Own A Fairy Tale Horse!

How to Grow a Thick Luxurious Mane and Tail
Table of Contents
Own a Fairy Tail Horse!..............................................................................................................9

Introduction.............................................................................................................................9
Chapter One - The Grooming Box.........................................................................................15
How to Make Your Own Hair Polish .................................................................................24
Chapter Two- Untangling the Mess .......................................................................................29
Chapter Three- Keeping it Clean ...........................................................................................43
Chapter Four – Care of the Mane and Tail in FREEZING Weather! ......................................47
Chapter Five - Rubbing Out the Mane and Tail .....................................................................51
How to Take a Horse's Temperature ..................................................................................57
How to Accurately Estimate the Weight of a Horse ...........................................................58
The Importance of Proper Worming ..................................................................................62
How to Quickly and Easily Get Rid of Thrush...................................................................69
How to Clean the Sheath of a Horse ..................................................................................70
Chapter Six - Training the Mane to Stay On One Side ...........................................................81
How to Do a Horse's Mane in the “Fish Net” or “Basket Weave” Pattern ..........................85
How to Curl Your Horse's Hair..........................................................................................86
Chapter Seven - Care of the Mane .........................................................................................87
Chapter Eight - Care Of the Tail............................................................................................93
Own a Fairy Tail Horse!

Page 2  2009 by Beth Moore
How to Make a Horse Look Like It Has a Thicker Tail....................................................101
How to Apply a Horse Tail Bandage ...............................................................................102
Chapter Nine - Forelocks.....................................................................................................108
Chapter Ten – Super Fast Hair Growth Formula!! ...............................................................110
How to Use the Super Fast Hair Growth Formula ............................................................116
How to Get Rid of Mud Fever .........................................................................................121
Chapter Eleven – The Part Nutrition Plays ..........................................................................122
How to Get a Horse to Drink More Water .......................................................................126
Feeding Sugar Beets to a Horse .......................................................................................130
the bag or package. Be sure to follow the recommended feeding guidelines on the package.
You must be sure that you allow the beets long enough to absorb the water before feeding.
........................................................................................................................................132
Beneficial Herbs for Horses.............................................................................................132

......................................................................................160
Bonus #1:................................................................................................................................160
Coat Color- Condition and Care................................................................................................160
Flaxen Manes and Tails.......................................................................................................162
Black and Red Coats, Manes and Tails ................................................................................166
How to Darken Your Horse's Coat ......................................................................................167
White Socks ........................................................................................................................169
White Horses.......................................................................................................................172
Remove and Repel Stains ....................................................................................................174

Shining Glossy Coat............................................................................................................175
How to Make Glitter Hoof Polish ....................................................................................177
How to Make Horse Body Glitter ....................................................................................179
................................................................................182
Bonus #2:................................................................................................................................182
Super Shedding Blade ..............................................................................................................182

...............................................................................................187
Bonus #3:................................................................................................................................187
How to Sell Any Horse Fast for Top Dollar! ...........................................................................187
How to Take Great Photos of Any Horse.........................................................................189
How to Sand and Polish Your Horse's Hooves.................................................................190
How to Form a Bond With Any Horse.............................................................................200
How to Train a Horse Using the Clicker Training Method ...............................................203

Teaching a Horse to Load in A Trailer.............................................................................206
Teaching a Horse to Stand Still for Mounting ..................................................................207
How to Train a Horse to Pull a Sleigh or a Cart ...............................................................212
How to Teach a Horse to Bow.........................................................................................218
Teach a Horse to Kiss......................................................................................................221
How to Teach a Horse to Hug..........................................................................................223
How to Train a Horse to “Shake”.....................................................................................224
Teach a Horse to Lie Down .............................................................................................226
Teach a Horse to Sit ........................................................................................................230
Teach A Horse the Forehand Turn ...................................................................................231
Teach A Horse to Turn on His Haunches.........................................................................232
Teach A Horse to Sidepass ..............................................................................................233
Train a Horse to Urinate on Command ............................................................................234
Teach a Horse to Rear .....................................................................................................238
Teach a Horse to Walk on His Hind Legs ........................................................................241
Conclusion ..........................................................................................................................243
P.S. Here’s another extra bonus that you will need once your horse’s mane is really long. It’s
a video on how to braid a really, really long mane into one beautiful rolling plait.
Http://FairyTale-Horses.com/braiding_video.htm................................................................245



Introduction
I can hardly ever go to a horse show or on a trail ride anymore without several
people coming up to me and asking me how I get my horses' manes and tails to grow so
long and thick. Soon, that is going to be you! I hope you love helping others as much as I
do and that you will share your secrets with others.
Before we get started though, please do me a favor and go right now and take
pictures of ALL your horses. Not just the ones that have thin, scraggly manes and tails,
but ALL of them. That is because ALL of your horses are going to have thicker, longer,
more luxurious manes and tails when you follow my instructions and you will see a big
improvement.

I want you to send me your most notable transformations, with “before” and “after”
pictures and even a short story if it’s interesting, about what you or the horse has gone
through. With your permission, I would like to post them on my website or even use them
in the hard copy version of my book, which will be available in book stores and online in
about six months.
Everyone who’s story and pictures are used either inside the upcoming book or on
the outside cover will receive a free copy of the hard copy edition, so don’t forget to send
those pictures! Can you imagine showing your friends the pictures of your horse on the
cover of the book or on the website? They’ll be so impressed! And there’s more free
publicity for you or your barn!
I think you will be truly amazed at how easy it is to have the kind of mane and tail
that will really enhance the beauty of your horse. It is easy to see how your horse's value
can greatly increase without having to spend any more time grooming than you already do

and probably even less. That is why it is going to be easy to improve ALL of your horses
even if you have dozens of them. Trust me, you’ll see!
Best of all, you don't have to spend hardly any money at all either. Everything you
need is really inexpensive. You won’t be using any special shampoos or conditioners
either, so you’ll be saving money there too.
You’re going to use less grooming tools than you are probably already using so it’s
easier to carry the stuff around. I probably use less than half the grooming tools most
people use. It's a lot easier to carry around a couple of items than lugging around a big
grooming box to all the horse shows I go to.
I have the really big grooming box at home. It's filled with all the grooming
equipment and tools that I used to think I needed. Now I wish I had all the money I spent
buying all those unnecessary things that I never use anymore. Well, at least those days
are over now.

You will find that when you follow the simple instructions contained in this book you
will have the most beautiful mane and tail possible in almost no time at all. I'm sure you
will agree that this book is everything promised and more. Give it a try, and it will help to
make your grooming time easier, and the time you spend with your horse more enjoyable
and more rewarding.
There’s one thing I want to mention before we get started. Throughout this book, I
have pictures of the products or types of products that I use and recommend, so that you
have no doubt about exactly what I use. On some of them, if you click on the picture, it will
take you to a place where you can see the cost and order that product if you wish. This is
only for your convenience and NOT meant to try to sell you something else. Most of the
items you need, you probably already have either at home or already in your barn.
Please do not misunderstand my intention by putting pictures of the products I use
or links to order them if you choose. If you do however order any of the products through
the links in this book, all commissions from that sale will go directly to Hurricane Recovery

as do ALL proceeds from the sale of this book. The beneficiaries of that organization
sincerely appreciate your help and support!
Now it’s time to get started. Just don’t forget to send me those before and after
pictures!! I also love hearing all the wonderful transformation stories! Please send them
so that I can share them with others.
Happy Trails to You!
Beth Moore


Chapter One - The Grooming Box
Your grooming box does not need to be a very big box at all because you won't
need very much equipment. All I use is either one or both of these that Jeffers Equine
carries. You can click on the picture to get the price and more info on them.

Now I want you to go ahead and get your tack box and I want you to take
everything out of your box right now. We're going to restock it.
The first thing I want you to do is throw away your mane comb! You will NEVER
need or use it again! A comb does more damage to the mane and tail than anything
short of a pair of scissors. It can be the number one thing standing in your way of
achieving the look you want. I shudder when I see people combing away at the horse
shows or the training barns I visit. They're just absent-mindedly ripping out hairs that
took months or even years to grow. GET RID OF IT NOW! I promise you will never
miss it. Not even when you've got the fifteen-foot long tail we will be striving for.

No!
None of these types of combs are allowed anywhere near your horse!!
Now that I've gotten that off my chest, we will discuss what you DO need. Here is
a complete list of every item I use to groom a horse whether it's for every day or the
show ring:
1. A stiff bristle plastic or wooden handle human hair brush

2. Spray hair polish like LaserSheen or ShowSheen
3. Cowboy Magic Detangler
4. A hard bristle horse body brush
5. My multi-purpose shedding tool
6. A roll of black plastic electrical tape
That's all folks! That's everything you need to groom the mane, tail and body.
There’s one extra optional item that I like just so I don’t have to bend over so much and
that is a toilet bowl brush! I use it to scrub the lower part of the horse’s legs more easily
without having to bend over. That’s just more of a little extra item, but you can use the
other brush for that if you don’t want to use the toilet bowl brush. It’s up to you. It is
good for a few laughs around the barn though.
Now, let's go over each important item individually and I’ll explain exactly what
type you need and how you will use it to get the desired results.

There are many different brands and variations of the hairbrush I like so well, but
the kind I use is a "Goody" brand. They have them at Wal-Mart, many grocery stores
and similar type stores. The one I use has a plastic handle and nylon bristles. It is
often sold in local grocery stores with the other hair products for people.
It has to have either nylon or natural bristles, NOT pins and not hard plastic type
bristles. They also need to be pretty stiff. If it is too soft, it will just go over the hair
without really accomplishing much.
I use it for everything from untangling the mane and tail to brushing mud off the
legs and dust off the face. I’ll tell you more about how to use it though in a minute.

Here are two types that
will work. Just so the
bristles are this type or
natural, as long as they
are stiff bristles, it
should work fine.

The next very important item is the spray hair polish. I have tried many different
types and different brands and my favorite is ShowSheen. I wouldn’t be caught without
it. Equally as good is LaserSheen which comes in either a ready to use or a
concentrated form that is mixed with water. Whichever you prefer, it helps get out and
keep out the tangles. It repels dust, dirt, and even stains similar to Armor All. That will
help keep the mane and tail from tangling so easily once you have it all brushed out. In
addition it prevents static electricity from building up which will also help keep the
tangles out.
It also protects the hair from sun burning and sun bleaching when your horse is
out in the sun for extended periods of time, or even in a pasture. Last, but not least it
puts a beautiful gloss on the hair.
If you want to make your own homemade hair polish, you can add 1/4 cup of
baby oil to 2 cups of water. Then add 4 tablespoons of cider vinegar in a spray bottle.
Shake before each time you use it and just spray it on.

The one place you never want to put these types of hair polish is under where
the saddle goes. It can cause the saddle to slip right under the horse.

These all work about the same. You can click on the pictures to get
the price of each one if you don’t already have some.

How to Make Your Own Hair Polish
You can make your own hair polish easily if you want to. Just mix baby oil gel
and regular baby oil together. Use about ¾ gel with about ¼ regular baby oil. Then
take that mixture and dilute it with 2 cups of water. Put it into a spray bottle and shake it
really well. Spray it just like the other hair polishes. Be careful using this one on pink
skin because it can cause sunburn.
The only really good detangler that I have found is called “Cowboy Magic”.
Cowboy Magic works amazingly well on really bad tangles. It doesn’t matter if you have
a tail that is one solid matt. You can get it out with this stuff! Make sure you get the
“Detangler & Shine”, not the conditioner or spray or anything else. The detangler is like
a gel that is not greasy.

This is the only brand I have found that really works well!

For the horse body brush you need one that has pretty stiff bristles. It doesn’t
really matter what the bristles are made of as long as it works. What you do not want is
a face brush, a finishing brush, or any of those soft types of brushes.
Equine Care Series™ Jeffers® Dandy

Grooming Tools Cowboy Brush Limited Edition Fashion
Densely packed coarse bristles remove dirt with Color Pink Stiff
less effort Innovative handle easily fits man's or a • For everyday grooming. Grooming Brush
woman's hand Hardwood block with hand
strap. Stiff 1¼" PVC bristles.
8½"x 3½". (Oster®) Rubberized grip for better
control.

The shedding tool is meant to be mainly used in the spring to help remove the
dead winter coat, but if you use the one that is described at the end of this book, you will
use it for much more than that. I use it all year long. It will remove those annoying bot
eggs in the summertime. It will remove those really big globs of heavy stuck-on mud
that your body brush won’t touch.
Best of all, it will literally pull out the dead hair from the winter coat, instead of
just removing what has already come out. It will not pull out the healthy hair, only the
hair that is dead and is loosened at the roots. I couldn’t live without it. (It works really
great on shedding dogs too!) We’ll get back to that soon.

The last thing you need
is a roll of electrical tape or
plastic tape. You probably
have this laying around your
house somewhere. It’s just
the ordinary kind that
electricians use. It is usually
black, but you can use any
color you want. You may not
need it right away but when
you do, you will find it indispensable. Don’t try to substitute any other kind of tape. I’ve
tried and it doesn’t work. We’ll discuss what it is used for in just a minute.
Now that you have everything you need, let’s get to work!

Chapter Two- Untangling the
Mess
The first thing you need to do is get

the mane and tail in shape. That means
getting out all the dreadlocks, matts and
tangles. You want to preserve all the hair
possible. You need to be very careful not
to pull out the hair that is healthy and still
growing. It CAN be done with some
patience and perseverance. This will be
the most time you will spend on grooming.
After it’s untangled, the maintenance is

easy.
Let’s work on the mane and forelock first. If it is just one big solid matted mess,
you need to completely saturate the area with Cowboy Magic Detangler & Shine. I like
to start either with the forelock first (since it’s a small area) or at one end of the mane,
the top or the bottom.
Choose a large tangle or dreadlock and work the Cowboy Magic deep into the
snarl with your fingers as much as you can. When it has adequately penetrated to the
center of the tangle, gently separate the tangles with your fingers into smaller sections.
Keep separating with your fingers only, until you’ve broken it down to the smallest
possible tangles. Some of them still might be quite large. That’s O.K. The important
thing is not to break or tear the hair. Be patient. It WILL come out!

If there are burrs or sticks or straw or any other objects
stuck in the hair, try to work them out with your fingers. Keep
applying more Cowboy Magic to ensure that all the hair in the
tangle you are working with is saturated.
If you can’t get the foreign objects out try to work the hair
out of the tangles that they have created. The way I do this is
to literally pull one or two hairs out of the tangle at a time until
there is nothing left for the object to cling to. The Cowboy
Magic will make the strands slippery so that they will slip out

of the snarl.
Start at the bottom of the individual tangle and begin to
pull hairs out of the tangle if it is not too tight. Be sure not to
accidentally pull at the root of the hair. You may need to pull
one or two hairs at a time.
If you feel any resistance, leave that hair for a minute and
work on the other side of the snarl. Then go back and that
hair should slip out. If you hear or feel hair tearing or breaking
you are pulling out too many strands at a time or are using too

much force. Take it easy and slow down. Be patient.
Sometimes it works best to alternate back and forth between
the top and bottom of the tangle until it is out.
Keep on working your way down the mane this way with
your fingers only, until all the dreadlocks and large tangles are
out. It takes a lot of patience but it is well worth it.
It usually takes about an hour or two to work out a really badly
tangled mane. That isn’t much considering how long it took to
grow the hair you are saving!

When you have worked all the large tangles out
with your fingers you can then use the human hairbrush
that we talked about to brush out the small tangles that
are left.
Start at the bottom of the hair and work up to the
roots. Be very gentle while using the brush. Be careful
not the stretch the hair. Use just the tip of the brush at

first until you can get it through easily. Do not move up
towards the roots until it is all brushed at the bottom of
the section you are working on. Keep working slowly
down the mane until you can brush it all easily with the
hair brush.
If the mane has just a few minor snarls you can skip
the Cowboy Magic and use the ShowSheen or hair
polish instead. It will also make the individual hairs
slippery so that you can get the tangles out. This is what
I use almost all the time. The Cowboy Magic is only
needed for the really serious dreadlocks.
ShowSheen is for the more minor tangles and everyday grooming. Just spray it
on and work it into the tangles. You don’t need to let it soak, but you do need to

saturate the individual tangles. I just spray and work out one tangle at a time with my
fingers. Then I follow up with the human stiff bristle hair brush until it is all untangled.
Now we move to the tail. No matter how badly it is tangled, you can get it out! If
you have doubts, see the pictures of the mare on the next page that started with one big
dreadlock and had her tail dragging on the ground in about three hours. It just goes to
show that patience pays off!

Before- one big dreadlock! Untangled and Washed Braided Up

Showing Off!!

Unfortunately, not all horses are too thrilled with having a person standing behind
them, doing who-knows-what. Always stand to the side of the horse when grooming his
tail so that if he kicks, he will miss.
You should do your best to keep the horse calm and get it used to having its tail
handled. Pat your horse's head, then slowly move down his neck and sides. Watch the
ears the whole time. If they flatten, step out of the way in case he kicks.
Talk softly to the horse as you get closer to his rear. That way, he will know
where you are and he will also know by your tone of voice that you mean no harm.
Stand to the horse's side and touch the base of his tail with one hand. Once he
seems comfortable with your presence, gently pick up his tail and begin grooming.
If you need to walk behind the horse, keep one hand on his rump, and walk close
to him. If you are standing close and he kicks, he will push you away instead of actually
kicking you. Watch the horse's body language. If he puts his ears back, swishes his tail,
or stamps his foot, you need to be careful.

Saturate the hair with whichever product is needed according to how badly
tangled it is. Work the product you are using into the tail with your fingers. It is harder
to separate the tail into smaller sections but do the best you can. Start at the bottom of
the tail and work your way up. As you go along, it will get easier to separate the chunks
of tangle.
Once you have it separated into smaller “ropes” or tangles, start at the bottom of
the tangle and begin gently pulling the hair out of the tangle just a few strands at a time.
By this time you ought to be getting good at this. Be careful not to stretch or break the
hair. ShowSheen and Cowboy Magic both help to make the hair slip instead of
stretching, therefore cutting down on breakage. If there is resistance, pull fewer hairs or
try a different side of that tangle. Eventually, they will all start getting smaller and
coming out.
Once the remaining tangles are really small you can begin with the hairbrush at
the bottom of the tail. Again, make sure the hair is well saturated with your choice of the

detangling products. Use Cowboy Magic if it is really bad or Show Sheen or whatever
you prefer if it’s not that bad.
Brush slowly and work up the tail as you get each strand separated with the
hairbrush. It helps to pull the tail to the side with one hand and brush the under side
with the other hand. This helps you to get underneath the tail. The key is to work just a
little bit at a time until it is all brushed out.
Sometimes I like to use a human hair clip to hold parts of the mane or tail to one
side out of the way of the section I am working on. This enables me to get down to the
root and be able to see what I’m doing better. You can pick these hair clips up just
about anywhere.

Any of these types of hair clips are useful to hold hair out of the way.

Chapter Three- Keeping it Clean
Once you have all the hair brushed out you need to
shampoo it really well to get it clean. If you used Cowboy
Magic, you may even want to wash it twice to get all of it out.
Ordinary dish washing liquid is good for getting any oil out.
After all, it’s made to cut grease.
Another good choice is my favorite, Orvus Paste
shown here on the right.
I like to mix the soap or shampoo in a bucket of warm water. Then I hold the
bucket up and take the entire tail and dip it into the bucket. That way you can be sure
you are getting all of it wet with shampoo. I use the rest of the shampoo in the bucket to
pour on the mane and forelock.

Then I use my fingernails to really scrub and massage the bone of the tail. It is
important to really keep the tailbone clean. This is where all the tail hair roots are living
and breathing and trying to get their nourishment. You don’t want the pores to be
clogged with dirt or dead skin. Scrub the roots of the mane and forelock the same way.
If you want to use your own homemade shampoo, use plain old mayonnaise.
Just use it like shampoo and then wash it out. It will make the mane and tail clean and
shiny and is great for thick manes that tangle easily. It will make your horse’s mane as
smooth as silk.
Rinse thoroughly and check for any signs of remaining residue. If there is any
sign of residue left in the hair, repeat the process until it is squeaky clean.
If you only used hair polish to remove the tangles you do not need to wash that
out, but if the hair hasn’t been really scrubbed in awhile, it would be a good idea to go
ahead and wash it.

After this one time thorough washing, it would be best to apply a conditioner to
remoisten the hair since we stripped all the oils out. You can use any human or horse
hair conditioner that you have around. Rinse the conditioner after the recommended
length of time.
Strawberry Dermasilk Conditioner

This is my favorite conditioner just
because it smells really good, doesn’t
leave any residue and it’s what I use on
my dogs. (It’s pretty cheap too!)
When you are finished with the washing and conditioning, and the hair has dried
you need to re-apply the ShowSheen or other hair polish of your choice. You always

want to have a good coat of it on the hair. It will repel dirt and prevent new tangles from
forming. It will also protect the hair from the sun while the horse is outside.
You won’t need to shampoo the hair very often at all. You will only need to wash
it when it gets really dirty or sticky from something. How often that is will depend on
each individual horse and his habits. Most do very well if they are washed only once
every couple of months. You don’t want to dry out the hair by over doing it.
Here’s just a little side tip I want to mention since we’re talking about keeping
clean. In the winter when I keep heavy blankets or rugs on my horses, I put a Summer
cooling sheet under the heavy blanket to help keep the horse cleaner, and its also a lot
easier to throw the light sheet in the washing machine than it is to have that heavy
blanket or rug cleaned.

Chapter Four – Care of the Mane and Tail in FREEZING Weather!
Many people live in climates where the weather is so cold that the manes and
tails are frosty and even covered in ice during parts of the year. This makes washing
the mane and tail out of the question for a while. If this is you and you want to get
started during the winter, you can still do it! If possible, bring your horse indoors for the
grooming session so that you don’t freeze yourself!
To prepare, buy a couple of boxes of corn starch like the kind you use for baking.
Open the box and get some corn starch in the palm of your hand and rub it into the
mane and tail at the roots as much as you can. Keep repeating this until you have the
mane and tail as saturated as you can with the corn starch.
Then, let it kind of sit there for about 30 minutes to an hour, depending on what
else you have to do that day. The longer you can leave it there the better. You can
even pack it in the best you can and wrap it in a tail bag (or mane bags) and leave it

overnight if you want to. The corn starch will absorb the moisture in the mane and tail
into the corn starch itself.
Then, after it’s been in there awhile, use your human bristle brush and brush the
corn starch out of the mane and tail. As you brush out the corn starch, most of the dirt
and grimy stuff that collects in the mane and tail will come out with the corn starch. The
hair will actually be quite soft when you are finished doing this.
If its been a long time since you’ve been able to clean the mane and tail, or if
you’ve been applying the special growth formula we haven’t talked about yet, and the
hair has gotten particularly dirty or greasy, you can repeat the corn starch treatment as
often as possible to remove all the dirt and oils that build up over the winter.
Once you have a nice, clean soft mane and tail, then treat it just as though it
were warm weather. You can go ahead and apply the growth formula during the icy
winter by just working it into the roots. Do everything else the same as if it was warm.
Repeat the corn starch cleaning as often as needed during the cold months.

For light spot cleaning on the rest of the horse during freezing weather, I use
unscented baby wipes for quick cleaning of small areas. I add a little bit of waterless
dog shampoo to the container of baby wipes for extra cleaning power.
Sometimes if it’s an ugly green manure spot on one of my white horses or
something else that is “driving me crazy”, and it’s too cold for a bath, I will spray a little
of the waterless dog shampoo right on the spot and then scrub in a circular motion with
the human bristle hair brush until the spot dissipates. Then I wipe it with the baby wipe
or a dry towel to get the spot off.
Since we are talking about icy winters, I just want to throw in a little extra tip to
keep ice out of the horse’s hooves during winter weather. Just pack the frog of the
horse’s hoof with a little Vaseline petroleum jelly and snow and ice can’t get packed in
there.
While I’m at it, I might as well tell you a couple of other secrets I have for making
life with horses in freezing weather a little easier. First, I hate trying to scoop out frozen

feed or grain from my barrel. It’s so hard, it takes me twice as long to fight with it to
scoop it out. I started hanging a simple drop light over my feed when it’s cold. This
provides just enough heat to keep my grain nice and soft so that I can easily scoop it
out.
One last winter tip- I have those fancy frost free spigots around the barn that
keep the water from freezing in the pipes and bursting, but it doesn’t keep the water
inside the hose from freezing. This means that to keep the hose from freezing, I have to
empty the water out of it after each use. When my hands are both gloved and very cold
and numb, I have a hard time disconnecting the hose from the spigot to drain it.
What I do now is keep a two way hose or “Y” connector on each spigot with the
little things you turn to turn one or the other side off. I keep the hose on one side and
the other side empty. When I’m finished with the hose, I open the other valve (the
empty one) which allows air to come in and allows the water to drain out of the hose.
This then causes the water level in the spigot to drop down to the frost free level in the

ground. I can easily just turn the little switch to do this with my gloved and numb fingers
in the coldest of weather!
Chapter Five - Rubbing Out the Mane and Tail
Some horses seem to have the most annoying habit of rubbing out their manes
and tails! Hopefully there is a reason for it that we can discover and cure, but we need
to do a bit of investigative work to find out the cause. There are usually different
reasons for each one, so we will discuss the mane first since it seems to be the most
common.
As we have just discussed in the previous chapter, it might be something as
simple as a dirty mane. If you are not sure, you could start with a good shampoo and
scrubbing. Sometimes dirt or foreign matter can make the mane itch. The horse will

rub its neck on anything it can find, thus ripping out tons of hair. Try to keep the mane
free of anything that might make the horse itch. You can try sprinkling Gold Bond
Medicated Powder into the horse’s mane and rub it into the roots. If you can’t find Gold
Bond Medicated Powder where you live, try any talcum type powder that is made for
jock itch or athletes foot, which is a type of fungus. This often does the trick and ends
the itching.
Some stallions will have an excessively oily mane or tail. They will need to be
washed with dishwashing liquid or “GoJo”- mechanics hand soap to really get the oil
out. They also might need to be washed a lot more often than other horses to prevent
rubbing caused by itching.
Some horses will develop a type of fungus that will cause itching in the mane or
tail or sometimes just on the neck. This seems to be especially prevalent in humid
places in the summertime. Look for big flakes of dead skin or patches of hair coming
out anywhere on the horse.

I use a 10% Iodine Shampoo to wash the manes
and tails, (or entire bodies), of horses that appear to
be suffering from this type of itch. Iodine Shampoos
can usually be purchased at feed or tack stores, but
make sure that it is at least 10% Iodine.
This is the one that I use.

I just put a little of the Iodine Shampoo into a
Jeffers® Iodine Shampoo bucket of water and use it just like regular shampoo.
If there is some type of fungus present, it is especially important to scrub all the
flakes off and clean the pores out. I don't rinse it out completely. I leave a slight film of
the Iodine Shampoo on the skin to kill the fungus. I try to do a pretty good scrubbing
every other day for about a week.
I repeat the Iodine shampooing about once a week for about a month or two. By
then you should see some definite results. Actually you should see the flakes drying up
and disappearing in the first week.

If you have just a few small bare spots on the horse, you can actually clear it up
with the rapid growth formula that we haven’t talked about yet. It works really well on
smaller areas. It will both heal up the skin, stop the itching and it will make the hair
grow back in really fast. It cures three things with just one ointment. It is probably a
little too messy though to put it on huge areas of the horse.
It is equally important to be sure the mane is not too dry. This also will cause
itching. Dry manes and tails are usually caused by poor nutrition. If you just acquired
the horse and it was not very well fed before you got it, you might do well to give it an
extra coat supplement temporarily just until it gets back in shape. If you are feeding the
horse properly you will not need the supplement for very long.

I’ve picked up a few really scruffy horses that
weren’t properly cared for and I had quick results
using just one bucket of the age old favorite, “Super
14” which lasts for about a month. I just use it to
speed up the rapid transformation. After that, with
proper feeding, you won’t need any supplements any
Super 14™
(Farnam) Puts a show coat on more. (Give a little of this to your dogs and watch
your horse. Contains 14% fatty
acids, vitamins E and B6 to what happens to THEIR coats!!)
make skin healthy, coat sleek
and glossy.
• Contains protein, It’s a good idea just to check a new horse’s
methionine, omega fatty
acids, selenium, vitamins A,
temperature just to make sure there isn’t some low
E, and B6 grade fever or infection that is causing complications.
• America's favorite skin and
coat conditioner for horses, I had this happen once with a new horse. I knew
dogs, and cats
• Give daily to put a show coat something wasn’t quite right, but I couldn’t put my
on a horses or dogs in just

30 days finger on it. Finally, I thought to check the horse’s
• Animals love the taste
temperature and found there was a low grade fever.
Ever since then, I’ve made it a practice to check the
temperature of all new horses.
When a human is sick, you take their temperature. If its high, you give
medication to lower it back down to normal and administer antibiotics if appropriate to
fight the infection. The same should be done for horses. Though the process of taking
a horse’s temperature may seem difficult and unpleasant its actually pretty easy.
If you do it right, it can help you to spot an infection getting started before the
horse is showing physical signs of illness. Usually, by the time the horse is coughing,
has a runny nose or discharge from the eyes, its going to take longer to clear up the
infection. If you catch it early, you can usually clear up an infection really quickly.

How to Take a Horse's Temperature
The normal body temperature of a horse is 99.5 degrees Fahrenheit (37.5

degrees Celsius) to 101.5 degrees Fahrenheit (38.5 degrees Celsius). Anything higher
than this is considered to be a fever.
The temperature can vary within this range depending on the surrounding
temperature and what the horse is doing. It also can vary according to the breed. Hot
blooded horses naturally have a warmer body temperature than warm bloods or cold
blooded horses, so their normal temperature will be on the higher end of that range.
I like digital thermometers best because they beep when the temperature
becomes stable and it seems to take the reading faster. It will also keep the
temperature displayed so that you can record the temperature if needed. If you don’t
have a digital thermometer, a Mercury Thermometer works just as well. They make
extra large ones just for horses. It’s too hard to handle a regular size thermometer and
you could lose it inside the horse. That’s no fun.

Stand beside the horse on the left hand (mounting) side. Stand close to the
horse to avoid being kicked. Lubricate the thermometer with Vaseline or a lubricating
gel. You only need to insert the end of the thermometer about an inch or so into the
rectum so you don’t need to lubricate the whole thing.
Lift the tail with your free hand. Insert the thermometer gently into the rectum
with your other hand. Don’t let go of the end of it. After a sufficient amount of time has
passed, remove the thermometer and take the reading. I always disinfect my
thermometer when I’m finished by using dish washing liquid and hot water.
How to Accurately Estimate the Weight of a Horse
You should always worm a new horse right away. Worms can cause a very poor
overall condition, but it is especially noticeable in the coat. Worms can cause the hair to
be very dry and brittle and dull in appearance. It can even delay normal shedding in the

Spring. It should already be a practice to worm your horse on a regular basis anyway,
but if it’s been a while, go ahead and get that done.
Before you can worm a horse properly, you need a
good estimate of its weight. There are many other reasons
you need to know approximately how much a horse weighs,
so I’m going to tell you how to get a pretty good estimate.
First, get a regular measuring tape like the one
people use for sewing or taking body measurements. You
will need to get a friend to help you hold the tape. Ensure that the horse is standing
square and on level ground.
Place one end of the tape over the
horse’s back just behind the withers. Hold it
there with one hand and drop the tape over the
far side of the horse. Then reach under the

horse with your other hand where the girth would go (right behind the legs) and grab the
tape. Your friend can help you if you can’t reach. Make sure the tape is flat and not
twisted. Take the measurement which will be the “girth” measurement.
Next, have your friend hold the tape at the front point of the shoulder. This is the
most forward part of the shoulder. Hold the other end at the point of the buttock and
take the measurement. This will be the “length”.
Enter your measurements into one of the following formulas, depending on
whether you measured in inches or centimeters:
[Girth (cm) × Girth (cm) × Length (cm)] / 11,900 = Weight(kg)
[Girth (in) × Girth (in) × Length (in)] / 836.65 = Weight (lb)
While this method can give you a rough estimate that is better than just guessing,
it can be inaccurate in horses that are very underweight or very overweight. It also will

not be so accurate for pregnant mares or young foals. Take that into account when
using this method.
There are also specially made measuring tapes for horses that will have the
weight and formula right on the tape. These are often sold very inexpensively at most
feed stores and sometimes even given away for a promotion. You should probably pick
one up next time you are at your local feed store. It can make estimating the weight a
little simpler.

The Importance of Proper Worming
When I bring home those scruffy, scraggly horses I

talked about, the very first thing I do is to worm them and
start them on the Super 14 for one month. All the good
food, grooming and supplements in the world won’t work if
the horse has parasites sucking all the life and nutrition
out of them. A little wormer can go a long way.
If you are new to the horse world and do not feel
comfortable worming your horse yourself, your
veterinarian can take care of it for you, but you will save
yourself a lot of money by learning to do it yourself. Most
horse owners quickly get comfortable with worming their

horses on their own to save a lot of money on veterinary bills. You can probably find
someone who can help you the first time you do it, and show you how to get it down the
horse instead of all over yourself.
With horses that are new to me, I start them off with an Ivermectin wormer
because it gets 35 species of worms and bots with a single dose. I give that every other
month. Then I alternate using Strongid and Safe-guard the other months.
You can use whichever wormer rotation you choose or follow your veterinarian’s
recommendation. We don’t want all your hard work being defeated or hindered by
unwanted parasites.
Jeffers® Ivermectin Paste $2.74

Zimecterin® $5.65 (Merial) 1.87% Ivermectin paste 1.87% Anthelmintic and boticide. Kills 35
Ivermectin Paste wormer and boticide. species and stages of worms and bots combined. Kills all 3
Controls 34 species and stages of stages of the two most common bot species with a single

worms and bots, including large and dose, including: large and small strongyles, pinworms,
small stongyles, pinworms, ascarids, hairworms, threadworms, stomach worms, lungworms, and
hairworms, stomach worms, lungworms, roundworms. Use 6 times per year for broad spectrum
threadworms, and summer sores. parasite control. For use on all horses, including broodmares,
stallions and foals without age restriction.
I always use an Ivermectin wormer first. I used to use “Zimectrin” for years until I
found Jeffers’ Ivermectin which is the exact same ingredient for less than half the
price! I give this every other month.
Then I alternate giving these two wormers the months in between the months
they get the Ivermectin. In other words, they get the Ivermectin six months out of
the year, Strongid three months, and Safeguard three months.

I made a little chart that shows the rotation that I use, but of course you can
follow your own worming program. This is just for people who aren’t sure where to get
started.
Month One
Month Two
Month Three
Month Four
Month Five

Month Six
Month Seven
Month Eight
Month Nine
Month Ten
Month Eleven
Month Twelve

You can save a lot of money if you buy a dozen Ivermectin at the same time.
Now that you’ve gotten rid of the parasites, we want to make sure that nothing
else is going on that could make the horse uncomfortable. Sometimes when something
is “annoying” the horse, they will take out their frustration by scratching or rubbing on
things. That can be detrimental to the mane and tail.
An often overlooked area is the horse’s “private” parts. These areas should be
cleaned regularly in both genders. I’ve seen many horses rub their tails up against a
fence or wall because they are irritated by dirt and grime built up in this area. We’ll start
with the mare and then go over how to get the
boys clean.
For mares, this thorough cleaning is often
done right before breeding because it can help
prevent infection transferring to the stallion or
even to the upcoming foal. When I am cleaning

for breeding, I use a Betadine scrub or iodine shampoo instead of the usual soap I use.
This helps to “disinfect” more thoroughly.
I usually do this cleaning at the same time that I’m giving the horse a bath. I
bathe the body first just like normal. Then I lift her tail to wash the mare’s vulva. First I
spray it gently with the hose. She might clamp her tail down, but just be persistent. I
use a big sponge that I dip in a bucket of dish washing liquid and warm water. Then I
wipe or even scrub if she’ll let me, all around the vulva area. Be sure to clean just
below her vulva as well.
When I’m done there, I go to the udder or teat area. I use the sponge the same
way. Often the mare will object to this, so be careful not to get kicked. Right between
the teats is where the most dirt and oily gunk seems to collect that will cause irritation.
That’s why I use the dish washing liquid since it is made to cut grease. It seems to help
get the gunk out as quickly as possible which is good since they usually don’t like this.
Try to get it as clean as you can in that area.

Gently rinse with the hose when you are finished wiping with the sponge. Make
absolutely sure you get all of the dish soap rinsed thoroughly because the residue can
cause just as much irritation as the dirt you just got out.
Even though the mare doesn’t like this much, she’ll feel a lot better once you’re
done.
How to Quickly and Easily Get Rid of Thrush
Here’s another little tip I want to throw in since we are talking

about fixing up horses that might be new to you. I often find that when I
get a new horse in that hasn’t been well cared for, it has thrush. I have
found an excellent thrush remedy that usually cures it with only one quick
treatment.
I buy a product made by Fort Dodge called “Cefa-Dri”. It is used to

treat mastitis in cows. It comes with twelve syringes with long pointed nozzles that were
made to insert into the teat of the cow.
I squirt it into the cracks in the frog and heel and cover the inside of the hoof with
a light coating of it. It usually only takes one of these treatments to clear it right up!
How to Clean the Sheath of a Horse
The sheath is the “tube” of skin that protects the penis on a male horse. Cleaning
a male horse’s sheath is an unpleasant, but necessary job for the owner of a male
horse. It should be done about every 6 months.
I put on rubber surgical gloves for the cleaning. I always keep my free hand on
the horse’s side or thigh so that I can feel if he starts to get uptight or starts to make a
move. I think this also helps to keep them calm during the process.

If the horse tries to kick at you, sometimes it helps to have someone else hold up
one of his front legs while you get started. They can alternate front legs as needed.
Often, once you get started, the horse will calm down and be O.K. with it.
There are some horses that will only allow you to clean their sheath while they
are sedated. If that is the case, you’ll have to get your vet to do the cleaning. If you
have one of these horses, it can sometimes help to do little “mini cleanings” during bath
time to get them used to having their genitals handled.
You can start by just spraying the sheath with water from a distance where he
can’t kick you. Do this as often as you wash or rinse the horse. Then start putting your
hands closer and closer to the area and keep at it until he lets you touch the sheath.
Keep working with him slowly.
He might let you wash over the area with a sponge as you clean his belly. Just
keep going further and further back and he might not notice. Baby steps are O.K. to
reach the final goal of being able to clean it without having to sedate him. This will save

you a lot of money if you can train the horse to accept the cleaning without having to call
the vet.
I wet the sheath and penis first with the hose. Next, I lubricate my hand and the
sheath with my homemade spray hair polish. This is the baby oil and water mixture. I
spray it on the sheath and my hand. If you don’t have any of this, you can use any type
of lubricant.
Next, I gently insert my fingers into the sheath. There will be dried, flakey, crusty
gunk (called smegma) that will peel away in your hand. I slowly work my way through it
and get out as much of the smegma as I can.
After I’ve gotten a lot of the bigger chunks out, I’ll add some warm water and dish
washing liquid (it cuts the grease) and use that to help me get the smaller particles out.
I use a lot of water to keep flushing it out as I work my way around inside the sheath.
As you work your way deeper, you will find the penis. You want to get everything
clean around there too. Often a lump of smegma will form right inside the urethra or

end of the urinary tube. You need to insert your little finger into the opening and feel for
a small hard lump. Gently roll it out with your little finger.
After you have thoroughly flushed with the dish soap and warm water, and can’t
feel any more smegma, it helps to re-moisturize inside the sheath. The soap and water
strips out the natural moisturizer, so I put it back in. I use a natural moisturizer for
humans like the kind you would find in a health food store or herb store. If you have a
natural hand or body moisturizer in your home, you can use this. Just spread it around
inside the sheath. I add a little on the outside too. Do be sure that you thoroughly
flushed with water and got all the soap out before you moisturize so that the left over
soap residue doesn’t cause irritation.
Now if you have tried all of these suggestions and your horse is still rubbing out its
hair you might have a tougher problem on your hands. It may be just a bad habit or
boredom. Both need to be treated the same way.

You can start by changing the horse's surroundings if that’s possible. Maybe you
could move him or her to another stall or another paddock or pasture. You could hang
a tetherball in his or her stall or similar objects made for horses to play with.
Oftentimes, hanging an (unbreakable) mirror in the stall helps to cure boredom. Playing
a radio in the background helps some horses.
You should try to take him or her out trail riding more often. Maybe you have been
working him too much in a riding ring. Or maybe you haven't been working him at all.
Horses need exercise and relief from boredom.
It helped one of my horses to put a goat in its paddock with it. You need to be
careful about this though. Although it has not been my personal experience, I have
heard of goats chewing off a horse's tail hair. I suppose you should just keep your eye
on the goat for a few days to be sure he is not a tail chewer. Here are two products you
can also try to ensure the goat does not chew anything he shouldn’t!

Fooey!® McNasty
(Synergy Labs) Training aid for dogs, cats, (Eqyss) A powerful anti-chew spray made
horses, ferrets, birds, rodents and rabbits to with a combination of ingredients much more
reduce chewing, biting, licking and picking powerful than anything else on the market
behaviors. Spray product on any surface to today. Will not irritate skin. Very safe to use
stop unwanted habits. Safe for plants, and will not burn the horses body.
furniture, wood, leather and pets.
If it is another horse chewing out your horse’s mane, as I have seen, you can
make that an undesirable thing for the other horse to do. You can use either of the two
products just mentioned and spray this onto the horse’s mane. The other horse will
soon learn that it is not pleasant to be chewing on manes! Both products say they are

safe on the horse, but I have not used them, so please give me some feedback if you
try either of them so that I can let others know.
I have always used a homemade remedy to stop unwanted chewing. I take
cayenne pepper which I buy in a large bottle. I mix it in a spray bottle with water and
spray it on anything I don’t want chewed from manes and tails to leg wraps.
There is one last thing I know of that you can resort
to if you have tried everything else. That is to use a "hot
wire" on the objects that the horse is rubbing on. You can
purchase an inexpensive simple fence charger made for
horses or even dogs at your local feed or hardware store.
They now even make chargers that work off four “D”
batteries. You then follow the instructions and wire the This fence charger is
only about $25 bucks
place where the horse is rubbing. You should be able to
at Jeffers and should
have it all up and running in about only 30 minutes. do the trick.

It might be only one rail of the fencing that it is in, or it might be the side of the
barn. Usually it is possible to wire the object the horse is rubbing on, but in some cases
it might take a little imagination to figure out how.
Some people might think this is cruel, but the horse will usually only touch it once
or twice at the most. Most often you will only need the charger turned on for a few days
before the horse will associate trying to rub it's mane out with pain. If you leave the wire
in place, that is usually enough to remind the horse not to try it. Since you will only
need the fence charger for a few days you might be able to borrow one from a friend.
Remember though to try to find out what is causing the horse to rub. If it’s itching,
you’re much better off to treat the itch.
Rubbing out the tail is treated pretty much the same as rubbing out the mane, but
might be done for different reasons. Worms are probably the biggest cause of rubbing
the tail. They can cause severe itching in the rectal area. I have already mentioned

having the horse wormed regularly, but if you haven't done it yet here is one more
reason.
Many mares will rub their tails during the time they are in season. I know of three
ways to prevent the tail being rubbed out for this reason. The first is to have the mare
bred. I know, for many people this is not practical, or desirable so we will get to the
other two methods.

You can use leg bandages or a tail
bandage or wrap to keep the tail wrapped
during the time the mare is in season.
Any of the types on either side of this
page will work.
You may need to use black
electrical tape to tape the bandage on, so
that the mare cannot rub the bandage off.
It is sometimes very difficult to keep the

bandage on. Be careful not to cut off the
circulation to the tail.
The other way to prevent this is
with the use of hormones to stop the heat
cycle. There are hormones made that
are similar to birth control pills for horses.
They prevent the horse from coming in
season all together. You will need to talk to your veterinarian about this possibility. It is
one more option to consider.
As already mentioned, you can hot wire the object the horse is rubbing its tail on.
If the mare is doing it only during her heat cycle, you may need to plug the fence
charger in during each time she is in season. She will probably need reminding more
often than the horse that is just doing it out of boredom.

All of the other remedies described to stop rubbing out the mane are applicable for
the tail also. Basically be sure the tail is clean, not too dry, and does not have fungus or
some other cause for itching. Also, be sure the horse is not just bored silly!
Chapter Six - Training the Mane to Stay On One Side
Now that you have the mane untangled, washed out, and you have stopped the
horse from rubbing it out, you might have hair sticking up all over the place or laying on
both sides of the neck. Or your horse's mane may have been hogged or roached
(shaved completely off) and is just sticking straight up and is ready to be coaxed into
lying down. You need to get it all lying neatly on one side.

I like to begin by using a product like Quic Braid to
make the hair easier to manage, grip and braid, but
you can use any good stiff hair gel or mousse to
make the hair easier to manage and more likely to
stay in place. Apply a good amount of it to the
entire mane. Keep the hair wet with the chosen
product while you are working with it. You will have
Quic Braid™ Gives professional show a lot less stray hairs.
ring results and is superior to human hair
styling alternatives. Provides a better Next I braid the hair in small sections while
grip for tighter braids, better banding &
fewer stray hairs. Trains stand-up pulling with downward pressure on the side I want it
manes to lie flat.
to lay on.
If the hair is long enough and especially stubborn I will braid each section for only about
one or two inches. Next, I split each braid in half and braid it to the section next to it for

about another inch or two.
Then I split it again and braid
it back with the original hair I
started each braid with. I
keep going down the full
length of the mane like this
until the whole mane is
plaited together similar to a
fish net.
Although this mane is not braided, it should
look similar to this “fish net” or “basket If the mane is really
weave” pattern. stubborn, but not long
enough to be plaited together, I use small fishing weights on the end of short braids.
I buy the ones shaped like a teardrop that have a wire type eye at the
top. You can loop a rubber band through the eye and use the rubber band

to attach the fishing weight to the end of each braid.
If you can't get the rubber band to stay in the hair you can use yarn
to attach the weights. Simply tie a piece of yarn through the eye of the
fishing weight. Then braid the yarn right into the hair as you are making each braid.
This usually holds it pretty well.
It is very important to use downward pressure while doing any braiding. This will
help prevent the horse from shaking his head and making the braid go on the wrong
side of the neck. If you have it braided at the correct downward angle and the horse
does manage to toss the braid to the wrong side of his neck, it will be uncomfortable for
him. He should shake his head until its back on the correct side.
It usually doesn't take very long to train the mane in this manner to stay on one
side. Most take about 2-3 weeks, but it will depend on the individual condition and
length of the mane when you started. Sometimes you will need to re-braid the mane as
it grows out. The most important thing is to keep at it until it is where you want it.

How to Do a Horse's Mane in the “Fish Net” or “Basket Weave” Pattern
This is a quick, easy and fun way to do a horse mane that is at least about 12
inches long. No braiding is required, but you’ll need a lot of rubber bands. Colored
rubber bands make it even more fun as you can even make a pattern out of the different
colors.
Start by separating hanks of mane into twelve or more sections, spaced about 2-
3 inches apart. Measure two finger-widths down from where the mane grows out and
band each hair tail. Then separate each tail into two tails. Bring the left tail of the first
split and the right tail of the next split together and band them together.
The two tails will then form a new tail together. Continue on to the next tail and
repeat until you've created a row of diamonds with tails hanging from them from the poll
to the withers. Split each tail into two tails and repeat the steps above until it looks like

the picture above. You can then spray on some mane and tail glitter to add the final
touches or even add some decorative ribbons or tiny bows. There’s no end to the fun
you can have with a long mane and tail!
How to Curl Your Horse's Hair
If you’re like me, it’s fun to play around with your horse's hair. Sometimes I will
put a natural looking curl in my horse’s hair just for something different. You start with
the mane and tail brushed out and untangled. For curling, I always wash the hair first.
I’ve found that the curl will take and hold much better if there is not much moisture or
conditioner in the hair. Conditioner tends to weigh the hair down, which will pull the curl
out. So after washing, don’t add any conditioner or heavy detangler.

While the hair is still wet, braid it as loosely or tightly as you want the curls to be.
It will take a few hours to dry because there won’t be air flow inside the braids. Wait
until you are sure it is completely dry. I usually leave it overnight.
If you want, you can add a tail bag to protect the tail and a slinky, mane tamer or
similar type neck cover to protect the braids in the mane while they are drying. Of
course, these will make it take even longer to dry, so I only do this when I’m leaving it
overnight.
When it’s all dry, remove the braids and lightly shake the hair free. It will fluff up
and have a nice curl to it. I like to then add a little glitter spray to really have fun with it!
I’ll go over how to make your own money saving glitter spray a little later in the book.
Chapter Seven - Care of the Mane

Now you should have your horse's mane nice and neat, all on one side, and you
have stopped your horse from pulling it out. The biggest secret to having the beautiful
mane we are striving for is to NOT PULL OUT WHAT GROWS!
Most people when they think of grooming the
mane, think first of the mane comb. I told you in the
first chapter to throw away anything that resembles
a comb and I hope you did it. If you didn't, you will
never have the thickest or longest mane possible.
You should NEVER use anything on your horse’s
hair that pulls out even one hair.
The only thing I ever use to detangle my
horses' manes and tails besides my fingers is the
human hairbrush described and pictured in chapter
one. It is all you ever need.

Finger Combing the Mane
However, you should only use this brush about once a week and only after thoroughly
spraying the mane with hair polish. Too frequent brushing will stretch, split and break
the long hairs, so avoid the temptation.
For the daily grooming of the mane I use a stiff bristle body brush. It works quite
well for removing hay or bedding from the hair or anything else that finds it way into the
mane. It also does a pretty good job of straightening up the mane without breaking any
hair. You do not need to have every hair individually separated every day with the
human hair brush. A thorough brushing out once a week is enough to keep the hair in
good condition. If you keep it sprayed with the hair polish it should do a good job of
preventing most tangles.

This once a week grooming shouldn't take more than 5
minutes to brush out the entire mane if you have been keeping it
clean with the body brush. Remember never to brush either the
mane or the tail without first applying the hair polish. This will
prevent a lot of breakage and damage to the hair.
Unless you are in the process of training the mane to stay
on one side, do not keep it braided all the time. There is always
the possibility of the horse catching one of the braids on
You can also
French braid the something and pulling out a chunk of hair. Braiding should be
mane to protect it. used only for the brief period that you are training the mane to lie
down on one side or to protect it while in a stall or traveling.

You might need to sometimes hand pick out straw or some other type of foreign
matter from the mane. Always do this very gently and try not to break even one hair.
Every hair is valuable and takes a long time to grow back. It shouldn't take more than a
minute or two daily to quickly go over the mane with the body brush. If there is any
resistance at all, apply more hair polish.
When you do the more thorough once a week untangling with the bristle
hairbrush always have the attitude that every hair is valuable. You don't need to hurry.
It won't take long anyway. Just carefully start at the bottom of the strands and gently
work your way up towards the roots. Keep brushing gently until all the hairs become
separated.
If weather allows, it is best to wash the mane thoroughly with shampoo once
every four to six weeks or so. That is to keep dirt from building up and causing tangles,
and to keep it from itching.

If you are showing your horse
every week during show season this
won't be any problem. You might even
need to use a hair conditioner on the
mane to keep it from drying out if you
have to wash it that often.
If you are working your horse and
there is a lot of sweat on the neck and
mane it is best to rinse the mane
thoroughly with plain water until it
rinses clear after each exercise
session to get all the sticky sweat out Another way to French braid the mane
of it. Sometimes this is not practical due to cold weather, but it is best if possible.

This is all there really is to caring for the mane and achieving the healthiest,
longest and thickest mane possible whether it is 3 inches long or 3 feet long. As I said
before, the most important thing to remember is not to pull out what does grow! And
NEVER use a comb or anything else that will damage or pull out the hair!
Chapter Eight - Care Of the Tail

O.K.! Now you should have the tail in the same condition as the mane. It should
be untangled, clean and you should have stopped your horse from rubbing it out. If you
are lucky you will now have a nice tail that touches or almost touches the ground. If it
isn't that long yet, just keep it untangled the same way you do with the mane.
Keep the tail sprayed with the hair polish. There should always be a slippery film
of hair polish on the tail to keep it clean and tangle free. Brush it daily with the body
brush and don't be too concerned with getting every hair separated. Just get out the

hay, bedding or any foreign matter that is clinging in the tail. Then brush it with the
hairbrush about once a week.
Be sure that you always have a lot of hair polish on the
hair before using the hairbrush. Be very gentle. Start at the
bottom of the tail and work your way up towards the roots until
every hair is separated. Hold the tail to one side so you can
brush all the way to the tailbone with each strand.
Before you know it, you will have a tail that reaches the
ground. I think you will be very surprised how fast it grows
once you get rid of the tail-eating comb. Now we want it to
grow longer than the ground!

As soon as the tail hair reaches the point where it is about
an inch off the ground you need to start keeping it up higher.
This is to prevent it from ever touching the ground and being
rubbed off. I like to still leave my horses with a "fly swatter", so
I only braid them up as much as necessary. The way I do this
is quite simple, but important.
Never braid the hair above the bottom of the tailbone
unless you are preparing to go in the show ring for some of the
classes that require it. If this IS the case, then take the
Don’t leave this braiding out as soon as possible after you show. That type of
dragging on the braiding puts a lot of stress on the roots of the tail hair and
ground because it will
break off. pulls a lot of it out.

I do braid the tail hair to keep it up, but I do it
differently. Start just below the bottom end of the bone.
Separate the hair into three sections. Start the braid very
loose at first so that there is no pressure or tension pulling
on the roots of the hair.
It should be so loose at the top of the braid that you
can easily put your fingers through the top of the braid
between the tailbone and the beginning of the braid. Then
begin to tighten up the braid as you go down.
Never pull on the roots when you are braiding. If the
horse's tail is from ground length to six feet long, you can
get by braiding it four to six inches from the end and leaving what I call the "fly swatter".
Just braiding it will shorten the length of the tail so that it doesn’t touch the ground if it is
only on the ground a few inches.

Here's where you need the electrical tape.
Stop braiding and wrap a piece of tape around the
place where you stopped braiding. You need about
a six-inch piece of tape. Just keep wrapping it
around until it's all around the tail at the bottom of
the braid.
In order to make it easier to remove when
you're ready, I fold over the very end of the tape to
make a sort of "tab" to grab it by and easily pull it
off. You don't need a rubber band or anything like
that under the tape. The tape will hold it all by
itself.
I have had some horses that swish their tails
around so much that the tape does come off in just

a few days. With these ones I use the silver duct tape, but it's harder to get off when
you want it to come off. Don't try to use any other kind of tape. Either it won't stay on or
it will leave a terrible sticky mess in the hair.
This method works great with horses that are turned out in a paddock because it
seems that no matter how much fly spray you apply, there still are some kinds of bugs
that bother the horses. This way they still have the use of their tail.
If the tail is longer than about six feet, it will take some additional protection. You
will not be able to keep it off the ground even with it braided up the way I just
mentioned. You need to start the same way but don't stop braiding until you get to the
very end of the tail. Then put the tape around the bottom the same way. Don't forget
the tab so that you can remove it easily when you’re ready.
Once you have it braided to the bottom, you need to fold the tail up so that the end
of the tail is at the bottom of the tailbone. Hold it folded up and then wrap the electrical

tape around the top of the fold and the bottom of the fold. Wrap it the same way you did
around the bottom of the tail including the little tab again for easy removal.
When it gets even too long for that, you can fold it up
in thirds and tape it, but stay below the tail bone. This is the
way the show horses with the fifteen plus foot tails keep
their tails wrapped all the time. They take it down to wash
or show, and then it goes right back up in this folded braid
as soon as the horse is out of the show ring.
If you want to keep it extra clean or it is a light colored
tail, it is best to add a tail bag over the braided tail. This will
keep grass or manure stains from turning it green.
Once your horse's tail is really long and dragging on the
ground, you will need to keep it up at all times unless

you are showing or "showing off". Then get it back up so that the ground doesn’t rub it
off. You will need to take the tail down about once a month in order to wash it and re-
braid it.
Always brush it out thoroughly before you wash it. If you don't, it won't get
completely clean. Always put more hair polish on it before you brush it or re-braid it.
This will keep it in the best condition.
In order to protect the tail while you are waiting to go in the show ring you can tie it
in a loose slipknot to keep it up off the ground. I'm talking about the kind of knot that
every good horse person should know to tie his or her horses up with. The one that you
can just pull one end and it comes out real easily.

How to Make a Horse Look Like It Has a Thicker Tail
When you are taking the tail down for showing, most professionals use their
fingers to separate the hairs instead of brushing it with a brush. This is called "finger
combing". It is done when you want the tail to look it's fullest. It also leaves all the
waves in the hair, making it look wavy and fuller.
If you want added fullness you can spray the tail with hair spray after you unfold it,
but before you unbraid it. Spray it thoroughly all the way around the tail and let it dry. It
should be dry in about five minutes and then you can unbraid it and finger comb it. The
hair spray will really help lock in those waves that give it extra fullness.
For the added illusion of an even thicker tail, you can use the spray on color to
make the hair of the tail a darker and more even color. The more consistent color will
give the added appearance of a thicker tail while you are waiting for the tail to grow out.

How to Apply a Horse Tail Bandage
The correct application of a tail bandage is

important. It’s needed as protection for your
horse's tail when traveling, to lay the hairs flatly
and smoothly, and when breeding a mare so the
tail doesn’t get in the way or cut the stallion’s
penis.
If you leave a horse tail bandage on for too
long or too tightly, it can potentially cause your
horse to lose circulation in his tail, so be sure to
check that it isn’t too tight.
Here is how to correctly use a tail bandage.

You must roll the bandage Begin by rolling the Then continue to roll it up
correctly in order to wrap it bandage onto the tie straps firmly and straight.
correctly. or Velcro fastening, so that
the straps are inside.

Start the wrapping Place the beginning of the Remember to keep the
process. bandage just above your actual roll on top.
horse's tail. Angle it at
about 45 degrees.

Flip the horse's tail over Carefully fold back the Proceed to wind down the
your shoulder if necessary. diagonal flap over the tail in even and firm turns, to
Firmly roll around the tail bandage that you've just about three quarters of the
just once. rolled. way down the tail bone.
Make sure there are no
creases and that the
pressure is even, to avoid
irritation.

Having rolled the bandage Secure the bandage. Be sure to leave enough
to three quarters of the way Keeping the fastening length to tie a bow which
down, now wind the roll straps flat, secure them by needs to be tied slightly to
back up, until you come to winding them around the the side of the tail.
the end of the bandage. bandage a couple of times.

Tuck the bow ends in and Gently bend the tail back To remove the bandage,
fold section of bandage into shape. The bandage is fold the section of bandage
over the bow, to avoid it now correctly applied. back that is over the bow.
being rubbed undone. Give Untie the fastening strings.
your bandage a final check With one hand above the
for any creases. other, gently pull the
bandage down and slide it
all the way off the tail.

Chapter Nine - Forelocks
As far as maintenance the forelock is taken care of the same as the mane. There
are some breeds that traditionally show their horses with their forelocks cut off. They
leave just a few hairs to braid a ribbon into, but basically there is no hair left. I show one
of these breeds but I leave the forelocks alone and I encourage other people to do the
same. It looks so much nicer with a pretty forelock.
Like me, if you are going to show in one of the classes that requires a ribbon in the
forelock and usually no other hair, then you can braid the entire forelock into a tight
braid and tuck it into the brow band as if it were just the braid.

This is quite legal and not even noticeable.
Then when you go in a western class or an in
hand or halter class you can have a beautiful
forelock neatly tucked into the brow band or side
of the bridle. I have seen horses shown like this
with a forelock that is a foot long and it looks
stunning!
If you are like me and like the forelock just as long and thick as the rest of the
mane, then don't let "professionals" tell you that you have to cut it off if you are going to
show your horse. It ain't so!
I like to always keep my horse’s forelocks braided once they are long so that they
stay out of the horses’ eyes. When it gets long enough, it also helps to keep it out of
their mouth!

Chapter Ten – Super Fast Hair Growth Formula!!
O.K., now for those who really want visible, measurable rapid growth, now’s the
time to let you in on the “secret recipe”! This is a hair growth stimulator that really
works! On completely bald spots (where it’s REALLY noticeable) you can see visible
hair growth in three to five days with just one application.
It is common to get three inches of growth on the mane and tail in a month, but I
have even heard many reports of four inches per month! That is one inch per week or a
foot every 3 months! You just might want to measure the hair length so that you can
see how much has grown in just 30 days. I know you will be amazed!
Since people all over the world are reading this, I’m going into great detail about
the ingredients so that you will be able to find them in your country no matter where you
are.

Ingredients:
Sulfur (or sulphur)- There are many different names for pure elemental sulfur
which is natural and non-toxic. Some of the
other names are precipitated sulfur, sublimed
sulfur, brimstone, flowers of sulfur or milk of
sulfur. Sulfur, in its native form, is a yellow
crystalline solid. It is an essential element for life
and is found in two amino acids, cysteine and
methionine.
The commercial uses for sulfur are
primarily in fertilizers, but it is also widely used in black gunpowder, matches,
insecticides and fungicides. It is ground into a relatively fine yellow powder, and then
combined with petroleum or other ointment type bases such as liquid paraffin, lanolin,

petroleum, etc. because the undiluted powder is very strong and will burn your skin if
not diluted.
Sulfur is used primarily to treat skin conditions including scabies in infants less
than 2 months old, pregnant women, and nursing mothers. It is generally used when
other medications (such as permethrin or lindane) cannot be used. It is also used to
treat acne, fungus infections, etc. Sulfur ointments with as high as 10% Sulfur are
prescribed for infants, which shows it’s pretty safe to use topically. Be very careful to
get 100% precipitated sulfur if you will be mixing your own ointment. There are lots of
places where you can buy 100% pure sulfur and it is fairly inexpensive.
There are various “over the counter” sulfur ointments available mainly for acne
treatment or sometimes hair treatments that contain between 3% -10% sulfur. If you
buy one of these, you won’t have to mix it yourself. The best for our purposes is the
10% sulfur because it will be the strongest. Check the ingredients carefully and make

sure to stay away from those containing Salicylic acid and large amounts of alcohol.
The only active ingredient should be sulfur.
You can find one form of this in the United States at Wal-Mart, CVS and most
drug stores or pharmacies, under the brand name of “De La Cruz Pomada De Azufre”
acne medication. This same brand is often available on Ebay also.
It will say “Sulfur Ointment 10%”. It is sometimes sold with
the acne medications, but more often in the section for “ethnic
hair” or hair products. I have also found it in sections with Latin or
Hispanic products. A 2.6 oz jar costs $3.99 at Wal-Mart just to
give you an idea of the cost. It is a white plastic jar with an orange
label. It is distributed by DLC Marketing Co., Paramount, CA
90723. The ingredients are: “Specially processed microcrystalline
sulfur 10% in an oil-free, water-washable base.”

Another form you can use that is ready made is just
labeled as “SULFUR OINTMENT. USP 10%” and can be found
at www.germa-drugs.com The label says- Use: Great for
infections of the skin, fungus, spots, acne, etc.
Directions: Apply twice daily during the day for a total of 7
days. Formula: Sulfur Precip. 10g., Petrolatum 90g.
You can also just ask your pharmacist for Sulphur Ointment (B.P.) precipitated
sulphur 10% in White Simple Ointment.
Some pharmacies do not carry sulfur ointment but will compose it for you if you
ask for it. They just take the sulfur powder and mix it with petroleum jelly or your choice
of one of the ointments listed below.
If you still can’t find it, a Google Search to “buy sulfur” will give you several
places to buy it. Here are several that I found:

http://www.cheap-chemicals.com/chemicals.asp?Sort=S
http://www.cqconcepts.com/chem_sulfur.php
http://www.northstarpyro.com/Products-CHEMICALS.html
http://secure.sciencecompany.com/Sulfur-60-gm-P6362C668.aspx
The “Ointment” Part

In order for Sulfur to be “safe” and useable it has to be used in a petroleum type
wetting agent. Medicinal grade liquid paraffin, petroleum, Vaseline, and castor oil can
all be used to mix with the Sulfur if you buy it in the powder form. Mix it close to 90/10
with the ointment base that you use to get a mix that is about 10% sulfur.
During the mixing process the fine powder can easily get in your eyes and can be
inhaled if you aren't careful. Be very careful to make sure that neither of these happen.
This is why it is better to have a pharmacist mix it for you.

How to Use the Super Fast Hair Growth Formula
Many people use this on their own hair, their dogs or their horses to rapidly
speed up the hair growth process. Wherever you plan to use it, do a test patch for 24
hours before you use it all over the area where you want more hair growth. If the skin
turns very red or develops any type of rash under the test patch, this is an allergic
reaction and you should not use this ointment. Less than 1% of people and animals
have a negative reaction and sulfur is in no way toxic. Sulfur powder by itself without
the ointment can be itchy, but that is normal.
Once you have determined there is no reaction, you basically cover the roots of
the area where you want rapid growth with the ointment and leave it. On horses, you
rub it into the roots of the mane and roots of the tail. You do not need to rub it into all
the hair. The ointment stimulates the growth of the hair at the roots in a way that has to
be seen to be believed!

For horses, it is usually applied once a week for two or three weeks and then it is
best to wash it out and reapply it. In cold weather when bathing is not practical, just
keep adding more once a week.
When I used this on my own hair, I couldn’t go around with a greasy head, so I
massaged it into the roots at night and put a lightweight net type cap over my head to
sleep at night. Then I washed it out each morning. It didn’t take long at all for my hair
to grown in strong (instead of brittle) and thicker than ever!
The Sulfur can dry the skin out a little bit, so watch for any signs of irritation from
dryness. Too much sulfur in your ointment can cause a more drastic irritation of the
skin. If that happens, you can try adding more ointment and less sulfur to your mix.
If you don’t want to go to the trouble of making or finding this ointment, there is
an over the counter product made for horses that will produce growth almost as fast, but
not quite as fast as the ointment you can make as it is a weaker formula. It is called “M-

T-G” which stands for Mane and Tail Growth. It is made by Shapely. It smells very
odd. It is a hair conditioner and hair growth stimulator.
It is readily available in the United States where it is made, but if you live in
another country you can actually buy it cheaper than we can here in the States on
EBay. There are always people selling it on EBay and many of them have International
shipping available. If you can’t find it on the EBay for your country, log onto EBay in the
United States and look for sellers who will do International shipping. You can end up
paying the same or even less, including shipping, by getting it this way.
Let that also be a little lesson to you in the United States. You might want to
check EBay first, before you go to the local feed store and compare prices.

Many people, including myself, also use it on their own hair to
promote length and thickness. If you can’t take the smell, the makers
have recently come out with a “human version” called “Sulu Max
Gro”. The promoters say it is for “ethnic hair”, but it works great for
all types of hair.
It also works for all kinds of skin irritations, rain rot, sweet itch
and just about any manner of skin problems on horses. If you have a
Shapley's
Original M-T-G™ dog with dry skin or hot spots, this works wonders on them too! Back
Mane & Tail Conditioner/ to horses though…
Hair Growth Producer
Use as a leave-in
conditioner/detangler. Promotes For tails, you massage it into the roots from the top of the tail
mane and tail hair growth. Use
on damaged, chewed-off tails to
help grow length back. Enhances to the tip of the tail bone. Make sure you work it is all the way around
fullness, condition and retains
the length of long tails.
the tail bone, including the underside. Then take whatever is left on
your hands and wipe it down the length of the tail. For best results, braid and wrap it
like we already discussed to keep it clean.

If possible, reapply it every three to five days. If weather permits, It is best to
wash it after about every second application to keep it clean and really get down to the
hair follicles where growth is taking place. For the mane, just work it into the clean
mane with your fingers and be sure to get down to the roots.
Besides the weird smell, it’s kind of hard to get off your hands. You might need
to use some dishwashing detergent or even GoJo mechanics hand soap to get it off.
It’s also greasy and leaves a residue that WILL attract dust and dirt, so you need to
keep checking on the mane and tail to make sure it is not causing tangles. It really is
best to wash it out as often as weather or time permits and start over with a fresh
application.

How to Get Rid of Mud Fever
Anything at all that is irritating your horse can cause it to rub on fences or
anything else it can find. This can be very detrimental to long mane and tale growth.
For this reason, we want to ensure that nothing is irritating the horse in any way.
Mud fever, also known as “Scratches”, is a case of dermatitis on the horse's
lower legs. While painful, ugly, and just plain gross, mud fever is not a serious
condition. It is caused when damp or wet mud is allowed to cake and dry on the horse’s
legs. The dampness causes a type of irritation or even fungus to grow. It is usually
only prevalent in damp or wet weather during the winter. Horses with white legs seem
to be more sensitive or prone to the irritation.
Prevention is better than cure, so just check your horses’ legs often to ensure
there is no damp or dried, caked mud on their legs. If there is, it is best to rinse
thoroughly until all the mud is removed. If there is any sign of irritation or scabs, the

best thing to put on it is the sulfur ointment you made. If you don’t have that, you can
use M-T-G.
Chapter Eleven – The Part Nutrition Plays
I feel that if you are feeding your horse properly with good quality feed, that feed
supplements are not needed. If your horse's coat has an overall poor appearance, then
it probably needs worming. It also might have been malnourished before you owned it.
If the coat is not looking like you want it to, you need to determine the cause first
and remedy the problem. Get your horse wormed and get it on a good feeding
program. Like we talked about earlier, you might want to temporarily give a feed
supplement like Super 14 just for about a month while the coat is getting back in shape.
This would give it an extra boost.

After the problem is taken care of and the coat is looking nice, you shouldn't need
the feed supplements anymore. If you do, I would say you either are not feeding the
horse correctly or the initial problem has not been taken care of. Your horse may still
have internal parasites. Your veterinarian can tell you for sure by checking a stool
sample.
I think most people know that hair is made up of mostly protein. Therefore it
makes sense that a high protein grain will do best for your horse’s coat. I use 14%
grain for my horses that are being worked regularly and fairly hard and 10% grain for
the ones that are not being worked much at all. As far as the hair coat they both look
just as nice.
If you really want a super shiny slick coat, my favorite thing to give is a little flax
seed oil. It seems like the oil comes right out onto the coat. You can buy already
prepared flax seed oil, but that is no where near as potent as buying the seeds whole.
The problem is, you can’t feed it whole, but almost all of the value is lost because the

horse doesn't break it up enough by chewing and the stomach acids cannot break
through the hull to get to the oil. Most of the seed will be passed through the system
unused. One of the other problems of feeding it whole is that it is not very palatable that
way and many horses will not even eat it.
The remedy to this situation is to break it up for the horse before you feed it. One
way is to grind it up in either a blender or a little coffee grinder. This breaks it up quite
nicely, and does a lot for the palatability. Horses usually have no objection to eating it
after its ground.
Be sure to keep it covered well and refrigerated after it's been ground so that it
doesn't lose some of its potency and flavor. Also, only grind about a week’s worth at a
time because it loses its potency quickly. A zip-lock bag actually works nicely to
preserve it for a few days.
One other way to break down the hull is to soak it in water. You will be able to
see when the hull has been sufficiently broken down. The one problem with this

method is that you have to be careful to only soak enough at a time that you will use in
a 3-4 day period because it will mold after that.
Some people have reported problems feeding it to pregnant mares, but I myself
have never had any problem feeding to pregnant mares or any other horse in the
quantities I feed. I give 2 ounces twice a day. That's 2 ounces in the morning poured
on top of the grain and 2 more ounces at night. In cases where the coat is really in bad
shape, I have doubled the amount for about a month and not had any problems.
Another very simple supplement some people add is plain vegetable oil poured on
top of the grain. You can use 1-2 ounces twice a day. These supplements are only
needed until the horse regains its overall healthy condition and then it can go back to
regular feed.

How to Get a Horse to Drink More Water
People often don’t realize how important adequate water intake is to the coat of
the horse in addition to the entire body. Water is not just for the easing of thirst, it is the
earth’s greatest cleanser and solvent. It washes and flushes the body from the inside
out. Adequate, clean water is absolutely essential for the effective functioning of the
brain and nervous system. The responses of the brain slow or fire erratically with out
enough water in the system.
When a horse has only poor water or is not drinking enough water, the organs and
glands plus the hormonal, and lymphatic systems of the body are weakened and can
not do their job. This causes the hair and coat, muscles, joints, ligaments and sinews to
not get what they need for optimum health and it is reflected in the entire horse.
For the hair to be properly moisturized, the body has to be properly hydrated at all
times. Even when the weather is colder, horses still need enough water intake to keep

their whole body functioning properly. Water prevents dehydration and is a vital part of
keeping your horses healthy.
Not only should you provide fresh water, but in cold weather check the water
regularly for ice. You may need to either install an electric heater in the water trough or
keep a rubber mallet nearby to frequently break ice which accumulates in buckets.
Many horses for various reasons, do not drink enough water on their own and
need encouragement. When you are traveling and trying to get a horse to drink
“strange” water with a different taste to it, you can dunk the horse’s bit with the horse's
saliva still on it into the water. You will be surprised at how many horses are happy to
stick their muzzles in after you do this, and it's an easy way to clean the bit after use.
When I’ve had a horse that I know doesn’t like to drink water away from home, I
start putting a peppermint in the horse’s water at home a few days before we leave for
the trip. I continue adding the peppermints to the “strange” water and the horse doesn’t

taste the difference while we’re away and has no problem drinking. You can also use
apple cider to create the same effect.
Horses lose important electrolytes when they sweat profusely, which can
ultimately dry out their coat. Many kinds of electrolytes are available on the market and
it's a good idea to take some with you when traveling with your horse. Adding
electrolytes to your horse's water will support his system in cases of excessive sweating
and dehydration. If you choose one of the flavored types, such as apple or cherry, you
will increase the chances of your horse drinking more after hard work outs.
One of my horses still refused to drink enough water even after I'd tried all of the
above tricks. He was perfectly happy to eat treats but would not drink, so I used his
greed to tempt him.
I chopped up an apple and offered him one piece right near his water. I put the
other pieces in his bucket of water, where they floated on the surface. Looking for

more, he followed my hand as I dipped it in the water and half lifted out an apple slice.
He ate it with a small mouthful of water.
I turned the other apple pieces peeling side up and removed my hand. The
apple bits were now easy for him to see. He quickly discovered and devoured them.
He soon got the hang of finding them. While enjoying his treat he was also drinking
water. This made him realize how thirsty he was and he continued to drink even when
the apple was gone.
After a couple more sessions, all I had to do was tap on the side of the bucket
and he knew his apple chunks were there. Now he dives into the bucket as soon as I
turn him into his stall!

Feeding Sugar Beets to a Horse
Many people add sugar beets to help horses who have trouble drinking, by
simply adding more water to their diet. It is very palatable and appealing to horses, and
can be ideal to disguise medicines or supplements.
Sugar beet is a popular horse feed in the winter, due to the fiber and calcium
richness. It also helps keep the horse warm. It is readily available in most areas of the
world.
Choose the type of sugar beet you want to feed or find out what the options are
in your area: flakes, pellets or shreds. There is no real nutritional difference between
the three types.
You might have a choice of buying mollassed or unmollassed versions.
Unmollassed sugar beet is ideal for horses who are sugar intolerant, prone to laminitis,

or already have sugar in their diet. Mollassed versions of sugar beet can help heighten
energy levels in horses. Both can benefit horses that are worked hard such as hunters
or race horses, or horses recovering from starvation, or simply to gain weight or
maintain weight in winter.
Put the sugar beet into a bucket or container, and fill it with water about 4 inches
or 10 cm above the sugar beet. This will soak into the sugar beet. Hot water is
recommended since it will soak in quicker, but cold water can also be used.
Place the bucket or container out of reach of the horses
and leave it for at least 24 hours to fully absorb the water.
There is an unmollassed sugar beet product available in many
areas called Speedi-Beet which absorbs water in only about
10 minutes.
Once the water is thoroughly absorbed, add it to the
horse's feed. The feeding guidelines should be on the back of

the bag or package. Be sure to follow the recommended feeding guidelines on the
package. You must be sure that you allow the beets long enough to absorb the water
before feeding.
Beneficial Herbs for Horses
Herbs have been used as long as we have existed. They are compatible to the
workings of the living body, whether animal or human. They work to build the body up,
rather than the dubious effect of symptom suppression that may rather work to break
the body down. It has been my experience that the timely and generous use of certain
herbs can not only alleviate pain, but often correct the underlying cause.

Most horses take right to herbs because horses are herbivores naturally. They
do best mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually when they get natural foliage to
graze and pick on, with plenty of sunlight. It makes sense that herbs will help provide
optimum compatibility with their systems. These would be the plants the horse would
find in nature and in the wild.
There are several herbs that are beneficial to your horses health and well being
and I like to go the natural route whenever possible. Before you get started, I would
recommend that you have your regular veterinarian diagnose any "problem" before you
just start using herbs indiscriminately. Then, once the problem is diagnosed, choose
the herbs that will be beneficial and not adversely affect what the veterinarian has
prescribed for your horse. Some herb and drug combinations can be dangerous, so
use caution if your horse is also on drugs.
If you are lucky enough to have one near you, it is best to enlist the aid of a
homeopathic veterinarian, naturopathic veterinarian, and/or an experienced herbalist to

help you decide on what herbs might be best for your horses. Be aware that very few
veterinarians are experienced in the use of herbs, homeopathy, flower essences, and
other natural therapies so you may need to look around a bit for someone who can help
you with this. Veterinarians are routinely only taught about drugs in school, so take
what they say with the proverbial “grain of salt”.
Many of my formulas which are designed to nurture the nervous system, also
assist in alleviating arthritic pain. The reverse is also true; formulas designed to
alleviate pain and arthritis may also calm the nervous horse due to the properties which
encourage the body to produce dopamine, the chemical that the brain releases which
causes good feelings.
You can grow your own herbs when possible like I do. One challenge though is
that there are often several species of the same plant available for sale at the nursery.
Each of these plants has the same basic components that make up the active

ingredients of the herb, but some subspecies are more potent than others, so you need
to know your species.
Garlic is a good example of this. When I first started growing my own herbs ten
years ago, there were twelve different kinds of garlic plants available. Now, there are
over twenty different types of garlic plants available for sale at many local nurseries. A
good book on growing herbs can help you to select the best species at the plant
nursery.
If you plan to buy your herbs either on the internet or at the health food store, I
would recommend that you purchase them in bulk to get the lowest price and more
consistent quality. I buy herbs that I’m not yet growing, in 1 to 5 pound bags. These
bags are usually vacuum-sealed to help insure the potency of the herb while in shipping
or in storage. Herbs stored in light-proof containers will keep their benefits longer than if
they are exposed to light.

If your horse has never been given herbs, it is an easy process to get started.
First, put a pinch of the herbs in the palm of your hand. Let your horse smell and lick
the herbs. If the horse seems to like them, put about 1/2 the recommended dose on
their feed that day. Then simply increase the amount at each feeding until you are
feeding the appropriate amount.
If your horse is a finicky eater or doesn’t seem to like the herbs, you can add
molasses, honey or a little soaked sugar beets to it and he won’t even notice they are in
there. It is easier to get horses to eat any supplement when sprinkled over sweet feed,
since powder sticks to the feed naturally. If you feed pellets or oats, you can wet the
feed to get the herbs to stick to the feed.
A weakness in the body can only be corrected by giving the body what it needs
to improve this problem at its origin. The origin is at the cellular level. Herbs contain
the needed micro-nutrients that are usually in short supply or even non-existent,
depending on the animal’s history, genetics, feed and former or current life-style.

Herbs act as a supplement to provide these micro-nutrients. They do take time
to work. While a drug can provide almost instant relief from symptoms, they do not
work to supply these nutrients the body needs to repair itself. Treating symptoms is a
short-term answer to a long-standing problem. I prefer to get to the root of the problem
whenever possible and cure it naturally at the cellular level.
There are many reasons, and many ways to avoid using "drugs". There are also
how’s and why’s to use drugs together with herbs and other alternatives to support the
health of your horses when needed.
With proper encouragement to the cells of the body through herbal nutrition, live
foods, sunlight, fresh water, etc., cells will return to a healthy functional state. I have
seen many horses that were “no longer useful” due to navicular, ringbone, tendon bows,
and various types of crippling, come back and be useful and pain free, after long term
use of herbs along with laser, homeopathy and home massage therapy. To me, the

time invested is well worth allowing a horse to become useful and happily working
again.
I have often complained that I see competitive horses being treated too much like
a mechanized commodity. Use it, abuse it, cast it off then grab another. I firmly believe
each horse is useful for something, just as each human is. Using herbs and
alternatives, drugs and veterinarians together, we can provide the best possible care for
our horses.
Herbs
Comfrey- Also known as “Knitbone”

I use comfrey in all its forms, leaves, and roots for formulas, liniments salves and
hoof sprays. Comfrey has been used throughout the years, not only as a medicinal
plant, but also as a source of vitamin B12 and a potential source of protein. Some

strains of comfrey contain up to 35% protein, the same percentage as soy beans.
Comfrey is a valuable animal feed in some parts of the world such as Africa.
In Medieval medicine, comfrey was used often. It was one of the main herbs
used in treating fractures which caused it to get the nick name of “Knitbone”. The
pounded root forms a mass which would be tied around the fracture. It hardens and
holds the bone in place. It has also been taken orally for fractures, weakened structural
conditions and many other skeletal problems.
Gypsies fed comfrey to their horses to keep them fat and healthy. When a horse
was sold to a farmer and dropped weight while being fed alfalfa hay, the farmer would
be furious thinking he had been “taken” by the gypsy. The reason was the comfrey the
gypsies used as hay, has more protein than alfalfa. It is also the only land plant with
vitamin B-12.

I keep a live comfrey plant in the barn in front of my stalls and feed a couple of
leaves to each horse daily. I had one horse that was prone to chronic muscle cramps.
After a couple of days being fed the comfrey leaves, his cramping stopped.
Once, when I was away for two weeks at a championship horse show, a horse
back at home escaped his stall and with no one watching, ate my entire stock of
comfrey plants! Although it caused him no harm, the horse with cramping problems had
his problem return about two weeks later, since I had no more comfrey to feed him. As
soon as I replaced my plants and got him back on the comfrey leaves, his cramping was
gone again.
At the tack stores comfrey is found in healing ointments, cold wraps, poultice and
hoof oils. This herbal plant derived its name from confervere, a Latin word meaning 'to
heal'. Its generic name, symphtum, is Greek for 'to grow together'. Uniting is exactly
what comfrey does and why its new acclaim as a miracle healer is endorsed. The
allantoin from the plant speeds healing.

For a home remedy of comfrey for wounds, scrapes and hooves, mix powdered
comfrey root or leaves with warmed, cold-processed oil. The roots are more powerful
because they contain a higher quantity of allantoin. Any type of oil will work, but cold
processed oil is the best.
Leave the comfrey in the oil and take the container to the barn. With a small
paintbrush apply the solution to any wound or place where the hair is scraped off. In
less than one week there will be new hair growth and healing. With the use of comfrey
little or no scarring is left, depending on the wound.
Comfrey is edible for people too. It can be eaten like cooked spinach, or raw in
salads. Comfrey leaf and root tea is recommended for people with ulcers and broken
bones.

Goldenseal
Goldenseal, of the buttercup family, is excellent for open wounds. It stops
bleeding and acts as a disinfectant. In 1939 it was among the most important drugs in
the European trade market to treat infections for people. It is also used in a powdered
form, and can be kept in a jar in the barn.
Garlic
Garlic…let me count the ways it benefits the health! Some trainers and owners
won’t feed it to the horses because they do not want the garlic odor on the horse’s
breath or they do not want the odor in their barn. Besides a noticeable reduction in the
fly population, we see an improved function of the immune system and cardiovascular
health, excess mucus reduction and better circulation and healthier blood.

The reduction of pain and arthritis symptoms are very noticeable. I believe garlic
is essential in the life of all horses. Even pleasure horses, particularly older horses, live
longer, healthier lives, and are more pain free when garlic is a part of their daily ration.
Garlic is a natural antibiotic with the huge advantage that it is selective and only
kills pathogens. It is the greatest disease preventative and fighter because it is anti-
bacterial, anti-fungal and anti-parasitic. It is also reported to lower cholesterol, fight
cancer, hypertension, diabetes, infections and even the common cold.
Garlic’s use dates back thousands of years as both a traditional medicine and as
a seasoning. Garlic supplements vary widely in composition, depending on the age of
the garlic and how it is processed.
My garlic blends have only a portion of garlic, they also have rosehips, seaweed,
and other herbs. I use ½ oz of garlic two times a day. Unless you use raw, fresh garlic
for a specific reason and for a short period of time, using garlic alone is not

recommended. Garlic is good for horses, as is seaweed and many other herbs. Just
don't go overboard.
Devil’s Claw Root

Devil’s Claw root, also known as Nature’s Bute, is another well known and
effective aid in the relief of pain from arthritis, bruises and strains. It is an excellent anti-
inflammatory and anti-arthritic, especially when combined in proper amounts with Myrrh
and Yucca.
Devil’s Claw Root is used to effectively help with pain when used both internally
and topically. Older horses respond well when Tumeric is added to the daily diet.
Anything that works to aid in building and maintaining a healthy immune system will also
work to lessen the pain of arthritis and help in the healing of injuries. Some of these
herbs are Schizandra berries, Astragalus, Siberian Ginseng and Eucommia bark. White
Willow bark is excellent for pain, and Rue is great for tendon problems. The

homeopathics; Arnica, Rhus Tox, Bellis Perrennis, Silicea, etc., are all very useful for
pain and aiding in the healing of broken bones, torn muscles and other athletic injuries.
St John’s Wort
This is another effective herb that is commonly known today for its use in
assisting the relief of depression and behavior problems. Anciently, this herb was
widely used both topically and internal for arthritic symptoms and pain. As an external
poultice for sore and inflamed joints, mixed with garlic, turmeric, cod liver oil or olive oil,
it can be excellent for the relief of the pain and swelling of arthritis. It is even effective
for bruising from injury.
Alfalfa and Alfalfa Sprouts

Alfalfa, one of the world's most widely cultivated crops, is so well known among
horse owners that you wouldn’t consider it as a special plant, but it is. Alfalfa is an

Arabic word that means 'father of all foods'. Alfalfa roots grow up to 28 feet deep, and
are capable of absorbing tremendous amounts of nutrients in a proper balance provided
by the original supplier. Organic farmers utilize alfalfa for fertilizer by roto-tilling the
plant into the soil after it has absorbed those deep nutrients.
Alfalfa sprouts prepared for humans are a special treat for horses. Not only are
they crunchy and as fresh and juicy as green grass, but they are also enormous in
vitamin content.
Yucca
Yucca is another up-and-coming horse product that relieves joint conditions such
as ringbone and arthritis. This cactus plant is reported to reduce the swelling of arthritis
and is considered a good cortisone substitute.

A mixture of pure yucca, comfrey and kelp is probably one of the finest herbal
supplements available, not only for the aging horse, but as a preventative measure for
younger horses, and even owners.
Aloe Vera
One of the first natural plant products to appear on the tack store shelves and
health food stores has been aloe vera. Used for ointments, hoof dressing and
shampoos, this plant extract is now considered to be conventional. Its major properties
are as a skin softener and balm for burns.
Ginger
With the competitive horse, a chunk of fresh ginger about the size of the first joint
of your thumb, chopped small and added to their food daily, has shown to be extremely

beneficial. This works to assist the immune system. Studies in humans have shown
the long term effect of daily use of ginger eradicates most arthritic pain.
Oregano
One of my most widely used formulas contains garlic, rose hips and oregano.
Oregano contains some very strong anti-oxidant chemicals. Oxidation is part of the
inflammatory process. It is the sloughing off of dead, inflamed tissue into the system
along with associated pain.
Oregano has many other beneficial properties as well. It is an immune booster
and has oils that are effective against insect irritation, fungus, airborne bacteria and help
with the beautification of the hair and coat. Oregano combined with high quality garlic,
becomes a dramatic combination.

Rosehips
"Rosa canina" or Rosehips, should be given as part of a natural diet. It has an
enormous Vitamin C level as well as a vast array of other vitamins and a high mineral
count. It is good added to a broad general tonic which is good for rehabilitation after
any stress, illness or injury. It is an immune system booster and a good circulatory herb
especially beneficial for the bridge between arterial and venous circulation. This is one
main reason it promotes strong, healthy hoof growth and is good for the lungs.
Tryptophan
Tryptophan is not a plant, but still a natural remedy. It is an essential amino acid,
which the horse is unable to manufacture itself and needs to obtain in the diet. The
body uses tryptophan to make serotonin. Studies in humans show that increased levels
of serotonin in the brain have been associated with sedation, increased sleepiness,
reduced aggression, and reduced fearfulness. Tryptophan is an amino acid (an isolated

protein) that humans have been using to relax and to sleep, treat depression, cure
mood swings and many other problems, but tryptophan is great for hot or excitable
horses, too.
An herbal paste of tryptophan and the herb valerian has been prepared as a
quick release from nervous tension before a show or trailering. It is sold in the tack
stores along with an herbal stimulant for low energy horses. Tryptophan can also be
prepared at home like comfrey ointment. It can be bought at a health food store or less
expensively through the internet.
Herbal Solutions for Horses' Pain
People often ask me, “what can I do for pain in my horse for arthritis, injury,
overwork, sprains, strains, wounds and all the rest?” In traditional medicine, the answer

is to treat the symptoms. For humans, we take Advil, Oxycodone, Motrin, Aspirin, etc.
For horses and other animals, we reach for Bute, Banamine, etc. While these drugs are
a quick answer in acute situations, they are not an effective solution for the chronic
condition because they don’t solve the root of the problem.
If an animal is suffering from long-standing pain, the first thing that should be
looked at is the diet. The feed might be too high in protein for the type of physical
activity or workload the animal is doing. Over use of high protein overloads the kidneys
to the point where they slough off toxins into the muscles and joints. This can cause
aches and pains that are easily remedied by cutting back on the protein.
Many people live in an area where it is often too cold to fully rinse our horses
down after a hard workout. To combat this, I like to wash the sweaty and often sore
areas of muscle with herbal teas. Infusions are tea made from the flowers and leaves of
the plant, and decoctions are tea made from the root, bark or seeds of the plant.

I usually make the herbal bath tea a gallon at a time. I use dried herbs in winter,
and fresh herbs in late spring and early summer. When using fresh (not dried) herbs I
use 3 tablespoons of the fresh herb per cup of water or 3 cups of fresh herbs per gallon
of water. When using dry herbs, I use 1 tablespoon of dried herb per cup of water or 1
cup of dried herbs per gallon of water.
I then store the tea in a gallon jar in the refrigerator until I’m ready to use it. I
make the tea a few hours or a day ahead of time. You can also make sun tea in the
summer.
The benefits of washing your horse down with herbal teas are many. Besides
removing sweat and grime, you are also feeling your horse’s muscles and giving a quick
massage at the same time. This alone can help repair the micro-tears and strains that
go along with riding and working. You are introducing soothing, pain-relieving quiet
time, which can help your horse maintain his emotional well-being.

By investing this sort of time daily or after a ride, you set up a win-win situation.
Your horse gets a light massage and you get to know your horse’s physical body on a
more intimate level. While doing this, you should be able to detect heat, soreness,
muscle, and tendon problems early on.
Some of my favorite herbal bath teas contain readily available herbs such as
arnica, calendula, chamomile, comfrey, rue, St. John's Wort, mint and oats. I also like
to add lavender oil and tea tree oil. Another body wash I like is apple cider vinegar. It
will help with skin irritations and sore muscles and joint pain.
Lavender oil can have a calming effect on hot or overly emotional horses (and
people). If you desire to calm a horse down, add a few drops of lavender oil to the tea
right before you use it. Be aware that since it is an oil, it will float to the top of the tea.
Be sure to shake or stir your tea before using to thoroughly blend all the ingredients.

Herbal Wound Wash: 1 gallon
Calendula (calendula officinale)

Chamomile (matricaria recutita)
Comfrey (symphytum officinale)
If using dried herbs, use 1 cup of each

If using fresh herbs, use 3 cups of each
Boil water 1 gallon of water and then remove it from the heat. Add the herbs,
and let it steep covered for 15 to 20 minutes. Then use a strainer to catch the herbs as
you pour the water into a jar that you can seal. Use this “wash” generously on the
wound area or as a rinse.

Herbal Trauma Tea: 1 gallon
Arnica (arnica montana) (NOT to be used on open wounds or broken skin)

St. John's Wort (hypericum perforatum)
Calendula (calendula officinale)
Rue (ruta graveolens) Mint (mentha piperita)
If using dried herbs, use 1 cup of each

If using fresh herbs, use 3 cups of each
Boil 1 gallon of water and then remove it from the heat. Add the herbs, and let it
steep covered for 15 to 20 minutes. Then use a strainer to catch the herbs as you pour
the water into a jar that you can seal. Use generously all over the body, especially on
areas of muscle soreness or tension.

Herbal Remedy for Irritated Skin
2 cups of whole rolled oats (not quick oats)

5 drops of lavender oil*
2 quarts of hot water
Grind oats in blender into small bits. Pour the dry ground oats into a thin cotton
sock. Tie a knot in the sock to close it. Put the sock in a small bucket of hot water and
let it steep for about 10 minutes. Wring out the oat sock a couple of times. Add the
lavender oil to the oatmeal water. Then use the oat sock to apply the warm oat and
lavender water to the irritated skin. Do not towel dry it off; let it air dry naturally.
*Optional ingredient

A horse that has been subjected to abuse or neglect or highly competitive sports
may exhibit more pain than a horse that is treated with kindness and consideration.
Emotional pain is often the forerunner of physical pain. Even sprain, strain and broken
bones contribute to toxic levels in the liver. The abused horse will manifest its pain in
many ways such as behavioral problems, nervousness, irritability, as well as physical
complaints.
Another area of concern is the hoof. A horse’s feet are sometimes a source of
constant pain. When the horse has been kept shod all of its life and has not been given
the opportunity to run barefoot as much as possible, discomfort with feet, legs,
shoulders or hips often show up. A lot has been written about this subject and I suggest
you do a little internet research on the Strasser Trim method.
There are a number of things that work to calm and relax your horse, which in
turn can do much to ease pain. Brushing and massage are a good start.

Native Indians use a Sage smudge to relax and calm horses. To do this, you
build a small fire of hay in a fire proof container, such as an old pot or aluminum plate.
When it is burning well, drop a small handful of sage in the middle. If you only have dry
sage, place a large handful on top of the flames. You want to snuff the flames but allow
enough to burn to create heavy smoke. Pass or blow this smoke around and under the
horse, allowing it to breathe in the vapors as well. This has a remarkable calming and
healing effect on horses.
There are many other plants that can be used as an effective smudge and also
as an effect aid to relieve insect irritation. Motherwort, juniper leaves, cedar leaves are
only a few that can be used as a smudge. Research the uses of whatever herbs,
bushes and trees grow in your area.
Once you’ve started your horse on the herbs, monitor him for any changes in
appearance or behavior. You should see a positive response to the herbs. Many

people say that herbs take at least a few weeks to take effect and for results to be seen,
but this differs from horse to horse.
In many cases, the response from Chamomile is fast, with Garlic being within a
few days and the same with Rosehips. Cod Liver oil usually produces results within
days however, it will depend on the dosage and how much you are working your horse.
If you are working your horse hard while feeding garlic, very soon you may find a
sweet garlic smell. This is the effect of the garlic combined with the fluid loss from
sweating. This process, which is sped up by sweating, will mean that any biting insects
will be greeted with an unpleasant smell and will leave your horse alone.
Re-evaluate your horse after a couple of weeks and re-dose if required.

Bonus #1:
Coat Color- Condition and Care
I am only slightly amused when I think back on all the battles I have had worrying
over my horses' coats and colors. I remember fussing over a Paint I had. He was a

beautiful black Tobiano with white everywhere except black on his rump and across his
shoulders and neck. I would worry about his black parts getting sun bleached and his
white parts getting dirty and stained.
I also vividly remember the “palomino” I had. The only thing wrong was that her
"white" mane and tail were really yellow mixed with some grey and black hairs. I
thought I had tried everything to get her mane and tail white. It wasn't until I got into the
"horse show world" that I found out how the professionals dealt with these problems.
When I would see the jet black horses lined up in the show ring at the Morgan
shows I thought those horses never saw the light of day. I thought the horses looked
beautiful but it was cruel to keep a horse indoors his whole life just to look good for a
few minutes in the show ring. Yet, how else could you compete with a dark colored
horse? You couldn't show it if it was sun bleached and dull looking. I had a lot to learn!
Let's get started revealing all the "tricks of the trade" that the trainers use to get
their horses looking great in the show ring or at the sales.

Flaxen Manes and Tails
I mentioned the “palomino” I had. First I will tell you what I tried that didn't work.
Someone told me to mix Clorox bleach with warm water in a bucket and brush it on the
mane and tail. I tried this several times until I got to the point where I poured straight
bleach into the bucket and soaked the horse’s tail in it. I never noticed any difference in
the color at all.
Then a new product came out called "sun in". The commercials said you could
just spray it in your (human) hair and the sun would lighten it a couple shades. I used
two whole bottles on my horse's mane alone, but again I couldn't see any difference.
Then some friends told me to squeeze lemon juice on it. I figure I had nothing to lose,

so I tried it. My hands got tired and cramped up from squeezing, but still I got the same
results- nothing.
I sold that mare after many years of trying to make a "true" palomino out of it. I
never succeeded.
Most recently I met some new people at my boarding barn. Their young horse
was a beautiful sorrel color with a flaxen mane and tail. When I commented on how
pretty the color was, they said they had "helped" Mother Nature a little bit. I asked what
they meant. They said that the horse's mane and tail had been a light sorrel, but
judging by the horse's breeding they thought that the mane and tail would lighten up to a
more flaxen color.
They thought that the flaxen color they predicted would be prettier than the plain
sorrel that it was when they bought it. So they decided to hurry Mother Nature along
and colored the horse's mane and tail with human hair coloring. They used one of the

many brands sold at the drug store for completely changing a person’s hair color. It
was not just one of the "lighteners" but a color-changing product.
If you have a horse that has a color similar to this, you could try the human hair
products made for coloring the hair to lighten and brighten an otherwise dull looking
mane or tail.
Eventually I learned a trick from a friend in the “dog showing world” and another
trick from another friend in the “cat showing world”. The trick I learned from my dog
showing friend is to take equal parts of plain original Phillips Milk of Magnesia and mix it
50/50 with regular 3% Hydrogen Peroxide. Then take regular white corn starch and mix
enough in a bowl to make a paste. Then apply that paste to the areas you want to
lighten or whiten. I have left it on overnight with no problems.
I usually will see a few shades difference in the lightness of the color. The more
often you apply the paste, the lighter the hair will get. People who show white dogs use
this to remove tear stains, saliva stains or any stains in the coat.

You KNOW tear stains are nearly impossible to get out! What the dog people do
is to make the paste and apply it to the stained area two or three times a day for about
ten days. Then all traces of the stain are usually gone. Then they will apply it maybe
once every week or two to maintain the brightness with no problem.
Now for the trick I learned from my cat friend. She shows Persian cats and they
often will get tear stains on their white paws from washing their face or other stains on
their white parts that are tough to get out. What she uses is a hair dye for elderly ladies
who have gray hair.
Evidently, there is something that causes gray hair to get sort of a yellow tint to it.
Several companies make a type of hair dye that is made to take the yellow out of gray
hair. My friend uses it on her cats and she says it works miracles!
Another friend told me that you can mix one part shampoo (any kind) with one part
20% Hydrogen Peroxide and shampoo the hair with it. Let it sit five to ten minutes and

rinse thoroughly. She says this has the same effect for removing a yellow cast. Be
careful not to get it in the eyes.
Black and Red Coats, Manes and Tails
I mentioned in the beginning about the beautiful jet black Morgan horses I saw at
some of the shows I went to. Black is a common color among this breed so there was
more than one "black beauty" at their world championship show when I attended.
I couldn't figure out how they did it until I had a black horse of my own in training
with a professional trainer. I kept worrying about my horse's coat getting bleached out
by the sun while the trainer was working him outside every day. He told me not to worry
about it but he didn't say why not. I learned this secret a little while later.

How to Darken Your Horse's Coat
Buy a bottle of Canola oil and a bag of horse sweet feed or grain. Pour the
normal ration of feed for your horse into a feed bucket. Pour a cup of Canola oil over
the feed, and mix thoroughly. Feed this mixture to your horse a few times a week.
Once the coat has darkened to your liking, you may stop feeding the mixture if you wish.
Buy a UV repellent fly mesh turn out sheet or rug and keep it on your horse when
he is in the sun. The UV repellent will repel UV rays that may bleach your horse's coat.
Make sure to include salt in your horse's diet. You can incorporate the salt in the
feed mixture or place a salt lick in an accessible area.
Remember that as your horse ages, s/he will develop graying hair - just like a
person, particularly around the muzzle. While this feed mixture may help with darkening
a shade or two, nothing will stave off the effects of aging.

I found out another trick when the first show of
the season started. He sprayed my horse with a spray
on color called "Show Touch Up". It's made for horses,
so it’s perfectly safe. It is available in most natural
horse colors. It comes in an aerosol can and it washes Show Touch Up™ $10.29
out with soap and water. It really looks natural. (Shapley's) Color-
Later that summer when my horse's coat became enhancing sprays,
developed specifically for
so lightened by the sun that he needed to be sprayed horses. Safely and
effectively covers stains,
all over his body, the trainer colored his whole coat scars, flaws and blemishes
and will not smear, wipe off
with the wash in human hair coloring like the ones I or clump. Can be sprayed
in tails to promote a fuller
mentioned previously. This again is the kind sold in tail appearance. Leaves a
drug stores for people to change the color of their hair. natural look and feel.
Color choices: palomino,
It comes in every color that horses come in. black, white, chestnut,
sorrel or dark brown.

White Socks
There are a few different methods used for getting white socks their whitest.
Some trainers let the white hair on the legs grow long and then cut it off right before a
show. That way the hair that is cut off has all the dirt on it, and has protected the hair
underneath which will be very white. They are not concerned about what the socks look
like between shows when all the dirty hair is on the legs.
I have shown my horse as often as once a week and was never able to use this
method. Besides, I care what my horse looks like at all times. I want him looking his
best, even when he is in his stall at home. I take a lot of pride in my horse's looks so I
use a method that has them white all the time.
First I keep the white leg hair shaved off very close. This leaves very little hair for
any dirt or manure to cling to. If anything does stick to it, it comes off very easily with

the human bristle hairbrush. As an added protection you can spray the legs with Show
Sheen or a similar hair polish that repels dirt and stains.
Then when it is show time, I wash all white hair with a shampoo that I absolutely
love called "Quick Silver". It is the best I have ever used for white hair.
It looks very purple when you are letting it soak on the hair, but it comes
out snow white. You need to be careful to follow the instructions on the
bottle or you will have a silvery blue horse. (Ask me how I know that!)
On really tough stains I have used a scrub brush with the shampoo.
If there is a stain that you just cannot get out there is another trick
the pros use. They put white shoe polish on the legs. The easiest to
use is the kind with the sponge applicator built in. I use the kind made for white tennis
shoes. It seems to go on easier.
If you’d rather use a product that is actually made for horses, there are a couple
of them out there that you can try.

$7.57 $13.35
Twinkle® White Chrome
White 'N Easy Instant Whitener
(Bio-Groom) Unique, aerosol spray-on chalk For Brilliant White Markings
formulated to whiten white, cover leather and White cosmetic cream instantly adds,
grass stains, discolorations and blemishes on enhances or enlarges white markings with
the body, mane and tail. Will not rub off. Does shimmering effects. Squeeze tube with sponge
not contain bleach or peroxide. Safe, non- tip for easy application. To remove brush or
sticky, non-irritating, and has a fresh smell. rinse out with water.
Essential for show stock.

White Horses
White horses have some unique problems. Most of them have more sensitive skin
than other colors, especially if they have pink skin. These horses often turn real pink
when they are hot and are more susceptible to saddle sores and other sores caused by
rubbing.
Some of them even get sunburned skin. For this reason you cannot just shave
their hair off real short all over to keep it clean like you can with white socks. You may
be able to get by doing that if the skin is black under the hair. I have done it in that case
before and it worked out fine.
In most cases of truly white horses the skin will be pink under the hair. The best
way to deal with these is to prevent the hair from getting dirty.

Start out with a real good scrubbing with my favorite, "Quick Silver" shampoo. Let
it soak like it says to on the bottle, but no longer. I like to use a scrub brush to get the
skin really clean. This should give you a sparkling white horse.
After you rinse it real well, spray the horse with Show Sheen on all the places that
are most likely to get dirty. Show Sheen will repel dirt and keep the horse much cleaner
for a longer period of time. It seems like the Show Sheen makes the hair so slippery
that dirt cannot even stick to it. Any dirt that does get on the horse will come right off
with a light brushing.
Re-apply the Show Sheen every week or as often as necessary. I do not
recommend spraying the saddle area because it will cause your saddle to slip right off.
(Voice of experience!)

Remove and Repel Stains
I like to remove all stains with a stiff scrub brush and one of the shampoos
especially made for removing stains. There are several on the market. Quick Silver
does a very good job removing stains even though it is made for white hair.
There are also waterless shampoos that I use for quick touch ups between baths.
For those quick touch ups I use the human hair brush that I recommend. I just scrub
the spot with that and it works great.
The larger scrub brush I use is the kind sold in the grocery store for scrubbing
floors. The bristles are pretty stiff and really get down to the skin and get everything off
without hurting the horse.
If it is possible, I like to shave the hair short. This is especially helpful if the horse
continually picks up stains in the same spot over and over again. If you are careful you
can shave the most prone spots and blend it in with the rest of the surrounding hair so

that it doesn't show. This may be a little tricky for some people. Don't try it if you aren't
fairly skilled and experienced with the clippers. Fortunately most of the stains occur on
the legs, which is an easier place to keep shaved short.
Show Sheen is the best thing I know of for repelling stains. I just think Show
Sheen is a great all around grooming product. I wouldn't be caught without mine.
Spray some on all the spots where your horse is prone to get stains or dirt. It will make
it a lot easier to remove if something should stick to the hair.
Shining Glossy Coat
The best way to get a healthy gloss on the coat is from the inside out. I like to use
flax seed to accomplish this. Usually any healthy horse is going to have a nice glossy
coat. By healthy, I mean a horse that is on a regular worming and vaccination program

and is fed and exercised properly. Any illnesses or deficiencies in the diet will show up
on the coat.
You cannot expect to just be able to spray on a shine out of a can or bottle. You
will be able to see the difference between a sprayed on shine and a shine that is coming
from the inside out.
See the book "Fairy Tails" for instructions on how to use flax seed to get the coat
shining from the inside. I do not mean to imply that you should not use a spray on coat
gloss. It's just that you need a good foundation for the shine to really come through.
The spray coat gloss should only be used to enhance the gloss that is already there.

How to Make Glitter Hoof Polish
Making glitter hoof polish is fun and easy, and it will make your horse stand out at
fun shows and trail rides. Take a bottle of black or clear hoof polish. This can be bought
at a local tack shop, or feed store.
Before you buy the hoof polish, make sure that the color is allowed on your breed
of horse if you are going to show. Sometimes it is illegal to cover up zebra hoof
markings on certain breeds at shows, therefore making you lose points or possibly be
disqualified.
Add loose glitter in the color of your choice. You can buy this inexpensively and
in large amounts at craft shops and sometimes dollar stores. You can buy any color
you like, and you can also add little hearts and stars to the polish to make it look more
interesting.

You can add fine glitter for a shimmery look, or chunkier glitter for a more sparkly
look. If you want, you can mix the two types of glitter together. Mix all of it well before
applying it to the hoof.
Polish your horse's hooves using the mixture and a hoof polish brush. Spread it
evenly over your horses hooves. Make sure that there are no clumps of glitter. If you
see clumps, just take another swipe over it with the brush.
Wait for the polish to dry. When it is completely dry, re-apply a coat of plain
regular clear hoof polish over the top to seal it. This is done so that the glitter doesn't
fall off. If you only want the glitter for a short amount of time, then don't apply this coat,
because it will be harder to take it off.

How to Make Horse Body Glitter
Horse body glitter gel is an easy and inexpensive way to make a statement at
any fun show or trail ride. Here’s all you need to do.
Buy a big tub of human hair gel. You can often find this at dollar stores or
discount stores. Spot test the plain gel on your horse's coat to make sure that he isn’t
allergic to it.
You also need to buy a packet or jar of loose glitter in any color or colors you
want. You can also buy glitter with little hearts and stars in it. You can add as much or
as little as you want to the tub of hair gel to get the effect you want.
As you want it, just dip a brush or a few fingers into the tub and apply it where
you want it. You can add it to the mane and tail only or brush it onto the body with a
soft body brush.

If you want to, you can buy a couple of tubs of hair gel and use different colored
glitter. With these you can make patterns on your horse's coat, or you can make a
multi-colored mane masterpiece!
You can even buy a stencil to make patterns with the glitter gel on your horse's
rump. You can buy these stencils in shapes such as stars or checkers at any craft
shop. To make the patterns last longer, spray some human hair spray over the top of
the glitter to set it in place.
Another idea is to mix fine glitter into your spray-on coat polish or even just water
and spray it on with a spray bottle. This creates a fine glittery mist on your horse's
mane, tail, coat and legs.
You can also add some washable, non toxic poster paint to the water if you want
to add some color or to darken the natural color of your horse. Just make sure it is
horse-friendly before you use it. It’s always good to do a small test spot before using
anything all over your horse.

To remove the glitter, all you need to do is wash it off. If it is too cold to give your
horse a bath, use a stiff body brush instead.
Make sure that horse glitter gel isn't illegal at any shows that you and your horse
participate in. It is not commonly seen in formal shows, but will often be seen at
informal shows such as gymkhanas and fun shows. You can be disqualified if you use
horse body glitter in most formal shows.

Bonus #2:
Super Shedding Blade

1. Buy an ordinary hacksaw blade. They often come in packs of three for about 99
cents. When I really have a lot of horses to groom in the spring I will buy a couple of
packs. One blade will last a long time but I like to leave a few lying around anywhere I
will be with the horses. I use them so often I like to have one close by at all times.
They are so inexpensive it is easily affordable to have a few extras lying around.
2. Take some electrical tape and wrap some
around each end of the hacksaw blade. This is
where you will be holding it. The tape will make it
easier on your fingers when there is a lot of
shedding to do.
That is all there is to make the
grooming/shedding tool. Now scrape it down the
side of your horse’s neck and see what it does! It
will remove anything in its path that doesn't belong

there! Then you can turn it over and use it for a sweat scraper when you are finished.
When you need to remove bot eggs, it will be a little easier if you wipe them first
with some rubbing alcohol on a piece of cotton. Then go over them with the shedding
blade and they should come right off.
When you have some really tough dried on mud, try tackling it with the teeth of
the shedding blade. It should break it up and pull it off. Then you can go over the mud
with your bristle hairbrush.
If you will be working a lot on the legs, face or sections where you need to get in
a tight spot, you can bend and break a blade into smaller pieces before you wrap the
ends with plastic tape. The small pieces are great for the more sensitive spots where
the horse's skin is thinner and more sensitive. You can control a smaller piece easier.
You need to be careful to not catch the mane or tail in the blade. It will pull it out.
Move the mane or tail away from the area you will be working in.

I think you will be very pleasantly surprised when you see how much unwanted
hair can be pulled out in one swipe of the shedding blade. Keep the loose hair out of
the teeth of the blade for maximum efficiency. When the blade is not pulling the hair out
as well as it was, then you need a new blade.
They usually last a pretty long time, but the dirt on your horse will cause the blade
to get dull. If you can wash your horse before a major shedding session you will get out
even more hair, and your blade will last longer.
There are handles made for the shedding blades, which are sold at tack stores,
but I don't like them. I don't think you can control them as well. Neither can you make
as much contact with the horse in one swipe because the blade can't bend when it is in
the handle/holder.
When you don't have the holder you can bend the blade to fit the contour of the
horse as you work over it. You cover more area faster without the holder.

I'm sure you will find this shedding blade invaluable. It is so handy. It fits right in
your pocket just great. It doesn't take up any room in your tack box. Yet the price
makes it easy to have plenty of extras around. You will find people constantly
borrowing your shedding blades when they see how easy and efficiently they work. I
couldn't do without mine!

Bonus #3:
How to Sell Any Horse Fast for Top Dollar!

To sell a horse quickly, first you need to figure out the right price, but that doesn’t
mean the lowest price. Determine the best asking price by looking on major horse sales
websites and finding horses of similar quality and training.
Once you determine the average price, choose a price that is on the high side of
the range. This is because people will often perceive quality by how much you value
the horse. If you undercut your price, people will place a lower perceived value on the
horse. You should never try to sell anything by being the cheapest. It draws the wrong
kind of people and costs you money. Don’t sell yourself and your horse short.
Provide only two very good pictures. A picture really says 1000 words, but you
want them to be the right words. The purpose of any ad is only to do one thing; to get
the person to inquire further. The purpose of the ad is NOT to sell the horse. That is
your job once they contact you. You just want to entice them to want to know more so
that they will contact you.

How to Take Great Photos of Any Horse
Groom the horse the best you can, as if you are going to a horse show. After all,
you are “showing” your horse off. Remove all the dust from the horse's coat, and bathe
him or her if the weather permits. Clip the horse's long facial whiskers, ear hair, bridle
path and fetlock hair if appropriate for the breed.
Brush out the mane and tail and then spray the entire horse with hair polish. If
you want, you can apply a light coating of Vaseline or equine highlighter to the muzzle,
eye area and ears. For a really sharp picture, you will want to sand and polish your
horse’s hooves so they look very “dressed up”.

How to Sand and Polish Your Horse's Hooves
Using just hoof-black or hoof polish on your horses hooves looks nice, but once
you compare that to a hoof that's been sanded and polished, there’s no comparison to
how much nicer it looks. To accomplish this look, start by taking a stiff wire brush, like
the kind you use to clean a grill, and knocking the dirt off the hoof. The last thing you
want to do is waste time sanding dirt!
Using a small sander and course sandpaper, smoothly sand each hoof. Go back
and forth a few times, then move the sander over a bit, then repeat. Feel around for
any unwanted bumps and repeat in that area, but be careful not to remove too much of
the hoof.

Once the hooves all feel good and smooth, take medium grade sandpaper and
sand down each hoof again, but this time by hand. Finally, take fine grade sandpaper
and do a once over to finish the sanding off.
Next, get a good sized piece of steel wool and rub the hoof with the steel wool.
This makes it a lot smoother, and a bit darker. Rub it the same way you did with the
sandpaper. When you're done, check for any rough parts. If it is all smooth, wipe the
hoof with a damp washcloth to take the dust off.
Now take clear shoe polish and coat the whole hoof. This will make a TON of
difference. Let it dry a minute, then buff it off with a dry towel or even a paper towel.
Next, add your hoof black or you can use high gloss black spray paint in a can if you
want to blacken the hooves. If it is a striped hoof breed, just use clear polish. It is best
to do this with the horse standing on concrete so dirt will not dry in the hoof black or
polish.

When the hoof dries all the way, spray the hoof with some hoof-enhancer. This
will give it added shine to really stand out. If you are going into the show ring, give the
hoof one more wipe with a dry cloth. This will help to keep dust from being attracted to
the hoof while in the ring.
Now that you have the horse looking his or her best, clean and polish any tack
that the horse may wear, especially any metal pieces or colored parts, as these really
stand out in a photograph.
Locate the area you would like to shoot the photos in. Pay close attention to
what will be in the background of the photo because it will say a lot about you and your
horse. Clean up any debris, manure or other unsightly items. It is best to have a grassy
background or a nice fence or the side of a large, but plain building.
Keep the background simple and not too distracting. Early morning or late
evening light is the most flattering to a horse, but check that there is enough light to take
a picture without the flash.

It is best to include a full body shot and a close up head shot from the side,
unless the horse has an unappealing side profile. If the profile of the head is not so
attractive, take a head shot from the front.
If it is a “colored” horse with spots or unusual markings, you should do the full
body shot of the prettiest side. That way, they have to contact you to see what the other
markings on the other side look like and that gives you the opportunity to do some
“selling”. If you have grown the mane and tail super long like we’ve discussed in this
book, then you want to make sure the full body shot shows the side the mane is on.
Following are some actual sale pictures taken from a popular horse sale website
(www.Equine.com) to give you some ideas of what and what not to do-

Good Background Terrible Foreground! Distracting Background Good Background
Good Front Head Shot Good Side Head Shot Bad Front Head Shot Bad Side Head Shot

Bad Background Good Trick Shot Lousy Shot Bad Background
To take an action shot, let the horse loose (in a fenced area, of course!), take a
lunge whip and pop it on the ground to get the horse moving. Pop it as many times as
needed to get the horse at the pace you need. It helps to have one or two helpers
doing this so that you can get a still shot.
To take a posed shot, bring your horse to the area where you want the shot to be
taken. Have a helper hold a carrot or other treat just out of the camera shot to position
the horse's head and make him prick his ears. Sometimes either flicking the end of a

carriage whip or using dog squeaky toys will make them stand their ears up. Never use
a photo where the ears are not both standing forward.
Focus your camera appropriately. Many cameras have a portrait setting that is
perfect for posed shots, and some also have an action setting that works nicely for
action shots.
Time your shots. For a portrait, this is not quite as essential, but for a motion
shot, try to catch the horse when he is airborne, with legs fully extended, or with legs
fully contracted. Mid-stride shots are usually not very attractive.
It is best to use a digital camera so that you can shoot many, many pictures.
Shoot at different angles and sides, and shoot a lot. When the shoot is over, you will
have many more photos to choose from when picking out the best ones.
Learn the length of time it takes before your camera takes the picture. Then, by
watching the horse's strides, you can time your shot so that the camera takes the photo
at the perfect moment.

Another way to get the perfect action shot is to take a video of the horse with a
digital camera. Then you can load it on your computer and “freeze” any shot and turn it
into a snap shot.
Now that you’ve gotten the horse perfectly groomed and gotten the perfect shots
of your horse, you need to write the ad. The written part of the ad should list every
possible positive trait the horse has unless you are being charged by the word. If that is
the case, then list only the very most impressive traits and then use words like “must
see” and “too much to list”.
Many internet ads are not limited much, so list everything you can think of. You
especially want to list first the things that make the horse stand out. If you have time to
teach the horse any tricks, this really endears people to a horse and will really make
your horse stand out far above the others. If the horse knows even one trick, it is best
to use a picture of the horse doing the trick instead of the full body shot. This will really
catch people’s attention as they are scrolling through similar looking pictures of horses.

They will stop to see what the horse is doing and then they will read more. I’ll go over
how to teach a few simple tricks just a little later.
If the horse has won ribbons or awards or has been in a parade, list everything.
If it has produced award winning foals, list them. Be sure to include any impressive
bloodlines.
One of my pet peeves is people who assume that by listing the bloodlines,
people will know what breed the horse is! Look in any all breed newspaper or weekly
magazine type that doesn’t categorize horses by breed and see how many people do
not list the breed the horse is. Don’t forget that there are beginners out there looking for
their first horse and there are people who are experienced horsemen looking for a horse
of a different breed and they are not familiar with popular bloodlines of your breed. Do
them a favor and tell them what breed your horse is!

Get your horse up to date on all vaccinations and worming so that you can list
that or tell them when they call. This makes the potential buyer feel that the horse has
been well cared for.
Advertise everywhere that you can. Local newspapers and magazines are great,
but now many people are willing to drive great distances to get the perfect horse for
them. Internet or on-line advertising is a great way for long distance people to see your
horse.
These people who are far away will want to see lots more pictures and a video if
possible, but don’t include them in your ad. Remember that you want them to contact
you. Once they contact you and you get their contact info, then you can follow up with
them and convince them that you have the best horse out there (assuming it is true!) for
what they are looking for. You can’t follow up with people if they never contact you first.
Just put in your ad that more pictures and a video are available upon request.

If there are negative traits to the horse, always be honest, but don’t put them in
the ad. Wait until people contact you and then tell them if something is wrong with the
horse. That way, they can decide if they think this is something they can overcome.
People will trust you and appreciate you more if you tell the whole truth. This should go
without saying, but I’m going to say it anyway- Never drug the horse!
The horse should at the least have basic ground manners. If you just picked up
a “wild one” or one that hasn’t been handled or has been rescued, you can quickly
teach the horse to trust you and others.
How to Form a Bond With Any Horse
You can use the popular “join-up” technique to build the ultimate bond between
horse and humans. If done right, this will work on any horse whether rescue or show
horse. You can build trust quickly and easily like never before.

It is best to use a round ring or round pen, but I have used small paddock and
even the stall with some success. If using a round pen, the size or diameter of the pen
should be between 40 and 60 feet. I like 50 feet myself because I don’t like to have to
move as much as is required for a 60 foot pen.
Bring your horse into the round pen, close the gate and release the horse by
taking his halter and lead off of him. Take an aggressive body position and make the
horse go around the ring at a canter or trot. An aggressive body position is one that is
lined up with the horses shoulders, looking directly at it with your shoulders squared and
arms out. If you prefer, you can also use a lunge whip just to guide the horse in the
direction you choose.
Do not let the horse stop. If it changes direction, make it go the right way again.
If the horse walks, tell him to speed up again. He must obey you.
Once the horse starts doing one of the things listed below, move on to the next
step:

• Lowering his head to where his nose is close to the ground
• Turning his inside ear toward you
• Relaxing his eyes or mouth
• Snorting with his head tucked or fairly low
Once you are sure your horse has showed one of the signs listed above, turn
away from him immediately and relax. Turn your head down and hold completely still.
After a minute or so, the horse should be standing directly behind you. When
this happens, turn slowly and pat the horse gently. Walk around the ring and he should
follow you. If he doesn't, immediately take an aggressive body position again and start
over. Be patient, it will work if you are persistent. This is all there is to get a horse well
on his way to building trust with humans, which will go a long way in helping you to sell
it.

How to Train a Horse Using the Clicker Training Method
You can teach a horse how to do just about anything you can think up using
clicker training. Clicker training is often used with many animals to teach them tricks. A
horse is no different. You can use it to teach a horse a trick or something as necessary
as standing still for mounting or loading in a trailer. Both tricks and well trained
behaviors such as easy trailer loading all will make a horse sell much easier.
First you need to find something that makes a "click". Many pet stores sell
“clickers” inexpensively for training dogs and cats. You can also find them on the
internet if you can’t find one locally.
The first step in clicker training is to teach the horse that the clicker sound means
that they will get a reward. The trainer clicks the clicker and simultaneously or
immediately gives the horse a reward, usually a very tasty treat that is small enough to

be eaten instantly. Put them hidden in a bag or pocket. I often use a fanny pack to
easily store my treats and leave my hands free. The trainer performs up to 20
repetitions per session.
Some horses tend to learn the association much more quickly than others.
Progress may be tested by waiting until the horse’s attention is elsewhere and then
clicking. If the horse immediately looks toward the trainer as though expecting a
reward, it is likely that the horse has made the association.
After that, the trainer can use the clicker to mark desired behaviors. At the exact
instant the horse performs the desired behavior, the trainer clicks and promptly rewards.
One key to clicker training is the trainer's timing; clicking slightly too early or too late
rewards and therefore may reinforce whatever behavior is occurring at that instant.
Another is to create opportunities for the horse to earn rewards very frequently. A
reinforcement rate of one click/treat (C/T) every two to three seconds is common among

professional trainers. Finally it is often necessary to break down even simple tasks into
smaller sub-tasks or to start with easy-to-meet criteria which are gradually tightened.
Many desired behaviors start with the nose-touch, where the horse learns to
touch an identified target, such as an orange cone, with its nose. That behavior can
then be transported to perform useful tasks or interesting tricks such as flipping a light
switch or ringing a bell.
Training the nose touch begins with getting the horse to touch a target with its
nose. Trainers sometimes use a guided method, such as placing a dab of peanut butter
on a plastic target. Others prefer “shaping”, where the target is placed in easy reach,
such as in the trainer's hand between the trainer and the horse, and the horse is
rewarded each time he moves in the target's direction or actually touches it.
When the horse is consistently touching the target, the trainer progresses to a
target with and without food and in different positions. Eventually, the trainer can
transfer the behavior to a bell, for example by holding the target behind the bell so that

the horse has to touch the bell to get at the target, and then rewarding the touching of
the bell. When the horse is reliably touching the bell, the trainer now adds another act
such as opening a gate or door to the reward each time the horse strikes the bell.
Teaching a Horse to Load in A Trailer
Once the horse has been trained that the clicker means it has completed a
desired task, it can be used to get a horse to load in a trailer. You can start the same
way, by getting the horse to touch the already recognized target, such as the orange
cone, near the trailer.
Once the horse touches the target/cone, move the target closer and closer, then
put it just inside the trailer. Keep rewarding the behavior as you move the cone further
back into the trailer so that the horse has to put one foot, then two feet into the trailer to

touch the cone. As you keep moving the cone back, soon the horse will be walking right
into the trailer to touch the cone.
This method helps a lot to keep the horse’s attention focused on the cone instead
of thinking about how dark and scary the trailer is. Once the horse is walking in, keep
repeating the loading for a few days until the horse is reliably loading without even
thinking twice about it.
Now that you and the horse understand clicker training, you can use it to teach or
reinforce any behavior that you desire.
Teaching a Horse to Stand Still for Mounting
There’s nothing more annoying than a horse who would rather turn around and
around than stay in one place when you try to mount or one that walks off before you

tell him to! With just a little bit of work you can easily stop this frustrating habit and it will
always make a horse easier to sell if they have good manners.
First, let’s make sure that you are not unknowingly doing something to make the
horse dread being mounted. Analyze how you mount and when the horse misbehaves
most. Is it when you mount from the ground or is it when you use a mounting block? Is
it only when other horses are around or is it all the time? Have someone else watch
you mount the horse.
Some people are unknowingly digging a toe into the side of the horse as they
mount, jerking on the horse’s mouth with the reins, or slamming themselves down in the
saddle and don’t realize they are doing it. Someone else watching can take note if you
are doing anything to cause the horse discomfort.
Horses will remain difficult to mount from just the memory of pain, from habit, or
simply because they have never been taught properly to stand still. When training a
horse to stand still for mounting, it is best to start by using a mounting block. This will

give you the most control and make it easier on the horse. You can graduate later to
mounting from the ground once the horse has learned to stand still using the mounting
block.
Gather your reins in your left hand, so that you have light contact with the horse's
mouth. Don't let them have too much slack, but don't pull them tight. Put your foot in
the stirrup. Continue to mount slowly and gently. When the horse begins to move,
immediately take up the slack in the reins, and then release it as soon as he stops. It
doesn't take much for him to get the idea.
Reward your horse immediately with a pat for responding to your correction. If
he is accustomed to clicker training, you can use the clicker to reward him for standing
still. This will reassure him that he is doing the right thing.
If necessary, lead him back to where he was and attempt to mount again. Begin
mounting again. When he is completely still, you can then start to swing your right leg
over. If he starts to move while you are doing so, put your right leg back on the left side

of the saddle and make him be still again. He will hate this aborted mount, and will be
thinking "would you please mount already and get it over with?!"
Do this as many times as it takes for him to learn that he must stand still. Make
sure you reward him in some way for standing still. Again, this is where clicker training
can be a valuable asset.
Once you are mounted, do not let him walk off right away. Teach him that once
you mount, he is not to move until you tell him to move. It must always be your decision
to move, not his.
If necessary, get someone to hold his bridle while you mount. Whenever
possible, graduate to doing it without help. You can start by having someone hold him,
then they can just stand beside him and only grab him if he starts to move before you
tell him to.

To reinforce the training, tack him up without planning to go anywhere. Mount
him the way you usually do, then dismount. Do this repeatedly and soon he will know
that he must wait for your cue to move.

How to Train a Horse to Pull a Sleigh or a Cart
This sounds a little crazy, but I always wanted to

go on sleigh rides and therefore always wanted a
horse that would pull a sleigh. I found out it is
very simple to teach a horse to pull a sleigh. It is
so fun to hook your horse up to a sleigh and braid
some jingle bells right into the long flowing mane,
and head down snow covered lanes…
If you are trying to sell a horse, and list that
he or she will pull a sleigh, cart or wagon, this always makes him stand out and be more
desirable over a similar horse without that training. If you had a picture of your horse
pulling a sleigh in an ad, do you think it would make your horse stand out? People
would stop and read the ad, just because they are not used to seeing that.

Of course, a sleigh is similar enough to a cart or wagon that the same training
works for all of them. Once a horse will pull one, they will have no problem transferring
over to a different type of
vehicle. They even make
wheel adapters shown at right,
for sleighs so that you can use
them on roads. This is fun for
parades, winter weddings and
exhibitions.
Once your horse will pull
anything, it opens up a whole
new world of fun possibilities
with your horse. It is also a great way to enjoy your horse with more than just one
person. If you have a sleigh, buggy or wagon big enough, you can take out the whole

family or all of your friends. If you have a spouse or friend who is not that into riding
horses, it is a fun way to go out and enjoy the day together and take a picnic lunch.
If you have a pony that has been outgrown or a miniature horse, it is a great way
to keep on enjoying that pony or horse.
It is easiest to start with a horse that is well broke to
ride and used to normal sights and sounds like kids, cars
and barking dogs. I have started a horse with a cart without
breaking to ride first and it worked well too. I also trained my
stallion when he was 16 years old to pull a cart and sleigh, so the age doesn’t matter.
I start by putting the harness bridle with a driving bit on the horse and then use a
training surcingle just behind the withers. I use either a simple snaffle bit or a solid
rubber bit. I add long lines or long reins and lunge the horse with this on until he gets
used to it, which doesn’t take long at all.

Next, using a helper at his head, I start driving the horse from the ground by
walking behind him and steering him with the reins. I teach him how to turn right, left,
stop and back up using the long lines. I always use lots of voice commands when
driving a horse, so if he doesn’t know them, now is the time to learn.
Once the horse is easily and reliably controlled from the ground, I add the rest of
the harness. I tie up any pieces he might step on, but other than that, I leave all the
long straps swinging and dangling. I want them to get used to things being all over
them and bumping them without the cart first, because that is what is going to happen
once the cart is hooked up.
I drive them with all the straps swinging and distracting them until they are used
to having all the contraptions on them. I make sure they are still just as obedient in their
driving on the ground as they were without the harness on. Don’t forget to always use
the voice commands.

Spend some time letting your horse get used to the cart for added safety. Pull it
around him so that he can hear the noise it makes. Let him smell it and become
completely familiar with it. Put the horse between the shafts and have someone hold
him and pet his head while you hitch up the cart.
Once I have the horse hitched up, I then lead him around while he is pulling the
cart. Remember that a horse's first reaction when frightened is to flee. This is why you
don’t want to hitch him up and just jump in. Give him a chance to get used to everything
at his own pace. Once he is used to the shafts at his sides and pulling the weight of the
cart, I get in the cart while someone is still holding his head.

I then have my friend lead him
around while he gets used to my added
weight in the cart. Once the horse is
calm and quietly walking around, I start
taking over simple starting, stopping and
turning exercises while my friend still
has a lead rope on his head.
When the horse seems settled,
your friend can let go, but stay nearby in
case you need him or her. Then you can begin to drive the horse by yourself. Go slow
and practice lots of starting and stopping.
If possible, have the first few lessons on a soft surface in an enclosed ring so that
the horse won't try to go too fast or be frightened. I usually have a horse driving within

just a few short days. They quickly learn to accept pulling anything with ease, so once
they are trained to a cart, it is easy to switch them to a wagon or a sleigh.
How to Teach a Horse to Bow
Imagine the roar of the crowd when my

stallion won the World Championship for his
class and took a bow when awarded his
ribbon and trophy. He became the darling of
the World Champion Horse Show.
Any kind of trick at all will put make your
horse more endearing and therefore easier to
sell when the time

comes. I teach all my horses tricks just because it is fun, but for the horses I plan to
sell, it makes them sell so much more quickly because people just fall in love with them
and think about how they can impress their friends! Here is how I teach my horses to
bow.
I get my clicker and a whole bunch of small treats and put them in a fanny pack
for easy access. Some of my horses like the homemade treats, some like small carrot
pieces and my stallion likes peppermints.
I like to start with the horse in a small round pen with soft, deep dirt or sand or if
that is not available a large deeply bedded stall or a grassy area will do. I have a halter
and a lead rope on the horse. I swing the excess lead rope over the left side of the
neck, so it hangs over the right side of the neck.
First I use the clicker training method to get the horse to touch the ground with
his nose. Once he has this down, I start teaching him to tuck his nose further and

further between his front legs. I temp him with a treat that he is reaching for. I keep
moving it further away so he has to reach further to get it.
Once I have him putting his nose down between his legs like I want, I stand on
his right side and pick up his right foot while poking his shoulder and saying “bow”. At
the same time, I pull the lead rope so his head tilts to the left.
He will naturally lean back, and into a bow. As soon as he leans even a little bit,
click the clicker, let go of his leg, stop touching his shoulder, and give him his treat.
Repeat until he bows or leans back all
the way. When his knee touches the ground tell
him 'hold' give him treats to keep him there,
then tell him 'up' and release all pressure. This
will take practice. Be patient, and don't push
too hard.

Once he has that down, try asking him to bow without picking up and holding his
foot. This step will take many repetitions to get perfect, but be persistent. Think of how
impressed his prospective buyers will be when you “introduce him” to them, and he
takes a bow. He’ll just about be sold right then!
Teach a Horse to Kiss
Teach your horse to "kiss" you, by wiggling his/her nose

against your cheek to show you the love! This trick is easy to
teach in just a couple of sessions.
Get lots of small treats and put them in your fanny pack.
Put two or three treats in your hand. Make sure your horse
knows about the ones in your hand. Position yourself in front of
the horse, but facing to the side, so without turning your face,

your cheek is toward him. Now, lean over to position your cheek beside the horse's
nose.
With the hand holding the treats, tickle the horse's nose with your finger and say
“Kiss”. A light tickle is all it takes. The combination of you tickling his nose, and him
wanting to work a treat out of your hand will hopefully make him wiggle his nose back
and forth. When he does, click the clicker and give him a treat. Keep repeating until he
will wiggle his nose when you say “Kiss”.
Now just start putting your cheek up against his nose when he wiggles it on
command. The moment he wiggles even a tiny bit on your cheek, reward him with a
click and a treat, as fast as you can so he knows what he did right!
Repeat the procedure, saying "kiss" while you're encouraging the move, until he
starts to get bored or you run out of treats. Repeat the same procedures every day until
he has it down good. When you think he gets it, stop tickling his nose, but keep your

hand there. Pretty soon you can take your hand away, but remember to keep a treat
ready!
How to Teach a Horse to Hug
This is a fun trick and very quick

and easy to teach. Fill your fanny pack
with treats again and grab your clicker.
You can work on this trick in the stall or in
a round pen or anywhere with no distractions.
Put a halter and lead rope on the horse. Let him see that you have his favorite
treat. Stand next to the horse and put a little pressure on the lead rope, turning his
head toward you so that you are almost trapped between the horse's neck and

shoulder. Say “hug”. When his head is turned, click the clicker, give him a treat, and
remove the pressure.
Do this over and over again. Say "Hug" each time that you put pressure on the
lead line. Each time he wraps his head around you, click and give him a treat. Slowly
put less and less pressure on the lead rope until he does it himself on command. They
usually learn this trick in just a couple of sessions.
How to Train a Horse to “Shake”
This is another fun trick that is good for “introductions” as the horse is taught to
“shake hands”. I like to use a medium length driving or carriage whip to cue the horse.
Get your clicker and your fanny pack full of the horse’s favorite treats in small pieces.

Put a halter and lead rope on him and go somewhere where he won’t be distracted.
You can also do this one in the stall if you want to if you can keep his attention.
Stand directly in front of the horse looking at him. Tap the horse lightly on the
cannon bone with the whip and say “shake”. The horse will eventually pick up his foot
and put it down again or at least he will move it. When he does, click the clicker and
give him a treat. Do this a few times until he does it on cue.
Once he has that down, grab his leg as he lifts it up the next time. Shake it
gently and say “shake”. Then click the clicker, let go gently and give him a treat. Keep
repeating this until he lifts his leg up without you tapping it with the whip. Once he does
this, you don’t need the whip anymore.
Just stand in front of him, reach out your hand and say “shake” and take his leg
when he lifts it up. Keep working on it until he hands you his leg gently on a verbal cue
only when you reach out your hand and say “shake”.

Teach a Horse to Lie Down
This very simple trick can be very handy for a lot of things,
(besides impressing the heck out of everyone), that you won’t think
of until you have a horse that will lie down on command. I teach
most of my horses to lie down because it has turned out to be so
handy. It can actually be accomplished very easily and very safely without ropes,
saddles hobbles or gimmicks, but it takes patience and nice weather.
Grab your clicker, your fanny pack full of the horse’s favorite treats cut in small
bites, and a small chair or box to sit on. Put a halter and lead rope on the horse and
then wet him down. When he is good and wet, take him to a small paddock or round
pen that has good soft dirt or sand or a small grassy area where it is soft.
If you have a small pen or paddock, take the lead rope off and have a seat
nearby. If you don’t have a small area, let him go on a long line or lunge rope so that he
feels fairly “free”.

Very soon he will lay down to roll because he is
wet. As soon as he gets half way down say “down”,
click the clicker and go towards him to give him the
treat. If he is already familiar with clicker training, he
will learn this much faster. Playing “Dead”
When you go toward him to give him the treat, his natural reaction will be to get
back up right away, which is fine. He will eat the treat but be wondering what he did
right to get the click and the treat.
Since he didn’t complete his rolling because you interrupted him with the treat,
he’ll soon lay down to roll again. As he starts to go down, give the command “down”
again. Wait until he gets down a little more than the last time and then click and give
him the treat. Repeat this a few more times with each time giving the command “down”
as he starts to go down, and then waiting a little longer each time to click and give him
the treat.

Continue to extend the time frame he stays laying
down by waiting a little longer each time to click and give
the treat, but try to “interrupt” his rolling by approaching
him carefully or talking to him or distracting him in some
way.
You don’t want him to think the correct behavior is
to roll, it’s just to lay down. Plus, if you let him roll, he
accomplished his original mission and then doesn’t feel
the need to lay down and roll anymore.
If you want to teach him to lay down all the way, or flat, gently push his head
toward the ground before you click and give him a treat. Each time you repeat this,
push his head a little more and then release and give him a treat. Eventually, he will
relax and let you put his head all the way down.

Once he is doing this, again extend the time he stays down by waiting to give him
the click and the treat. If he starts to raise his head up, don’t give him the treat and
gently push it back down. Eventually, he will be laying all the way down and “playing
dead” with the command “down”. If you prefer, you can start the whole trick out with the
command “play dead” instead. Just be consistent with your commands and your timing
of the clicks and treats.

Teach a Horse to Sit
It is very easy to teach a horse to sit using a

very similar process to teaching them to lay down. If
you haven’t already taught the horse to lay down, it
won’t matter, you can teach either one first or
exclusively.
Just use all the above methods for getting him
to lay down, only instead you wait until he is getting up from laying down and in the
“sitting” position before you give him the click and the reward.

If you have already taught the horse to lay down,
go ahead and give him the “down” or “play dead”
command. When he completes the trick, give him his
usual click and reward, which releases him from that
position.
Then, as he is getting up and has his front legs
out in front of him, but still has his back legs tucked under him, say “sit” and click and
give him his treat. Keep repeating this until he has the “sit” command down.
Teach A Horse the Forehand Turn
Make the horse stand still while you are mounted on it. We already went over
how to get him to stand still, so this should not be a problem. Slide your right or left foot
back, depending on which direction you choose to go to start with. Give slight pressure

with your foot into the side of the horse and hold it there. The horse will move away
from the pressure, which will make him move his hindquarters around.
Praise the horse when he gets it right, and every time he gets it right after that.
Continue until the horse has it down completely.
Teach A Horse to Turn on His Haunches
Start with the horse standing still while you are mounted on him. Move your foot
a little forward and put pressure on the horse until he moves away from the pressure.
When he moves away, release the pressure immediately and pat him.
Reign the horse in the same direction you choose to make him go. Once the
horse gets it right the first time, praise him. Keep repeating this until the horse fully
understands what you want him to do.

Teach A Horse to Sidepass
Put the turn on the forehand and the turn on the haunches together, and you
have the sidepass. Choose which direction you want to go. Put pressure only on the
side of the horse in the middle between where you put your leg for the forehand and
haunches turns. Be sure you are not putting any pressure at all on the other side.
You can very slightly rein him to the direction you want him to go, but without
turning his head. If you have any difficulty with him moving forward, you can stand with
him facing his head into a fence or railing so that he can’t go forward, and move him
sideways along the fence or rail. This will help him to get the idea that he is to move
away from the pressure, not forward.

The horse will now get the idea that he is to move away from pressure. He
should quickly figure out to move sideways. It will take just a little practice to get him
moving sideways smoothly and on command.
Train a Horse to Urinate on Command
Now at the beginning of this section on teaching things to horses I told you that
with clicker training you can teach a horse to do just about anything you can dream up.
Urinating on command is no exception. Why would you want a horse to do this you
ask?
Picture this- You are in the show ring and without fail, your horse decides to stop
right in front of the judge for a toilet break. This not only disrupts your workout and the
other exhibitors who have to detour around you, but often will result in not being placed

in the class. Being able to get your horse to urinate on command before the class will
end this problem.
In addition to performance situations, training your horse to urinate on command
can also be handy for other things. I don’t like my horses to urinate in the horse trailer,
so I have them go before they get in. It also can be handy if you need to collect a urine
sample.
If you have horses that are turned out during the day and come in to a stall at
night, wouldn’t it be handy to train them all to urinate on command out in the pasture
just before they come in? This can save money in bedding and time in cleaning stalls
less.
First you need to start with the horse being calm. Horses generally do not
urinate when stressed, and this is key to beginning the training. Lead the horse to an
area where he will feel comfortable urinating. Many horses are picky about splashing
their legs, so they don't like hard surfaces like concrete.

A freshly cleaned and well-bedded stall seems to be the most appealing place for
most horses. Have you noticed that many horses have a tendency to relieve
themselves in their newly cleaned stalls? This is because they are comfortable there
and relax once they get back in their stall. If you have a spare stall, this can be
temporarily used as your “toilet training” stall.
Grab your usual fanny pack and the horse’s favorite treats and your clicker. You
will need to choose a command for him to urinate. You could say something verbally,
use a whistle, bell or any sound or physical cue that you choose.
Turn the horse loose in your chosen location and wait for the horse to begin
urinating. If you want to increase the amount of “training opportunities”, review the
section on getting a horse to drink more water. This of course, will cause him to have to
urinate more often.
When he starts to urinate, give your chosen command and then click the clicker
and give him a treat. Praise the horse after he has finished urinating. Repeat this

procedure at least once a day. Work on extending the time between giving the
command to urinate and then giving the click and treat. This is to make sure in the end
that he finishes urinating completely before being rewarded.
After two weeks or so have passed, lead your horse to the usual location and
give the command to urinate. The horse should begin to urinate, but if he does not,
repeat all the steps until this works.
Once the horse is urinating on command, gradually move him farther and farther
away from his "toilet training” area and give him the cue to urinate. After a while, the
location will no longer matter, and you will have trained your horse to urinate on
command.
If your main motive for teaching your horse this behavior is to make it easier to
collect urine samples, you will also want to work with your horse on urinating into a
bucket. You may want to put a bit of hay or cotton at the bottom of the bucket to
prevent splashing and scary noises.

Teach a Horse to Rear
I don’t know why, but this is my stallion’s favorite trick to do. Many people think
this is a dangerous thing to teach your horse. If this is your belief, then obviously, don’t
teach your horse this trick. I’ve had many horses that rear both while mounted and un-
mounted and I’ve never had a problem, but I have been riding and training horses my
whole life.
I would suggest that if you are not a very experienced rider, do not teach your
horse to rear while mounted. If you were to lose your balance and lean back too far, the
horse could fall over on top of you and squish you like a bug.
You can still teach him to rear while you are on the ground if you want. Since I
do have so many people that ask me how I taught my horses to rear, I’m going to go
ahead and include it. Please hold the hate mail.

Grab your usual fanny pack loaded with small treats, your clicker and a carriage
whip. Lead your horse somewhere quiet so he can focus on you. Stand on something
tall where you are above the horse. I like to drop the tail gate on the back of my truck
and stand up there.
Hold a treat up above the horse’s head and tell him “up” or whatever verbal
command you want to use. He will stretch his neck to reach the treat. When he does,
give him a click and a treat.
Repeat this routine while making him reach higher and higher each time to get
the treat. Eventually he will jump up a little bit to reach the treat. Continue this routine
until he reaches farther and farther, and eventually rears to get his treat.
Once I have the horse rearing to get the treat, I add a little tap on the shoulder
with the command “up”. As he learns to rear with the verbal cue and the tap on the
shoulder, I start lowering the height of the treat because he knows what to do without
me having to make him reach for it.

Once he fully understands that his front feet are to come up off the ground with
the tap and the cue, I get down on the ground next to him to give him the cues. He
should still do everything the same. I have found that a little bit harder tap on the
shoulder usually will cause the horse to rear a little more enthusiastically and higher.
If you want to teach the horse to rear while mounted, it is now easy to transfer
the verbal cue to get him to do it while you are on his back. I use the same “up” cue
and use leg pressure and lift his head slightly upwards with the reins while I give the
cue. As soon as he comes up, release the pressure and the reins and reward him.
If he doesn’t respond, I will have someone on the ground lightly give him the tap
on the shoulder for reinforcement. He will usually catch on very quickly from this point.
Then slowly have the person on the ground give less and less of a cue, while you
continue to give the cues from the saddle. Eventually, you can get him to go higher and
stay up longer if you want to, but this is one area to definitely not over do it.

Teach a Horse to Walk on His Hind Legs
It is an easy transition to teach a horse to walk on his hind legs after you have
taught him to rear on cue. First, make sure that the horse thoroughly understands the
cue to rear on command and performs it reliably. Once you have him doing that, walk
the horse and then while he is walking, tap his shoulder and say “up”, but keep on
walking.
The first time, he will probably come up a little bit, but then come right back down
so he can walk. That is fine, so click and reward him as soon as he rears even a little.
If he stops to rear, that’s o.k. too, just immediately have him walk off. Keep practicing
this rearing while walking until he has it down good.
Now walk him a little faster or even trot so he has some momentum going and
give him the cue again. Soon, he will rear and take a step forward to keep up and

because he has the momentum going, so it’s hard for him to stop. Keep praising and
rewarding all the behavior that is moving in the right direction.
Eventually, he will take two steps forward while rearing and then three steps.
Keep working with him until he is taking more and more steps forward while rearing.
Before you know it, he will be walking on his hind legs on cue.
You can use the same “up” cue without confusing him because he will just rear
up standing still if you are standing still and he will rear up and walk if you are moving.
While doing this trick you need to watch out for his front legs so that he doesn’t
accidentally hit you with them as he is going up or down.
I think I’ve given you enough ideas for tricks that you can just about figure out
how to teach a horse to do anything with clicker training. This can be a great source of
entertainment for you and your horse and almost nothing will make a horse stand out

and sell faster than a few tricks! I have done exhibitions promoting my breed by running
my stallion through all his tricks. The crowd loves it!
Conclusion
Wow! We’ve really covered a lot of fun horse stuff here! I hope you have
enjoyed learning this as much as I have enjoyed sharing it with you.
As I said in the introduction, I think most people don't realize how easy it is to
have a long, beautiful, flowing mane and tail. There is no more to it than what I have
covered here. I think you will be very well pleased in just a few weeks. In a few
months, you will be the envy of all your friends!

The biggest secret is to get rid of the comb! Don't ever use it again no matter
what! It's like a monster that eats up manes and tails. The same holds true for metal
curry combs or anything else that pulls the hair out.
Keep plenty of hair polish on the hair all the time. Keep it clean. Don't brush it
out thoroughly every day or you’ll break it. Once a week is enough.
Once the tail reaches the ground, keep it braided up. One day hanging on the
ground will rub off the hairs that the horse doesn't pull out by stepping on them. It might
sound like a lot of trouble to keep the tail braided up, but you will save a lot of time every
day by not having to brush it at all. It will never get tangled up this way, unless you
leave it braided way too long. The maintenance is really very easy.
If it all sounds too simple, just give it a try! I said it was easy and it is. I know you
will be very pleased! Don’t forget to take those “before” pictures and send them to me
with the “after” pictures and a little story. I’d love to have your horse showcased on the

upcoming cover of my hard copy edition! It is going to be sold at Amazon.com, Barnes
& Noble and all popular book stores. You can your horse could become famous! ;-)
Beth Moore
P.S. Here’s another extra bonus that you will need once your horse’s mane is
really long. It’s a video on how to braid a really, really long mane into one
beautiful rolling plait. Http://FairyTale-Horses.com/braiding_video.htm


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How to Grow a Thick Luxurious Mane and Tail

Own a Fairy Tail Horse!..............................................................................................................9

Own a Fairy Tail Horse!

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The first thing you need to do is get

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Before- one big dreadlock! Untangled and Washed Braided Up

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Own a Fairy Tail Horse!

Own a Fairy Tail Horse!

Own a Fairy Tail Horse!

Own a Fairy Tail Horse!

Own a Fairy Tail Horse!

Own a Fairy Tail Horse!

Strawberry Dermasilk Conditioner

Own a Fairy Tail Horse!

Own a Fairy Tail Horse!

Own a Fairy Tail Horse!

Own a Fairy Tail Horse!

Own a Fairy Tail Horse!

Own a Fairy Tail Horse!

Chapter Five - Rubbing Out the Mane and Tail

Own a Fairy Tail Horse!

Own a Fairy Tail Horse!

This is the one that I use.

Own a Fairy Tail Horse!