a bundle at walmart for cheap) and get it damp with warm water. After currying the horse, I curry the rag in. The rag picks up the dirt the curry comb lifts up.

I then spray showsheen on a clean rag and curry/slick it across the haunches.

[Hinderella]

Ambitious Kate, I love your idea of mounting the shop vac overhead! I could diminish the noise level by having the shop vac in the loft, and then just run the hose down through the hole. I’ll need a really long hose though.
We don’t have hot water in the barn, so I use the small bucket heaters to create warm water.

[JSwan]

Mine live outside for the most part. Both are clipped and blanketed. Another tip - keep the tail braided or in a mud knot. He doesn’t need it to swish flies, and it will help keep it from gathering mud and twigs. (one of my horses will come in squeaky clean - except for his tail. It’s a mess)

With clipping and blanketing, you’ll most likely keep your horse clean enough that you just have to do whore baths.

[Mia412]

I use a great Cut Heal product called Smart Choice to clean up my horses when it’s too cold to bathe. Spray on a towel, rub horse down, and brush. It’s great for surface dust on my dark horses!

[candysgirl]

[QUOTE=Ambitious Kate;7287210]
This has been a great thread. I had a few of these tips, but now I can put a bunch of them on a real procedure list.

I am imagining a really effective way to put a shop vac overhead, and let the hose hang down to where a horse gets groomed - assuming an indoor aisle, of course, I realize the OP doesn’t have that yet. Like overhead by the tackroom door, and a long hose to a cross tie right there. Have to be a strong vac, but I think it would work.[/QUOTE]

That is my game plan when I have a farm again!