Horse tips

Just some tips to make life easier, share your own :)
For a really glamourous show tail, spray a little Mr. Sheen through it. Helps separate the hairs and really makes it glisten.
Round nylon mesh body scrubbers available at chemists and supermarkets (the kind sold with liquid soap) are great for washing horses. You can suds up using less shampoo and they easily remove stains. Best of all, they are really cheap. Ordinary tomato sauce does a great job of cleaning copper bits. Rub on with a clean rag, then rinse. Not only does it make copper shine like new, it's non-toxic.
Keep an old strainer near your horse's water trough. It's handy for scooping any leaves or twigs that may have fallen in.
For an effective and natural fly repellent, use 20 drops of citronella in 500mls of water. Shake well and spray on your horse.
If you have a chestnut horse, feeding him pumpkin can really improve coat colour. Chop up a piece of pumpkin including skin and seeds and microwave around 8-0 minutes, until it is soft. Mix in with feed.
If you have trouble removing your horse's chestnuts, smear them with Vaseline every day for four or five days and they will peel right off. For itchy tails, mix equal parts of Listerine (original formula) and baby oil in a spray bottle. Spray on and comb through to the roots with your fingers. This really works and seems to get rid of dandruff too.
To make silver parts of your saddlery really sparkle, rub over with a pencil eraser and buff off with a clean cloth.
Try using shaving cream on your leather to make it really supple. It's what a lot of baseballers use on their catching mitts. Be sure to use the foaming type of shaving cream and NOT the gel!
Wrap some stickytape around your hand with the sticky side facing outwards to remove hairs from your riding coat and saddleblankets.
For really stained white tails, spray through some Preen pre-wash stain remover and leave to penetrate for around 15 minutes, then shampoo and condition as normal.

If you want a really shiney horse with out using commercial products, mix flax in their grain. You'll want it cracked if possible because the horse won't get as much out of it if it's whole. You can stick it in the coffee grinder to grind it. A cup a day will put a shine on, and it's good for the horse!
This is also good for people! Grind it and add it to your oatmeal/porridge in the morning.

I second the flax, We have got many, many complements on how shiny our horses are. Last summer we had people coming to look at a mare, I pulled her out of the pasture in june and brought her up to show them. She hadnt been touched in a week and the first thing they said was "she is shinier than my brothers groomed and blanketed show mare!"

-Also, for horses with very badly tangled manes and tails, soak the big knots and clumps of tangled hair with MTG. Leave for 5-10 minutes, then brush out. I have saved whole tails this way.

-when you have issues with snow balling up on their feet, clean them out, then coat with a quick layer of nonstick cooking spray.

Make double sure it is NOT menthol either.......Kevin

If you forget your scissors and you need to cut open a hay bale, loop a loose/extra baling twine string underneath and pull back and forth. The friction will cut the other string in half. Easy, effective, and really fun!

Did that all the time on the farm!

You can use a shorter horse as a 'mounting block' to get on a taller horse when riding bareback. LOL!