Hints and tips for cleaning ponies

[SmallWhiteWine]

Day 2 of pony club camp and the damn thing had rolled in poo when DD and I got to camp first thing. Found a drain and a tap and eased his white bits as best I could with a sponge and some baby shampoo. But what am I missing??? She cannot get him clean and he lost loads of marks in turn out.
So hints and tips for cleaning ponies very welcome!!

I would imagine this year, with a grey, I will be bathing him every morning before we leave. Last year had a chestnut so only bathed once. We don't leave the pony at camp though.

Oh, forgot to say, baby wipes and chalk for white bits!

Run hose pipe over the mark & brush it at same time. If needed, shampoo (try a different shampoo if the baby shampoo isn't working)

Fairy liquid and babywipes.I feel your pain,my mud magnet grey will be at camp in a week or two and I'm dreading trying to keep her presentable.

Thank you so much DD now home and we're planning our offensive attack against poo for the morning (pony stays at camp! Children under senior school go home each day).
Plan is to go very early. Get him out immediately and tie him up near the hose. Scrub vigorously with the shampoo and take washing up liquid too (thanks for that tip!!!). Leave him there for 5 mins and sort the stable out then tie him up miles away from the bedding!!!!
I did actually try baby wipes as I remembered I had a pack on the car, but although the wipes turned green, the pony stayed discoloured
Do I use a grooming brush with the water rather than a sponge? Is that the way to go?
DD determined to do better than her 7 out of 10 for pony turn out
Talking to a pony club mother, she recommend an all lycra suit and boots to keep him clean before shows etc.
If we keep said pony, that will be an option.
Pony is being a little naughty though DD storming the actual riding, but he's giving her trouble in the stable by being just too bloody minded. He gave her a massive bruise by ramming her against the stable wall and then head butted her to boot. Everyone at the camp were basically saying to sell him for a lot of money as he'd make a stunning show and hunting pony and buy something smaller she can handle better on the ground. But when I mentioned this to DD, she cried and said she loves him too much. But he's too big and strong for her

Fairy washing up liquid was the only thing that would get my mares legs sparkling white. :)

Oh dear.I do know what you mean.When we got dpony,the girls couldn't easily handle her because she would barge them or threaten to kick or bite.I had to do the catching,bringing in,tacking up ect because I didn't trust her.She'd try it on with me too,and would plant and rear if she didn't fancy going with me.What made things worse was that she'd pull a face at the girls and they'd jump out of the way,[naturally] but that reinforced to her that pulling faces=small people moving out of her way and it was a vicious circle.

I had an Intelligent horsemanship lady out who wasn't cheap,but she was worth every penny.She watched me interacting with dpony and far from dpony wanting to be in charge,she said that dpony was looking for someone to be the leader and that she was anxious which was causing the bad behaviour.I can't tell you how much things have changed now,my 8 year old leads her in and out of the field,tacks her up,loads her onto the trailer on her own.The change is absolutely amazing and if I hadn't known what she was like before I'd never have believed it.

How long have you had the pony and has he always done this? Dpony was fine with us to begin with,then found that she could get away with stuff,and it escalated.I spoke to the first person in her passport and it seems she has always had a bad rep on the ground despite being wonderful under the saddle.

Def fairy liquid for a stop gap clean tomorrow, but invest in a bottle of canter coat whitening spray. It's fab stuff, minimal rinsing required and shifts poo stains like magic.

For the bad manners, he's probably trying his luck. lots of groundwork at home, and get her to practise calm, assertive body language, and also she can practise what I call "mares ears" basically it's a shock tactic for when a horse is getting gobby and opinionated, you change stance to direct eye contact, lean slightly forward, stick your chin out and do a sharp "oi, pack it in"
Similar to the voice of death/raised eyebrow we use on kids, it's what mares in a herd use to keep the youngsters behaviour in line, they put their ears back and scowl.

Soap flakes!! They are the best for gleaming white bits! I used them on my beloved dearly departed traditional cob geldings feathers,they were fab!!
We used to show a lot, not a part of him wasn't covered the night before a show and he was a filthy little monkey.
Can she not bandage legs for the night? Or a light weight summer sheet to keep body covered?

Otherwise wash with soap flakes, rinse well then chalk when dry...should do the trick.
Good luck

I find the best thing to use is a rubber curry or brush, put shampoo onto the curry or brush and scrub vigorously.

Treseme deep cleansing shampoo, fairy liquid (yellow) and also the sepcialist grey horse shampoo you can buy.

Wash and shampoo all over (treseme/fairy) - get one of those brushes with the sponges built in. Get lots of soap suds. Then do it all again with the special grey horse shampoo. Hose off and then scrape all water off. Clean fleece on (especially if weather is chilly) and then walk around to dry off a warm them up a bit.

You can also get the blue rinse stuff too.

Thing about staims is you need warm water - cold water tends to set the stain and makes it harder to shift.

Good luck x

The Tresseme deep cleaning shampoo is ace. I fill 4 litre milk cartons (i save them specially) with shampoo and hot water in one, and hot water in a few others so you can fill the scrubby brush/bottle thing with shampoo and then rinse conveniently.

If you spray generously in all but saddle area with show shine, it repels stains nicely. And Frizzease on tail and mane keeps them v clean.

Cowboy magic do a dry shampoo that you just spray on and leave it to dry its fab. DS grey had it used on her loads at camp. She is also bandaged and rugged when she needs to stay clean!! She also has a hood and tail bag on as well.
We tend to wash with fairy/ cheap shampoo first rinse and then wash with a blue shampo we leave it on for five mins and always wash with hot water.Chalk is also fab supreme products do a chalk powder which you put on wet legs then bandage and brush off in the morning its really good. You can also mix it into a paste and put on the body but not where the tack goes.

Thank you so much everyone

I will refer to this post before the next show or pony club camp and be much better prepared in future.

Pony's behaviour was vile yesterday morning - rearing and trying to barge/jump his way out of the stable when he thought he was missing something. He had two (very experienced) pony club mums cornered They belted him and got him calmed down and under their control but it was awful.

Today, we got there early. Bathed and then walked and walked him round outside in the yard. Took him in, tied him up in a corner and tacked him up early. Then made him wait until everyone else was out whereupon DD led him out herself nice and calmly and in control.

Riding, he has been really good!! And he's good at home, though he will bang the door and stamp on occasion. But oh, I was all for selling him yesterday

I think we have decided to keep him, but will work on making him better mannered. Ineed more confidence myself.

Washing up liquid and baby wipes have been used prolifically these last few days - will look forward to trying everything else.

PS forgot to answer question - he is fairly new - we only got him in the early Spring, and he's a young pony (6). And he is too big for her at 14.2.

He's a coloured cob rather than a grey, with a white neck where most of the poo gets . Presume I can use the special grey shampoo though still? Which would be handy anyway as my teeny little pony for DD2 is grey

Sounds like he does need a lot of groundwork doing with him - get him to respect people.

Could he go on 24/7 turnout ? Might be happier in a herd than stabled

He is SO much happier living out, and also thrives on 50/50, but pony club camp equaling 100% captivity was not ideal. As my darling sil says though, it's 4 days out of 365 and all ponies have their 'issues' to deal with.
I am seriously considering a long term loan for him and buying Dd1 another pony in the meantime though.

You are right that they all have issues.I'd have cheerfully sold both of ours tonight as they were right swines in different ways.Dpony refused to go back into her paddock and was threatening to rear and trying to bite me.She hasn't done this for almost a year,but I discovered that there was a bonfire right next to her field and she is terrified of fire,which explained things a bit.B our new pony has evidently given up trying to buck DD2 off,and her new tactic is to get down and roll when she has had enough of working.

Good luck with whatever you decide,but in our case it took a good 5 months to get to grips with Dpony and she was 20 when we bought her.I'd imagine that at 6,your boy is still very excitable,especially in new situations with lots of other people/ponies milling about.

Snuggy Hoods all over lycra body suits are a good investment for the future!

www.snuggyhoods.com/REDUCED_Snuggy_Jams-D884500

We have a grey. I am just thankful we jump, not show!