Black Horses

[The_Equestrian]

Does anyone have a solution to stopping a black horse such as a Friesian becoming sun bleached and turning 'bay' with out resorting to rugging whenever they are out in the sun?

[GreatRider]

Nope, i do believe rugging is the only option. I worked in Australia and New Zealand with horses, the Oz ones were top class show jumpers and they all wore rugs all the time, black horses, the ones in NZ were trekking horses and my favorite was a black TB type, no rugs for them hence she went bay. x

[blackhorses]

Not much you can do really, most friesians are brown black and always fade to some degree in the sun, there are the odd blue black ones which don't fade at all.

[Jessica23]

With Una last year i didnt want her to fade before the gradings (she didnt fade at all really the year before but i was paranoid lol) so i just had her on night time turnout so she was out of the worst of the sun. I've always had my horses in during the day at the worst of the summer heat as they seem happier like that, and she was jet black at the gradings so i guess it worked. But, they will either fade or they wont, you cant keep them completely out of the sun.

[KJW]

Move to North Yorkshire. I don't have to worry about the sun bleaching much here :rolleyes:

[peerielee]

Vinnie didn't really fade last year either, the tips of his mane and forelock turned a browny/purple. But thats the plus side of living in Shetland - your black horses dont really fade much as there isn't much sun up here in the summer!!:):)

Only joking there is sun but not as much as the rest of britian gets :rolleyes:

[Troi]

Is the fading not genetic then?
I thought there was a faded black colour on one of Chev's sites and I assumed this was the dark brown in the sun/change of coat look.

[shandy84]

I found using a uv protecting bug rug the only way to get round it :)

[RobCompton]

Plus liberal use of "Black Shampoo" to help keep them very black.

I'd stop short of shoe polish though!!

Ours doesn't really suffer in the area of her coat, that stays very black, but her mane does tend to bleach on the ends. It comes back through the winter to a lovely black.

I don't like rugging for vanity. Nature gave our friends the means to deal with the weather. Then we go and spoil it with clippers and rugs......

[tetleyteabag]

My black boy is starting to bleach in patches already just from the odd day of sunshine we have had, he is still gorgeous though:)

[Stassy]

I remember reading years ago of black movie horses who are exposed to more light than normal in order to stop their coats from fading their handlers used something like blackcurrant juice but I can't for the life of me remember how they used it.

[Blitzen]

I found using a uv protecting bug rug the only way to get round it :)

I tries this one year on a mare, but she sweated under it a little, and the areas that sweated still faded to brown.

[swaartpaard]

Has anyone tried Cheval- black as knight? It is meant to stop them bleaching but is very pricy. Also on of the ladies with her Friesian feeds her speedy beet, and swears it helps to stop her coat bleaching out. I've tried seaweed with my old Dales who was pitch black and it did seems to help. Although she did bleach slightly it was less than the summer before. You can also buy a UV spray which you have to apply to a clean wet coat and should provide protection for up to 7 days...but I am yet to try it. Waiting for new horse to arrive first.

[Sexy Sietske]

Vinegar aparently works... tip all the way from holland to keeping black black, just water it down and sponge it over.

As mine are out 24/7 I actually think its more comfortable for the black ones to wear a white mesh rug in summer as their coat gets boiling standing in the sun and is much cooler with the white to reflect the heat... my grey is never hot to touch from being in the sun.