Things You'll Need:
- lava soap
- quick silver soap
- sponge
- bucket with water
- hose
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Step 1
Gather your supplies. You will needs few essentials to clean your horse's white socks and legs. You will needs a bucket with water, sponge, hose, lava soap, clippers, baby wipes and corn starch.
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Step 2
Clip your horse's legs. Using clippers clip your horses lower legs (not completely bald), but to keep the hair short and tidy. This will make the white socks and legs easier to clean and the area just around the hoof look better turned out.
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Step 3
Wash your horse's legs. The day before a show give your horse a bath if it is warm enough. You can get away with just washing your horses socks in slightly cooler weather. There are two good soaps that you can use to clean your horse's legs, quick silver and lava soap. I have always found a bar of lava soap works best. First, thoroughly wet the areas you want to wash. Then wet your bar of lava soap and lather up your hands or squirt quick silver onto your hand. The gently scrub your horse white socks. You may have to rinse and repeat if your horse's white sock as particularly dirty. Make sure you thoroughly rinse the soap from your horse's legs, use your hands and rub them up and down the washed area as you rinse. If you use quick silver it can leave a purple tint if you do not rinse it out properly. When you are finished rinsing your horse's socks or legs gently squeeze off the extra water. To do this start just below the knee and wrap your hand around your horse's leg (palm touching your horse). Then gently squeeze while moving your hand down towards your horse's hoof. Repeat this a few times on the front and back of the leg.
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Step 4
Keep your horse white socks clean for the show the next day. After you have washed your horse's white socks make sure they are completely dry. You can use a clean towel to speed up the drying process. Clean your horse's stall out well and add some fresh shavings, this will lessen the chances of your horse's white socks getting dirty overnight. Don't put your horse into his stall until his legs are completely dry as they can get 'scratches'. You can also wrap your horse's legs in standing wraps. Don't wraps their legs unless they are completely dry. If you are unsure of how to wrap their legs with standing wraps ask for help.
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Step 5
Carry out the final touches before you enter the show ring. There are a couple of tricks you can use to freshen up the whiteness of your horse's socks before entering the show ring. If you see any small stains use baby wipes to clean them. You can also use some corn starch on the white socks to improve their whiteness (use cornstarch instead of baby power as it is safer). Make sure you apply the cornstarch before painting your horse's hooves and be careful of getting on your good show clothes. Lightly wipe of the areas with a clean towel where you applied the cornstarch to remove any excess.
