Sun Bleached??

[Ariesgrl131]

When I got Duchess she was a beautiful black mare and now she looks like a blood bay...Is there any way to get the black back? A friend said wash her with cowboy magic for black horses, does that work?

[livaward]

somewhere I heard paprika will bring the black....give it to them in their feed? I dunno.....

[prissy18]

Horsey hair dye!! No joke the make it

[Cat]

I've heard of papirika before. They also make shampoos and supplements specifically for dark coated horses.

In addition, when she sheds out, she should shed to her original color. The trick is keeping that color once it comes in. I do know some show stables keep black horses indoors during the day and only allow them pasture time over night.

[oursarge]

My girl bleaches out too. She's as black as black can be right now but when summer comes she gets brown mixed in. I did buy the shampoo for black horses but can't try it 'til it warms up. She's beautiful right now with her thick black winter coat.

[WashingtonBay]

I think the only way to keep them black if they tend to bleach is to keep them out of the sun. It depends if you want a horse who gets to be outside, or a black horse that doesn't. Personally, I'd rather let them be outside (certainly with access to shade if they want it! -And who cares about color. But that's just me. :)

[luvs2ride1979]

There's nothing you can do now, short of dying her whole body with a natural henna dye. But there are ways to keep her summer coat from fading.

A better diet can help keep the coat from bleaching so much. You might think about adding a vitamin/mineral supplement to her feed.

Adding 2 tablespoons of Paprika to her feed will help her hair come in darker and stay darker. Paprika is the main ingredient in most of the color enhancing supplements.

Darkening shampoos only help a tiny bit. I've never noticed them helping that much. What helps more is a spray conditioner for the whole body that contains sunscreen.

Finally, get her a fly sheet for the summer months, one that blocks at least 70% of the UV rays, or plan on keeping her indoors during the day.

But really, who cares? I personally like my mare when she bleaches out. She gets all these golden highlights, lol.

[IrisGreen]

Tri Tek 14 Fly Spray works really well for flys, smells good and has a sun block in it. You might want to switch to that fly spray if you don't want to keep a fly sheet on her all the time.

Sedona told me about Tri Tek 14 because Muffin was allergic to the oil based fly sprays. He would get hives from it (plus, I didn't like the smell either) so I needed a more gentle spray that was just as effective on flys. The Tri Tek 14 really did the job and the smell is great! I noticed last year that his chestnut spots didn't lighten or sun bleach like they did the year before.

It's found in most tack shops. It's just a little more then normal fly spray, about $17 a bottle. But, it lasts all day or even a few days depending on your area and flys. You don't have to deal with that nasty chemical smell so no one knows you just sprayed your horse. :)