Fall is here!! Every year as I age, time keeps getting faster. I love the fall colors of yellow and red leaves. Yet, I miss the color of green during the spring and summer months. Or maybe you live where you will see green all year. Well, as we know April showers brings may flowers and green grass stains on your gray or white horse. Or the one with the high white socks. It's a challenge to keep those horses clean. Especially if you are showing. Now that winter is apon us, bathing can be a challenge.
We know the best way to remove grass stains from a horse’s coat is to give him a long, soapy bath, using a coat-whitening shampoo and a lot of elbow grease. But for many of us a soapy bath isn't always possible. Instead, you can “spot clean” grass stains using this two-step technique.
Step 1: “Pretreat” the stain with a spray-on spot remover. You’ll find any number of these in the grooming aisle of your local tack store or available online. Most call for spraying the stain until it is saturated, then rubbing the area with a clean cloth to remove it. Remember to keep rotating the cloth to a clean area as you work or you’ll be rubbing the stain back onto the horse.
Step 2: With the worst of the stain gone, try “hot toweling” for a deeper clean. This involves dipping a clean towel into very hot water (just cool enough that you can comfortably submerge a gloved hand) and wringing it out until it’s nearly dry but steaming. Then, rub it on the stained area, again regularly rotating it to a clean section. Repeat as necessary to lift the dirt from the depths of the coat without soaking it
For those of you who want a quick way without using water you can use doTERRA's On Guard toothpaste https://doterra.me/4q079Zik. Rub a good blob of the toothpaste on the spot with your fingers or a cloth and rub it in. Let this sit for about 5 minutes while rubbing in the toothpaste. You can also pre-mix about a 1/8 cup of toothpaste in a 8 oz spray bottle with water and rub into the spot. Rub dry with a towel. On Guard toothpaste smells wonderful, a blend of cinnamon, clove, wild orange and more, along with supporting the immune system, and best of all non toxic.
*tip---doTERRA On Guard toothpaste is also a great way to polish up your silver in a pinch. Just rub a small amount on your silver and rub with your fingers and rinse. We have also had positive experiences using On Guard toothpaste for rain rot. Just rub a small amount on the area of concern.