How to get The Beast clean?

[wendyihts]

Just come back off my Christmas break, spent with my family in the UK. Hubby was at home looking after the animals, including the horses. Anyway, of course, the neds have rolled a lot since I've been away, but hubby hasn't taken a brush to them in 10 days. So Rubi is now PLASTERED in a thick layer of hard, dried on clay. His fur is long and really soft and fluffy, and he HATES the stuff being brushed off. Last night I was trying to pull some bits of his legs and he was really threatening to kick. I guess I can hose his legs off to save him the agony of me brushing it off, but what about the rest of him? It's not that warm here - maybe +5oC during the day, though I do have a Thermatex rug I can put on him and he has turnout rugs too. (I'd been leaving him rugged to keep him clean but we had some days with +15oC over the hols so he had to be unrugged.....)

Anyone got any tips for getting him clean with a minimum of pain and suffering involved, please? ;D

Thanks!

[wabuska]

See Sara's thread! Rugging, is the really the only way, and I find if you stick a medium weight with a high neck on mud and all, the rug will rub most of the mud off as he scampers about and rolls... result... filthy rug. Don't leave it on though as the dirt may rub him. I find a flat on 'whapping' motion onto the mud with a rubber curry at least shatters the mud slabs, but has to be gently done on legs.

[wendyihts]

Thanks Kanga. Which thread is it though?

The trouble with this mud is that it doesn't really crumble. I've had to take pliers to balls of it stuck in their manes before now, or just take scissors to their manes. It sets like brick when it's dry (our house is made from the same dried mud! LOL). So I'd be a bit worried that it would just rubs holes in their skin....

[wendyihts]

Hey, check this out - when in doubt, ask Google! ;D

www.ehow.com/how_4594690_brush-muddy-horse.html

Some great tips on there!

[susan in greece]

Am I being incredibly mean then when I hose my mare down in such situations? As long as the tap was not actually frozen so it was impossible, I would chose to hose the horse to remove mud and then rug and walk them til dry. Breathable rug, after brisk rub down and even better with sweat rug under the breathable rug to start off. Doing this I have never seen her trembling with cold or seeming to suffer.

[rj]

I always use a metal curry comb directly on dried on clay/mud. It breaks it off without hurting the horse (they often hate bristle-y, scratchy brushes more). Metal curry teeth are more akin to horses own teeth grooming, so I use that when appropriate.

[gillmcg]

Sympathies Wendy - clay soil areas in my fields too. We've got snow again and found that after a couple of days I have a self-cleaning pony. The snow has to have SOME compensations! I've also discovered that the rubber gardening gloves (the really thick green ones with cotton backs) work really well at getting dried mud out of Douzy's coat. Particularly useful for legs and face as your hands and fingers follow the contours more easily.