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Dry Climate Dust

1K views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  boots 
#1 ·
There has always been such a problem out here in the desert with dust (duh, lol, it's the desert). It sticks to everything, it's super fine and extremely hard to get off. After brushing the horses, despite extensive currying, dandy, and soft, they often look worse. The dust all comes to the surface but won't leave!

Well, I did a google search and may have just found out why. Apparently, in a very dry climate, the dust bonds to the hair with a static charge (I accidentally shocked my mare this past week while trying to get the dust off with a cloth, so makes sense to me). One of the only ways to get it off is to mist/wet the coat and then brush. Makes sense to me, as I had a decent amount of success last time by wetting the soft brush. It was recommended to use a small amount of conditioner in a spray bottle filled with water, and then use that to mist the coat.

Any other tips/tricks? I'm excited to try this out next grooming session.
 
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#2 ·
It is dry in my part of Wyoming. It's even called "high desert" which I think is silly when compared to where you are.

But, we have gumbo in many areas. A mix of clay and specifically bentonite which when dry makes a very fine dust.

The only darn way I've gotten a horse even briefly clean is by taking slightly damp rags and brushing against the way the hair lays. After currying and brushing, and then soft brushing again, followed by a dry rag.

And, honestly, the benefit is so brief, I only do it for presenting a horse to someone or photo ops, or occasionally to check condition when I've been in those places.
 
#4 ·
Tried it out today on my mother's horse, who tends to be a dust attractor. She has a very soft, velveteen rabbit kind of coat that for some reason really holds the dirt. My mare has an extremely short, almost close clip short, summer coat and doesn't retain dust as much.

Anyway, I just used my fly spray as the liquid for this trial. It worked! I gave her a quick curry, and she looked like a living dust bowl as usual (there is so much of it, you literally cannot see the color of her coat beneath it). Then I sprayed her before trying the dandy. Worked like a charm, took everything I had just curried up right off rather than staying on the surface of the coat.

I've got some skin so soft and horse conditioner I never use, so I can use a little bit of either of them in a spray bottle filled with water.
 
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