June 20, 2012

Flaxen Mane and Tail Care

So, I was hanging out in the Sport Horse Breeding forum the other night on CoTH, when I chanced upon a thread titled "Liver/Chocolate chestnut with a white mane?"  and for obvious reasons, I clicked into it.  Turns out the OP, allanglos, has several horses with flaxen mane and tails, and so somebody asked her how she got their manes and tails so white.  I expected a ho-hum "I use this shampoo and pick it afterward" sort of answer, but boy did she ever deliver!

The hard part is keeping the white tails, white. I have a lot of them at my farm with these nearly palomino purebred Arabians, plus two true palomino Anglo Arabians. Since my horses are out 24/7, they get dirty. So here is what I do:

First I goop on that hand cleaner from Walmart in the white tub. I think it is called Goop? I saturate a dry tail with it and let it work for 20 minutes.

Second, I rinse then soap it up with Clairol Shimmer Lights (or named close to that) shampoo made for grey/blonde hair. I order it online. Lather it up and let it work for about 5 minutes. Then rinse clean.

Last, I spray heavily with "Wow", a whitener available from Jeffers. I brush the whitener in to make sure every hair gets coated. Leave on. The longer the tail is wet, the better it works so I try to not let the sun dry out the tail too quick.

Even if I am not showing, I try to keep up with this at least once a month. That way their white tails stay their true color, white

Allanglos, whoever you are, you're my new favorite person.  I may not have Wow before the show, but I will certainly report back with how the Goop and Clairol do!  Hope this helps some of you who have to deal with this.

4 comments:

  1. interesting. I think horse people have come up with the most crazy (and smart at the same time) routines for getting stuff done.

    Looking forward to hearing how it works out for you. I have a black tail to deal with now and it is kinda nice!

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  2. I'm jealous of your black tail. The yellow-ish flaxen is the hardest color to keep looking nice.

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  3. sooo glad my horse is a chestnut lol.... even though i do love a beautiful white mane and tail... just would not love the up keep. Good luck hope it works :D

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  4. Interesting idea! I want to see before and after pics. :)

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