# The Battle of the Burrs



## Golden Horse

Some of you may have seen the pics I posted yesterday of Ace out grazing, she looked like this..










That was early yesterday afternoon, this morning she looked like this





































So when I had finished crying I gathered together my long sleeve shirt and long pants, and rubber gloves, a can of WD40 and a big tooth mane comb and set to work. After less than an hour I had



















Even with help from


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## lilkitty90

omg! THAT is quite hilarious!!! sorry! but that is a HUGE amount of burrs in sucha short time. she must have partied.... HARD lol


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## equiniphile

We have the same problem when we buy hay from a certain farmer. The hay is FULL of burs, but the majority is good quality. I've found the easiest thing is just to pick them out by pulling the hair apart. You might want to put some baby oil on your hands first so they slide out easier.


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## Golden Horse

The only way to start is just pulling the knot apart from the bottom, I get of anything that is loose, then tease and tear into separate lumps, then you can use the comb, but only ever use the last 2 or 3 teeth just to hook in and pull out.

I used WD40 today because it's all I had to hand, I have to go to town this afternoon so I'll pick up some baby oil, I have more tails to sort out yet. I swear though if Appy Gilmore has to many in his mane I will so roach him.


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## Fellpony

She is worse than my little shetland who comes in covered in them, I am sure she waits till I clear them , then finds a patch to roll in:-x:-x

I really dislike them


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## Sunny

Hahahaha! That is great.

When I first bought Sunny her forelock was full of them and the old owners tried to get them all out before I came to pick her up. Let's just say, she didn't have a forelock anymore. After that, he had a mini 'fro. :lol: It took FOREVER to get her forelock to lie down flat!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## iridehorses

There was a product that a girl I knew used to use. She got it at the $1.00 store and it is for relaxing curly hair. Works just as well as WD40 without the side effects.


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## musicalmarie1

HOLY COW! I gasped when I scrolled down the the burry picture. At my old pasture, my fuzzy pony Duncan (in full winter coat) would come with burrs stuck everywhere on his little body, and at the time he wasn't the most patient pony. So frustrating! I couldn't wait to clip his coat off just to rid myself of the body burrs! But it looks like you did a good job getting those out. Ugh! Horrible little things.


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## MHFoundation Quarters

Wow Ace! You have to admit her forelock looked kinda cute though! 

I wish I'd have taken pics of Woodstock yesterday. His mane is shoulder length and he was a hot mess. I love jojoba oil for conditioner & detangler. Lasts forever, dilutes well & smells really good.


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## WickedNag

Oh my I had two horses look just like that on Sat. so much for riding ... I spent the afternoon fencing off the shelter belt and up to my elbows in baby oil!


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## its lbs not miles

I didn't realize that Canada had a burr problem. In the South, between the cuckle burrs, sand spurs and beggar lice I almost don't want to ride in the fall (almost). Did learn to clean them away from the paddock or pastures. No need to add more to the few that make there way in. It's difficult enough to keep the numbers down as it is. I'm always tempted to just do away with the feathers, since they pick them up easiest.


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## Calmwaters

Wow thats alot of burrs! Good job getting them all out and I really like your helper. LOL


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## Golden Horse

Here we go, another battle, and once again I have a helper, just not so little!

Take one tail that looks like this










Pour over a large amount of baby oil, and massage into the burr knots, leave to soak while you de burr the forelock, and explain to Mr G how lucky he is to have only 2 burrs in his mane, Ace's mane is 100% safe, Haffie manes are 90% safe, they MAY get pulled or cut a little if needed. Appy Gilmore mane, I swear the first time it get s burred I'm roaching it all off for sure!

Anyway back to the story, when the oil has soaked in some, then get in there with your hands (for me gloved hands, or I get horrible rashes) and tear the lumps apart, starting at the bottom, to about half way up










Feel something breathing in your ear, turn around to find you have someone inspecting your work 










Waste some time talking to helper and kissing them on the nose, just so delighted that she wants to spend some time with you, this is after all stand offish Bert:shock:

Start with your gloved fingers just combing through the knots and teasing all the burrs out, gradually getting to this











Then start breaking up the knots higher up the tail, sometimes you have to odd more oil to these, they always seem to be worse.










When I get to this stage, just a few knots left, this is the first time I've used a comb on the tail,










Just comb out the last of the burrs and tangles and there you go, a nice pic of your helper










and one finished tail










Time stamp on first pick 12.29, time stamp on last pic, 12.49, 20 minutes, including playing with Bert:wink:


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## natisha

Why not remove the burrs from the pasture?


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## prettybubs3

:clap::clap: oh golden i love your commentary... how sweet!!


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## Golden Horse

natisha said:


> Why not remove the burrs from the pasture?



You wanna come help Lets see we own over 1400 acres, the horses currently have 160 odd acres of paddocks and rough grazing. The place has been a cattle and sheep farm for a long time, so the battle of the burrs will be going on for a while yet I'm afraid:wink:


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## musicalmarie1

Wow. That does not look like fun at all. I do not envy you!!


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## MHFoundation Quarters

Golden Horse said:


> You wanna come help Lets see we own over 1400 acres, the horses currently have 160 odd acres of paddocks and rough grazing. The place has been a cattle and sheep farm for a long time, so the battle of the burrs will be going on for a while yet I'm afraid:wink:


I'll come help, you got room for a dozen more critters right?...1400 acres sounds heavenly!


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## Golden Horse

It will be heavenly from now until snowfall, because it is mostly harvested now, so I can ride all over the place, if I can find where I left my BGP's and a brace for my knee that will let me ride pain free (or just less pain) but won't scratch up my saddle


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## egrogan

Just want to say that I feel your pain. Isabel seems to be the only horse to come in covered, the other day her forelock was almost as bad as Ace's, but for some reason they were knotted in such a way that it was standing up out from her head and made her look like she had a unicorn horn. 

On a serious note, I get worried when they are hanging down so close to their eyes. Anyone ever had any injuries when burr met eye?


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## haleylvsshammy

Love the commentary! And I am VERY glad we don't have many burrs around here! I also enjoyed the "nice pic of your helper"


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## draftrider

You folks need some goats to run with your horses. Clean your pasture up with goat power!


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## Tayz

haha great thread, had a good laugh! 
Must have been frustrating. So lucky Mussy doesnt get burs lol


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## Golden Horse

draftrider said:


> You folks need some goats to run with your horses. Clean your pasture up with goat power!



Apart from the fact that husband wont let me have goats, and believe me I tried......is it just a rumor that the will chew horse tails off?


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## Bellas Whinny

Golden Horse said:


> Apart from the fact that husband wont let me have goats, and believe me I tried......is it just a rumor that the will chew horse tails off?


I dont think that they will, I have had goats and horses together for a long time. I have 3 horses and had 11 goats, sold 6 now I have 5, and all my horses tail drag on the ground. I have had well over 50 goats and none of then did any thing to my horses' manes and tails.


you should get some goats! you will love them!


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## smrobs

Wow, makes me glad that we don't have burrs. Well, we _do_, but they are few and far between. Most times when horse ends up with burrs, it's 2-3 at the most:shock:.

I honestly don't know how to handle them, would a controlled burn kill some of them off? I know it would kill the grass too, but around here, lots of ranchers will do at least 1 controlled burn in late fall (after the grass is dead, in your case, it would also be before the ground is covered in snow) to kill off the chenery(sp??) and sage brush before next spring. I'm wondering if that would be effective on burrs too:think:.


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## its lbs not miles

Golden Horse said:


> Apart from the fact that husband wont let me have goats, and believe me I tried......is it just a rumor that the will chew horse tails off?


It's a rumor.
They never chewed our horses tails off and for a few years we had more goats than horses.
It's also a rumor that they'll clean your pasture of burs, but we did try it. They're actually picky eaters.
Goats are great for clearing up most overgrowth along fences or overgorwn wooded areas, because they'll eat a variety of bushes and will keep Sweetgum trees from growing (they love the leaves and will strip the bark if the tree's not too old). However goats never put a dent in the sand spur or cucklebur plants (cucklebur is toxic anyway, so you don't want your animals eating it and certainly want it out of your pasture). You can keep it cut regularly and that helps kill it off over time (if you can keep it from coming back).


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## PaintHorseMares

smrobs said:


> I honestly don't know how to handle them, would a controlled burn kill some of them off? I know it would kill the grass too, but around here, lots of ranchers will do at least 1 controlled burn in late fall (after the grass is dead, in your case, it would also be before the ground is covered in snow) to kill off the chenery(sp??) and sage brush before next spring. I'm wondering if that would be effective on burrs too:think:.


The best thing to do in the long run is to get weed killer and spray them. 2-4-D kills them, doesn't harm the grass, and you can use it with no waiting on pastures. Look for something like Pasture-Pro from TSC.


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## boots

I work on outfits many times larger than 1400 acres and go out and chop the weeds down before they flower where there are small patches. Have also used herbicide and insect predators on the larger areas of growth, in addition to chopping. I'm certain your area department/ministry of ag would have great ideas and maybe even funding for the supplies to fight noxious weeds. A friend in Alberta has accessed that resource on her family's place. (We've compared successes)

While I sympathize with your having to pull out the burrs, I really recommend removing the plants.


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## Golden Horse

The initial post is nearly a year old, and we are slowly getting control of the burr problem. I did get overwhelmed with them and by them, so rather than attacking the whole thing I have been slowly clearing areas. 

A combination of cut and burn, and some spraying is turning the tide slowly. I now have the yard and the closest turn out areas nearly sorted, but still have a battle ahead, hopefully by this time next year we will be burr free!


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## boots

Golden Horse said:


> The initial post is nearly a year old, and we are slowly getting control of the burr problem. I did get overwhelmed with them and by them, so rather than attacking the whole thing I have been slowly clearing areas.
> 
> A combination of cut and burn, and some spraying is turning the tide slowly. I now have the yard and the closest turn out areas nearly sorted, but still have a battle ahead, hopefully by this time next year we will be burr free!


Good for you! May I suggest having a burr-free party. We did when we cleaned out my lease land. Had lots of cruchy food, a friend ordered in some "cactus juice" (whatever that is, but we thought it qualified as prickly), and had the neighbors over! Motivated a couple of them to tackle their problems making my battle even easier.


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## Foxhunter

I can never understand why, when burrs are growing in a field that you do not go out and cut them down and dig the root.
You spend more time cleaning them from their manes and tails than it would take to clear them as they grow.


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## Golden Horse

Because, if you had read an earlier post we took on a farm covered with them, and I'm sorry but we have to make a living farming the place as well as clearing 200 odd acres close in of Burrs.

I nearly won the 3rd year we were here, was definitely seeing a light at the end of the tunnel, then I was laid up for a long time and they took over again, see this










Every tree line, every hedge has burrs in it, the green triangle bit on the right hand side goes to the 100 odd acres, that remains of the horse empire. No matter how much of the field you clear the trees and bushes that are between 2 fences just sprouts the **** stuff, and I have to be careful spraying because I don't want to kill my trees, and the horses LOVE to shove their heads through and eat in there.

I love the idea of the clean up party, it needs something like that otherwise it's kind of like the 4th bridge here, as fast as you get to one end you are starting all over again.

So yes, I get that getting rid of them would get rid of the problem, but it aint that easy


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## Randella

Holy crap! 

I think I would have just jabbed myself in the eye with my mane comb if I saw that my horse had done that!


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## smrobs

Oh, wow, I didn't even notice that the thread was so old :shock::lol:.


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## Golden Horse

:lol::lol: I only linked it back to give DoubleS some hope that you can overcome the attack of the killer burrs


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