Shiny Coat

[Maci]

Does anyones have a way to get a horses coat shiny, besides brushing it for hours and exceedingly well? Does wipping it with a cloth after grooming help?

No Competition!
Just for Future References!
Thanks!
Maci :)

[Gracie]

If you add vegtable oil to a horses feed it helps keep a horses coat shinny! You can also use things like show sheen or showsheen wipes to help glossy up the coat! and of course baths(Which I'm sure you already knew!) Anyways thats what i know about keeping coats shinny!! LOL :)

[Allie]

vegetable oil will do it, but you have to keep in mind it adds a lot of calories so you may want to cut back on grain. Show sheen is a good temporary measure for shows or special events. You really don't have to brush for hours, just brush every day consistently for maybe 10 minutes. Good quality feed is also a major factor. Make sure your hay is top notch and you are feeding quality grain.

Allie

[Maci]

Thanks Gracie and Allie! The vegetable oil idea sounds good, but I think it would add a little too much fat and I want to stay clear of that! He gets baths and good grooming, so his coat does look healthy and has a healthy shine to it! I was just wondering. You know those days when you feel you want your horse to look all his potantial? Yes, I experience those often!

Thanks,
Maci :)

[Minxz]

Question about the veg oil.. On top of helping the coat would it be efficient for adding weight to my horse. I give him a supplement of Equine Senior about 4 times a week would it be a good idea to mix some vegetable oil in that? If so how much? Are there any side effects..making him hot..?
Thank you Everyone

[JackiAH]

I dont know if they make it where you live, but here in the USA Softsoap is wonderful. It's somewhat acidic so it makes coats like silk, really nice feeling...

[floppy]

I find that most of the horse i know that have a really shiny coat are the ones that are kept throughout the winter with rugs on constantly ... it keeps them nice and clean but my horse rarely wears a rug..usually only when she has gotten wet whilst riding out in bad weather or if th weather is extremely cold, she has a lovely thick fury coat and she shines nicely even if she has alot of dust in her coat that you only notice when you pat her on the bum you could always try a wollen grooming mit....you wip eit over the hrose after you finsihed grooming and supposidly it removes more dusts and makes it shine! never used one myself

[Kaz]

Hi,
While I was on holiday this year we stayed at a cottage that had a resident horse (heaven!!). I couldn't resist going to the field to visit this horse and I stood there for a while just stroking his neck in one place. When I got called in for breakfast I looked at his neck and realised that where I had been stroking him was clean and shiny!!! He had a streak of shiny hair and the rest of him was dirty and dusty. Yes my hand was rather brown but the horses coat was clean and shiny.

I think this must only work on clipped/summer coat hair because I only stroked my horse (she is very hairy at the moment!) a few times today to say hello and all the hair went static!!

Karen

[Roz Morris]

Kaz, what you said reminded me of what I discovered when I was massaging my horse regularly. In the areas I'd massaged, my horse's coat was beautifully soft and shiny and clean - and my hands were literally caked with grease! I've heard other fans of massage say this too. If you don't want to get deeply into massage, just try stroking the coat with your hands, in long soothing movements (about 1 per second or you'll wind up the horse) and starting gently and building up to reasonably firm pressure (but be more careful over bony areas).

Minxz - I give my horse veg oil in the winter to keep condition and weight on him. It adds more calories, so it will make him fatter, but it's non-heating. He gets half a cup a day. You can also feed horses corn oil, but that is heating. I don't know how oils mix with other supplements - you may be needlessly duplicating certain nutrients. If I were you I'd wait and see how much your supplement does before adding something else.

I've heard other benefits for feeding oil. It can help with joint mobility, so the horse gets less stiff. A friend of mine was recommended to try it for her horse who had dry, itchy skin. And by the way, I can vouch that it does wonders for the coat!

[marissa]

hi
horses must be like dogs cuz i was reading a book and it said if you mix veggie oil in with his food it will keep his coat shinny. when im done grooming my horse i just wipe her down with a old rag. well bye :)

[Flo]

Where I used to ride the owner kept goats and all the animals got fresh goats milk. All the dogs, cats and horses looked fantastic on it.

[Silvia]

Yep, ours get fresh goat milk too. They all love it.

[Maci]

Well that's a good idea. But, I have no goats near by, or if I get goat's milk, it wouldn't be fresh, but there's something to mention to my stable friend who rides in competitions regularly! I just rub him down with a cloth after exercise. He looks great! Even better in the summer, than the winter (coat change, and everythng).

Thanks,
Maci :)

[lamprellsarah]

A damp cloth rubbed over a coat works wonders!
Vegetable oils good i perfer codlivine, it has added extras, like keeping the horse supple and added vitamins and minerals.

[Maci]

When I posted this thread, it was in the winter when he still had his winter coat, so that's probably why he wasn't "shiny" enough for me! :)

But today, I found something that makes them look SO good and shiny! Brush them first with only a plastic curry comb (VERY thorough, too!), and then go over it with a soft body brush, then finish by wipping the coat with a cloth. It looks (and he looked) AMAZING (and shiny!)!

Maci :)

[Liz E.]

I once rode a horse named Chip (a chesnut gelding) with an already extremely shiny coat. The problem with the was even after grooming him, every speck of dust showed up! But cloth wiping helped.

[Polo]

In the summer i rode a tb mare for a few weeks... i gave her a thorough grooming every day for about 15 mins and after about a week woah was she shiny!!!! honestly i dont think i have ever seen a horse that shiny before apart from proffesionals! I dunno if that was just her, but you could try it on your horse!

[floppy]

i agree constantgrooming is one of the best methods, i always giv emy horse a good grooming before i ride and again after i ride

[Maci]

Yeah, I gave him a good grooming on Saturday, and WOW! Is he shiny! I think before he didn't look so shiny (and when I first posted this thread) was in the winter, when he had his winter coat, and they don't look so shiny then. But now, he's growing his summer (shedding his winter!) and he is nice and shiny and GORGEOUS! :eek:

Thanks,
Maci :)

[floppy]

speakign of sheddin winter coats...my horse has already shed hers llast month but what a pain a shedding winter coat is! with the wind blowing int he wrong way so when you groom th ehorse the horse looses is winter fur but the wind sticks the winter fur all over you so you can loook like your horse and aso if you open you mouth for a split second you got a mouth full of horsey hair..pluuuhhh :p

[Bootyfulcobs]

at the stables i used to work ay, they used a spray on coat shine - it was only really useful when they'd just been bathed, but watch out 'cos it can make their coat quite slippery if you're not careful (some people used to go O.T.T. with it and put too much on), and some horses don't like being sprayed with it either - it smells quite strongly of citrus - i think it's made by Carr& Day& Barrett - though it's not a long term solution , it's good just to smarten them up quickly - hope this helps!:)

[Mossy]

Word to the wise about Veggie oil. The vet's round here recommend Soya Oil to add calories to build up a skinny horse. Be careful with adding calories to feed just as the spring grass is starting to come through. You may finish up with a fat horse in a month or two. Mine both get to spring in somewhat skinny mode, not thin but certainly not what is called "show condition". Depending on the way the grass is coming through I cut down feed this time of year not add to it.

[Hevz2001]

To whoever asked about mixing veggie oil with feed supplements.............
Where i go riding, we add two or three caps of oil to the horses feed, which contains feed supplements ('Cortaflex' and Steady Up') and has had no side effects on any of the horses. I'm not sure about the feed supplement that you feed ** horse, so maybe you could ask a vet or someone.
We also add 1 cap of 'cider vinegar'
hope that helped!
it keeps the coats looking amazingly naturally shiny!
n e way
bye
Hevz

[JumperGirl]

No offense, but I was taught never to use show sheen on a horses body, only on the tail, it makes it easier to brush out, losing the least amount of hairs possible. Because it makes the tail shiney and easy to brush out, it makes it kind of greasy feeling and slippery, so the saddle could slip easily, or it could irritate the horse.

thats just what I was taught.

[Bootyfulcobs]

that's fair enough, but there is a spray specially formulated for the body now, so i think they'll have thought about irritation to the horse and it shouldn't do any harm. there is also another spray for tails, which i agree makes it easier to brush out the tail - both worked really well and never caused the horses any problems as long as like i say - it's used carefully and as directed by the manufacturer:)

[floppy]

you get mane and tail conditioner and coat shine.
and its obvious where you use them :)

[Bootyfulcobs]

thankyou floppy- my meemory's a bit rusty these days on their names even tho it's quite logic

[EventPony]

well....if i remember i use vetrolin....or show sheen for shows....giving them baths occasionally...but really i think vetrolin works pretty well..i dont use it that much htough...