Look what I found in my pasture….
Well, now that you are all done laughing hysterically, let me tell you how I solved this problem! The horses were grazing and apparently had their heads down between “cockleburr” bushes. They are about the size of the end joint of your thumb and have a million little sharp points on them. The plant itself is sticky, but thankfully, the burrs themselves are not.
I’ve been a dog groomer for over 20 years, and I really thought my horses would have to have not only roached manes (which I understand is now coming back into style in the show rings) but no forelocks. Oh, dear, visions of lovely flowing manes just like Trigger’s are beginning to disappear. To make it worse, one of my horses is a Friesian cross which means he grows hair like a Himalayan Yak. They were all a mess and of course, I’m blaming the cockleburs but it was all my fault. I saw a few one day and the next day there were dozens and dozens.
What did I do? I came to the store and got some Show Sheen, which is a detangler/conditioner for horses in a spray on form. I armed myself with a bottle of this, a comb, and yes, a pair of scissors. Because I was really not sure that I could get them all out and save the manes.
And it worked! I simply sprayed the Show Sheen on each horse’s mane and tail (there are three of them), then began on the first horse and sprayed again. Show Sheen has a very “slick” feel when it is dry and it was difficult for the burrs to stick to. I took the comb and picked out the surface burrs, which, amazingly, came out quite easily. Then I attacked the ones off to the sides, 2 or 3 at a time. I sprayed about every 3 minutes, just a couple of spritzes as I got deeper into the hair. It really didn’t take very long, I did 3 manes and 2 tails in about an hour and because it had begun to get dark, I put the last tail off until tomorrow. After those things were all removed, I sprayed again and brushed very thoroughly to be sure the hair was completely coated. When I go home today, I will see how the hair has held up to being dragged through these burr plants today, and let you all know.
It did take most of a bottle to do this but my horses still look like horses. Also, the Friesian, Jacques, has fetlock hair and he was riddled with the burrs there, too. Those came out much easier, to my delight.
I do have one word of warning, though. As nice as this product makes your horse’s coat feel, don’t use it on the saddle or girth area. Ask me how I know this. That answer might be another blog in the future.
We do carry Show Sheen here in the store, so come in and try this out on your “burred up” animals!
Millie in the Farm/Pet section
