Its that time of year again where the hair is flying and the sun is shining! I absolutely love bathing my horse. There is something so soothing about the combination of suds and sunshine. I often give my horse rinses, especially if she is sweaty after a ride on a hot day, but I only truly shampoo and condition her coat MAYBE once a month in the summer.
They say that bathing your horse with shampoos to often can be more harmful than good. When you use shampoo you are stripping the skin and hair of its natural oils, and if used too much can dry the hair and skin out. Same applies to any animal and people! I decided to bath my mare today because she is almost done shedding. The weather finally decided to be agreeable so I thought it was time to really get in there and scrub her down to get all that dirt and excess hair off!
I decided to try out Gallop Colour Enhancing Shampoo by Carr & Day & Martin in the formula designed for Chestnuts. My goal in using the product was to see if it brought out any of her beautiful red tones. My mare also has pinto in her bloodlines so has a lovely white streaking in her mane and tail. It occurred to me to try using a brightening shampoo to see if it can really make that white pop through the brown. For her mane and tail, I decided to try Mane n’ Tail – Spray n’ White Spray On Whitening Shampoo and Conditioner and Mane n’ Tail Conditioner.
I have my opinions on this review, but I also want you to see the results and decide for yourself!
*The photos I provide of my horse are totally unedited. I didn’t want to make her colour appear more vibrant than it may or may not be. I want the most accurate representation possible. Tell me what you think of the results!
Bath Essentials
I have a few products that have become my bathing essentials, no matter what products I am using. Some of them I bought, others I was given over the years. Bathing doesn’t have to be expensive! It should be fun.
I have a single, Wahl De-Shedding Glove. These type of gloves are advertised at all price points, and designs but I got mine from Walmart for $12.98 CAD. This product works great to really sud up the shampoo, and get the hair loose. I also have a Supra Soft Touch Mane & Tail Brush from Greenhawk for her mane and tail. You can purchase them for $10.99 CAD but Greenhawk often has store wide sales, so you could probably get it for cheaper!
I have a sweat scraper also from Greenhawk, it is called Supra Fashion Collection Sweat Scraper Curved. You can buy them for $5.99 CAD but I know I got mine for less on a store-wide sale. Awesome for taking off all that extra water! I also have a Garden Hose Spray Nozzle that I got from the dollar store. We don’t have wash racks where I keep my horse, and it helps get better coverage with a ‘shower’ setting than the regular stream from the hose. Last not but not least, I have this random little comb that I came across years ago. It doesn’t have any particular purpose, but I use it for massaging her 🙂
First Impressions
Gallop Shampoo
I chose this shampoo in Chestnut colour, but there are several options for other colours. I purchased this shampoo from Greenhawk, for $16.99 CAD which I feel is a bit on the expensive side considering it is not an overly large bottle. The website claims that a 500ml bottle will last between 5-10 washes. That could be a couple years of bathing for me as I only have about a 4 month window a year to bath.
Mane n’ Tail Conditioner & Whitening Shampoo
Mane n’ Tail has always been great for price and quantity. I have had this conditioner for years, but the average cost of it seems to be around $15.00 CAD. The Whitener seems to average at a cost of $22.95 CAD. I am undecided if a spray bottle is easier for application; I think that for spot cleaning it is convenient, while for larger areas a traditional shampoo bottle might be more convenient.
Fit and Feel
Gallop Shampoo
The shampoo comes out in totally different colour than you would expect. The bottle would make you think that it would be goldie colour, but actually it is almost a magenta. The shampoo smells nice and in my opinion, is not really strong.
Of course me being the amazing photographer I am (NOT) forgot to take photos of the shampoo in a lather. So now time to test your visualization skills. PICTURE IT. SICILY 1922. Well, it lathers well enough, not extremely. This is when I use my handy-dandy Wahl Grooming Glove and glove the work into in the hair. I do find that once the shampoo has been worked into the coat, it does dry quickly and lose its lather. A bonus though is that I feel a little goes a long way. Small amount of shampoo can be worked to stretch over a good amount of the body, so less waste is great!
I would recommend being aware of the shampoo and where you applied it onto the body. The shampoo does dry quickly into the coat and you always want to make sure you rinse your horses well, with any bathing product.
Carr&Day&Martin mention on the bottle that the results are immediate. I think that this shampoo did bring out a richness in her coat, but I don’t know if I think it did a lot for colour enhancing compared to other traditional shampoos. The shampoo made her coat very shiny and soft and it definitely brightened her coat; though I am not totally sure if it really brought out the red tones she has naturally. From what I have read on the bottles, the Gallop Shampoo designed for Bays is meant to bring out red tones in their colouring. It would be interested to see how that shampoo perform on her coat because she is a chestnut that has more red tones in her coat than brown. Might have to give it a try!
Mane n’ Tail Conditioner & Whitening Shampoo
Mane n’ Tail products are classic. They are affordable, easily accessible and come in a great size. The Whitening Shampoo advertises its self to be great on grass stains, urine and manure stains. It also says that it not only brightens and intensifies whites, but also greys and gold colours. This products comes in a spray bottle and it has a good spray head. It is definitely a thinner formula than a normal shampoo, and shoots out big purple spots. Assuming that this design is meant for spot cleaning, as a spray bottle would take longer to treat a whole body than a squeezable bottle; but that is just up to your personal preference! It does lather really well once immediately worked into the hair, and stays lathered for a while.
It is important to note that while this product is not primarily advertised as a conditioner, it is noted on the bottle ‘PLUS Conditioner’. I honestly can not say I am one bit impressed with the product as a conditioner. It did not make the hair easier to comb through prior to a traditional conditioner. Though even for my own hair, I have yet to find a Shampoo + Conditioner combo that has been able to manage my wild hair.
I decided to use a whitening shampoo on her mane and tail to see if it brought out the white highlights in her hair, and maybe mute the brown. I also used it on her one white sock. It did recommend leaving the product in for a few minutes for optimal results.
I think that it did help brighten her mane and tail a bit, but not enough that I would go out of my way to buy a whitening product specifically for her mane and tail again. It did brighten her sock, but my only concern was that no matter how much scrubbing I did, I couldn’t completely rinse out the purple colour from the hair. I think I just went a little spray happy and put too much product on a small space. The purple has since faded out, but I did notice it for the first day.
Now, this might not be totally fair. I think I have a hate-love relationship with the Mane n’ Tail Conditioner. I have had this product for years, so it is definitely proven to be something that is worth every penny in terms of value. My only concern is that I personally haven’t found it to be the best conditioner. In all fairness, because I have had this product for so long, it is probably expired, and I am comparing the effectiveness of horse conditioner to people conditioner. Those are two things that do not leave the product at fault. I just personally find I really have to work the conditioner through the hair, and while it softens the hair, I am not quite sure on how well it performs in de-tangling.
Final Thoughts
Well what do you think? Remember all these photos of my horse are totally unedited, to show as much accuracy as I can. I did not want to edit them and it result in misrepresentation of her colour.
Before 
During 
After
Click to enlarge!
Now, keep in mind she was so dirty when I took this photo. I had just went over her with the shedding blade so she was dusty and slightly fuzzy still! This was during my horse’s year long suspensory injury recovery, so that is why her muscle is basically non existent.
During 
After
Now, just to give another idea of how long the properties of the shampoo and conditioner last, here is a photo about 10 days later and then 3 weeks later.
10 days later 
3 weeks later
So what do you think? Was her chestnut colour any brighter, richer or deeper than before, or was she just cleaner? Does her mane and tail, and white sock look brighter? Does her coat look all around healthier?
In my opinion, I think Gallop Colour Enhancing Shampoo by Carr & Day & Martin did not do much for her colour, but I do think it is a good shampoo. I think it did a good job cleaning out all the dirt and dust, and giving a nice clean scent. I would be curious to try the shampoo formulate for Bay horses and see if that has any effects on her coat.
As for the Mane n’ Tail – Spray n’ White Spray On Whitening Shampoo and Conditioner and Mane n’ Tail Conditioner, I think that there is great value for what you pay. It will last a long time and get the job done. The spray aspect of the Whitening Shampoo is great for specific spots you want to treat. However, I do believe that there might be better products for specifically the purpose of conditioning and detangling.
They are both good products, not sure expensive and you can’t go wrong using them. Using colour-enhancing shampoo is a fun experiment to use on your horse, go ahead and give it a try! Comment below and let me know your experiences!
Always get back on,
Love Tess
*The opinions shared in this blog are of my own, and not a reflection of the company or its current and future products
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