Get your horse whiter than white
Do you ever see beautiful grey horses and wonder how they stay so white?
For those horse owners who have just bought a beautiful coloured horse or want to know how to improve their horse’s coat, we asked our Groom Ambassador Ebony Toole how she keeps her stunning-coloured horse Reine glowing.
Maintenance is Key
Regular grooming, washing and rugging are key to maintaining a beautiful white coat and tail. To prevent tails from getting that dreaded yellow tinge, it’s important to always use a tail bag and always regularly wash and change your rugs.
Ebony follows a process of washing the horse’s tail, body, mane and then legs.
Horse's Tail
Although Reine has a black tail, Ebony regularly washes white tails as well and will wash the tail first, so it sits longer in the purple shampoo. If the tail is dark, she will wash the tail last.
- When washing a white tail, wash the tail first using the Hairy Pony Double Strength Purple Shampoo. The main thing is to maintain moisture in the tail so that it’s always wet and foaming up well, so Ebony will put a little shampoo in, then wet it again and add more shampoo and scrub it well.
- Water dries fast after the first application, so you’ll need to wet the tail again and use a little more purple shampoo as you’ll wash some out (so use a small amount the first application).
- The second hosing will hold more water now there’s some shampoo in the tail. Thoroughly lather, fold the tail in half and scratch into the dock with your fingers to really get to the base of the tail.
- Even when washing a black tail such as Reines, Ebony will still use the purple shampoo combined with the Hairy Pony Natural Shampoo as she finds it brings out the shine in the tail.
Horse's Body
- Thoroughly rinse all over ensuring the horse is soaking wet. This is incredibly important to make sure the shampoo really bubbles up and can soak through the coat and into the skin.
Tip: If at any point throughout the shampooing process, they start to dry, wet them again.
- Ebony likes to use a grooming mitt to really rub the shampoo into the skin, not just the top of their coat. She uses a mix of the Hairy Pony Natural Shampoo and the Hairy Pony Double Strength Purple Shampoo for the body. This ensures they’re really clean to the skin and the Purple Shampoo gives the white the sparkle that other purple shampoos lack the ability to do.
Tip: For a horse who hasn’t been shampooed in a while or whose coat is a little dull and lacking, Ebony adds a small amount of the Hairy Pony Essential Oil Coat Conditioner to the grooming mitt and works that through their coat during the cleaning process.
Horse's Mane
- Ebony uses her fingers to deeply massage the shampoo into the base of their mane.
- If their mane is particularly stained or yellow, she will do this twice but not often is this the case.
Horse's Legs
- Ebony works on each leg individually. A good blob of the Hairy Pony Double Strength Purple Shampoo on the grooming mitt and each leg is thoroughly massaged.
- The legs sometimes are left a little longer and like the mane. If there are particularly stubborn stains or yellowing, do these areas a second time.
Finishing off Tips
The Hairy Pony Double Strength Purple Shampoo is left to work its magic on all areas of the horse for a minimum of 5-10 minutes before hosing off.
Usually, by the time she is finished shampooing, she is ready to start hosing off from the start. Thoroughly rinse all the shampoo off until the water runs clear and scrape off using the Hairy Pony Gold Sweat Scraper.
If the horse's coat is particularly dull, dilute some Hairy Pony Essential Oil Coat Conditioner in a spray bottle and spritz over the whole body.
Towel dry and use the Hairy Pony Flick Brush over the whole body to remove any loose hairs remaining after the wash.
Finally use the Hairy Pony 2 in 1 Detangle & Shine Spray on the tail and brush through with the Hairy Pony Mane and Tail Brush.
Ebony Toole is a full-time dressage groom and also events her stunning coloured horse Reine. You can follow Ebony’s Grooming Journey here: https://www.facebook.com/ebony.toole
