Somewhere between the first day of spring on the calendar and the first day of true spring weather lies the dream of a clean horse. If the reality of the shaggy, dirty beast in front of you is far from the sleek, shiny horse you know he can be, don’t despair. Start your horse’s spring transformation with a spa day overhaul to get back on the road to his best and brightest.

Get Your Groom On

Before you embark on your horse’s spa session, gather the items you need to give your horse a thorough cleanup.

Grooming Tools

Hoof pick; curry combs, including a small, soft curry for sensitive areas; shedding blade, block or similar tool; stiff body brush; soft body brush; mane and tail comb or brush; towels

Grooming Products

Hair polish/shine spray; detangler; conditioner/moisturizer; light body oil; shampoo (pH balanced for horses)

Clippers

No. 10 blades or equivalent; clipper lubricating and cleaning products

Fleece Cooler

Optional Upgrades

Immersible water heater (heats a bucket of water if it’s too cold for a full bath or you don’t have access to hot water); hair dryer; horse vacuum (handheld vacuum or shop vac)

Hair, Hair Everywhere

If the spring thaw is underway, your noble steed has probably celebrated with a glorious mud bath. Vigorous currying helps remove the mud and lift deep-down dirt to the surface, plus it loosens hair to assist in the shedding process. Be careful to use a soft curry on your horse’s sensitive areas, or use a towel.

Follow up with your shedding tool of choice. If you have access to a vacuum, this is the time to use it. Vacuum or not, next use the stiff body brush with short strokes, flicking the brush at the end of each stroke. Then use the soft brush with the same technique. This will help distribute the natural oils that currying brought to the surface.

Now grab a towel, spray it with some of your hair polish/shine product, and go over the entire body again, spraying the towel frequently. Be careful around the saddle area if you’re using a product that makes the coat slippery.

Mane & Tail Maintenance

Next it’s time to tackle the mane and tail. If there are knots and snarls, first apply a detangler and give it a few minutes to soak in. For both the mane and tail, but especially the tail, start at the bottom and use your fingers to gently separate the hairs and work through the knots. Only use a comb or brush after you’ve worked out all the tangles with your fingers. If the hair is particularly dry, you can apply a leave-in spray conditioner.

Time for a Trim

By now your horse should be starting to look a little more presentable, but attention to a few small details can make a big difference. Does your horse have a goat beard under his jaw and a mohawk for a bridle path? There’s probably long hair around his fetlocks and down the backs of the cannon bones, not to mention “old man” hair tufts coming out of the base of his ears. Time for the clippers!

Because of the still-existing long hair on the rest of your horse, it’s best to use No. 10 blades. Anything that clips closer will be too obvious, so save the closer shave for later in the season. Be extra careful to introduce the clippers slowly if you haven’t clipped all winter, as even the most experienced horse can take a few moments to get used to the noise and feel of the clippers again.

You can start with the legs or the face, ears and bridle path. Clip in the direction of the hair, and remember, less is more—if you take off too much hair, those areas will look scalped in comparison to the rest of the horse. You simply want to neaten up at this stage.

Peek at the Pedicure

Pay extra attention when cleaning your horse’s hooves. If you’ve been rushing through this in the cold weather, take a moment to give them a thorough inspection. The spring mud can help thrush thrive, and it’s easier to deal with if you catch it early.

Bathing Beauty

The decision whether to give a full bath or not depends primarily on the air temperature and whether you have access to hot water. Keep in mind that all that long winter hair will take longer to dry than a summer coat. Plan accordingly, including having a cooler on hand to cover and help dry your horse. If conditions are right for you to wash your horse, by all means go for it. For best results, use a bath mitt or curry that lets you give a deep scrubbing. Rinse and rinse again, making sure there are no suds left.

Wash the mane and tail, using your fingers to get to the roots of the mane and down to the tailbone. Use facecloths or towels and plain water for the face and under the tail.

Weather or Not

If it’s still too cold to give a full bath, here’s an alternative that works well.

Fill a wash bucket with water as hot as you can stand it (this is where an immersible bucket heater comes in handy). Mix in a couple of ounces of your favorite liniment, a couple of ounces of your favorite hair polish/shine product, and an ounce or so of light body oil.

Dunk a facecloth or small towel into the bucket and wring it out. Starting behind the poll, work your way down and over the horse’s body. If it’s a chilly day, do both sides of the front of the horse first, using a cooler to cover the back and hindquarters, then pull the cooler up and do the back half of the horse.

The key here is not to soak the hair down to the skin; you simply want to lift the top layer of dirt and dander left even after all that vigorous brushing.

You can use a bucket of plain hot water to dunk the tail, then use a blow dryer (if your horse is used to it) to dry the tail more quickly.

Now that your spa day is complete, your horse should be looking more like the handsome beast you remember.

Molly O’Brien owns two Morgan mares and competes at Morgan shows in the New England area.

This article originally appeared in the March 2018 issue of Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

The post Hide and Sleek appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

Clipping

Unless your goal is to let your horse go totally au natural, clipping is a good place to start your preparation. Be sure your clippers are running smoothly and your blades are sharp to minimize discomfort to your horse. If you’re experienced at clipping and your horse is comfortable with it, try using a No. 40 blade on the whiskers and bridle path for the cleanest possible look. The No. 40 blade also works well for trimming fine ear hair. Change to a No. 10 blade before tackling long jawline hairs; the No. 40 blade will clip too closely for this area.

Use a No. 10 blade to clip your horse’s legs. Your goal here is to have the legs look clean and tidy, so pay extra attention to the hair around the coronary band at the top of the hoof, and the long hair at the back of the fetlock joint and pastern. Some horses also grow longer hair on the inside and back of their knees, so be sure to check those areas. This is a good time to peel chestnuts (the horny growths on the inside of the knees and hocks) and ergots (similar growths at the back of the fetlock joints). If the chestnuts or ergots are very hard, tackle them after bathing your horse–the water will soften them. Be sure to touch up any long hair, especially around the ergots, if you peel them after the bath.

To help white socks and stockings look their best, do a close clip on those markings. Instead of clipping in the same direction as the hair growth, clip upward against the hair. The shorter hair makes it easier to keep white legs clean and bright. A word of caution: Be sure your clipper blades are cool, and keep them especially well-lubricated for this.

If you and/or your horse aren’t accustomed to clipping, ask an experienced friend or your barn manager or instructor to help you. The camera will magnify every mistake, so this is not the time to practice.

Bathing

No matter the reason for your photo shoot, you want your horse as clean and shiny as possible. That means it’s bath time.

If you have a gray horse or one with lots of white, you have some special challenges in terms of stains and brightness. Fortunately, there are a number of products available to help. Absorbine recently introduced ShowSheen Stain Remover & Whitener, which has Oxi-Eraser stain lifters. There’s no bleach and no bluing, so it’s safe for any coat color and won’t leave a blue or purple tint in your horse’s hair. Spray it on the stains or white markings, let it sit for five minutes, rinse it out, and then proceed with the full bath.

Although it’s tempting to grab a bottle of inexpensive shampoo at the local drugstore, remember a horse’s skin is very sensitive and has a specific pH balance. A shampoo that’s designed for horses is well worth the little bit of added expense in the long run. After all, you don’t want your horse to break out in bumps or develop dandruff. Absorbine’s ShowSheen 2-In-1 Shampoo & Conditioner is specially formulated for a horse’s sensitive skin, with no sulfates or parabens. Having the conditioner built in means you only have to wash the mane and tail once, rather than shampooing and then conditioning.

Use a soft rubber curry comb to really lift the ground-in dirt from your horse’s body. Your fingers work best for the mane and tail; be sure to get the shampoo right into the roots. A soft sponge is good for the legs and face. Be careful not to get soap and water into your horse’s eyes and ears.

It’s All in the Details

Be sure any tack you’ll use in the photo shoot is clean and in good condition. To make leather look its best, try Absorbine Horseman’s One Step. Be sure everything is well-adjusted with all straps and keepers are in place. If you’re going to be in the photos, you want to look as neat and tidy as your horse, so make certain your outfit is ready in advance.

Finishing Touches

Your final preparations should start with a good brushing of the coat, mane and tail. Next, using a damp towel or sponge, gently wipe your horse’s face, especially around the eyes, nostrils and muzzle. You can also run the damp towel or sponge over the his body and down his legs to pick up dust.

A coat conditioner/polish will help give your horse a finished look. Absorbine’s ShowSheen Original Hair Polish & Detangler has been a favorite with horse people for more than 30 years. ShowSheen was updated in 2010 and now includes pro-vitamins and silk proteins to nourish and strengthen the coat, mane and tail. For the ultimate shine, apply ShowSheen to the wet coat, mane and tail immediately after you bathe your horse. Then apply it again when the coat is dry. Your horse will absolutely glisten!

To make your horse look his best from head to toe, you can use either a hoof dressing or hoof black on his feet. Absorbine’s Hooflex® products, both the original and all-natural formulas, are a popular choice in hoof dressings. Absorbine SuperShine Black and SuperShine Clear will put a high-gloss finish on those feet. To really perfect the look of black hooves, try applying a paste show polish on the hoof, buff it, then apply the SuperShine Black. The base coat under the SuperShine will give the hooves the look of patent leather

To complete the picture, use a light oil on your horse’s muzzle and over the eyes to highlight those areas. If it’s bug season, apply a fly repellent such as Absorbine’s UltraShield EX so your horse isn’t fussing, twitching and swishing his tail.

Every detail needs to be as perfect as if you were headed into competition. If you take the steps to prepare properly, your photos will be everything you expected and more, capturing your horse at his or her absolute best.

Once you’ve got your horse photo-ready, enter the 2011 Horse Illustrated photo contest.

Further Reading
Grooming Tips from the Top
Tips for Bathing Your Horse
A Dusty Winter Coat
Primp My Ride

Molly O’Brien works in the marketing department at W. F. Young, Inc., the maker of Absorbine products. She is a lifelong horse owner, and currently owns two Morgan mares – a retired 26-year-old and a five-year-old, with whom she competes at Morgan shows in the New England area.

The post Prepare Your Horse for a Photo Shoot appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.