Help needed - advice to make ponies look a bit more showy!

[Yeehaw]

They've lived out all winter. One is looking quite rotund but with loads of little scratches from brambles and a bit of barbed wire (that I didn't know was there - was hidden in brambles and some tasty grass was on the other side!). He's been hunter clipped over the winter but his legs are so woolly. His mane is a disaster area! The other one is looking a bit poor and I can just see his ribs . He's had mud fever which I think has stopped spreading but he's lost a big patch of hair from his fetlock. I am feeling a bit at a loss as to where to begin! They need a makeover! They are cheerful though and have been hunted and hacked over the Winter so not completely neglected!

Strip as much winter coat out as you can (curry comb or grooming blade), pull the mane to a fairly even length and tidy the tail up and hot cloth to get the grease out of the coat instead of bathing to make them shiny and less scurfy.

I wouldn't worry about them looking lean, grass is coming through and they always look rough when they change coats. You won't recognise him in a few weeks.

Thank you Catswiththumbs. Can I ask about pulling manes? I tend to backcomb then pull the longest strands out. It just seems to make it shorter but I am not losing the thickness. It has now parted in the middle He has a very big old cresty neck and a huge native mane, very hard to deal with. When we bought him it was much neater. He hates the bit near his ears being done which doesn't help!

I've moved them into a fresh paddock and I don't think their heads have been off the grass for the past two days. I might leave it a week before panicking and running out and buying loads of weight gain feeds. He does have 'fat chaff' (alfa a oil) and cool and condition cubes twice a day. I've run out of linseed but I might buy some more as that was great for his coat.

I'd give them a good bath on a day when it is going to be sunny and warm. We'd pull their manes and comb out and bang off their tails. I'd get to work on their coats using a Furminator (equine one) which are brilliant at getting rid of Winter coat but leaving Summer coats unaffected. If he has any sores I'd put some antiseptic spray on them.
Trim round their coronets as well and if necessary trim down the back of their cannons./fetlocks.

With this Spring grass coming through they will soon fatten up and start to gleam. We're feeding one or our Welshies who is looking poor sugar beat with a handful of Equijewel (Ric Bran) twice a day until he picks up.

thank you butkin that's very helpful. I have a furminator and agree it is brilliant. Clearly he is starting to moult as every time you scratch his poll (which he loves) loads of white hairs come off his blaze. He's a bit scurfy. He looked so lovely and shiny in the summer!

Thin pony - i will have a look at equijewel, I was thinking outshine?

Have discovered Hilton Herbs thrive and shine which I think I'll try for a few weeks. He loves linseed.

We've used Outshine before and it is very good but gives them some oomph. It's ideal on a pony being trained for the show ring.

Because this pony is just resting (outgrown) we're only feeding Equijewel which is rice bran and does well without heat. We're planning to sell him before Easter so want him looking his best!

Some good old elbow grease in the form of grooming does wonders for a horses coat as well. It will help strip out the old winter coat, bring in the new summer coat, and redistribute the natural oils. Done properly 2-3 times a week for about 15-20 minutes a session leaves them soft, shiny, and with (eventually) a very short glistening coat.

Best method I have found is to have a soft/flexible rubber curry comb in one hand, and a body brush in the other. Curry the horse (with the curry comb) in a smallish circular motion, which will bring up lots of hair and dirt (if you are doing it right). Then once you have brought up all this hair and dirt, brush it off the horse with the body brush. Rinse and repeat. Depending on how hard your horse will let you groom him, just imagine that you are using two brushes to scrub the hair out of a hairy horse shaped floor rug, as this is approximately what it amount to. Make sure you clean the hair and dirt off the 2 brushes as you go along, as a lot will accumulate in a short amount time.

HTH

clipped dponys legs yesterday with a blade guard on, all feather gone and he looks much smarter. Pulled his mane for about an hour and it could still do with a bit more pulling but he was getting very fed up - its nice and short now and a little thinner but still sticks up without an entire bottle of mane spray

Furminated both and groomed thoroughly. Washed pony2's legs with anti bac and dried off, then smothered mud fever patch with fungatrol oinment - it is a big patch but the hair is growing back so am hopeful that it might be sorted.

Felt very pleased with myself afterwards!

Well done Yeehaw - very satisfying!

Farrier told me to put a drop of linseed oil on a cloth and gently wipe over to make them super shiny