dull coat.. any secrets?

[~kc~]

hi everyone,
i am about to go into show season with my boy and taht means being in tip top condition.... but his coat is very dull at the moment and despite getting brushed every day, it doesn't have that shimmer and shine it needs.
he is on Hygain Completo and we have tried just about every coat-enhancer supplement on the market.
has anybody got any secret tips that they are willing to give out???
thanks alot!
kc.

[Phoebe]

Does he wear rugs? Lots of horses get bleached, dry coats from being out in the sun in summer. The Zilco air con rugs are very good and my horses actually seem to sweat less under those than with nothing on at all. Alternatively, you could keep him in a stable or under cover during the day.

What colour is he? If he is dark, Livamol works very well, or you could just try plain old sunflower seeds. Also, if you haven't tried giving him some form of oil, that is usually very good at giving them a nice shine. Hope some of that gives you something to try.

[Ivanka]

I noticed with my thorough bred a few years ago that his coat improved significantly with Equilibrium minerals...

It went from a dull salt and pepper type to a shiny bay!

Ivanka

[Talaki]

Yep, I agree Equilibrium all the way. All our horses have stunning coats since being on daily Equilibrium.
I will also go on to say the new product Equilibrium B-Cool is fantastic and has really helped the nerves of one of our scatty mares, she is alot less jumpy and much better behaved in general.

[Helen...]

Yep. Equilibrium is good. If they have a tendency to get hot headed then go for the B-cool. A bucket will last months for one horse. Oil is also good source to get that lovely shinny coat.

[TL]

Hey Kc

All of ours are on Livermol which seems to work well, greys, bays anything seem to come off with a real shine, and a lovely healthy coat. Just put into there night feed. Oil can be very good I have heard but it puts to much weight on for my guys.

It a pain with the darker horses thru summer as you just can't keep them rugged all the time. I am lucky as Jelly (the bay mare) always keeps her coat no matter the season but even she had dulled out a bit this year.

Any way thats what we use.

[~kc~]

he is rugged to the max and is in a stable at night and under lights. i dont really want to keep him in during the day as he loves his paddock time.
we have also been on livamol as i heard it had great results but it didn't work. :(
i have never heard of equilibrium but it seems to be very popular.. ill go find where i can get some hehe.
thankyou!

[Sharyn Ross]

the salt from sweat is one of the biggest killers of coat condition, so make sure you don't have too heavy rugs on, and also, flush the coat out thoroughly after work to keep it really clean. you can even scrub with a body brush whilst hosing to help stimulate the skin.

[Jayden]

If you have a chestnut you could try feeding cooked pumpkin....only a little bit. I haven't fed it to any of mine but my sister's tried it on our chestnut who was just the standard chestnut colour and he went a dark almost liver chestnut colour.

[Madeline]

wish I had a chestnut. last year we grew so many pumpkins I had to give them to everybody I ran into. They were lovely and just grow wild down near our clothesline. I took up roasting them with olive oil and cajun - not sure if the horses would like them that way but great cold in salads.
I would second the Equilibrium and also oil for coat shine

[Stardust]

Equilibrium and a small amount of oil (we use RBO). Even our fleabitten grey is gleaming and the old paddock pony has the same coat he had when he was stabled, just from wearing a mesh combo and he doesn't get the oil.

[~kc~]

wow pumpkin! i have two chestnuts and i will definately try that! the one i have a problem with is bay though.
i had no idea that the salt from sweat dulls the coat... ok major coat cleaning boot camp starting NOW. and i am going to give him oil and equilibrium.
thankyou so much everyone you have been great help!
i will let you all know how it goes.
kc

[Adele]

Just curious, how long did you feed Livermol for before saying "it doesn't work"?!?!

My guys been on it for a while now (since Sept last year) & got an amazing coat.

Some things take time.

[Susan]

Pumpkin is great for Palominos too :D It doesn't usually sendthem smutty like some other feeds. I know my big grey loves pumpkin but haven't noticed any change to his coat though ;)

Good lunk with your horsey's coat and keep us posted with the results :)

Cheers,

[Jade]

hey,
i found Copra gets the coats really shining too. the only thing with Copra it has a bit of a rep as a heater. all our horses get fed Copra and Equilibrium and chaff etc etc... but the copra really seems to just add the shine to the coat. horses react differently to it some stay calm and cool like usuall and others heat up. too my grey arab its like giving sugary red cordial to a little kid, but i love it when she has some energy (shes usually that lazy and quiet she could fall to sleep under a faris wheel which is covered in flashing lights and blasting out fireworks from the top!)
anyways, good luck with the neddies!

[Kaitlin]

Charisma has been on groom for about six months and at the moment (she seems to change colour all year round! dark brown, yellow brown, bleached sun brown, black brown ect, ect:rolleyes: ) she is a really shiny darkish brown. The groom seems to have really helped! Someone recommended livamol to Mum so we are now trying that for a little while and will see how it goes before changing to it permanantly. Do you think this will help keep her one dark colour?

[Dizzy]

Molasses and high fat feed isn't too bad either. When I rug my old fellow and he is fed molasses in conjunction with his feed which is high in fat with it's content, plus daily vigourous grooming to get the blood pumping he goes a dapple mahogany bay and looks quite lovely. I have just recently put him on Soygize which is a very high protein and high oil soy meal, it feels oily when you rub it in your fingers and is much better than standard full-fat soy meals you get. He is starting to look better in the coat after 2 weeks and is not rugged at the moment, he's put on weight so I think he needs a larger rug!!