# How to keep a gray horse clean??



## xxnoreinsxx (Dec 20, 2011)

I usually use Cowboy Magic and Mane & Tail Whitener. 

But my mare has a tendency to really dig her face in when she rolls..

















Any suggestions for show season would be greatly appreciated!


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## DuffyDuck (Sep 27, 2011)

LOL THAT AINT NO GREY.

Paint fo sho.

Don't buy a grey horse?

I have no idea but interested to find out haha! Good luck ;D


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## Piaffe (Jan 11, 2010)

Haha...I actually laughed out loud when I saw those pics 

I have used a whitening shampoo made by shapelys that worked great on my grey...I can't remember the name of the actual product.

Good luck!


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

Haha welcome to my world...... except my horse is white 78% of his body  Honestly I find that my saving grace is baths every other week during the summer. I just use mane and tail and I SCRUB like no other, which he loves. I usually rinse first, then soap, then rinse against and towel dry. Then during those 2 weeks of no bath, I make sure to use something like Laser Sheen (<3) or Cowboy magic to spot spray and leave it sitting while I work on something else like his mane. When I come back to it, it's dried on enough that I can curry and it falls off easily.

My weapons of choice: metal curry (for cleaning the brushes OFTEN), rubber curry (to scrub the face, legs, and the other side for the body), medium stiff brush to flick all the dirt off, and finishing soft brush to add shine and suck up the remaining dust.

It definitely is a work out, but I do it everytime I ride him and he is always GLOWING white. He can roll 5 times in a row but I always get all the stains out.

Don't curry wet mud though, if it's wet then you can hose it off (granted it isn't winter) and if it IS during winter, I usually spray laser sheen on it, leave it to dry, curry... towel... spray, curry towel.. and it gets it right off though.

I've found that the less gunk on their actual skin (the base of the hair follicle) the easier to get that dirt off.. which is why I LOVE every other week baths 

Good luck!


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## xxnoreinsxx (Dec 20, 2011)

Haha thanks guys! 
I've had her for two years , but last summer was our serious show season.. took me two weeks of cleaning to get stains out haha. 

She likes to pretend she's a paint


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## OuttatheBlue (Dec 8, 2011)

My horse is just as white as yours is, so I feel your pain.
Honestly I've just given up in the winter. Besides currying and brushing dry mud off and keeping the tail wrapped so it doesn't get stained (and helps it grow longer) I don't do anything until it gets warmer or show season starts.

For the summer, I hose him off basically after every ride (no shampoo just a good hosedown) and that helps a lot! In fact he stays pretty white with just that. Before a show cowboy magic and any blueing shampoo are my friends! For the face (because my horse HATES me washing his face) I first do a wet washcloth and then use Cowboy magic leave in shampoo. I always wash the entire body the day before the show, put in a leave in shampoo in any spots that are stained (I've found urine is the worst to get out. Dirt is by far the easiest even though it looks the worst!), I braid/band his mane and clip whatever needs to be clipped and put on his sleezy (covers whole head, neck and shoulders). Then I spray his tail with show sheen and a leave in whitener and braid it before putting it in a tail bag. Finally I put a light sheet over his body. You have to make sure the sheet/sleezy/tail bag all get cleaned if he lays in any poo, otherwise next time he may not stay as clean overnight.
I always plan on washing the legs twice: the night before to get all the crud off and the day of to get them sparkling. BE SURE to leave plenty of time for legs to dry before going in to a show or warm up arena! You can even towel dry if needed. I forgot this crucial step at a show once (or twice... ) and came out with a brown legged horse.

Good luck! You will spend a LOT of time cleaning your horse but it's worth it when you're sparkling in the show ring and everyone's commenting on how white your horse looks


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## Beauseant (Oct 22, 2010)

Usually our gray is rather a clean boy, and only gets minor mud patches like the one on his flank in this pic:










But lately he has taken to rolling in the mud like a pig and is coming in with his body completely covered in dried mud.....

So, my question is that even if the mud feels good to them when it's wet, does it feel good when it is all dried and hard???? 

Lately, I have had to wearing a N95 mask over my nose and mouth when grooming him.....it's that bad!! When i groom, a huge, thick cloud of dried mud dust fills the entire barn....:-( My son starts sneezing like crazy and my allergies start acting up, too.....

I have come to find blankets aren't good* only* for keeping them warm...:wink:

Seriously though; i can't wait for summer so I can give him a bath and see what shade of grey he REALLY IS!!!


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## BigGreyHorse (Sep 28, 2009)

I've seen that before--Many, many times. Yesterday I didn't have a grey dapple gelding. I had a brown horse with an additional layer of wet leaves. It was almost 4pm yesterday before he dried out enough to remove half of it.


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## xxnoreinsxx (Dec 20, 2011)

I haaaave to keep my girl blanketed all year round. When I bought her she came with sooo many blankets (way more than needed; 4 fly sheets, 3 coolers, 2 winter blankets, 2 rain sheets, 3 liners.. ridiculous). I do use them though, it helps keep most of her clean haha
Plus she gets shakes when she's out in the rain too long without a blanket. She's a wuss. haha


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## Cat (Jul 26, 2008)

Why is it that greys seem to have a larger affinity for mud the further into the greying process they are? Are they trying to hide that light coat?

I have 2 challenges here - a grey horse and a white Haflinger tail. I've head some use woolight on their haflinger tails with success, but I'm not sure how safe this would be directly on the horse. Anyone know? I would be concerned about irritation.

What I do is shampoo good with mane & tail or whatever shampoo I have on hand. I'm always scared of getting stuff in the eyes so I use baby shampoo on the face. Then I use Mrs. Stewart's Bluing for the final "gleam" to the coat. It does the same thing as those expensive bluing shampoos but one bottle is only a couple bucks (I buy mine at the Kroger's store), completely safe, and you only need a small amount per washing. 

Mrs. Stewart's Bluing: Instructions


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## Horsel02 (Jan 6, 2010)

Skyseternalangel said:


> Haha welcome to my world...... except my horse is white 78% of his body  Honestly I find that my saving grace is baths every other week during the summer. I just use mane and tail and I SCRUB like no other, which he loves. I usually rinse first, then soap, then rinse against and towel dry. Then during those 2 weeks of no bath, I make sure to use something like Laser Sheen (<3) or Cowboy magic to spot spray and leave it sitting while I work on something else like his mane. When I come back to it, it's dried on enough that I can curry and it falls off easily.
> 
> My weapons of choice: metal curry (for cleaning the brushes OFTEN), rubber curry (to scrub the face, legs, and the other side for the body), medium stiff brush to flick all the dirt off, and finishing soft brush to add shine and suck up the remaining dust.
> 
> ...


I hear you about a mostly white paint. I have one of those. I love the spray on products like: EQ solutions and EZ All - you spray on and wait 5 to 10 minutes and you have a relatively clean horse. I still like to scrub the legs it makes my life easier.

On that note, I am going to ride and then bath my horse today. It is in the 80's here in Florida.


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## Black Beauty 94 (Dec 26, 2011)

I say curry comb and sheet


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