coat bloom

[GypsyMoonMinis]

We have our 4H mini show coming up week after next and then we are planning to attend a show in Billings 2 weeks after. The two we are planning to show have really nice coats, and alot of sheen even with the body clipping. I use quiksilver shampoo for thier white areas and manes/tails (One is a light silver dapple, he looks like spotted pewter with a black mask and the other is a light chestnut pinto with pretty counter shadowing, making her almost look like a red dun). I've been giving them Triple Crown Rice Bran Oil in addition to thier normal feed and I think thats helped alot with thier current shine and brightness...

However, we are showing under a covered arena in one place and an indoor arena in the other. I was curious what kind of grooming products everyone used to get that really bright bloom and make the whites really pop, esp in this kind of diffused and artificial lighting. I've used Show Sheen since I was a young girl, but it just doesn't seem to give the extra boost like it used too. (though I am a huge fan of almost all absorbine products). I didn't like Lazor Sheen which we used last year. I use Miracle Groom for spot removal, and either cowboy magic or absorbine dentangler for manes and tails. for hooves im using absorbine clear polish (both horses have stripped hooves or white legs), and silverado face shine for muzzles, eyes etc.

I am curious about how to make the white areas really pop on the pinto. Baby powder? seems messy. Any thoughts on Shapleys hi gloss coat spray? Ultra Final Touch?

Any other hints and tips to make them really 'pop'? thanks in advance!

 

[Mominis]

You may want to rethink supplementing with rice bran. It is high in Omega 6's which tend to be present in most commercial horse feeds at reasonable levels anyway. Omega 3's however are not. Flaxseed is high in Omega 3's and I've found that I have much better results from flax.

For bloom on the coat, curry until your arm feels like it's falling off every single day. We curry, hard brush, soft brush, the rub with a rub rag until my arm cramps. After that, I use a good coating of Heathy Haircare and rub again with a chamois. When we get closer to showing, I do a lot of hand rubbing to spread the natural oils in the coat. If you are body clipping, do it far enough out from the date of the show that your horse's coat gets achance to lose the faded look. Bathe once weekly to remove any product build up.

The night before the show, I wash feet with SOS. Then the morning of the show, I sand feet before giving the show bath. I bathe with Suave shampoo and conditioner to get the dirt out and remove product buildup from daily grooming. Then I bathe with Quick silver and rinse with warm water. After that, I give a hot oil treatment and hand dry. One the hooves are dry and the coat is still drying, I polish and enhance the hooves. Then I spray a light coat of Ultra Final Touch, a light coat of Pyrahna Fly Spray, and pu baby oil and vaseline on the face, and we head to the ring. Right before going in the ring,we give them a quick wipe with a chamois and that's it.

Shake, in my avatar photo, was groomed like this right before the photo was taken.

 

[GypsyMoonMinis]

Chamois cloth, I've read about it but never thought much about it. Makes sense though, esp since it won't leave fuzz etc behind. Thanks!

The triple crown oil is a mix of flaxseed, rice bran and soy. I did alot of research into the omega's, as I know excess omega 6 can interfere with the omega 3's.

i agree about clipping early too. I did both mine about a week ago, which would set them at 3 and 4 weeks before the shows. They both have such pretty coats I wanted them to grow out a bit. Like I said, all my horses have a really nice sheen right now in their natural state (even my little gelding thats mostly white, i haven't seen many white horses that shine, I think its the way the hair reflects the light).

I have some soft bristle pads for their hooves, what grade of sand paper do you use? Is it a block?

Thanks for the reply! I may just pick of some of the shapleys and the ultra finish and experiment later this week.

 

[Mominis]

We just use good old fashioned sandpaper. We use three grades, a heavy, a medium, and a fine. Then we wipe the hoof with a papertowel that is dampened with alcohol to make sure all the dust is off of the hoof before we go forward with polish.

 

[Echo Acres]

We use wisk on all white areas of our horses when we bathe and you would not believe the difference in the white. We get so many compliments on how white our horses are. Just make sure you rinse it out really well like any other shampoo. We don't use it on the faces. We personally have never had a horse get any kind of reaction to it. I have only heard of 1 horse break out from it.

For a show sheen we use Grand Champion Pepi or Pink which is actually a people product mainly for getting a black persons hair to shine. We use both on all of our horses.

 

[Shadows Fire]

To get my grey mares tail really white I use oxi-clean (from the dollar store) in warm water in a bucket. I tale the tail and swish it in the mix of soap and oxi-clean (one scoop and a dollop of shampoo) the water has to be warm it doesn't work in cold water. I scrub it a bit and the dirt, pee stain, and other gross stuff comes right off and I am left with a sparking white tail. I have used it on her mane too but be careful cause some horses have reactions to it if it gets on the skin. I don't dip the tail bone-but splash it up on the upper hairs to get them clean.

Then I love to use quicksilver shampoo on her to really bring out the shimmer of the grey coat.

Cowboy magic is good for getting a shine on the tail, or regular old show sheen or the lazer sheen which is more economical. But they can be drying.

Just before showing using baby oil or well I got this human hair product that smells like apricots from the dollar store-on a clean rag to run it through the mane tail, and over the body lightly-or to be honest the old wipe fly wipe on works great too. But the baby oil and wipe can attract dust. But they sure make a white mane or tail shimmer.

You know many many years ago I did use a wonderful product to gloss up a coat. it came in an Aerosol can. I think it was called Grand Champion. But horses as a rule do NOT like aerosol sprays.

 

[GypsyMoonMinis]

Thanks so much, some really great ideas here!! Pepi Grand Champion maybe? I didn't get down to tractor supply like I wanted and we had pictures with the 4H group this evening so we bathed and clipped and did the whole spa treatment. Of course I didn't get any head shots, as I had cleaned up his ears and the guard hairs etc. I was pretty happy with the Show Sheen, even in the barn he was really sparkling, but I want to try an oil too to keep the hair conditioned, so will write down what you guys suggested and see what the store has in a few days.

Naturally we got caught in a downpour but this picture was taken about 15 mins before the heavens opened up on us. I used quicksilver on his tail about 4 days ago, then lather it up in absorbine detangler and conditioner, then made a large loose braid and wrapped with with vet wrap below the bone. Today we took it out and did another quick silver and conditioning treatment and this is how it looked: (i also used the quicksilver over his entire coat, mane and forlock and did it ever bring out the dapples!)