Favourite Things #1

I have two grey horses. The boy horse is still dark enough that he doesn't have too much white on him yet. But the Princess is mainly white. I don't have any desire to show these days, so I don't get too worried about how clean she is. But what I do get a bit OCD about is trying to keep her tail white.

My barn doesn't have an indoor wash rack, so I keep her tail up in the winter. The reason - one of the first years I owned her, I went out to the barn right around Christmas after not being out for a week. Her tail had gotten caught up in her blanket leg straps, and was acting as a shelf for the poo to sit on. Frozen poo tail. So gross. And so hard to clean in minus 20 weather. So ever since then I put her tail up when I put her blanket on in the winter.

But in the summer I don't worry so much about her tail as I can wash it frequently. She still pees and poops all over it when she wears her fly sheet, but I can wash it twice a week if need be.

So my favourite shampoo? Mane & Tail Spray 'n White Shampoo by Straight Arrow.

http://manentailequine.com/products/spray-n-white-shampoo/

It's a dark purple shampoo, and if I forget to wear gloves my hands looks like they are bruised for a day afterwards. I love that it can be sprayed on - it's so disappointing when you watch a big glop of your expensive whitening shampoo hit the floor as it slips off your hand before you can get it on the tail. And it does the best job so far of whitening. I have Quick Silver shampoo, but I haven't used it for a couple of years as it is more expensive and I am saving it for a big occasion. So I can't compare it against that.

I just have to watch that I don't drop the bottle on the ground from the top of my tack box and smash the sprayer. Cause that will happen if you do that.

I currently have a three year supply in my garage - bought the last couple of containers from a local store that was liquidating them at half price. Should be just in time for the boy horse to get a white tail.