Red Clay in White Feathers ... ??

[BaroquePony]

Ok, I could use some advice here. New pony (Welsh Cob with white feathers that I want to keep) has lots of chrome and is in muddy red clay sometimes. I brush his feathers. They are dry, legs healthy, but now are orange. I rinse his feathers, they dry and are still orange.

Hhhmmmmm .... ? What to do to bring them back to silky white when I need to have them clean?

He will still be getting into red clay at times, but sometimes I will need to have them clean.

Thanks in advance.

[JB]

Do his feathers need to stay? If not, when the time comes, wash things as best you can, clip, and voila, easier to keep clean :D

Beyond that, blueing is your friend for white white. On clipped white legs you can also dust talcum powder on top for an extra whiteness. Not sure how well that works on feathers though.

[BigRuss1996]

Having had many many white and/or grey ponies and horses over many years....use a little bit of whisk and warm water and rinse well (for heavy stains use detergent directly and rinse well with warm water). Then after rinsing apply a small amount of leave in conditioner...this keeps the detergent from drying out the hair. Works great on tails too.

[BaroquePony]

This is the first horse, rather pony, that I have ever owned that had feathers. I really like how they look, although I may change my mind about that :lol: I absolutely love them because that is what he is and they sort help balance out the leg as it turns into size two feet. Maybe I am not used to regular looking legs going down into big feet (compared to a regular horse or pony).

[BaroquePony]

Thank you.

[Mia412]

I have a friend with a paint halter horse (4 high whites, living in a clay soil area) that swears by Lava bar soap. She dips the soap into a bucket to wet it and scrubs the bar on his legs, repeating often to build up a lather. Then she scrubs everything well with a curry mitt before rinsing thoroughly. Her horse's legs are always blinding!