So everyone wants to know the insider secrets on how to make your horse look their very best, or why they do that to the horses for the showring? Let's kick this off in style and share our tips and secrets of what we do to make our horses look like a million bucks. I promise, it won't cost you anywhere near that much!
So pull up a bucket or a bale of hay, kick back, relax and get ready to share. We have a lot of topics to cover and I'm pretty sure there will be things out there some of us have never heard of or considered trying and others that produced less than stellar results. This is the place to pass the info around and help others create that winning look.
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FIRST!!! Sorry CNJ I couldn't help myself . This is going to be interesting . My only 2 hints in my kit are , liquid bluing or Palmolive (green) dish soap to whiten ,and regular old men's shaving cream dissolves poop!
ReplyDeleteFastest way in the world to get me blushing and stumbling ,or to try to achieve the fetal position while on a horse is to put me in a show ring!
SECOND! :)
ReplyDeleteThis should be a fun blog! I added you to my When the Painted Horse Comes blog as well.
I have honestly NEVER heard of shaving cream taking off manure!
ReplyDeleteWho ever tried that for starters?
FV- Maybe I will have you do the guest post on white horses...
See what you just did to yourself.
LOL!
CNJ, yikes!
ReplyDeleteThe shaving cream trick, well I wpould tell you but then I would have to kill you . trust me it works
What a great idea!
ReplyDeleteFigures the farmer has the first amazing tip.
Shaving cream??
Who knew??
What gets me is that so much of the stuff that we bought for oursleves is out in the barn. And I can see it now......
ReplyDelete"hey CNJ where is my shaving cream?"
" it's out in the barn. I need to get the horses clean"
it is so peaceful here!
Oops!Sorry JR , but if you are moving north you may want to grow a beard!
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone else watch "How clean is your house?" on the BBC?
ReplyDeleteShaving cream smeared on the mirror in the bathroom will keep it from fogging up. When it needs another coat, smear it on, let it sit and wipe it off- good to go!
And WOOT! to me. I'm already taking it off topic...
As JR Sadly resigns himself to a future of facial hair , the 101 uses for shaving cream continues!
ReplyDeleteI heard from a reliable source that an eccentric lady we know took her horse to the U-wash carwash since she didn't have a good place on her own property.
ReplyDeleteAlso this same lady used temporary hair dye to get her horse back to color after clipping....
Also, I am so happy to have such a cool new blog to read!! :D
ReplyDeleteSomeone told me that Cascade takes grass stains out of football pants.
Would it work on white breeches?
I wouldn't even TRY it on a white horse, but then again sometimes we get desperate....
CP- I don't know about d/w soap on the washer, but anything else in the d/w bubbles too much. Don't ask me how I know.
ReplyDeleteI forget what my mom used on our baseball pants. It seemed to work well enough.
When using things on the horses, my concerns are about their skin and allergies. I have seen some seriously funky skin conditions and reactions. Chemical burns to your skin suck! I had one once from a laundry detergent. Nothing I ever want to go through again or would ever wish on anyone.
She tells me that she just tossed the Cascade in the wash.
ReplyDeleteBut I think Cascade contains the same stuff that's in Oxy Clean... and eventually it WILL damage the fabric.
The ONLY time I'd try something like that on a horse MIGHT be the very end of his tail, if it's impossibly stained, and then I'd rinse the crap (ha ha) out of it. Nowhere near his skin.
I was taught first that striped hooves only properly got clear polish. THen I was taught that black was the ONLY color to use.
My red AQHA mare had not a speck of white except for about 12 hairs on her face, but she did have a lot of sclera showing, AND striped hooves!
SO I was confused. Usually I'd just go old school and use Hooflex or baby oil right before a class, because I ALWAYS messed up hoof black.
One kid had an awesome dun QH that he wore all brown on (hunt cap included), because old Burt had brown points, and would use brown hoof polish on him - the only horse I ever saw that on.
CP- I will be covering hooves as their own topic at some point.
ReplyDeleteSo far I am going to cover a lot of things- each with their own thread.
I have also enlisted a few people to guest post about the things they do and see within their respective breeds. What is mandatory, what is a 'given', what happens but isn't really allowed, what is not allowed...
If anyone shows drafts or knows someone who does, if they are willing to contribute, I am happy to include them.
The reasoning behind this blog is to share, but also to learn what, why and how others do things and why?
Great idea, CnJ!
ReplyDeleteAbout 35 years ago, I was a professional Saddlebred groom. I'm persnickety about grooming. My horses love it.
Suggested topic: what's in our grooming totes? (Not counting the mouse turds and horse poop I just cleaned out of mine.)
Ruthie
HDL- I just clicked publish and came here to check the newest comment.
ReplyDeleteAre you reading my mind???
My horse always looked show ring ready (when I was yougner ~ part-time job, no husband, no kids . . .) My routine was as follows:
ReplyDelete1) rough curry comb (rough = standard rubber curry)
2) soft curry (small, soft rubber ones)
3) frim body brush
4) medium body brush
5) soft body brush
6) regular terry cloth towel rub
7) burlap sack rub
This routine was done every morning and evening, before and after every ride. If you're wondering how my horse had any hair left, the 'firm' and 'rough' titles are subjective. Everything was soft enough to be used on me. The brush was called the firm one simply because it was rougher than the medium and soft. I didn't really want to call them "soft, super soft, and super super soft". Also, mud was not an issue since the pasture was fenced on 3 sides. One would think a bone surgeon would recognize the fact that a square pasture has 4 sides, and should be fenced on all 4 sides, but I guess that was never discussed in his 7+ years of post-graduate study. However, board was $30 a month and we all took care of our horses ourselves. (There were 4 stalls, and it worked out very nicely.)
My horses now live in a small pasture. There is no shine to their coats due to the dirt. Although they would get laughed off the show grounds, they are a happy bunch ~ I hope!