By Anita Prowse
Well, it’s wet and muddy, slippery and slimy out there in the paddocks, but the shortest day on 22 June has now passed, which means horses’ coats will soon be shifting.
Quite a few people found their horses and ponies were itchy with coats moving earlier than usual with the warmer drier start to June.
Following are some ways we can help our furry friends during this time. The following article was written by the Equus magazine editors in May 2020, and please remember older horses or those with insulin issues may need extra help as the regulatory systems may need a push during this time. Stay warm and Happy Riding.
1. Give a late-season full-body clip. Shear off the shaggy coat a month before shedding season begins; the shorter hair will be less of a torment when it does fall out. Remember to blanket the newly clipped horse if the weather stays cool.
2. Apply some old-fashioned elbows grease. Control the timing of mess and shorten its duration by going over the horse with a currycomb or shedding blade during vigorous daily grooming sessions. Those lengthy
daily sessions collect the worst of the hair in one area and can shorten the shedding season by a week or more.
3. Pour on the oil. Empty an entire bottle of baby oil over your horse, making sure to cover his legs and belly. After leaving the horse oiled for an overnight soak, give him a warm-water shampoo. The oil encourages dead hair to slide from the follicles. The procedure itself makes one big mess but gets it all over with in a hurry. The oil treatment works so well, in fact, that some recipients can look rather bald for a few weeks afterward.
