Remove Manure Stains from Your Horse

Remove manure stains from your horse

Spot removal is part art, part science, and can be a great way to spiff up your horse in the winter when it’s too cold to bathe. When I say spot, I mean a grass stain or manure stain and sometimes even a urine stain. You usually find more of them in the morning before a big show, clinic, or when you are running late.

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For tiny spots, it’s easy to use a no-rinse shampoo

Total hot mess, right here.

The tried and true method for eliminating manure stains

Make sure your horse’s diet is appropriately balanced. When this happens, he will have oodles of natural oils, your elbow grease and products are icing on the cake. This creates a slippery slope for stains and protects the hair shaft.

Stains are easiest to remove when they are dry, so fingers crossed that your horse’s new stain is fairly dry. If you can, let it dry before you attack it.

Reach for your curry comb first. This loosens the stain and gives you less to remove. Then flick away what you have loosened!

Grab a damp rag and wipe the stain with the hair growth. If you are lucky, this will take care of it. If your rag was too damp, follow up with a dry cloth. With a very oily coat on your horse, this may be all that’s necessary!

If your horse’s hair is brittle and holds stains, oil buff your horse to help condition the coat and repel stains.

Reach for your spot stain remover, also known as a dry or no-rinse shampoo. You can spritz the area, or spritz a rag. I prefer to spray a cloth with my Easy Out so the area doesn’t get too wet.

Rub into your stain, and then do something else for a few minutes. Let the stain remover do its job as you work on the tail or mane or hooves. When your product of choice has soaked in, return to your damp and dry cloths to wipe away.

If your stain spot gets sopping wet, it can attract more dirt as you continue grooming and start flicking hair and dirt with your dandy brushes. You also want to avoid putting tack or leg wraps on a wet spot.

Dry the area as best you can. If you have only used a little bit of water and product, chances are your horse will dry quickly!

I found this one day. Grumble grumble grumble.

You can scale your stain-obliterating efforts

If your horse decides to break some sort of world record for the grossest and largest manure stain, you can apply the same tricks.

Definitely, plan on using many damp towels, and consider having a bucket of hot water to soak some washcloths in. Think of it as hot toweling off a stain, even in the summer.

Resist the urge to simply spray the snot out of the giant stain, you will likely end up with a foamy, dirty, drippy mess that dribbles down to the clean parts of your horse.

You may need to use some spray spot cleaner or dry shampoo, but doing your best to remove most of the giant stain with a modified hot toweling method will let you use less product.

If all else fails, put on some sunglasses, preferably rose-colored, look away, and be on your merry way!

quick video about stain removal

longer video, but with a much bigger stain

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