# Products that REALLY condition the coat, mane, and tail



## equiniphile (Aug 16, 2009)

Personally, I like horse vaccuums. They get the blood circulating, the horse loves it, anf it cleans the coat really well. My uncle has one I love, but I don't have one (yet!)


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## ~*~anebel~*~ (Aug 21, 2008)

I've always loved the Vetrolin line of products - their rinse out conditioner with solar guard keeps my boy's tail looking (and smelling) amazing!


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## mumiinek (Aug 4, 2010)

Coconut oil for me, I always keep a spare bottle in the stable. I've heard you can get some kind of "vegetable oil spray" or something like that that you put the oil into to keep it liquid and you can then spray it on the mane/tail/coat/your hair/skin/frying pan/basically whatever you'd like to. Personally I've never tried this because I'm fine with the coconut oil being just the way it is (it solidifies at certain temperature, I believe it's 22 - 25°C but I may be wrong), now that it's winter I don't find it being solid such a big deal as it melts in your hands before you put it on the horse anyway. Other than that I have no other suggestions because I've never even tried to look for anything else.


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## Tymer (Dec 28, 2009)

Unfortunately, no vacuum for me. Outlets are few and far from the nearest crosstie. Not to mention I have a spooky horse!
Vetrolin. Hmm. I'll put that on my list for next time I stop by the tack shop.

AHA! I found it! According to a food website (apparently CO is a common cooking ingredient. Who knew?) approx. 1 tablespoon of olive oil for every 14 oz jar of CO will do the trick. Now that its winter I'd probably have to warm the bottle in my hands a little, but who cares? 
Ooooooh this thread just made me so happy! Once I try these out I'll update. (Especially on CO...One of the big drawbacks I saw on the forum was the lack of spray.)


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## masatisan (Jan 12, 2009)

I know you said you're not big on nutrition, but a simple way to help hair growth and heath is to feed a few spoons of flaxseed (linseed) oil at feeding time. Working from the inside has a far greater effect on the overall health of the horse than just spraying him with something meant to make him look shiny. 

Flax seed oil works on the coat/mane/tail, hooves, skin, joints and even helps metabolism, immune system function and cell repair.

This is the coat of a horse who is fed flax seed oil as part of his regular feeding:









For the outside I use M.T.G, its oil based so it doesn't freeze my horses mane or tail in the winter and protects them from the dry air. I don't usually treat his coat though because he is an outdoor horse and his coat is nice without help.

I once was told to never use a soft brush on outdoor horses or horses with dry coats as it strips the naturally occurring protective oils. I also was todl that wou should always use a soft brush as it spreads the oils to better protect the coat...yeah confusing.


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## Tymer (Dec 28, 2009)

That horse is gorgeous! Is he yours?
Unfortunately, the main reason nutrition is not my forte is because I currently have no control over it. But I'm making note of it, so that when I have control I can make my horse look like that- naturally!


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## equiniphile (Aug 16, 2009)

Great point about working fromt he outside! We used to feed flaxseed, and their coats were so healthy....I don't know why we don't anymore.


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## masatisan (Jan 12, 2009)

Tymer said:


> That horse is gorgeous! Is he yours?


No, his name is Hawkwell Versuvius he's a champion dartmoor stallion. I just posted him as an example of what flax can do 

This is my goober (as seen in my avatar):









Tymer: You could always feed it to him when you see him. My horse only gets feed as a treat when I visit him (twice a week, if I'm lucky) and just gets hay all the rest of the time. You could do something similiar with the oil, just feed it when you can (you could dip a treat such as a carrot or nugget in it), it won't provide as much benefit, but it won't stop it from being good for him.


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## MacabreMikolaj (May 9, 2009)

Fiebing's Satin Sheen. Unlike Absorbine's Show Sheen, it doesn't have silicone in it and it isn't really for producing an instant shine. I keep my Arabs very long mane conditioned with it, and it makes the hair utterly silky and tangle free, as well as repels dirt and makes it easy to comb out any dirt that DOES attach. I use it roughly once a week once it gets warm enough and all summer.

I don't know that it's a top notch moisturizer like coconut oil, but I've been using it for years and it keeps her mane beautiful and manageable which is what I need considering she has a VERY long mane and a penchant for burr patches and wind whirls. :-x

Aside from that, she has a lusterious shine to her at virtually all times, I have no idea why. I always thought it was grass, but she was just as shiny this summer with only hay, and mediocre hay at best. She's just a shineball










And her mane (bad pic):


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## Tymer (Dec 28, 2009)

masatisan said:


> Tymer: You could always feed it to him when you see him. My horse only gets feed as a treat when I visit him (twice a week, if I'm lucky) and just gets hay all the rest of the time. You could do something similiar with the oil, just feed it when you can (you could dip a treat such as a carrot or nugget in it), it won't provide as much benefit, but it won't stop it from being good for him.


I still like your goober! 

I hate to sound like I'm making excuses...But she's fat. Maybe I'll do it this summer when she's in heavier work and can sweat off fat. Right now her ENORMOUS girth is tight. I'd love to place the blame on winter, but its just my fault for not being at the barn.

Macabre, thanks! I was looking into silicon free sprays especially!


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## mumiinek (Aug 4, 2010)

Tymer said:


> I hate to sound like I'm making excuses...But she's fat. Maybe I'll do it this summer when she's in heavier work and can sweat off fat. Right now her ENORMOUS girth is tight. I'd love to place the blame on winter, but its just my fault for not being at the barn.


I feed my horse BOSS for the shine. It doesn't add any weight to a horse when fed in smaller quantities but it does make the horse's coat incredibly shiny. I think I'll be able to find the website where I read how much of BOSS to feed if you don't want any weight gain if you want me to.


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## Tymer (Dec 28, 2009)

mumiinek said:


> I feed my horse BOSS for the shine. It doesn't add any weight to a horse when fed in smaller quantities but it does make the horse's coat incredibly shiny. I think I'll be able to find the website where I read how much of BOSS to feed if you don't want any weight gain if you want me to.


That would be great! I've been reading loads about BOSS and all its great effects...

Edit: Found it myself! .5- 1.0 cups a day for shine without significant weight gain. Cool!


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## mumiinek (Aug 4, 2010)

There's just a little "problem" with weighing BOSS, I'll copy it from a website as it's too late (or early?) for me to be capable of explaining things:



> The volume of BOSS varies due to seed variation so this is one feed that you should actually weigh out every time you feed. In some bags, the volume to weight ratio will be approximately 5 cups/pound, while other bags will be as low as 2 cups/pound!
> 
> Black Oil Sunflower Seeds for Horses


So far I've been using really quality seeds but in January when I run out of my stashes I'll have to switch to anothe kind (can't get the one we've been using here anymore) and I'm really wondering what that one will be like.


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## Tymer (Dec 28, 2009)

Yeah, I read that too. I was just thinking about giving a guesstimation anyway, like a handful or two in the feed bucket after a ride. 
Is that a bad idea?


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## mumiinek (Aug 4, 2010)

Tymer said:


> Yeah, I read that too. I was just thinking about giving a guesstimation anyway, like a handful or two in the feed bucket after a ride.
> Is that a bad idea?


I don't think you can do any harm by feeding your horse a handful. As long as you don't give her too much, she should be fine. If you feed too little, the only thing that will happen is that she will have less shiny coat whereas if you feed too much, you risk making her even chubbier. Very rarely I hear of a horse that doesn't like the taste of BOSS but most of them do so if she's one of those she will take it as a nice treat, something like a healthy sugar cube.

I feed my horse half a litre of BOSS (which would be 2 cups, am I correct...?) mixed with half a litre of müsli and a hint of paprika and he's absolutely nuts about it. But the gain weight is something we DO want.


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## WesternPleasureRider (Dec 21, 2010)

I second flax seeds. Daily I spray "Santa Fe" conditioner on my horses body daily, since he is a chestnut who hates the dirt he naturally is very shiney. I also like Show Sheen but if you spray it on the saddle area it becomes very slippery. I find the Santa Fe isnt as bad and its not oily-yuck!!-I really like it.


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## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

Hi Shine Hot Oil. I love the stuff. It's a blend of different oils. Smells great, doesn't solidify. 

I use it undiluted for after bathing and the proper hot oil 'treatment'. I also dilute some with water in a spray bottle as a grooming spray. 

One treatment after a bath turned my brown horses orange saddle patch to dapples - it was amazing.


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## Trinity3205 (Dec 21, 2010)

Boss did nothing for me and it it doesnt contain the correct amino acid profile for a horse. Flax however has the same amino acid balance as green grass. You cannot beat the coat that fresh ground flax fed twice a day can put on a horse. They get so shiney and such a great coat that water beads off of them lol...

Anyway, long story short, a great show quality coat HAS to come from the inside out...meaning good nutrition. So always start there.

As for shampoos and so forth. I love using Pantene when I need to detangle a terrible tangled mane or tail or deburr one. Deburring wet well conditioned hair reduces breakage, softens the burrs so they dont ***** so hard and allws them to slide out easier than anything out there. Pantene works like a charm to make for slick well condidioned hair when you are deburring..

for regular use, I LOVE Orvis! It comes in a HUGE tub and lasts forever. It rinses clean really fast and you can add bluing to it to make your own whitening shampoo really cheap.


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## DubyaS6 (Aug 30, 2010)

There used to be this stuff that the BO would feed to the "show horses" to make their coat super shiny, but I cannot for the LIFE of me remember what it was...

*Runs off to Google...*


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## DubyaS6 (Aug 30, 2010)

Sho-glo!!!!

http://www.mannapro.com/products/equine/sho-glo/


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## Clair (Jun 7, 2010)

I'm pretty passionate about grooming and primping, so I warn you this might be a long post.


I got my gelding on flaxseed, just plain old seed from the feedstore, and the difference was amazing. He pretty much shines in the dark. I also am a grooming freak, I curry and brush like crazy, but I could never get the intense shine I have feeding a 1/2 cup of flax a day. Even his face shines. Wish I had a good picture...

This is the best one I have
(this isn't me riding)











Flax seed also:
Is good for the intestines, actually helpful for preventing colic
And is good for hoof strength

This is because of the omega-3 oil, which is what horses would normally get naturally from an excess of fresh green grass. 

As to mane and tail....
I recently started using an ethnic hair deep conditioning hair treatment (leave in for 20 minutes) for Kelty's mane&tail that I love. 

It's all natural, called "Olive Oil", but it has lots of different natural oils in it. No silicone. You can buy it at your drugstore in huge jars that are usuallly buy one get one and pretty cheap.

It made his hair super soft and shiney, and not sticky at all. It's been 2 weeks since his bath and his mane&tail still look and feel fantastic. I also spray his mane&tail with Santa Fe to keep it silky since he's pasture boarded and it has sunscreen in it.

I hope this helps! Let me know if you want more info on the flax seed. I did a lot of research (some of it on this forum!) before I started feeding it.


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## Clair (Jun 7, 2010)

BTW- i looked over this post some more, I thought I should tell you that when I was researching BOSS, (I almost bought it) but it has a lot of Omega-6 oil (as opposed to Omega-3 like grass) which studies show could possibly lead to inflammation problems in horses. Just a warning there.


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## VintageMatch (Jul 23, 2009)

is olive oil the ethnic hair product or actual oil?? When I got my hair cut the hair dresser loaded this leave in conditioner into my hair, it was some kind of oil, she put so much in a could hardly hold the brush, it's was slippery, but then it dried and was so light on my hair I couln't even tell it was there, so just wondering if it was the same thing??


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## VintageMatch (Jul 23, 2009)

(it wont let me edit for some reason) ?? I think i found it, but would you be able to leave it on for a long time?? like till the end of winter?? I'm looking for I nice conditioner to leave in her tail while it's up in it's bag and it's not really easy to wash her/ her tail in the winter.


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## Clair (Jun 7, 2010)

Okay- What I use is an actual ethinic hair product. It has various kinds of natural oils in it, not just olive. It also does not have an oily consistency. It feels more like a thick cream or like butter.

I used a rinse-out version on kelty, but you can buy leave in treatments!
I'd just make sure the container says "leave-in"


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## Clair (Jun 7, 2010)

This is what I used, only it had newer packaging. I'm sure there's a version of it at your local drugstore.

Organic root stimulator olive oil hair treatment - 6 oz Buy Online


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## Tymer (Dec 28, 2009)

I heard that oily ethnic hair products won't actually moisturize the hair much, just make a seal so that it appears soft and no moisture gets in or out of the hair. Most horses have rather dry manes and tails, so I'm not sure how effective this would be at bringing health and moisture to the actual shaft of hair.


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## Clair (Jun 7, 2010)

It's a natural conditioning treatment for coarse hair.. It _saturates_ the shaft with moisture. Try whatever product you choose on your hair first. If it dries out your hair in a week, you'll know.

But no natural product should have that effect. 

I suppose you could just use plain old olive oil on your horses mane and tail, but I don't because the consistency is gross and it attracts bugs and dirt.

If you don't believe me, google it!


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## coffeeaddict (Jun 18, 2010)

I've used hot oil treatments on my horse's mane and tail and it's worked very well. They're soft, flowy, and very shiny. It doesn't last very long though, I need to do a treatment every two weeks to maintain the softness. 

I will have to give the Olive Oil a try!


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