This post is not for any of you with brown, red or black horses. Also not for those who want to tease me cruelly.
Horse people - Am I right in saying we'll buy just about anything if it might make our horsey lives easier? Before I begin I want to remind you I have developed in my mind, a product that endurance riders all over America use, but there is no retailer for. Yet. Not *all* endurance riders use this thing, but many. And you cannot buy it anywhere. I've already come up with the perfect design for the tool, I just need a technician who will build it for me, and a marketer to sell it. Also, I'm in the wrong country so.....my fortune and glory will have to wait. Before I die though, my thing is going on the market.
You know how filthy my horse is 10 months a year (the rainy season in West Germany). I always took pride in the fact I could keep one part of him clean - his tail. Cuz if I wash it enough, it somehow still looks good despite daily mud bathing. I hate to wrap it because a horse's mane and tail are a horse's glory. Walter Farley will agree.
I was gone way too long this time. Apparently 2 months of daily mud baths and zero tail washing can change a white tail to a deep brown. The color a chestnut horse has.
In the 21 years I've been blogging, I've done so many tail posts, but this one involves me buying something new.
I've been in Germany for almost a month and in this time I have washed his tail 6 times. Sometimes twice in a row, using every type of soap I own, and the hottest water, to no avail, it was so brown.
Today at the grocery store I was looking for "spray & wash" - my go-to lower tail cleaner, when I found "Hygiene laundry soap" - which normally means bleach ( I won't go that far, yet). But it was just concentrated Tenside (the ingredient in "lysol"). (I'm using quotes, I hope you understand, to show that these exact things do not exist here.)
It was a liter for under 2 bucks. Yes, why not. I will launder my horse's tail with the diligence of a 5 star hotel employee.
This was the 6th time. As usual, I let it sit for an hour.
When I came back, it was noticably brighter, and when the sun shone on it I couldn't believe it - it was the same color as when we left Germany.
I brushed it, which I never do, but lately I've been "show-sheening" it and putting it in a sock so it's tangle free and silky.
So happy because yesterday the item arrived.
A tail sack.
Something my dressage trainer would scoff at me about, "Just use a sock! No need to buy something special!"
I know, it's just I've been having trouble with that sock lately, getting it on and off, and I thought, why not just try it. And most of all, cuz we're gonna be gone for another 2 months and I don't want to repeat this process.
When I got home from grocery shopping J said, "Amazon was here. You have a pink unicorn patterned thing."
Oh yes! My tail bag.
"PINK UNICORNS," he clarified.
I said, "OH J, you have no idea how much worse the other patterns were."
He couldn't believe me.
"There were SKULLS. And BEES! Ladybugs! Those are insects!"
I cannot stop giggling at his chagrin at my unicorn patterned purchase. Not only that, but there are pegasuses, castles, cupcakes, donuts, and glossy lips (!?!).
I assured him it would be covered in mud this very night, as soon as I put it on and let Mag out.
So here is your chance to see what it looks like for one moment. I know, I keep doing this, buying new things for Mag, taking a photo before turning him out, and never showing the end result. That's cuz it's just so awful, I cannot bear it.
I actually went to the Internet and looked up how to use tail bags, to be sure I'm not gonna mess this up.
The tying process was new to me.
Please let me know if you have experience with these things (note that I'm more likely to take your advice if you have horses with light-colored tails, or some other worthy excuse *lol*). Mostly I need to know how often they need to be removed and rebraided and reapplied, so that I can let our housesitter know.
Sorry Debi, I finally broke down and bought a product when home-improvised should work.
9 comments:
As long as it’s not pulling on the hair too close to the tailbone, you can leave it for a couple weeks at a time for sure - that’s about how often I brush Sophie’s out and re do it in winter. That being said I know someone who leaves theirs in most of the winter (and rarely combs out tails at all) with no issues.
T, thank you for advice based on your experience. Did you actually use a sock or a store-bought bag?
Leaving it on most of the Winter seemed a bit risky, I'm glad I'll be home in another few months. But thank you for mentioning that, in case something happens to us and we're stranded over the planet for months to come. I wouldn't doubt it. Thanks to Lufthansa.
I'm thinking this is the post! :-) OMG the tail looks amazing! No Mrs. Stewarts Bluing in Germany? Not that you need it now! Tail bags are wonderful. I never had any luck with the ones where you put each strand of the braid in a section, then braid the sections together... I just wasn't coordinated enough! But the single braid bags are great! I used to take it off once a week & brush out the tail. Two are handy, since you can have one in the wash while the other is in use. My only worry would be if it got caught somewhere, which is why I didn't leave one on if I wasn't around daily. Nice work!
This posts makes me happy (once again) that my chosen horse breed rarely comes in light colors.
Good luck with your project!
I haven't used tail bags, but have braided tails to keep them clean and to keep them from breaking if they need to grow. About 2 weeks before rebraiding, as they can get ugly right at the top of the braid.
I used a tail bag on our grey Welsh pony but only to keep it clean after washing for a show. I wouldn't plan to leave a tail bag in for more than a few days at a time.
I found tri-sodium phosphate would get anything out of her tail but it's harsh so not something to use frequently. I also found johnsons baby shampoo to be the best regular shampoo, better than any horse whitening shampoo i've tried.
Aarene, I swear to God, two days ago a CHESTNUT Traber walked by my house. They come in red!! It had a full on blaze visibility set (ear bonnet and rump rug) and 4 hoof boots. Never seen that horse in my life. I will find where it lives, eventually. BTW, it never even looked at Mag as Mag stood there beckoning to it, nodding his head at the gate. The rider sat there on her sofa one hand on the reins.
Connie, I hate to leave it on while were in America for the next 2 months, but I'll have a long talk with our housesitter about removing it and rebrushing/braiding and just keeping an eye on it.
Shirley, Does braiding a white tail actually help keep it clean?
Shaste, Tri-sodium phosphate? It's also a food additive! Of course I'll try it, if I can find it: ) In German "Natriumphosphat" - I'll keep my eyes open
Re: baby shampoo - I often tell people the shampoo itself is less relevant than how diligent you are about using it regularly: )I bet baby shampoo would be easier on my hands than lysol *lol*
I think it looks adorable. But I have no advice. I’ve never used one.
Teresa, thanks for that. I'm so glad to hear from you. My photographer friend Michi came by today, cuz she came by FOUR TIMES when we were gone, to just play with my animals, (!?) feeding them snacks and brushing them......she said, "No, don't leave such a thing on his tail when you're not here!"
Now I've heard both ways and I'll play it safe and leave it off while were gone in the PNW and the deep south (!!!!) of America next month.
I had to put on a Winter blanket on Mag last night because it was below zero and he's a wimp. We have seen zero snow this year and not a single hard freeze . The world has gone crazy and I know I'm over compensating with how many blankets left to my horse when I leave this continent again next week. *lol*
Post a Comment