Wednesday, February 5, 2020

DIY Coat Conditioner

One of the many new routines I've developed since bringing the horses home is regular use of a coat conditioner. When the horses were boarded and on 24/7 turnout, the use of a coat conditioner wasn't a priority for me. My horses were completely covered in mud for so much of the year that using coat conditioner would have been like putting lipstick on a pig. It'd have been nice for the time I was there, and then would have been promptly reversed when I left and they ground mud deep in their coats again.

I really looked forward to bringing the horses home to a more controlled environment where they'd be mud free. However, despite the lack of mud, the dry lot contributed quite a bit of dust to their otherwise clean coats. This dust dried out their coats and gave them a dingy appearance.

In an effort to offset the effects of the dust and stay budget-friendly (because horses are expensive, yo), I scoured the internet for DIY coat conditioner recipes. I modified what I found to my own tastes and settled on the recipe below. It's shockingly affordable, smells great, and works just as I hoped by putting life and shine back into the horses' coats all while helping to repel dust/dirt. Added bonus? The horses love the extra quality time spent grooming.

DIY Coat Conditioner

You will need the following ingredients and one 16-oz. spray bottle. Cost per bottle ~$1

The essential oils could certainly be modified to suit whatever scent pleases you. 

At ~$1 per bottle, this conditioning spray is stupid affordable. Purchasing all of the ingredients off-the-bat only cost me ~$45. As far as budgets go, I imagine this would be well within most people's. It also doesn't take any time to throw a new batch together. I've got all of the ingredients in my tack room and simply toss each into the bottle when I run out. It seriously takes me 2-3 minutes MAX to make. And I love how good the tack room smells after!

Let me know if you try it out!

11 comments:

  1. I love this and am absolutely going to try it, thank you! Do you spray it on and then brush it in, basically?

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  2. thanks for posting - was just about to buy more coat conditioner but maybe i'll MAKE some instead! The only thing is it doesnt have SPF in it which I love in the coat conditioner especially owning a bay that bleaches to dun now...

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  3. Interesting that you post this a day after I saw a doctor on my local Chicago news station. He talked about a study of kids (both boys and girls) under 8 years old who had developed breasts. They scrutinized everything in their environments and found that they used products with lavender essential oils in it. Didn't say anything about its use in adults or animals, but for me that's creepy enough to never use!

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    1. Interesting. As a scientist I'd be apt to want to see a lot more repeated studies that suggest the same thing before coming to any conclusions for myself. A sample size of 1 is never conclusive. Hundreds, and better yet, thousands, would be much more telling.

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  4. So here is my stupid question... You spray it on and then brush? I'm embarrassed to admit I have never used coat conditioner...

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    1. To the best of my very limited understanding, yes!

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  5. I love a good, cheap DIY! I've never used a coat conditioner either, what differences do you see? Do you think the essential oils add more than nice fragrance? (I'd have to eliminate the essential oils, I can't stand any fragrances).

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    1. Their coats look richer, healthier. The dust/dirt also doesn't seem to as readily cling to them and comes off much easier when it does. re: essential oils, for me, it's just fragrance/aromatherapy. Q has always, always been exceptionally relaxed when I've used lavender oils around her. The eucalyptus just adds a bit of a refreshing scent that I'm partial to. In the summer, I could seem myself changing them to tea tree and citronella due to their bug repellent tendencies. You could certainly omit them though!

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