December 12^th, 2017

Published by Emily Schwartz in Horse Care

Winter. Come for the beauty, stay for the... no, don't stay. Take your horse and head south! Bitter cold winds. Endlessly falling snow. Frozen water buckets or faucets. Icy walkways and skating rinks for pastures. Oh, the endless joys of horse ownership in the winter. And while non-horse owners complain about the cold and snow, not many of them LIVE it quite like horse owners do. Because unless you’re in a heated barn, the equestrian lifestyle can take a pretty brutal toll for many from November to March. One of the many problems of cold weather is keeping your horse even somewhat clean. Sure, the fluffy white snow doesn’t get him dirty, but the random thaw of 45 degrees has him rolling in a mud pit.

Washing a horse in cold weather with a hose and soap is a big no-no. Because a chilled horse can become very ill in a short amount of time. But it's not just battling the mud and rain. If you keep a blanket on your horse all winter, it quickly becomes grimy with dirt sweat, and manure. So the winter months tend to be dirty, miserable and cold for the lot of us.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve used plenty of waterless sprays to clean my horse in the winter. But they always came with a few issues. Because, one... they aren’t waterless. So, while I understand you don't have to ADD water, the base IS still water. And my horse ends up with damp blotches that I have to rub dry without gloves and frozen fingers. Now he’s annoyed that I’ve taken his warm blanket off, and proceeded to get him wet. Something else he despises. And two, they still leave a gunk and grim behind.

If you’re like me and can’t afford to move somewhere warm, you’re stuck in the cold. And you have to deal with itchy, dirty horse that spray shampoos just can't seem to clean. But luckily, I was fortunate enough to stumble on COAT DEFENSE® daily PREVENTATIVE POWDER. And it was a game changer for my winter grooming routine. Because this magical fairy dust has made winter MUCH more tolerable for me and my Arabian gelding, Billiam. And like most thin-skinned breeds, Billiam loathes the cold. Every evening I can make a million dollar bet that he will impatiently be pawing at the gate to come in. Ears back and eyes glaring at me as if to say, “I belong in a desert, why the heck am I in the snow belt of northeast Ohio?”

I was pleasantly surprised how all these concerns disappeared when I switched to COAT DEFENSE® daily PREVENTATIVE POWDER. Because it also provides a whole lot of comfort to my horse. You might not be able to wash a horse in winter, but you can brush them with a dry shampoo. And that’s all this product entails. See for yourself how you can apply it on a sweaty, damp horse. And then rub it in to have dry, great smelling steed 10 minutes later...

So a good winter grooming tip for horse owners? Grab some COAT DEFENSE® daily PREVENTATIVE POWDER and enjoy peace of mind. It’s easy to apply. It actually works to keep horses clean. And it stops itching, rubbing and bacteria buildup. Plus, it smells delightful. Cold weather’s tough enough. But don’t let a dirty, smelly horse be another thing on that list of things we hate about winter!