Hellooooo!

Today is another Ralph Neighder Day!  I am going tell you about products that I like and other things…

OMG!  MY NEW FAVORITE THING — EQUI-SPA’S ‘THE BALM’

First of all, calling it THE BALM is so great because it really is THE BOMB!  Love it, love it, love it.  I’m using it for everything!  If it could do my laundry, I’d give it the spare bedroom.

OK, here is the deal.  It is a cream that you are supposed to use to heal wounds and keep flies away.  It is all natural and it smells clean and fresh.  The horses like it.  On the website, it is described like this:

Formulated in a base of Bees wax and soy wax with no petrochemical.  I use this balm to protect fresh wounds and abrasions from external irritants.  I is a good barrier against flies.  It helps facilitate healing of the wounds from the inside out, due to the properties of the essential oils, Lavender, Tea Tree, Eucalyptus,  and Geranium. 8 oz tub  is $12.00

Here is the Equi-spa website.

I was given this as a sample.  And, sample it I did!  First, I put it on my mare’s belly where those nasty nighttime biting flies just eat her alive.  (I’ve been spreading SWAT on her belly which was fine, until I tried this…)  I liked that this cream was smooth enough to stay where I put it and not drop on the ground shortly after I removed my hand…  And, she didn’t dance away from me.  She liked it.

Well, I have to tell you, five days later, not only does she have NO new bites, but the whole area is clearing up and healing.  Wow!  Her skin is smooth, the scabs are gone and the hair is growing back. Yowsa!

Then, I put the cream all over her face.

I took a photo of her with the cream on her face at the worst time of dusk.  As you can see, not one biting fly or gnat or anything.  In fact, I was getting eaten alive so I rubbed it all over my arms.  It felt slightly warm, then cool and then just soothing.  No flies.  No mosquitoes.  Ahhhhhhh.

I also schmeared it all over her tail where she rubs.  I swear, I heard her sigh as I put the soothing cream on her itchy tail area.  So then I went around and rubbed it into every tail dock on my ranch (yes, they have all been wormed).

I think their eyes rolled back into their heads.  It must have felt so good to them because I could see the relief.  It gets so hot here and the flies/sweat/dust are merciless on the poor babies… As I rubbed THE BALM in, not a peep outta them.  They all stood rock still and let me have at it!

I WANT A 10 GALLON INDUSTRIAL VAT OF THIS STUFF.  Seriously.  I can see myself using it for everything.  It is the equine elixir of all things topical.  I highly recommend it. (I have no affiliation although I wish I did!  ;)  )

PEPPERMINT SUMMER PROTECTION AND NOT-SO-SWEET-ITCH GEL

These items I’ve mentioned before and they are also from Equi-spa.

The fly spray (Peppermint Summer Protection) is wonderful.  It is all natural and the horses like it!  I think it makes their coats shine beautifully.  It doesn’t have any petroleum products, yay, so you have to apply it every day.  But, I really, really like not spraying them down with nasty stuff that sticks to my hands and makes my lungs seize.

And, the Not-so-Sweet-Itch gel formula is really nice for those itchy spots.  I use it religiously (most of the time, anyway) for the horses that rub manes and tails.  It is lighter than THE BALM.  I keep it in my grooming box and use it daily.  It is like an instant itch stopper.  Equi-spa website link.

HORSEMAN’S LAB FECAL TEST KIT

OK, this may not be table talk but all of us have always wondered how to test the manure for worms.  I mean, the vets say not to worm your horses unless they need it, but how do you know if they need it?  I guess if the infestation gets really bad, the horses look bad.  Or, you can assume there are worms if they are rubbing their butts… but that could just be flies or udder/sheath issues.  So, how do you know?

Alas, the faboo HORSEMAN’S LAB has come up with a really easy fecal test kit that they send to you.  It is really easy.  My reader who turned me onto it said the experience was like Netflix.  You go online and pay for how ever many kits you want.  They send them to you.  You scoop a tiny Baskin and Robbins size mini-spoonful into the little plastic sample cosmetic container and ship it back in the SASE that they provide.  After the lab receives it and tests it, they email you the results.  Easy!   Here is their website.  (Sorry their photo was so small… I couldn’t make it any bigger.)

WHAT DO DO WITH ALL YOUR SHOW RIBBONS?

Well, if you are like me, they sit in storage, stuffed into one of those zippered plastic pouches you get when you purchase a bedspread.  I just cannot bring myself to throw them away but yet again, I don’t want them hanging in my foyer, if you know what I mean…  The barn is too dusty to hang anything (because I’m a lousy barnkeeper).  So, what do you do with the ribbons?

This photo came into my inbox.  I thought, “Hey, that’s a novel idea…, I wonder if she has other novel ideas for ribbons?”  Actually, I would love a throw blanket of my ribbons.  I don’t know how comfy that would be.  And, I kinda wonder if they would hold up under all of my rigid TV watching and chair sitting… but I might see my ribbons more often if I had them made into something else.  Actually, making them into checkbook covers would be the best idea.  Then you’d remember WHY ON EARTH you are spending so much money to go to horse shows!  (Her phone number is below the photo.)

I LOVE THIS HALTER

I’ve shown the EASY CATCH HALTER before but I’m showing it again because it is just so easy!  If you are like me, most of my horses can move about with a piece of twine on their necks ( and believe me, I use it often…).  However, when it is medicine time or doctoring time or if you just need a gentle catching device, this is it!  Easy on and Easy off.  No buckles and no throwing the long side over the horsehead that is moving higher and higher…

Of course, you cannot use this in your trailer, but for everyday stuff, it is really fast.  I love it.  Much better than twine.  ;)

AN OLD WIVES TALE?

I was told to put Listerine in a squirt bottle and to spray it around any area that I didn’t want mosquitoes.  OK.  I had some Listerine.  I got it at Costco.  It was a two pack and lawd knows how long those gigantic bottles have been sitting in my pantry.  I was eager to find a way to use them up!  So, I put some in a used and clean fly spray bottle.

First, I sprayed it all over the patio where I sit in the evenings reading while getting feasted upon my mosquitoes.  Usually, I spray on toxic stuff and light a citronella candle that totally spoils the mood.  But, last night, I sprayed the Listerine instead.  Wow.  It worked.  I sprayed it on my arm and it stung.  So, don’t do that.

Then, I went to the barn and sprayed it on the stall doors and the wood around the barn entrance.  My mare didn’t like the smell but she didn’t hate it.  And, the fragrance dissipated quickly.  Truth to tell, I found it much more enjoyable at 7pm on a summer night than usual.  So, tomorrow, I might spray it all over the barn and see what happens.  If it works, I could get a lot more done in the evenings.

Those are my products for this day… I hope this brings you some new knowledge.  Stop by tomorrow for PhoBlog day!  Have a great weekend!

HORSE AND MAN is a blog in growth… if you like this, please pass it around!
The August Bucket Fund will benefit the charity BHFER.  To learn all about the Bucket Fund and to donate $5,  please click on the photo (photo credit, Trish Lowe)