Cleaning (and keeping clean) the Filthy Grey Horse

[alisonph]

Punch has been on stall rest and will be on stall rest for at least 8 weeks. On top of being a total slob in his stall, he has diarrhea. His tail is a manure-icle. His hocks are brown and crusty. His knees are brown. His daily water consumption is tremendous and his daily water expulsion is equally impressive. An entire bale of straw is turned to slop by the morning feeding.

The vet is helping with the diarrhea, but in the meantime, how do I clean him and keep him clean?

We have bucket heaters for hot water and a barn of horses to take care of, plus the rest of the farm, so not tons of time in the morning or evening.

His wardrobe is plentiful, so clipping for cleanliness is an option.

The tail................how do I get it clean? His legs? Ugh.

[welkin]

Please let me know when you find out. I'm working with a grey gelding that lives outside 24/7......bleach?

[johnnysauntie]

So no wash rack? B/c if you had a h/w wash rack I'd first commit the time to wash him - which would include a long period bundled up under coolers (can he gently hand walk? Hair dryer? Squeegee towels?)

If no wash rack - hmm. I'd start with a squirt bottle of water and maybe baby oil to sofen things up and then attack with paper towels.

If his skin is affected, maybe think of a layer of desitin onve you get it clean.

The tail? Ick. Maybe soak in a bucket (can you take a plug in kettle to make some warm water?) And then wash, rinse, and then braid/tail bag to keep cleaner and make future clean ups easier?

Poor him and poor you.

[Deb]

Don't use bleach. It will turn the hairs yellow. Baby oil is a good idea for the removal of the dried manure from the body parts and tail. JA's other suggestions are very good, too. Especially putting the diaper rash ointment Desitin on his rear end and knees after he is cleaned-up.

[Smay]

Alison if you have a sloppy one who's also sick, you are going to have to take extreme measures... First, I suggest washing and conditioning his tail then bag it. The nicest bags are the ones you braid three tubes together loosely after tying into their tail (loosely, never tight because you can damage the tail that way).

So anyway, then keep him rugged up with a longish rug or stable blanket that has a belly band. The more you cover, the less he grinds manure and pee into his coat.

You can wrap his legs if he's not being wrapped already for therapeutic reasons!

And finally, you might want to bed him on sawdust rather than straw just for now while he's on stall rest. It's much more absorbant and you can do a little extra picking at night check or morning feed or whenever, just to get the new piles of poop out before he grinds them to a mushy pulp. Since he's a big pee man, you might also try using wood pelleted bedding in his pee spot, which will suck up a LOT of pee before it gets stomped and mashed into the rest of his bedding. Yah, it's heavy to pick up, but it does a real good job.

I had to do a lot of this when Oatis was sick with EPM, not because he got dirty per se, but because he had so many pressure wounds and bed sores from falling/laying down so much, and I tried to keep his stall fluffy and pristine as much as possible. I picked it probably four/five times a day,( yes, I work fulltime- had to come home at lunch!) and added new bedding every day, but that was extreme. I also kept his legs and head padded and wrapped to protect them from scrapes, but his elbows, hocks and hips were also getting very beat up so the deep shavings helped with that.

One thing I noticed about straw-bedded horses it that they often get a crusty layer that sawdust horses don't get. We brought our new guy home with HUNKS of manure crust on his elbows and knees and belly! Yuck! I had to use hot steam towels to loosen it and wipe it away but some is still there!

Good luck with your Punch. I hope he manages to tolerate his stall rest OK during this evil weather! Don't worry, spring and hot soap baths are just around the corner! DON'T TOUCH HIM WITH BLEACH!!! hahaha No, but seriously that will ruin his coat.

[Gwen]

Poor guy! Sorry for you too! Our horses are all little piggies in their stalls...I can't wait to get them out 24/7 again...

Try bedding with sawdust really heavily. It's a pain in the butt to clean out once it's all wet, but it will absorb much more than straw, and keep him neater throughout the day until you can get back to him.

I used to show black and white cows, and the miracle ingredient that helped keep their white parts white was Whisk. For his tail, would a warm water soak be possible? We used to mix a couple of cap-fulls of Whisk in water, mix it up and really scrub it in. Soaking will loosen it up so the gunk comes off more easily. It'll help clean out the stains too! We used it especially on bellies, knees, and hocks. Clipping really helped to clean them up too.

I second the tailbag after washing his tail out! It also works as a burr shield against our horses' inner burr magnets when in turnout Some Vetrolin Shine will help keep the tail soft, silky, and slippery, making brushing much easier too.

Best of luck!

[pinkdaisy]

Third the tailbag!!!! Much easier to either wash or throw away a tail bag. I hate having to groom/bathe in the winter.

For tough stains on white/gray, I use a purple or blue shampoo (I prefer Quic Silver, but I'm sure others work just fine). I dilute it for the whole body, but for tough stains, I just put it on my hands and slap it on there. You can use this method to spot clean too, and really scrub it in there. Then hose off.

As for the tail, I know someone recommended Vetrolin. I also like Mane n Tail detangler. It does really good things.

[Einstein]

I'd do the wash/condition/tail bag idea too. For his legs, I wouldn't sweat the stains in this weather. Once it's done, wash him really well and clip.

One thing I've had good results with on greys is using a stain remover (and you can add small amount of rubbing alcohol to a towel and rub in as well) and then to a hot baby oil towel bath. Gets a lot of the ground in dirt well and pulls it out. Lots and lots of curring helps too!

I disagree about straw. We actually switched to it because it is so much more comfortable! Trust me, if you've had to sit in one spot for 20 minutes while lazering a horses in leg in both deep shavings and straw, it's straw that makes it so much more comfy! We have zero hock sores on straw, and it's so much nicer on legs. I love it!

Thank goodness the only grey horse in our barn now is Ella, who is the Queen Of Neatness, she would be appalled to have a poop stain on her ;D

[nybabyz]

I agree with Einstein about the comfort of straw but also agree with Smay about the absorbency of shavings. When I have to keep one in the stall I put down a thick layer of shavings and then put straw on top. Best of both IMO.

I don't envy you. Nothing else to add regarding cleaning up the poopsicle.

[welkin]

I was totally kidding about the bleach by the way, lol!

[Smay]

No doubt that straw is "softer" as a bed, but unless you are meticulous and thorough, the straw bed will get dirtier and will be harder to clean--most people I know that bed on straw only strip the stalls once a week, not picking them daily or *hourly!* like some people with sick horsies do! I'm thinking that if you really want to make Punch comfy, you'd do as suggested above and lay down the sawdust, then top with straw, THEN pick his stall a couple times a day to keep the poop globs out... but with diarrhea on straw? eewwww, nasty mess. I'm sure most of your main problem is the soupy poopies. You really can't win with that and a grey horse.

[alisonph]

Great suggestions! I'll get the tail bag and get on the soaking. Punch is an absolute saint and virtually falls asleep while I fuss with him.

JA - nope, no wash rack! Only bucket heaters. They work well for the task at hand. Baby oil is a great idea. It's the beside the tail crusties that I think will benefit most by baby oil softening.

Has anyone used oxyclean?

I have Orvus soap, purple shampoo from TSC, $30 Shimmering Lights from my hairdresser and my new personal favorite, Cowboy Magic whitening shampoo. I've snagged the kids' silicone sprays/ gels to put on his legs and anywhere the diarrhea tends to run down. Eqyss works really well and smells great.

Smay - unlike any other horse I've ever known Punch LOVES stall rest! Spending ten years racing has taught himto conserve energy and spend lots of time napping in the corner of his stall. He gets annoyed with other horses and if he leaves his stall he has to deal with the others! I can even ride him alone on a trailride after he's been standing in his stall and he's good as gold. He would rather trot than walk, but doesn't put up too much of a fuss when I insist on walking.

Bedding change? I hadn't thought of that. I'm going to give it a try.

Good news. He has solid manure today and although it's a blizzard, the temps aren't that low and today might be a good day to begin tackling the crud.

[Katelyn]

Well - tons of GREAT suggestions already!!

What worked to get my big, grey Dutch mare clean (who came from a farm with RED clay - red stains head to toe!):

Dawn with Oxyclean (you can buy it that way!)
Leave it soak full force in mane/tail, knees and hocks.
Put it in the wash water for the rest of the body.

Used an organic green stain remover for the little stuff right before we went in the ring - that worked great, too!

She was SPARKING white for her inspection!!


As for ground in/dried manure/pee/ick -
I use Listerine mixed with baby oil (3 parts/1 part) - works to soften up the grunge and de-germ at the same time, plus takes away any itchies.


I'd put zinc oxide on the areas that are continually getting wet = to keep the skin from breaking down.

I totally agree with wrapping up the tail - or at least make a mud braid...one less thing to clean!

If its REALLY icky- I'd drench it in the Listerine/baby oil and put it in the tail bag to soak. Come back a day or two later and wash in a pail and put back up in a tail sock or mud braid.

Good luck - diarrhea added to stall rest is NO fun!

[Einstein]

Wow, I don't know anyone who uses straw that doesn't clean stalls daily! Done right, and with mats, we've never had a real issue with drainage, or mess. They basically get stripped daily, that's how you need to clean with straw. What remains usable gets banked and then reused again. It's really cost effective, no dust, and really clean, but like everything else, I guess it's how the barn manages cleaning stalls.

[alisonph]

Katelyn,

Great tips! I'm going to print out everyone's tips and hang them in the barn.

M, I'm with you, I love straw. It took me some time to figure out how to efficiently clean the stall, and figure out the best amount of straw for each horse, but once I got it figured out, I really like it. Punch's stall gets stripped daily! I'm procrastinating going out to do it right now, but it isn't getting any lighter out...............