My facebook memories popped up the other day with a picture of Henry from this time last year. The year all the hair fell out of his face. The year I took a literal bald-faced horse to Chatt.
How did this happen? Ah yes, let me explain.
See, I’m not always very good at being an adult human. I tend to be forgetful, especially when it comes to “errands”, to the point where if I don’t write it down somewhere there’s like a 5% chance of me remembering. One day I went to Walmart THREE TIMES because every time I went in I got distracted and bought other things I didn’t need, but not the one thing I did need (batteries. how hard is it to remember batteries?).
Thank goodness for the internet, which is my saving grace most of the time. I have a thought – “oh I need this” – and then I go order it.
Unless I don’t. Like if I have that thought in a meeting or while I’m driving and it completely exits my brain before I have a chance to jump online and place the order. That has definitely happened more than once. Which is how I’ve found myself needing bell boots for like a month now and have yet to order any, but if I order them now they won’t come before I leave for Coconino anyway so whatever.
Last year the thing I forgot to order was Henry’s tea tree spray. He’s really prone to skin funk, and a few years ago (after trying what felt like every other skin product on the market) I finally tried this stuff. It was magic. It’s the only thing that has ever kept all of his funk at bay during the summer.
But last year I ran out a week or two before Chatt, totally forgot to order more, and then traveled to the land of constant humidity and fungus. Henry’s face, which had already started to look bad in the days before we left, quickly turned to looking terrible. I tried a random tea tree spray (meant for dogs) that I found at a Walmart, thinking maybe it was just the tea tree factor that he needed, but over the course of a couple days it did nothing to slow the spread. I happened to have a sample size of Equiderma with me, so I tried that too, and I guess that was the final straw because by the next day all his hair had just… fallen out. I told you he was delicate.
I learned my lesson. Henry simply cannot Summer without his fancy tea tree spray and I really shouldn’t bother trying anything else, nor can I forget to order it. Now I order a new bottle as soon as the current one is half empty, because I’m not risking that again. I spray his cannons and his face daily, and if any other areas start to look suspicious, they get zapped too.
Looking at those pictures from last year really brought it home. God he looked TERRIBLE. Like a sad homeless horse that no one loved. Gah. Of course, the weather here this year has been super humid and sticky, the worst conditions for his skin. So what’s he looking like this summer, with daily use of his tea tree spray?
I’m telling you, man, this stuff must have unicorn tears in it or something. I don’t know what kind of magic they’re bottling but I’m gonna keep buying it.
What products can you not live without in the summer?
breedrideevent.com 
I am trying out the Pule Sole Hoof Mud stuff from the same people that created the Zephyrs Line. Fingers crossed that it works as well!
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https://www.espanaproducts.com/itemdetail.php?sku=ESP1100H&= This detangler from Espana Silk keeps my horses tail nice and neat, and I think it also helps keep the ticks off him since it makes his tail too slippery to climb up. I buy the gallon size and mix it half and half with water. When I was showing, I’d spray it in his tail before loading up and it would be nice and detangled by the time we got to the show.
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I have that detangler! I really like all the Espana Silk products.
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Hmmm, I may need to grab some of this. I’ve never had problems before, but this year my horse’s hair started falling off all over his face and neck and basically any sweaty place. He gets hosed off after every ride and usually he’s fine, but this year it’s just not helping. Poor dude is starting to look like a naked mole rate with all the hair he’s losing đŸ˜¦
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Amber gets fungus everywhere as well in the summer! I tried this stuff, and god, it really is the MVP isn’t it?! I think the spray and the salve work best for Amber (the shampoo hasn’t seemed to do much either way) but man, it keeps the fungus away! I’m like you – really forgetful. So what do I need? Anti-Fungal spray. Have I gotten yet? Nope.
Thanks for the reminder. Going to purchase now LOL
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Deep Woods Off. I use it on me and on my horse’s head & neck for a ride. He gets regular fly spray the rest of the time. There is nothing more frustrating for both of us while riding than a big fly or mosquito that seems attached to one of us. Deep Woods Off is the stuff. đŸ™‚
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1. shoo fly leggins. i will never have horses without them ever again. Holy crap have they saved my horse’s feet from 24/7 stomping.
2. dermalone (or animax, or panalog, or whatever you call it). must have for scratches/mudfever in wet weather.
3. ecovet fly spray. smells like unholy anus but I know it’s working because he doesn’t have hives and when a bug like LANDS on him he brakes out in hives
now to scroll through and see what im missing…
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*sigh* i spelled out the wrong breaks. it’s friday, forgive me.
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Shoofly leggins are my summer must-have also. They have saved my horse’s feet for two years now. Sadly my pony is between sizes, so she is unable to wear them.
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Ecovet here too! I have a mare with ‘mare issues’ and it’s the only thing that keeps the flies off her bum even with washing it every day. My barn owner applied it for me the other day and inhaled, I think she would agree with you about ‘unholy anus’ lol!!
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It’s so funny how they’re all different isn’t it? I picked this stuff up for one of mine on your recommendation, but for that animal it didn’t work. My go to is Krudzapper, but that’s not really useful for a face. I still keep this stuff around though. It has worked on other horses for me.
I’m the same way about forgetting stuff. Took me three weeks to remember to order a martingale stopper. I placed like nine thousand other orders in the meantime and never remembered to grab one of those.
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I’m so glad my horse doesn’t need that not because it’s more work but because I’m allergic to Tea Tree anything like hives and needing steroid shots allergic so I don’t know what I’d do if that was my horse. The thing I’ve forgotten once an now order like a crazy person is my horses joint supplement. My horse is 31 and I thought we had more supplement than we did and I ended up running out and I ordered it but it takes a few days. Well before the new one came in my poor baby could barely walk her arthritis was that bad without any help I felt so bad never again.
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