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A Guide to Horse Shampoos | How to Choose The Right Horse Shampoo
Do horses need shampoos?
Yes. Shampoos for horses are important and essential in their grooming routine because it effectively removes dirt, sweat, and dandruff that can potentially irritate their skin if left ungroomed. These are products specifically designed to clean a horse's skin and coat without disrupting their natural protective oils or altering their unique skin pH.
What are the different types of horse shampoos?
The different types of shampoos for horses depend on their usage, on the horse's coat type, medical benefits, and solutions they are trying to target, if any. According to Mad Barn, some of the most common shampoo types include:
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General-Purpose
These feature balanced formulas for routine washing. They have formulas that can clean dirt, sweat, and grease without stripping natural protective oils of the horse's skin.
Our recommendation: pH Balanced Sheath Cleaner with Tea-Tree Oil
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Whitening or Brightening Shampoos
These enhance light-colored coats by neutralizing stains. Typically characterized by blue or purple pigment. These are specially designed to remove deep-seated stains and restore balance to white, gray, and light-colored coats. There are formulas that are bleach-free and peroxide-free that do the work without irritating their skin.
Our recommendation: Show Shine Coat Polish & Brightener
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Medicated Horse Shampoos
These are therapeutic cleansers specifically formulated with active pharmaceutical or natural antimicrobial ingredients. These formulas can treat, soothe, and prevent diagnosed skin conditions such as fungal infections, bacterial dermatitis, and severe itching.
Our recommendations:
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Conditioning and Moisturizing
These are specialized dual-action solutions designed to clean a horse's coat, mane and tail, while restoring moisture and shine. The main benefits are the moisture retention they provide, reduce breakage of mane and tail, ease in detangling, and generally protecting the skin barrier. Ingredients highlighted in products like these include proteins, amino acids, emollients, and botanical extracts.
Our recommendations:
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Hypoallergenic or Natural Shampoos
These are usually formulated with plant-based ingredients and without common irritants like synthetic fragrances, detergents, dyes or parabens, in order to avoid drying out the horse's coat, irritation or triggering any allergic reactions while cleaning sensitive skin. You can find soothing ingredients featured instead, such as aloe vera, oatmeal, or coconut.
Our recommendations:
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Waterless or Dry Shampoos
These are no-rinse cleansing sprays or powders used to clean your horse's coat, mane, and tail without needing water. They feature formulas using natural surfactants, plant extracts, or clays to remove dirt, sweat, manure and urine stains to the surfaces of the hair. Convenient for winter grooming, last-minute touch ups during shows, or whenever you need to clean your horse when you are short on time.
Our recommendation: No-Rinse Waterless Shampoo
BONUS!
Take a look at some specialty shampoos that can improve your equine grooming experience:
- Black Coat Shampoo - Made to intensify and enhance black & bay coats. It contains special optical brighteners, aloe and vitamin E in a gentle coconut oil based shampoo.
- Glistening Gold Antistatic Creme Rinse - Natural tearless concentrate made with pure Hawaiian coconut oil and Vitamin E. It rinses quickly, and leaves your horse's coat with a healthy shine.
- Menthol Cooling Shampoo - Provides a cooling, tingling sensation helping to relax the muscles, while cutting through dirt, sweat and grime.
What ingredients in horse shampoos should I look out for?
There are two types of ingredients used in horse shampoos: Natural and Synthetic. Natural ingredients are naturally sourced from plants or animals, while synthetic ingredients are chemically formulated. Both types have their advantages depending on the current needs of your horse.
Natural ingredients, such as aloe vera, chamomile, and tea tree oil, feature soothing, calming and healing properties. A lot of their key features come from their moisturizing, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and antifungal benefits without much risk of irritation or allergic reactions. On the other hand, synthetic ingredients provide cleansing and conditioning benefits that can go from gentle and mild to more stronger formulations depending on the skin/coat issue being targeted. There are also several options available where there is balance of being able to remove excess oil from the horse's skin and coat without causing dryness.
Horse shampoo formulations are usually a balanced mix of both natural and synthetic ingredients, specifically intended to work well together without causing any adverse effects.
Horse shampoo ingredients to look out for will depend on your horse's coat type and current grooming needs.
- If your horse experiences Fungal or bacterial infections, including rain rot and ringworms, look for key ingredients like Chlorhexidine, Ketoconazole, Miconazole, Benzalkonium chloride or Chloroxylenol or Neem oil / Tea tree oil. These possess antimicrobial and antiseptic agents that kill underlying pathogens without burning raw skin.
- For itchy, inflamed, or sensitive skin problems including sweet itches or allergies, look for colloidal oatmeal or oat kernel extract, Aloe vera, Pramoxine or Hydrocortisone. These ingredients have soothing humectants and anti-itch compounds that calm the skin barrier and retain moisture. Avoid artificial fragrances, chemical dyes, and high concentrations of alcohol which can trigger contact dermatitis.
- For dry, flaky skin and dandruff, look for Sulfur and salicylic acid, Pyrithione zinc, or Glycerin and Panthenol (Vitamin B5). These have keratolytic agents that gently dissolve crusts and scales.
- For dry, brittle manes and tails, look for protein-rich nourishers and smoothing oils that repair cuticles and prevent breakage. You can find this with keratin or silk proteins, coconut oil, argan oil, or avocado oil.
- For yellow stains on light or grey coats, look for optical brighteners or purple/bluing pigments that cancel out warm or yellow discoloration. Key ingredient here is the purple pigment, which neutralizes stains on grey, white, and palomino coats via color theory. Please note: this kind of shampoo needs to be used sparingly, because whitening agents can cause drying with frequent use.
How often should I apply shampoo on my horses?
It is not recommended to apply shampoo to your horses on a daily basis, on the sense that it might do more harm than good. Daily shampooing can leave their skin vulnerable from the loss of protective oils, can cause increased risk of dryness and irritation, as well as being prone to developing more cracks or sores.
If your horse is generally lightly soiled from activities, shampoo once a month or less; for horses in dusty or muddy conditions, shampooing every 2-3 weeks is recommended; while show horses and those with special needs, shampoo as needed or as advised by the veterinarian.
Regular brushing and spot cleaning can keep your horse clean without the risk of stripping oils in between shampoo-ed grooms. You can also use a sweat scraper after work-outs or exercises to help remove dirt and sweat from your horse without needing water or shampoo.
Choosing the best horse shampoo:
Ultimately, choosing the best shampoo for your horse should be a product specifically designed for equine, should feature gentle, non-irritating ingredients, and should address their current skin and coat needs.
Always patch test first by applying a small amount of shampoo on your horse in a hidden area, rinse and check back after 24 hours. If there is any allergic reaction, redness, swelling, or itching, refrain from continued use of the product.
Do not give your horse medicated shampoos without guidance from your vet. Medicated shampoos typically have strong active ingredients that are effective for certain treatment, but harsh if misused.