Had a nice ride again yesterday. Dixie is finally starting to figure out longeing - she doesn't get personally offended when I ask her to w/t/c in a circle on a line anymore, and she rarely freaks out and tries to run away from me.
I rode for just a little while, got her to pick up her head and calmly do some serpentines, then calmly pick up a faster walk, then I tried moving my hands down and out and wiggling the reins and ohmygod, she dropped her head and relaxed. Katphoti, DiJ, it's finally starting to work!
But then the depressing part. Dixie had gleefully laid down in some bright green manure, so I wanted to bathe her and try to get the huge green spots off her butt. She was fantastic in the wash stall - she's finally figured out the water doesn't hurt - but she is not white. :( How am I supposed to get grass/manure stains off of her? What is the Magic Horse Shampoo I'm lacking here?
QuicSilver or Cowboy Magic! You can also use vinegar to bleach white spots if you prefer something all-natural. I use it on my palomino's tail to remove stains.
ReplyDeleteQuicSilver has failed me. It made the green stains less yellow, but didn't turn them white. I'll try some vinegar next, cause I have it on hand, but next time I see Cowboy Magic I'll pick some up.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely going to try a vinegar rinse on her tail. She has a pure white tail, but it's so dirty it looks mixed. Ewwww...
Oxyclean. Or use some hydrogen peroxide with your shampoo.
ReplyDeleteBleach. No, I kid :) I have no idea but I know I'm going to seriously have a mental breakdown when I own a horse that has more than just the teeniest bit of white on them... I don't know how you do it!
ReplyDeleteMy method is as follows:
ReplyDeleteI just tell everyone that there is white hiding under all that discoloration. Why yes, my palomino really does have white hair....
Basically, I just gave up. It's easier for me this way. :)
Coming from a black-and-white horse owner, I like WOW. Go to www.healing-tree.com to order it directly, and some tack stores also carry it. It's inexpensive and works. I have also used Oxyclean and gotten results. Dilute the Oxyclean to the proportions in the directions, scrub it into her coat, and let it sit for a few minutes before rinsing. It also works great for tails--put the solution in a bucket and soak the tail in it for a few minutes. I used to wash the mane and tail of a palomino gelding I had once a week, and I'd use Oxyclean to help brighten it up. White vinegar also works--just be sure to soak the tail for a while then put a REALLY good cream rinse in it to keep the hair from drying up and breaking.
ReplyDeleteAnd if all else fails, you can try soaking in hydrogen peroxide. You can buy it by the gallon bottle online at websites that sell veterinary products.
I find that the non-bleach based products work so much better than the bleach-based ones because they're less likely to dry out the hair and the horse's skin. If they do, just using a cream rinse or some spray-in hair detangler (for horses or humans) does the trick to keep the hair soft. In fact, I use detangler on all my horses' hair once a week just to keep it nice and neat.
P.S. Glad to hear my tips are helping! Now just give me some on my blog on how to get a 10 yo pony to calm down and let us catch and touch him....
ReplyDelete