The document provides tips for keeping horses clean during the winter months when bathing is difficult. It discusses using thorough currying to massage oil glands and prevent a dull coat. Hot toweling with a damp towel is recommended for removing stubborn stains when bathing isn't an option. The "Queen's Treatment" technique uses a dandy brush and hot, damp towel to clean a horse without fully bathing. Maintaining clean stalls and using protective sprays can also help prevent dirt and stains on a horse's coat during the winter.

1. 62 The Chronicle of the Horse
Win Out Over Winter To
Keep Your Horse Clean
Wage war against Mother Nature with natural
barriers and good grooming habits.
BY KATIE ALLARD
W
hether you’re getting
ready for a horse show
or just trying to stay on
top of your horse’s daily
care, the winter season creates special
grooming challenges. Long hair and
intermittent mud present ample oppor-
tunities for horses to get filthy, while icy
temperatures mean baths are few and far
between.
If shipping south isn’t an option, but
you still want to ride and show during
the coldest months, there are many
ways to manage your horse’s unruly
coat. We’ve collected tips and strategies
from the pros to keep your four-legged
friend clean and presentable.
A muddy horse can be a daunting prospect
in the winter when a bath simply isn’t an
option, but hot toweling and good currying
can remove some of the most stubborn
stains. DUSTY PERIN PHOTO
A Good Old Fashioned
Currying
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it
again: There’s no substitute for good
grooming.
Kacy Ather, who works for
Huntington Ridge Farm in Holly, Mich.,
and manages shows in Royal Oak,
Mich., sings the praises of a thorough
currying to help prevent a dull, dry coat.
“[Currying] massages the oil glands
in the skin and makes them produce
more natural oil,” explained Ather. “So
it’s a lot healthier for their coat, espe-
cially in the winter.
“Currycombs are a really awesome
tool for the horses because they get
HORSE CARE
down [to the skin],” Ather continued.
“Hard brushes and soft brushes only get
the top.”
Ather prefers a round rubber curry
because it’s easier for her to hold.
Kelsey Wickham, assistant trainer
for Heather Irvine of Hillside Farm in
Bloomfield Hills, Mich., also relies on
currying to help her horses shine in the
ring.
“We curry them really well and
get them shiny—we try to keep them
as shiny as we can [before they get
clipped],” said Wickham, of Oxford,
Mich. “I’ve been on their coats a lot in
the past couple of months to make sure
that once they get clipped they don’t
look bad.
“Honestly, I think currying is the
biggest thing to make their coat shiny,”
continued Wickham. “If you don’t do
anything else, do that.”
A vacuum can also help remove

2. February 15, 2016 • chronofhorse.com 63
L
ooking for a way to truly treat your horse? Look no further than “The
Queen’s Treatment.” Ruthann Smith learned this technique from a
groom who had formerly worked for the Queen of England before
working for Peter Wylde.
Similar to hot toweling, this process also requires a bucket of hot water
and a clean towel, but you will also need a medium dandy brush.
To start, knock off any dried or caked on mud from your horse and give
him a good thorough grooming. Next wet your towel in the hot water,
making sure to wring out excess water, and fold it several times, so it rests
in one hand like a pad. Then take the dandy brush and get to work. At the
end of each stroke, swipe the brush over the hot towel, simultaneously
cleaning the brush and bringing heat and steam along with the brush to
the skin, which helps bring dirt to the surface as well as promoting blood
circulation.
“The point is, the horse doesn’t really get wet,” Smith said. “The hot mois-
ture pulls the dirt off of the coat, and their hair doesn’t stick together. You
can’t believe how clean they get like that. You’ll think they got a bath.”
When one side of the towel gets dirty, simply refold it to a clean side,
making sure to keep the towel hot and damp throughout your grooming
process. Remember not to stick your hand in the bucket if you have an elec-
tric heater plugged in to heat the water. It’s also helpful to lay a cooler on
your horse’s back, folding it backwards and forwards as you groom, so he
stays warm.
“You can do a lot with the Queen’s Treatment,” added Smith. “It’s really
amazing and a great thing for when people are showing in the spring and
the fall, and they don’t want to give them a full bath because it’s too cold.”
Treat Your Horse Like Royalty
Ruthann Smith swears by the Queen’s Treatment, saying, “You can’t believe how clean
they get like that. You’ll think they got a bath.” CATHRIN CAMMETT PHOTO
that extra layer of stubborn dirt and
dust that a currycomb sometimes can’t
seem to reach.
“We vacuum to get the top layer off,”
Wickham explained. “And then we go
to currying and brushing.”
The Hot Towel Treatment
But currying alone won’t remove stub-
born stains or the dust left behind from
caked on mud. Hot toweling is a great
option when it’s too cold to bathe. It’s
simple to execute and only requires a
bucket filled with hot water, a medium
rag and a warm cooler. Professional
groom and founder of proequinegrooms.
com Liv Gude uses hot toweling to spot
treat tough stained areas.
“Think of it like steam cleaning a
carpet or a rug,” said Gude, of Stafford,
Va. “You’re going to use steam and a
tiny bit of moisture and some elbow
grease to bring up the dirt and stains on
your horse’s winter coat.”
Start off by cross-tying your horse
in a sheltered area. Fill a bucket with
hot water, keeping in mind that horses
with a full winter coat can stand hotter
water than a freshly clipped horse. If
hot running water isn’t available, Gude
suggests investing in a crock-pot or an
electric kettle, both of which will boil
water quickly.
When wetting the towel, make sure
to wring it out well before applying it to
a horse. Aim for the steam, not water,
and rub the towel into the stained
area. Gude also recommends wearing
rubber gloves while hot toweling, as the
process can dry out your hands. Place
the cooler over the area you have just
The Quic
Silver with
the rubbing
alcohol is my
life hack.”
—KACY ATHER

3. 64 The Chronicle of the Horse
Shapley’s Magic Sheen is one of Liv Gude’s
favorite products to use as a barrier between
her horse’s skin and the constant barrage of
dirt and dust in the winter. LIV GUDE PHOTO
G
iving a horse a bath in the winter isn’t ideal, but sometimes there’s no
other option. One of the most important things to keep in mind is to make
sure the horse dries well and doesn’t get chilled. Luckily many indoor
horse shows have heated barns and access to hot water, making a bath easier.
Kelsey Wickham waits until the horses arrive at a show before clipping and
bathing.
“We use Palmolive to bathe them,” said Wickham. “It is antibacterial and
isn’t so harsh on their skin. Then we just layer on coolers.”
Amateur rider Anne Barry Weber also likes to bathe her horse at heated
indoor horse shows, as she believes it’s the best way to get a horse’s coat
completely clean. She uses full strength shampoo on her horse’s mane and tail
before diluting it with water to wash his body.
“I use Vetrolin shampoo because I think it rinses easy,” said Weber, of Wright
City, Mo. “I can’t stand it when I can’t get the soap suds out.”
One issue with bathing is it can dry out a horse’s coat. Ruthann Smith
created her own shampoo, Lucky Braids All-In-One Shampoo, to add in natural
oils rather than stripping the coat. “This boosts the skin’s natural defenses,
making your horse more resilient to skin disease and less prone to rubs and
itching,” she said. “If you are going to bathe, at least use a shampoo that’s going
to get them really shiny and promote and support healthy skin.”
To Bathe Or Not To Bathe?
worked, as it will help dry the horse and
prevent him from getting chilled.
“You don’t have to do your whole
horse,” said Gude. “You can do the
‘unsightly’ areas that you just can’t look
at anymore. You can also add in your hot
water mixture some no-rinse shampoo.
Shapley’s Easy Out [No Rinse Shampoo]
is probably my favorite because it also
has a deodorizer.”
If hot water just isn’t an option, then
Ather makes do with rubbing alcohol.
“It’s so functional,” she said. “If you
take the saddle off and your horse is all
sweaty and there is a saddle mark, you
just put some rubbing alcohol on a towel
and rub it until it’s dry, and the sweat
marks are gone. So it’s good for before a
jog or something where they’re jogging
in the ring without a saddle, and they
were just sweaty.”
Ather prefers alcohol with a winter-
green additive, as she thinks it works as
a better liniment as well, but she added
that you can also use regular isopropyl
alcohol in a 70 percent solution, as that
is the best mix for the horses.
For stubborn stains on a gray horse,
she adds a little bit of Quic Silver to the
rubbing alcohol, which she then works
into the horse’s coat with a towel.
“The Quic Silver with the rubbing
alcohol is my life hack; you can’t get
anything better than that,” Ather said.
“You can literally rub their whole body
in this, and they’ll look shiny and bright.
“[Rubbing alcohol] is just one of
those things that is so versatile,” she
continued. “You can use it to pull out
manure stains; you can use it to get the
sweat marks off, and because it’s a fast
drying agent, it leaves the coat with a
nice finish on it.”
The Best Offense Is A Great
Defense
In the winter, horses’ coats may dry
out more due to the cold weather and
constant blanketing. Horsemanship
educator and founder of Lucky Braids
for Top Turnout at luckybraids.com
Ruthann Smith noticed that the drier a
horse’s skin and coat get, the dirtier the

4. February 15, 2016 • chronofhorse.com 65
HORSE CARE
“Keep brushes clean, because
otherwise you’re just moving the
dirt around. If once in a while you
could clean your brushes, I think
that’s a good thing.”
—Ruthann Smith
“If you come across the static
problem that most vacuums
generate, take a spray bottle, fill it
with a little bit of water, and spray
the inside of your vacuum nozzle,
and you can get it fairly wet in
there.”
—Liv Gude
“A lot of times they get stains
because their stalls are dirty. The
solution is to bed deep and pick
often. Their coats are nicer, and
they don’t get as readily stained.
It’s also a lot warmer to bed deep.”
—Ruthann Smith
“If my horse’s mane and tail get
scurfy, I use mouthwash, good old
fashioned Listerine mouthwash.
And you leave it in; you don’t
rinse it out.”
—Anne Barry Weber
“A lot of people think if your horse
sweats in the winter, you can just
buff it out and make it shine, but
that is not the case. Oil and sweat
are not the same thing; they come
from different glands.”
—Liv Gude
Additional Grooming
Hacks
horse.
“Dry hair and skin suck up the dirt,”
said Smith, of Wellington, Fla. “That
makes them prone to rubbing and what
not because the hair is brittle, and the
skin is not supple.”
While working as a braider, Smith
created her own products to solve her
most pervasive grooming issues. She
created an enzyme spray called Lucky
Braids Horse Whitener/Dry Wash
spray, which works on organic matter
to help combat tough stains. And while
the name says “Whitener,” it’s not
a bleach or detergent and is safe for
horses of all colors.
“[My spray] lifts the dirt off the
hair; it separates the hair from the
dirt without drying it out and without
coating it or leaving a yellow shadow,”
Vacuuming is a great way to get that first layer of dirt off your horse before you go in with a
currycomb. SAMMI PRETZNOW PHOTO
explained Smith. “It works really well
for horses of all colors. Some people
brush it into the coat as a finishing spray
because they say it helps repels the dirt.”
Gude believes finishing sprays are one
of the best ways to protect your horse’s
coat from dirt and stains. If you start
with a clean horse and add a finishing
spray, it will protect your horse’s skin
and hair.
“I’m a big fan of barriers,” said Gude.
“Just throw the walls up.”
This is an easy addition to any
routine, as it only requires a light
dusting of a spray after grooming before
a horse goes back to his stall. Gude likes
to use Shapley’s products because they
don’t use fillers, so a small amount goes
a long way. She also advises creating
multiple barriers for your horse,
including a healthy diet that encour-
ages the natural oils in a horse’s coat,
currying and products.
“If you keep him slightly dusted
with a sheen product like [Shapley’s]
Magic Sheen, that is going to become
a stain repellant,” said Gude. “Winter
grooming is basically like—you can
think of it as playing a battle of wits
against the earth, and your greatest
weapons are barriers.”