These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things: Grooming

Might include random tips at the end. Most of us have our favorite tools to use and grooming is pretty standard so this is going to be more for the oddities I've found in grooming that I love and work for me.

Brushes & Tools

• Slick n Easy - I've used these things ever since I got Dakota. I recently learned a lot of my horse friends have never used one. Great for getting that extra bit of rain rot out or getting out difficult loose hair and dirt.
• Hoof Brush - I have two of these per horse. I have one I've designated for hoof use and a second I've designated for leg use. They're great on winter muddy legs. I've found regular hard brushes to be a pain. This is small enough you can be more thorough on the legs.
• Horze Softgrip Brushes - If you're a fan on synthetic / non wooden backed brushes these are great. Especially if you can find yourself a 50% code for the website, you can't beat the price.

 Totes

• Roma Tote - Lots of pockets and room to hold all tools.
• Clipper Bag - Love mine - I feel need for more clippers so I can buy more bags.

Shampoo

There are a few other brands that can't be found with online stores. There is one in particular I plan to try in 2013 at least for pre show use.

• Gallop Color Shampoo  - Love this stuff - Dakota is always super soft, smells good, and looks great after a dose of this.
• Calm Coat Premium
• SmartWorks - Haven't tried this one but I really want to!
• Vetrolin Bath Shampoo - Great as an 'every day' shampoo.
• Corona Shampoo - My other favorite 'every day' shampoo. 
• Howe Clean - Haven't used this one either but have friends that swear by it.
• Eqyss Microtek - Great medicated shampoo when you don't want to do a iodine wash.
• Pro-Tect - Another great medicated shampoo.

Conditioner

• EquiFUSE Gleam Moisturizer - REALLY want to try this stuff. It WILL be in my next Schneider's order.
• Eqyss Premier Cream Rinse

 Clippers

• Shaver - Great for show touch ups.
• Andis Freedom

 Coat Care

• Calm Coat Detangler & Shine - Smells like coconut!
• Santa Fe Coat Conditioner - Has SPF in it so helps prevent sun burn and coat bleaching.
• Hair Moisturizer 
• Vetrolin Shine 

Mane & Tail

• Canter Mane & Tail
• Solo Comb - Dakota hates his mane pulled and after recommendations I've recently purchased this to test out.
• Mane Stripping Comb

Hoof Care

• Riders Rasp
• Hoof Polish - If you're going to use a polish... use this one, the other ones are more likely to dry out hooves.

Other

• Under Tail Wipes - Perfect for those areas we don't think to groom on a regular basis. Can use on mare udders too.
• Canter Stain Master 
• Grooming Chalk 
• Brush Therapy - Great to clean your brushes. 
• Epona Bath Cloth 

Tips

•  Corn Starch - use on white legs for showing.
• Don't use spray on conditioner and shine products on a chestnut coat before a show. Use natural oils from your hands and rub down coat. Looks much more natural.
• Coconut oil - My new number 1 way to condition mane and tails. Leaves hair super soft and easy to work with.

Part of my new brushes I bought for Echo.

Next I'll be reviewing "Apparel" - From show to schooling.

Quick Updates - 12/20

So I'm currently waiting for my connecting flight to North Carolina. Looks like I will be one of the lucky ones to get out before our snow storm starts. They're already canceling and adjusting evening flight times here in Chicago.

I saw the ponies Tuesday and last night. Still not feeling well but wanted to see them before I took off.

Here are a few pics of Echo to hold everyone (including me) off until I return next year. Also had to include one of my cat protesting my packing.

Quick Updates - 12/17

No I haven't forgotten about you blog world but it sure feels like it.

Friday night was overall uneventful. I lunged Dakota since field was muddy. He was having a good time so instead of making him stop to give Echo some time to run around, I had the brilliant idea to put them in arena together. Considering the last time I did this Dakota kicked the crap out of Echo I was a little afraid but things couldn't have gone smoother.

They took turns playing leader and I think Echo found it comical to make Dakota canter to keep up with her trot. Since both are now pro's at my que to halt while lunging, I signaled them and both came up to me and nuzzled on me at the same time. It felt good to have them both getting along and not fight over me. I started walking around and both followed me with their head over my shoulder. If only it wasn't super dark out or I had someone with me to of taken pics on my good camera - next time though!

Saturday - Monday = sick me. I haven't seen the ponies since Friday. Since I'm leaving Thursday morning, there's no way I'll be able to get enough 'pony time' in before then. Sadface. I plan to go out tomorrow evening after work with one of my friends from high school though who wants to meet Echo. I hope to have enough energy to groom both horses and play with Echo a little.

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things: Supplements

Calming

• Finish Line Thia-Cal
• Calm and Cool - Great product but it test positive for showing.
• Mare Magic - The miracle supplement. Love. Love. Love. Dakota had to be taken off of it because it worked too well. Plus it doesn't test!
• SmartCalm - I've used the Regular and the Ultra version of this. They now make it in pellet form too which is nice. Worked really well when I used it.
• Calm and Cool Paste - Favorite one time use calmer.
• Finish Line Quia-Cal - Favorite non testing one time use calmer.

Electrolytes

• SmartLytes
• Apple-A-Day

Hoof

• SmartHoof - The only hoof supplement I've ever personally seen results from. I've used all forms of Regular or Ultra, Powder or Pellet. Improved hoof quality, growth, basically everything!

Joint / Tendon

• SmartTLC - If you couldn't tell yet, I love SmartPak supplements. I'm sure all of the products in the SmartFlex line are great but the TLC is what I've tried out on Dakota as a prevenative mostly and to help keep existing problems from getting worse.
• AniMed MSM - My favorite MSM to use.
• AniFlex Complete - Dakota didn't really like eating this one. Smells strong of yeast, but still have to include it because 1) I tried it for nearly a year 2) I noticed -some- improvement and it would be great as a prevenative for the price.
• Liquid Motion - Switched to this when Dakota stopped eating the AniFlex Complete. I noticed better results with this one.
• Cosequin ASU - If you have th emoney to spend, go for a Cosequin product. I've never personally used it, but I've seen it work miracles on horses.
• SmartTendon - I'm pretty sure this is one of those supplements that is controversial. Surely no supplement could really help tendons. Well I know one horse that always bows a tendon if he's not on this one. When Dakota bowed his tendon and was off over a year, I gave this to him starting 3 months after the injury and fed it for 6 months. I noticed significant tendon improvement in that time.

Multi-Vitamin / Multi-Mineral

• Horse Health Vita E and Selenium
• Source Original
• Mega-Cell

Ulcer / Digestion

• ProCMC - Used this a long time ago on a whacked out thoroughbred. He was definitely improved when he was on this.
• U-7 - By far my favorite!! One of my previous horses was on this and her coat improved, behavior, etc. We tried taking her off and she deteriorated almost immediately. Worth every single penny.
• SmartGut - Haven't tried it but would be willing to give it a go based on reviews and the fact I trust SmartPak supplements.

Skin / Coat

• SmartDark & Hansom - SmartPak version of Dark as Knight, which I prefer. Keeps dark coats dark! But sadly it test in drug testing.
• SmartShine
• The oils listed below always help too!

Energy / Blood Builders

• Red Cell - Can add energy to a horse, but I've noticed a good difference at same time every time I've used it.

Oils

• AniMed Flax Seed Oil - This is a staple for all of my feeding times - love it.
• McCauleys All Natural Rice Bran Oil - GREAT product. I've seen it add weight too.

Treats

• Triple Crown Horse Treats - Hard to find but good quality and horses love them.
• Meadow Mints - Love all of this company's products.
• FlaxSnax
• Giddyap Girls Biscuits - Thought Dakota was going to collapse the first time he had these. He LOVES them.

My supplement chaos that I have previously gone into detail about.

Next I'll be reviewing "Grooming" - perfect timing for winter mud!

2 Down 1 To Go

AHHHHHH Finals... I hate you finals, and love you at the same time. You make my brain feel like an over fried piece of... something. At the same time, semester is nearly OVER. Tomorrow by 4:00pm I will be DONE. Finite Mathematics exam is done today.. Finished my bogus Intro to Excel class last night that I took for the lousy 1 credit so I was considered 'full time' student. Tomorrow is Accounting exam which should be a piece of cake. The fact I'm comparing my Accounting class to cake is a miracle in itself since I failed my online attempt the first try and had a horrid instructor the second. I guess third time really is the charm and equals a 4.0 (YAY).

Monday night I got everything done and had both horses in. I started with Dakota first... It was super muddy and gross so I let him in the arena to let him run mud free for a few minutes and he was super happy about the opportunity. I think I saw 10-15 bucks and he had to of jumped 5-10 times over the non existing pole between the cavalletti stands. Typical Dakota dorky fashion basically. Cooled him out and returned him to his dinner.

Echo I decided to take her in the arena and have grooming time in the arena so she doesn't associate the arena with being bad. She loves being groomed so I figured it was a good chance to take since she was caked in mud. I bribed her into the arena with 'cookies' - yea probably not the best way, but it worked. She was a bit antsy at first but calmed down and let me groom her and she started to stand really well toward the end.

Last night I got to the barn earlier than normal so K and I decided to go for a ride. Worst part? It snowed the night before and was only a high of 35 yesterday. Second worse part? We rode outside. Yep, we're smart. I lunged the feisty 12yr old Dakota before I tacked up. It's been years since I've had to do this with him but he just all of a sudden seems to have this... fire in him and he's ready to go. If I don't lunge, it takes him way longer than normal to settle in and get to the point he's willing to work. We warmed up in the arena and after a good 10-15 minutes headed outside. Ground was a little firm from being so cold but it was soft / giving enough still we weren't worried about it being TOO hard. K jumped the log and big scary blue barrels a few times. I tried cantering again on Dakota, got a few good strides in but we were not connecting with each other last night at all. He was hungry and I was frozen. Over all it was a fun ride, but nothing overly productive.

Dakota's lessons have been cancelled for the coming weeks since his student broke a couple of fingers. Gives me an extra night to ride the brat and work Echo so it will work in the long run. However tonight the plan is give Dakota the evening off and work with miss Echo on some ground manners.