I have plans on entering a fall show with my grey horse. Summer is never an issue as I can bathe early, but cooler weather makes it a bit of a challenge. I hate to give a cold water bath in cool weather. Any tips or tricks to keep the white horse clean, when it’s too cold to give a full bath. I use a sheet, and I have the spray on waterless cleaners, but I would love more ideas.
hair that is well moisturized doesn’t stain. I use conditioners year round but also feed omega horseshine (have a bay and white paint). Clipping so the hair is short also helps. The good news is that when it’s cold, you can sheet and sleezy without making them too hot, and that’s really the easiest way to do it. And wrap the legs once they are clean to keep them clean.
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I agree with SoLoud. My white-based leopard appy is easiest to clean if I can resist and don’t bathe him and allow his natural stain repellant oils to take charge. A water-resistant sheet helps, too–particularly if you have one who really likes to lay in pee…
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Other than hosing to cool him down, I never shampooed my grey even when showing. I have a horse vacuum which works wonders. For any grass or poop stains I used my bot block.
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One trick that I just learned is that hand sanitizer gets green stains out better than any dry shampoo. So stock up! I’ve also tried a multitude of the dry shampoos and my top picks are definitely Lucky Braids and Cowboy Magic. Also, if you use Quicksilver or most other whitening shampoos, know that they can be reactivated within a day (so if you bath your horse and come in the next day to grossness, just take a wet sponge and all the whitening power will still help get the stain out).
Quicksilver and rubbing alcohol is great for getting spots out. I take a spray bottle of it with me to shows to get last minute poop stains out.
If the temps allow, I keep fly boots on legs overnight as well as a sheet. A light version of a standing wrap can keep legs clean, too my horse is milk white and stains are pretty dramatic
My new guy is grey and loves to sit in his sh*t. lol. We did a little baby class (dressage suitability) at a Spanish breed show back in April. Between things, he was short tied to the wall with a slow feeder to keep him off the ground.
The lady who came to help groom is so knowledgeable and good at what she does. I honestly have no idea. She made him sparkle. I know they use the horse make-up spray (but I’m not sure if he was sprayed). I also know he had a bath on the morning of. The rest was miracle work of the groom. She puts fairy dust in her brushes I think.
It’s the rubbing alcohol that does it and it’s a lot cheaper without the gel components.
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Yes. A spray bottle of rubbing alcohol and a towel.
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Is the rubbing alcohol safe for normal grooming? I’m sure you probably don’t want to do it too often, right? It must dry out their fur and skin a bit. Maybe watered down a little and with a rag?
I buy the 70% isopropyl alcohol at Walmart and just use that as is. Spray spot, scrub quickly with a terry towel before the alcohol evaporates, let dry. I only do that at shows where water and time are at a premium.
Rather than spray with with rubbing alcohol daily I just spot clean those spots with a little dr bronners soap on a damp microfiber towel. I premix it in a spray bottle, spray poop spot, wipe off. It’s a coconut oil base so doesn’t dry them out.
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Cool! I’m going to try this out. He not only lays in his poop, he lays in his pee, and he seems to be flinging his own grain on himself too. (facepalm, seriously… )
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Wow, definitely things here that I didn’t know. Thank you for the ideas. I do give soap bathes as my horses live out 24/7 in dry lots and pastures. If I didn’t, I don’t know if they would ever really look clean. I have three greys though, all are the type that turned, “white” fast. Not sure what I was thinking. I am SO looking forward to showing my bay someday.
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I feel your pain and most of my prep spent at shows is keeping my guy clean–he should have been born a bay and it really stresses me out 
. The best whitening spray is by Lucky Braids and it is the only thing I’ve found to actually lift the stain out, especially in his tail. I also bed his stall deeply with thicker flaked shavings so there’s more of a chance for poops to not sit on top at night and be covered up. But mostly it’s all about the preventative measures and I always have someone to help me keep him clean at shows. Otherwise it’s just too stressful and I’m exhausted haha.
Maybe a given, but be sure to clean/pick the stall religiously whenever you’re on site.
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I used to have 2 pinto warmbloods that were meticulously clean. 70% isopropyl in a spray bottle and a tack sponge is super for cleaning green spots. Pee is another matter. Pee spots are best cleaned with hydrogen peroxide and a tack sponge…this will prevent the white hairs from yellowing. Alcohol will not remove the yellow. Hydrogen peroxide will. I used these two items in grooming all the time on both horses and never had an issue with brittle hair or drying of the skin. As for the tail, to remove the yellow, submerse the tail in a bucket of straight vinegar for 10 minutes followed by rinsing, shampooing and rinsing again. Beautiful tail.
