Product Review for July and August 2014

In July I was sent 3 more products to try from my superb sponsors Nettex.

The products were: Fly repellent wipes, Eye and nose wipes and whitening shampoo.

Nettex Whitening Shampoo:

Having used many whitening shampoos for many years, some successfully, others not so successfully, I tried the shampoo with an open mind...

As usual the shampoo comes out blue, as with the majority of whitening shampoos, I closely followed the usage instructions as previously I have used this type of shampoo and ended up with either shampoo that doesn’t wash out, irritates the skin (horses and mine!!) or turns the white bits blue! Not ideal!!

I tried it firstly on Rocky’s fetlock on his front leg, this leg for some reason always seems to attract an orange tone from our arena and seems to be a magnet for stable stains!

I wet his leg with warm water and applied the whitening shampoo neat, thoroughly massaging it in, left it for 5 minutes (most others I have used need at least 10 minutes), then rinsed it thoroughly with warm water.

The feathers were left VERY clean, grease and dirt all gone, although there was a tiny hint of orange tint on the very ends of the feather. Ok, a clean fetlock with a tiny orange hint (this was while the hair was still wet), but the majority of orange had indeed been removed. It has been a few weeks since Rocky had his fetlocks thoroughly cleaned and he had just worked on our arena so I gave the shampoo the benefit of the doubt and washed his hind legs using the same method, warm water, thoroughly massage shampoo in, leave for 5 minutes and then rinse out with warm water. His hind legs came up sparkling clean, no orange tint at all, his legs were very white indeed. Having had this result with the hind legs, I washed the front leg again, leaving the shampoo for just 5 minutes again, and this time his feathers were immaculate!

The shampoo can be used diluted or neat, as previously mentioned I chose neat, but since the original trial, I have used the shampoo diluted to clean his feathers after being in the arena to wash off any orange tinge with fab results, and I now used it as a diluted shampoo as and when necessary and neat to enhance the brightness for show days only.

I am very impressed with this shampoo, a great value shampoo that does exactly what it says on the bottle!

Nettex Fly repellent wipes:

 These wipes are the equivalent of the Advanced fly repellent I trialled previously, however I was interested to find out if they would be as effective as the spray, and also how easy they would be to use....

The tub is very much a baby wipes type tub, open lid and pull up the wipes individually, although I found some of the wipes didn’t break off as easily as others, meaning a few came out at once, this wasn’t too much of an issue as I simply tore these apart and used them anyway.

Rocky doesn’t have a spray phobia but to ensure sprays don’t get in his eyes or ears it is difficult to protect these areas, however this was where the wipes came in very handy!

The wipes are DEET based, so I would recommend using gloves to use them, I don’t suffer from sensitive hands, but the wipes did leave a slight residue on my skin which could potentially irritate some people.  (It does give full precautions on the website and container).

I found the wipes to be effective against flies, possibly not as effective as the spray, however Rocky was happily grazing with very few flies around him all day.

The big winner for me with these wipes were when we are at shows, they are convenient, easy and effective, doesn’t leave wet “patches” on the coat as sprays can, and you can ensure your horses is fly free when in the arena, providing concentration and relief for Rocky who hates flies with a passion!

I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend these wipes, especially for spray shy horses.

Nettex Eye and Nose wipes:

As far as I am concerned these are an essential part of my grooming kit now I have tried them.

Again, like the fly repellent wipes, they come in a tub which you simply pull out a wipe as necessary.

I have always used sponges for washing eyes and noses, different coloured ones for different areas etc.. However should your horse pick up an infection it is too easy to spread it with the use of sponges as they are not 100% hygienic. Sponges also end up making everything wet too, as well as taking up a large space in your grooming bag.

The wipes provide Rocky with clean, hygienic stain free eyes and nasal areas. They are also very useful for cleaning the dock too! The wipes are effective at not only removing debris but also remove tear stains.

As the wipes are small in size you are not wasting vast amounts of money by using separate wipes for each eye, nose and dock.

The wipes give a clean but not “wet” look after use, so again are ideal for show use.

Another fantastic product from Nettex!

The New Forest Show 2014.... (Pictures to follow..)

 Having competed at the New Forest Show (NFS) with my ponies, I felt it only right that rocky should also go, but with a different plan...

As Rocky is still only 3yrs and quite obviously can’t attend “ridden” shows yet he was entered at the NFS in the In Hand section for Welsh D’s Yearlings, two and three year olds, this gave us the chance to familiarise him with larger shows and also to work around other horses, something as a 4yr old he will have to deal with, currently I have to work him on his own due to being fairly alone on our yard, so to work around others would be great for his education.

“Work around others”?? Yep, the main aim of today’s outing was to attend the in hand and then to ride him around the showground!

I never expected to win, and we didn’t, we came 9^th in a very strong class of very high quality ponies, even beating some! But as I say, this wasn’t the main aim...

After his in hand class we returned to the box and swopped to our riding gear, after mounting up we casually wandered around the box park, up and down the aisles seeing a variety of things from donkeys to the huge carriages and more. These were of course no issue for Rocky, he took all that in his stride, as always. We managed to come back to the box, unforeseen, but I have a feeling Rocky knew exactly where he was as he stopped as we arrived! Clever or what?!

I asked him to walk past and for the very first time we had a “no I want to stay here!” and he did a mini rear and bronk!! Well I told him in no uncertain terms we WERE going and he said “oh ok” and walked on like nothing had happened!

We meandered round the boxes a bit longer meeting more things on route, the only query Rocky had were the miniature horses getting ready for their classes! Scary those small people you know!!

We then found an empty warm up ring, next to the main rings and the showjumping rings, so plenty going on but not in this ring. My superb helper Lucy Morgans was on hand (actually drove us today) and had helped Rocky out when he had a mini wobble at the scary miniatures, but now it was time to go it alone..

We walked around the warm up, both ways, Rocky not really taking any notice of the other horses working, so I asked for trot, something I had NOT planned for today (walk would have been more than enough), but Rocky offered it so off we went, again both reins, no problem, in fact it was more like we were training at home. I then pushed the boundaries a little further and asked for canter and off we went! We were “working” in a busy show environment and Rocky answered my every question. He was amazing.

I finished on such a high note I cannot express how proud I felt of Rocky, I always knew he was special, but this took that to a new level.

Even though we were unplaced in the in hand class, his behaviour was impeccable and he showed himself off to his absolute best, beating some class ponies on route.

In Hand has been such a great way to get the hoof inside the larger show atmosphere, and we shall continue this work always with the main aim of going for “training” not ribbon hunting, although I am not going to refuse one should it come our way!

In my eyes Rocky didn’t just win today, he took home the championship purely for his behaviour and his attitude.

So until our next event, we shall keep up our day job and smile broadly every time we think of today at the New Forest Show.