Removing muck from a thick tail

[Ruskii]

I'm really stuck for ideas on this. I managed to get an hour spare today, so dashed up to the yard with a mission of just washing my horses tail.

He lives out 24/7 and is rugless, however he has a really thick tail that when left gets caked in horse poo. In the past, I've given it a wash then pulled it out with a brush. Not the best thing to do as this breaks and removes a lot of hair

Today I gave it a thorough scrub with oodles and oodles of tea tree shampoo, then rinsed it. Did this twice, and it broke it up a bit, however as I only had an hour, I then probably used about 1/3 of a bottle of conditioner on his tail. Let that work through whilst he had a small bowl of chaff and then brushed his tail out best I could. (Love Canter Conditioner)worked a treat with the rest of his tail, my god I can see brown and WHITE in there ! ) but the poo chunks are still in there, any tips on how to get them to shift without breaking any hairs ?

Thanks

 

[Flipo's Mum]

Oh you're making me feel so lazy - My boy lives out 24/7 and his tail is flaxen so an absolute nightmare to keep clean. TBH I've just left it - I'm embracing the dishevelled look - although he doesn't get too much poo stuck in it.
I would only suggest that when you do manage, somehow, to get it clean, that you spray a little pig oil over it so the crap just slides off.
Good luck, I'm sure someone more experienced will give some advice in the next wee while!!

 

[shockblue]

I was thinking oil too. My mare is getting a bit of a messy tail despite only have about 3 hairs!

 

[Lemme]

We usually dunk ours in a bucket of Water,(usually 3 or 4 ) until worst is out then shampoo. baby oil or pig oil is good, just apply and comb through and leave to dry. for protection we us Alvabarrier spray, TBH this time of year we only clean then about once a month, saves breakage.

 

[Tramble]

I have an Irish Cob with the most fantastic thick, wavy tail and all we do during the Winter is spray on conditioner once a fortnight and brush regular with an Oster mane and tail brush (like a hairbrush), it keeps his tangle free and releases stuck on poo quite easily. Otherwise I would have to use a Dandy or Curry on his tail and I don't want to ruin his tail and because it would take forever with a comb.

I pick any stubborn bits off with my fingers and am quite an expert at poo picking a horses tail

 

[Midnight_Ashes]

Take the hair above the clump and pull it apart, this will break the clump in half and some bits will usually crumble off. Then just keep splitting into smaller bits until the clump is broken off - it will involve picking with fingies so you may wish to wear gloves!!

After that, wash and coat in baby oil. Then why not put it in a loose plait - like the body of the tail not the dock? Also, another idea might be to wrap a tail bandage around the body of the tail (again not the dock) - two horses at my yard go out like this because they go out with a tail sucker

 

[LokiSofi]

I'm another fan for baby oil. Good for removing dirt but also works at stopping more dirt appearing

 

[Big Ginger]

Baby/Veg oil (even better), fairy liquid and lots of elbow grease!
In future, plait it up through winter to prevent it from getting muddy...

 

[tbaynancy]

Here's the stupid newbie question of the day ..... if you plait the tail, what do you use at the end to keep it in place? An elastic band? or is there some special horse thing for that?

 

[Midnight_Ashes]

Here's the stupid newbie question of the day ..... if you plait the tail, what do you use at the end to keep it in place? An elastic band? or is there some special horse thing for that?

You would use a plating band, but any old elastic band would do!

 

[bitsnpieces]

I would dunk in warm water until the water stops finishing up really dirty, you may have to work some of the dirt off with your fingers, usually just rubbing it once it's been soaked is enough. Towel dry most of it but just before it's really dry, rub baby oil/pig oil in or spray it with a conditioner/barrier spray. In this cold weather you probs don't need to do it too much though as it won't do the quality of the hair much good to be cold then hot then cold again too much. once you've put baby oil on etc, maybe just try regularly spraying conditioner on and this should stop too much sticking to the hair.

Then when spring hits, shampoo like mad!!!!! lol

 

[pauline w]

Gems tail gets mucky and I use pig oil with a few drops of lavender oil, (put it into a spray container) I plait her tail and put 3 or 4 bands at intervals to keep it in. the pound shop do packs of soft kiddie ones which dont break the hair. I wipe the coats with the oil too, seems to stop the mud sticking. Canter is nice to use as well.

 

[daftdraught]

My mare gets a caked tail and I use pig oil (tonnes of it) I sometimes put it into three plaits But i found the the rubber bands rotted quickly but my friend gave me a good tip and that is to use hairbands for our hair, making sure the didn't have the metal joins (you can get them in asda) they last a lot longer and I use two at a time. It does sting a bit if they flick you !!!!

 

[Laura2184]

Do you not worry that if you plait the tail it'll get stuck on stuff? Or is that just me being way over cautious

Good idea though!!

 

[Mary Poppins]

I tend to use my fingers to pull it out. Baby oil works well too.

 

[daftdraught]

They haven't caught their tails as yet but I only do it on the odd occaision especially when the burrs are at large. I put plaits in the mane as well make it easier for me to comb them out.

 

[pauline w]

Gem has had her tail plaited for weeks and not caught it on anything. She's usually in an electric fence paddock so not much to catch it on I suppose.