Some horses’ coats can become dull and hard, especially in the dry season. Their coats, manes, and tails turn brittle; they sometimes have dry and itchy skin as well, and they’re rough to the touch instead of soft and silky. These horses need a good wash with a two-in-one conditioning shampoo that nourishes the hair while it cleans. Standard shampoos can dry out the coat and skin even more, so it’s important to choose a good conditioning shampoo to help your horse look and feel his best.

Knotty Horse Apricot Oil Brightening Shampoo is one of the top products on the market that performs this function. Made in the USA and based on the natural ingredient of apricot oil, this shampoo works to brighten and nourish the hair. It’s designed for use on the mane, tail, and coat – although if you’re preparing for a show, it’s advisable not to use a conditioning shampoo on the saddle area or any part of the mane and tail that needs to be braided, as conditioning will make the hair slippery. The shampoo is also formulated to be antibacterial and cleanse stains on light-colored horses. This makes it an excellent all-around product to clean, disinfect, detangle and condition the horse’s coat, mane, and tail.

For some horses, shampoo is about more than just appearance. Horses suffering from skin problems need medicating shampoos to clear up these issues, most notably fungal problems such as rain rot and ringworm. These skin diseases can cause pain and discomfort as well as making the horse’s coat look patchy and scruffy. Ringworm, in particular, can be a huge problem, as it spreads very rapidly, making infected horses impossible to show – they might even have to be taken out of work and quarantined to prevent spread to the rest of the yard.

So to remedy these persistent skin issues, a medicated antifungal and antibacterial shampoo is an essential part of treatment. Vetericyn FoamCare Medicated Horse Shampoo is a unique and extremely popular product. It comes as a foam spray applied directly to the wet coat, which is both convenient and effective as it ensures the product penetrates right into the skin in its concentrated form. Some horses can be worried about the sound of the spray, but most will easily become accustomed to it with patience. The shampoo conditions and nourishes the coat, so won’t dry out the skin and hair – unlike most medicated shampoos – and also soothes itchy or scabby skin. Used on the advice of a veterinarian, this can be the main weapon in your arsenal against skin diseases.

Even if you’re not using your horse’s bath to treat skin disease, some horses’ allergies still have to be taken into account when choosing the right shampoo. Soapy shampoos are just too harsh for these horses; they can have reactions varying from full-blown hives to simply dry, flaky and itchy skin. But there’s no need to quit bathing your horse entirely. He simply needs the right shampoo.

For these horses, I recommend Farmpet’s Natural Oatmeal Pet Shampoo. This shampoo is soap-free, using the power of wholesome natural ingredients like oatmeal and aloe vera to cleanse, moisturize, and even deodorize your horse. This soft and gentle shampoo will gently clean your horse’s coat, while its ingredients nourish and moisturize the skin, leaving it smooth and comfortable. This will also give your horse’s coat a healthy shine, something that allergic horses tend to struggle with because of constant rubbing and scurf. It’s even supposed not to wash away any product you’ve used on your horse’s coat for external parasites like ticks or mites. As an added bonus, the Farmpet company doesn’t test its products on other – less loved – animals.

The one downside of this shampoo is that it doesn’t always clean your horse as effectively as a soapy shampoo would. Regular use is recommended in order to keep your horse looking really impeccable, along with an appropriate grooming program.

Anyone who has ever had a grey, Pinto, Appaloosa, or light palomino horse is intimately familiar with the epic struggle that is getting a light-colored horse into the show ring looking like nature intended and not like a confused and sort of greenish pinto. Even bays or chestnuts with long white stockings can cause endless grey hairs and muffled, frustrated screaming from owners who would love to ride into the show ring with white legs just once.

Desperate horsepeople have spent generations coming up with home remedies to get their horses clean. But before you reach for the bleach or the dishwashing fluid, consider that these products aren’t designed for use on a living creature. They run the risk of giving your horse dry skin at best and a terrible allergic reaction at worst.

Instead, use one of the many excellent whitening shampoos on the market. One of the most popular products is the simply-named Quic Silver Shampoo. This shampoo is chemical-free, but works to deeply clean away stains and bring your horse’s white to a blinding sheen. It conditions the hair to make it smooth and silky as well as white. The unfortunate owners of light-colored horses will go through a bottle of this stuff quickly, but unlike many whitening shampoos, its price is not exorbitant. Owners of horses who just have white markings can use this on the white and a more generic shampoo on the rest of the horse’s body.

Have a dark-colored horse? You don’t get off scot-free. In fact, owners of liver chestnut, black or dark bay horses can have an even bigger problem than owners of greys – sun bleaching. In summer, sweat and the sun can both be harmful to your horse’s coat, causing the hairs to lose their color and become dry and stiff. This can be helped by putting a fly sheet on your horse or keeping him in during the day, but neither of these solutions are particularly pleasant to the horse, so it’s best to get him a quality brightening shampoo that will bring out his true color.

Once again, Quic comes to the rescue with its Quic Black Shampoo. This shampoo costs you a pretty penny, so it’s best to use it only on the areas where the horse is bleached – usually his back, ribs and girth area. Once again, it’s free of harsh chemicals, so leaves the coat silky and shiny as well as its true color. It’s also excellent for use on bay or chestnut tails that tend to go a bit brown, but should be used with a conditioner on the mane and tail.

Different horses have different requirements in every scenario, and fly masks are no different. It might take a few attempts to find the mask that is perfect for your horse, but these products have all been proven to work well.