Seven Ways to Avoid Dull Coats

While the summer sun can bring about a dull, faded coat that lacks its normal sheen, a lackluster coat can happen at any time of year. A good-looking, shiny coat is not only good for your horse's health but also beautiful to look at and never hurts in the show ring. Let's look at seven ways to avoid dull coats all year long.

1. Prevent UV rays. 

Why does ample sunlight cause coat fading in the first place? It's actually the same culprit behind your sunburn: UV rays. UV stands for ultraviolet, and it's merely an invisible form of light (or, more technically, “radiation") that is slightly stronger than visible light.

If you could see ultraviolet on the rainbow, it would sit just above violet, hence the name. While UV rays do some good, like stimulating the body's production of vitamin D, they contain a bit more energy than regular light, so they can do some damage if there's too much exposure — cue your sunburn and your horse's faded coat. 

Keeping your horse in the barn all the time would cut down UV exposure, but this creates a myriad of other problems. Some horse owners in very hot regions experiment with turning their horses out overnight and stabling during the day to avoid harsh temperatures. A side benefit of this practice is that their horses also avoid daytime UV rays. If you suspect UV rays are causing your horse's coat to fade, a simple UV-blocking nylon fly sheet is an easy remedy. 

 
2. Provide good nutrition.

A shiny, lustrous coat does more than make a great first impression. It’s often also an indicator of a horse’s health and well-being. The first step to ensuring your horse has a healthy, gleaming coat is to check his diet. A good diet begins with quality forage, such as hay or pasture. Access to pasture isn't always an option for all horse owners, so it’s important to provide good hay in the correct amounts. Some factors that help determine hay quality include stage of maturity when cut, weathering and handling in the field, storage conditions and duration of storage. Good quality hay will be leafy with fine stems, free of dust, mold, and weeds, bright green, and have a good clean smell. 

Another step you can take to managing your horse’s health is feeding the proper amount of feed/grain for your horse’s activity level and targeted body condition. Make sure to discuss your performance goals and/or horse’s lifestyle with your veterinarian to select the best feeding regimen for your horse. Bagged horse feeds are a good source of protein, vitamins and minerals that help with many essential functions that a healthy horse needs. However, it’s important to note that they need to be present in the correct amounts, and in some cases, in balance with other vitamins or minerals.

3. Choose high-quality supplements.

After you've confirmed that your horse is receiving quality forage, you can explore adding a nutritional supplement to your horse’s diet.  Vitamin/mineral supplements are a good way to address gaps in the diet, but other supplements target specific needs, such as skin & coat care. When your horse needs help to maintain a healthy-looking coat, turn to Laser Sheen® Skin & Coat supplement.  Laser Sheen® Skin & Coat supplement is scientifically formulated by equine PhD nutritionists to provide healthy skin and a radiant coat from the inside out.  Exclusive formula contains a proper balance of omega-3 and -6 fatty acids and ceramides to maximize skin hydration for a velvety soft coat, and support hair, mane & tail growth.

Coat health is often an indicator of a horse's overall health and diet. A quality coat is like a final barometer that may help indicate the horse is healthy. One way to avoid a dull coat is to ensure your horse's diet is as good as possible. And a good diet begins with quality forage (hay). Besides avoiding forage with obvious problems — hay rained on before baling or subsequently stored improperly — you also want to avoid feeding hay cut too late.

Make sure you're feeding your horse the proper amount of concentrated feed (grain) for your horse's activity level and target body weight. (Be sure to work this out with your equine veterinarian.) And as many horse owners know, nothing quite puts a “bloom" on a horse's good looks than quality pasture grass and plenty of turnout time to enjoy it. Access to pasture isn't always an option for all horse owners, but it can be very helpful when available.

4. Perform regular brushing sessions.

Routine grooming is an essential part of caring for your horse throughout the year. Beyond removing dirt and dust, brushing helps to stimulate the skin’s natural oils and distribute them across the hair. This makes the coat feel softer and look shinier. Regular grooming also provides an opportunity to carefully inspect all areas of the horse, leading to early identification of issues such as heat, bumps or scratches.

A well-stocked grooming kit will generally include a hoof pick, curry comb, stiff and soft bristle brush, detangler, mane and tail brush, sweat scraper and a grooming towel. Another tool that can make a noticeable difference, especially during spring months, is the Slick 'N EasyTM grooming block. This fiberglass block helps to remove loose hair, dust and dirt, helping your horse ease into their beautiful, shiny summer coat.

Grooming can be an excellent way to get in some quality time with your horse even if you aren’t riding. Most horses thoroughly enjoy a good grooming session and benefit from the extra attention. With regular grooming, the retired schoolmaster in the pasture or the horse recovering from an injury can have just as nice of a coat as your regular riding horses.

5. Remove sweat often.

Sweat is simply moisture a body releases to evaporate on the skin and remove heat. But the body must move a lot of water for this to happen, so it uses salt gradients to help. Some of the salt is released onto your horse's coat with the sweat. But instead of evaporating, it stays in the coat, adding yet another element to the puzzle of dull, faded coats. Prolonged exposure to the salt can have a detrimental effect on your horse's coat, so it's a good idea to remove it when possible.

Even a light workout can cause sweat under your horse's saddle pad. When time is short, a mini grooming session to brush the area dry and remove salt granules is a good practice. Better still is a quick bath. Vetrolin® Body Wash is a great time-saving tool to help your horse reap the benefits of a bath without the hassle of buckets or sponges. The easy-to-use spray applicator delivers a luxurious lather that cleans deep down to the skin without scrubbing. Simply rotate the dial to “water” when you are ready to rinse.

Remember, sweat is often visible on chest between the front legs, over the back, and around the barrel. But it can also accumulate in less apparent places, such as the face, between the hind legs, and under the tail. Don’t forget to gently wipe these areas with a damp cloth or sponge to remove sweat build-ups. Make sure you always exercise good horsemanship around sensitive areas.

6. Use a coat-brightening shampoo.

Sometimes, a coat is healthy and has all the attributes in place for it to look great, but it just needs a helping hand. That's when a color-enhancing shampoo can work wonders to bring out the coat's natural sheen. Vetrolin® White 'N Brite™ deep-cleaning shampoo works on all coat colors to bring out their very best characteristics. Optical brighteners make light coats and white markings stand out from the crowd while dark coats are enhanced with a deep shine to accentuate rich coat depth. Coconut oil derivatives moisturize the hair, increasing the absorption of brightening agents. Not only does the coat have an incredible brilliance, but it feels noticeably soft.

7. Lock in that shine.

After all the hard work you've put in year-round to bring out the best in your horse's coat, lock in the good looks with a grooming spray. Laser Sheen ® Dazzling Shine & Detangler can help add that extra finishing shine to your horse's coat while helping to repel dust (very handy!). It pulls double duty as a mane and tail detangler, which is perfect for those last-minute grooming touch-ups just before going into the show ring. The little extra umph of shine goes a long way towards a winning look!

Your Horse's Coat Can Shine All Year Long

Your spirited, adventurous horse is anything but dull, so don't let a dull summer coat give a lackluster first impression. With a few simple steps, your horse's coat will look bright and shiny all summer.

Vetrolin, Laser Sheen, White ‘N Brite, Wonder Blue, and Slick ‘N Easy are trademarks of Farnam Companies, Inc.

About AQHA Corporate Partner Farnam

Founded in 1946, Farnam Companies, Inc., has grown to become one of the most widely recognized names in the animal health products industry and one of the largest makers of equine products in the country. No one knows horses better than Farnam. That's why no one offers a more complete selection of horse care products. Farnam Horse Products serves both the pleasure horse and the performance horse markets with products for fly control, deworming, hoof and leg care, grooming, wound treatment, and leather care, plus supplements.