Maintain your horse’s chrome legs
Chrome on legs is so flashy! And also so time-consuming to maintain. Unless you know some inside tricks.The best way to maintain great chrome legs on your horse is to have a healthy horse with a super shiny, and naturally oily, coat.
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Keep that chrome bright with these steps:
- This starts with a healthy diet and elbow grease. LOTS of elbow grease. Then, we can do some things that really make that chrome stand out.
- Let your horse be as naturally oily as possible. Sebum on your horse’s skin creates shine, is part of his immune system, and protects his skin and hair. Sebum is also a natural stain repellant!
- Skip detergents, harsh shampoos, and household products to keep your horse’s chrome clean. If you are considering any of these things, you probably have holes in your horse’s management and need to go back to grooming and health care and nutrition.
That’s a lot of chrome!
The first thing you can do to make chrome easy to maintain is clipping your horse’s legs. IF YOU WANT TO.
- This creates a super easy leg to clean and will remove any stains on the hairs. Most show horses are clipped from the knees and hocks down, using a clipper blade that doesn’t clip too close to the delicate pink skin.
- My advice is to use a clipper blade that leaves more hair than you think you want, you can always go shorter. Click here for more tips on clipper blades. Use major caution in the summer if you do this, leaving a bit of hair will cover the pink skin and help with sunburn protection and fly protection.
Look at the number of the blade you are using – and just below it, you will find how many mm of hair the blade leaves. Anything less than 1.5 mm is probably too short for pink skin. You could use a blade that leaves 2.8 mm.
Now that you have clipped legs (or even if you skip this step), here are more tips on getting and keeping that chrome white.
- Use the fan setting on a spray nozzle to squeegee the dirt from your horse’s legs in the wash rack. Use shampoo sparingly so that the natural stain repelling oils build up. You can use a brightening shampoo if you like. Use sparingly and don’t let it sit too long and turn your horse’s chrome into a lavender shade.
- Towel dry the legs and even consider using a fan to speed up drying in the summer.
- Use a shine product or detangler to coat the leg hairs and help prevent stains. If you do get a stain, try using warm water and a washcloth to remove it before you add in more products. If you have sufficient natural oils, this will do the trick.
- You can also use a dry shampoo or spot cleaner for chrome touch-ups. These are mild and safe and Easy Out will remove odors, also.
- You may consider using fly boots to help repel dirt. I would not suggest wrapping legs with polos or standing wraps for the purpose of dirt repelling, these will heat up your horse’s legs. Fly boots also have the added bonus of keeping flies away. BAM.
- Keep your horse’s living quarters super clean. Scoop manure and urine spots from his bedding more often than you think is possible.
- Sprinkle your horse’s chrome legs with cornstarch or baby powder before you enter the show ring. You can also use “pigment in a can”, some Show Touch Up to brilliantly let your horse shine and glow.
Use spot cleaners to touch up any chrome on your horse. Look for no-rinse shampoo.
- Only use super clean boots and wraps while you exercise your horse. If you are cycling through several sets a week, so be it. Your horse will be more comfortable, too.
- Think marathon, not sprint. A healthy horse with a natural bloom doesn’t happen overnight!
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The jute side buffs to add shine, the other side is fuzzy for lifting dust and applying fly sprays and grooming products.
For all colors - to add shine and help lift stains.
Spot removing, deodorizing, dust busting, shine adding spray.
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Thanks, everyone!
