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The Battle of the Burrs

28K views 35 replies 23 participants last post by  Golden Horse 
#1 ·
Some of you may have seen the pics I posted yesterday of Ace out grazing, she looked like this..



That was early yesterday afternoon, this morning she looked like this









So when I had finished crying I gathered together my long sleeve shirt and long pants, and rubber gloves, a can of WD40 and a big tooth mane comb and set to work. After less than an hour I had





Even with help from



 
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#4 ·
The only way to start is just pulling the knot apart from the bottom, I get of anything that is loose, then tease and tear into separate lumps, then you can use the comb, but only ever use the last 2 or 3 teeth just to hook in and pull out.

I used WD40 today because it's all I had to hand, I have to go to town this afternoon so I'll pick up some baby oil, I have more tails to sort out yet. I swear though if Appy Gilmore has to many in his mane I will so roach him.
 
#6 ·
Hahahaha! That is great.

When I first bought Sunny her forelock was full of them and the old owners tried to get them all out before I came to pick her up. Let's just say, she didn't have a forelock anymore. After that, he had a mini 'fro. :lol: It took FOREVER to get her forelock to lie down flat!
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#7 ·
There was a product that a girl I knew used to use. She got it at the $1.00 store and it is for relaxing curly hair. Works just as well as WD40 without the side effects.
 
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#8 ·
HOLY COW! I gasped when I scrolled down the the burry picture. At my old pasture, my fuzzy pony Duncan (in full winter coat) would come with burrs stuck everywhere on his little body, and at the time he wasn't the most patient pony. So frustrating! I couldn't wait to clip his coat off just to rid myself of the body burrs! But it looks like you did a good job getting those out. Ugh! Horrible little things.
 
#9 ·
Wow Ace! You have to admit her forelock looked kinda cute though! :D

I wish I'd have taken pics of Woodstock yesterday. His mane is shoulder length and he was a hot mess. I love jojoba oil for conditioner & detangler. Lasts forever, dilutes well & smells really good.
 
#11 ·
I didn't realize that Canada had a burr problem. In the South, between the cuckle burrs, sand spurs and beggar lice I almost don't want to ride in the fall (almost). Did learn to clean them away from the paddock or pastures. No need to add more to the few that make there way in. It's difficult enough to keep the numbers down as it is. I'm always tempted to just do away with the feathers, since they pick them up easiest.
 
#13 ·
Here we go, another battle, and once again I have a helper, just not so little!

Take one tail that looks like this



Pour over a large amount of baby oil, and massage into the burr knots, leave to soak while you de burr the forelock, and explain to Mr G how lucky he is to have only 2 burrs in his mane, Ace's mane is 100% safe, Haffie manes are 90% safe, they MAY get pulled or cut a little if needed. Appy Gilmore mane, I swear the first time it get s burred I'm roaching it all off for sure!

Anyway back to the story, when the oil has soaked in some, then get in there with your hands (for me gloved hands, or I get horrible rashes) and tear the lumps apart, starting at the bottom, to about half way up



Feel something breathing in your ear, turn around to find you have someone inspecting your work



Waste some time talking to helper and kissing them on the nose, just so delighted that she wants to spend some time with you, this is after all stand offish Bert:shock:

Start with your gloved fingers just combing through the knots and teasing all the burrs out, gradually getting to this




Then start breaking up the knots higher up the tail, sometimes you have to odd more oil to these, they always seem to be worse.



When I get to this stage, just a few knots left, this is the first time I've used a comb on the tail,



Just comb out the last of the burrs and tangles and there you go, a nice pic of your helper



and one finished tail



Time stamp on first pick 12.29, time stamp on last pic, 12.49, 20 minutes, including playing with Bert:wink:
 
#16 ·
You wanna come help:D Lets see we own over 1400 acres, the horses currently have 160 odd acres of paddocks and rough grazing. The place has been a cattle and sheep farm for a long time, so the battle of the burrs will be going on for a while yet I'm afraid:wink:
 
#19 ·
It will be heavenly from now until snowfall, because it is mostly harvested now, so I can ride all over the place, if I can find where I left my BGP's and a brace for my knee that will let me ride pain free (or just less pain) but won't scratch up my saddle
 
#20 ·
Just want to say that I feel your pain. Isabel seems to be the only horse to come in covered, the other day her forelock was almost as bad as Ace's, but for some reason they were knotted in such a way that it was standing up out from her head and made her look like she had a unicorn horn. :)

On a serious note, I get worried when they are hanging down so close to their eyes. Anyone ever had any injuries when burr met eye?
 
#26 ·
Wow, makes me glad that we don't have burrs. Well, we do, but they are few and far between. Most times when horse ends up with burrs, it's 2-3 at the most:shock:.

I honestly don't know how to handle them, would a controlled burn kill some of them off? I know it would kill the grass too, but around here, lots of ranchers will do at least 1 controlled burn in late fall (after the grass is dead, in your case, it would also be before the ground is covered in snow) to kill off the chenery(sp??) and sage brush before next spring. I'm wondering if that would be effective on burrs too:think:.
 
#28 ·
I honestly don't know how to handle them, would a controlled burn kill some of them off? I know it would kill the grass too, but around here, lots of ranchers will do at least 1 controlled burn in late fall (after the grass is dead, in your case, it would also be before the ground is covered in snow) to kill off the chenery(sp??) and sage brush before next spring. I'm wondering if that would be effective on burrs too:think:.
The best thing to do in the long run is to get weed killer and spray them. 2-4-D kills them, doesn't harm the grass, and you can use it with no waiting on pastures. Look for something like Pasture-Pro from TSC.
 
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#29 · (Edited)
I work on outfits many times larger than 1400 acres and go out and chop the weeds down before they flower where there are small patches. Have also used herbicide and insect predators on the larger areas of growth, in addition to chopping. I'm certain your area department/ministry of ag would have great ideas and maybe even funding for the supplies to fight noxious weeds. A friend in Alberta has accessed that resource on her family's place. (We've compared successes)

While I sympathize with your having to pull out the burrs, I really recommend removing the plants.
 
#30 ·
The initial post is nearly a year old, and we are slowly getting control of the burr problem. I did get overwhelmed with them and by them, so rather than attacking the whole thing I have been slowly clearing areas.

A combination of cut and burn, and some spraying is turning the tide slowly. I now have the yard and the closest turn out areas nearly sorted, but still have a battle ahead, hopefully by this time next year we will be burr free!
 
#31 ·
The initial post is nearly a year old, and we are slowly getting control of the burr problem. I did get overwhelmed with them and by them, so rather than attacking the whole thing I have been slowly clearing areas.

A combination of cut and burn, and some spraying is turning the tide slowly. I now have the yard and the closest turn out areas nearly sorted, but still have a battle ahead, hopefully by this time next year we will be burr free!
Good for you! May I suggest having a burr-free party. We did when we cleaned out my lease land. Had lots of cruchy food, a friend ordered in some "cactus juice" (whatever that is, but we thought it qualified as prickly), and had the neighbors over! Motivated a couple of them to tackle their problems making my battle even easier. :)
 
#33 ·
Because, if you had read an earlier post we took on a farm covered with them, and I'm sorry but we have to make a living farming the place as well as clearing 200 odd acres close in of Burrs.

I nearly won the 3rd year we were here, was definitely seeing a light at the end of the tunnel, then I was laid up for a long time and they took over again, see this



Every tree line, every hedge has burrs in it, the green triangle bit on the right hand side goes to the 100 odd acres, that remains of the horse empire. No matter how much of the field you clear the trees and bushes that are between 2 fences just sprouts the damn stuff, and I have to be careful spraying because I don't want to kill my trees, and the horses LOVE to shove their heads through and eat in there.

I love the idea of the clean up party, it needs something like that otherwise it's kind of like the 4th bridge here, as fast as you get to one end you are starting all over again.

So yes, I get that getting rid of them would get rid of the problem, but it aint that easy
 
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