Yep, our first joint review. Why? Because I thought getting more than one opinion on a product would be more valuable, and because for some reason y’all like Bobby, and because I’m really super nice and let Bobby use my stuff.

It’s been warm and fairly humid in Texas for a couple months now already, and warm + humid = fungus. I started seeing that old familiar Funk start showing up on Henry’s cannons and above his hocks before we even got to the end of February. So I emailed the all-knowing grooming product queen Toi, at Teddy’s Tack Shop, and asked for her recommendation for a good overall anti-microbial spray. She hasn’t steered me wrong yet, so I’m just gonna default to her judgement. Her recommendation was Zephyr’s Garden, which has a line of anti-fungal products including a salve, a shampoo, and a spray.

Because these products contain all natural ingredients that can help with a variety of skin maladies, the line is more than “just” an anti-fungal. To borrow from the Teddy’s Tack Shop website, “This anti-microbial spray contains 11 herbs and three essential oils, in an aloe vera base that is gentle on the skin but tough on infections. Excellent for topical dermatitis, mane & tail crud/dandruff, elbow crud, girth itch, and pastern scald. Can also be used for mild cases of scratches and rain rot.”

My Review:

I’ve mostly used Microtek in the past, with a few other random things here and there, and while using the Microtek religiously was able to keep The Funk at bay, it didn’t always get rid of it completely. When I first received the ZG products, Henry had a pretty solid case of cannon dermatitis and a couple of greasy, flaky spots on his haunches. First I gave him a bath with the shampoo (which is spray-on, loooove that, so easy to use), then put some salve on the spots, then sprayed around the affected areas with the spray. I did that a few times over the first couple weeks, and all of the spots pretty much disappeared.

After that, I backed off from the full regimen to just the shampoo and the spray on his most typically afflicted areas (above his hocks and on his cannons) 2-3 times a week. If I see a flaky or suspicious looking area, I hit it with some spray. So far, it’s worked like a charm. Henry is totally Funk-free despite daily sweating and getting hosed off several times a week.

Between a generally good grooming routine, making sure to always rinse all the sweat off of him, and the Zephyr’s Garden products, Henry’s skin and coat are looking great. Definitely would recommend. If you have a particularly nasty case, get all 3 products – salve, shampoo, spray. If you’re looking for more of a preventative, get the spray at bare minimum, and preferably the spray plus the shampoo. Both are big bottles and should last quite a while even with regular use.

Bobby’s Review:

So Amanda was nice enough to share the Zephyr’s Garden anti-fungal spray with me (I know, ‘Amanda’ and ‘nice’ in the same sentence…).   Halo, like most horses, tends to get a little bit of fungus from Spring-Fall in Texas.

He traditionally gets fungus on the front/inside/back of his hind cannon and also on his gaskin.  I always thoroughly clean him before and after riding and towel dry his legs which does help to minimize the fungus on the lower body but it isn’t enough to eliminate it.  He is also prone to “funk” on the tips of his ears and just above his facial crest on both sides, but if I rinse his face after exercise and give him a good solid towel-dry we can keep that at bay… and that’s the exciting history of Halo’s fungal encounters.

About 10 days ago the fungus appeared on Halo’s gaskins completely out of the blue, being the sneaky little bastard that fungus is, so  I took Amanda up on her offer and tried out Zephyr’s Garden anti-fungal spray on his gaskins.  I scrubbed the area thoroughly, hosed it off, toweled dry, and then applied the ZG spray.  It comes in a spray bottle and has two options for level of stream. I applied a thorough misting to his affected area as well as to the areas where he is prone to grow fungus.  I used it probably 5-6 times over a 10 day period and much to my surprise, the fungus is completely gone!!  I’ve used all sorts of anti-fungal sprays, creams, ointments and shampoos for months and none have ever made the fungus go away completely; they’ve all done a good job of minimizing the fungus but it’s always still there. But 5-6 uses in ten days of the ZG and it’s totally gone??  This stuff is magic!  Hmm…. I wonder what would happen if I spray Amanda with it…

** Spoiler alert: in the video review, he did just that. What a jerk. **