Cockleburrs!!! Phoebe is about to lose her mane.

[Mellifluous]

She came up this evening with her mane absolutely FULL of cockleburrs. She has one big fat mat along the the majority of her crest. I don't think I will be able to get them out. Really. I can handle some cockleburrs but this is the worst I have ever seen. I have pink and a heavy duty comb and I can get most of them out. It is the 8" of mat that worries me.

Any suggestions before I break out the clippers? How long does it take for a mane to grow back out after shaving it off?

Pics tomorrow.

Yes, I know that the cockleburrs should not be in the pasture. We have not done our fall bush-hogging and now I am paying the price.

[Heidi]

I roached Q's mane to the skin (within 1/16") October 2nd, and it is already almost an inch long.

She had a persistant area on her center crest/neck, up by her mane on the left side, that was not healing so I clipped it today and treated it with Tinactin. I was suprised with how well she stood for the hissing of the aerosol.
I think I may clip her belly and see if I can get the gnat irritations healed quicker without all that hair in the way. I'll do about a 6" wide reverse mohawk on her belly centerline.

[Abejita]

try warm water to soften the burrs and break them down (wet towel to hold the moisture in).. or lots of showsheen ( like soaked through,soaking burrs too) after that dries they might be a little easier to get out.I never had one that sounds as bad as what you have..I have had tails I have had to cut but they had been 'burred' for a long time and gotten like baseball bats..I have also heard of people using LOTS of crisco..working into the burrs and hair but I think washing the crisco out would be just as bad as the burrs??

[Monty]

I used a store brand baby hair detangler - worked great ,the hair could be teased out when I soaked an area - And it conditioned it .
When I got Monty they had "hacked" his mane and tail - but, forelock was one big burred mat :mecry: He was in really sad shape when I bought him .
BTW - I would check the pasture and remove all the burrdock plants ASAP!

[diswick]

Two words--baby oil. Saturate the mane with baby oil and the burrs will slide out...

[Red Ryder]

WD40 works

[pasorider]

I second the WD40-- I bought a mare once and her mane and tail were solid burrs---it takes time, but just keep soaked with WD40 and work from the ends--you will get sore fingers, but you will save most of the mane

[cristy]

I use wd40 all the time, it is better than baby oil because it does not leave the mail as greasy. I have 20 ish horses running in heavily wooded pasture and they always get into the burrs and I have NEVER cut a mane or tail.

I would not get it in thier eyes even though they say it is safe. Better safe than sorry.

[Carol Nelson]

Cowboy Magic works great...but it's expensive.

[lisa l aka marci]

Mel - Marci had a mat that bad on her mane, AND her forelock the day I took her to a Breed Demo - I used a LOT of showsheen, my fingers and a brush/com - about 30-45 minutes of combing and REALLY working with my fingers to break the burrs up - they were GONE - with MINIMAL hair loss!

If I started getting frustrated, I just put on some more showsheen and left her for 15-20 minutes to give it time to work through, then went back and did a few more minutes of work.

[appyday]

Cowboy Magic works great...but it's expensive.


I buy a case of 4 32 oz at a time..I use ALOT of it..

I would

1 Wash the mane burrs and all..clean hair slides better then dirty
2. Cream rinse the mane and leave some in.....
3. Saturate with CM and then work it out...bet you can do it


Good luck

[motorgypsy]

Soak with showsheen or vetrolin shine and LET IT DRY before you touch it. We then use a metal wide tooth comb that we used to use on our persian cats. The teeth are very smooth and far enough apart so you can just jiggle it along and get one burr out at a time. One of those soft nylon brushes with the little cactus looking things that stick out on them work pretty well also. If you're going to use WD40 don't get it on your skin or the horse's skin, It's toxic but I'm sure it works pretty well.

[Mellifluous]

MOTORGYPSIES!!!! Where on EARTH have you been????????

OK guys, I just finished working on Phoebe's mane. It was not as bad as I thought it was last night (what a difference daylight makes). I followed Appyday's protocol except for I substituted CM with Pink. She did not lose much mane at all (I was shocked) and Phoebe seemed to enjoy her spa experience this afternoon. I hope she does not go find more burrs so she can do it again.:rolleyes:

So, here are the before and after pics! They are not of the best quality since I took them with my cell phone.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/legado/Phoebe_mane.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/legado/Phoebe_mane1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/legado/Phoebe_mane2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/legado/Phoebe_mane3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/legado/Phoebe_mane4.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/legado/Phoebe_mane5.jpg

[appyday]

WOW that is awsome..I am so tickled for you..it looks awesome..

[pnalley]

Phoebe was a knot head:v:

Our have been coming in like that a few times a week.

[dana]

:shocked: Wow! that was a serious case, Mel! Nice Save!

[Finogirl]

That was pretty amazing you get away with so much mane and forelock left - we use WD40 over here for lots of things too but never to do that...will bere that in mind !

[Heidi]

Wow, that looked like bumble bees in her mane/forelock. I bet the pink will keep them sliding out for the next few days...

[lisa l aka marci]

Good job Mel! Pictures were not as bad as I thought! When Marci had hers - you could BARELY see any mane!!!!

On a good note - Marci had more in her forelock yesterday, but there was still enough Showsheen left from almost a month ago that theny came right out with a bit of finger combing!

[Terry Wallace]

How long to grow back.....

Wellll..manes grow about 1 inch a month...so figure a year to get a 12" mane back.

[Soltera]

I've read some slightly scary reports about WD40 being a human toxin, so I quit using that. Cowboy Magic is pricey, but even using it on burrs every day it lasts and lasts. The only thing is it can make the saddle area dangerously slick if you get it on the end of a long tail. We don't lose any hair, either, and it makes the burs slide right out next time unless it rains hard overnight. That may be the only good aspect of this darn drought. The pastures here are full of burdock, and too steep to bushhog.

But let me caution everyone- wear safety glasses. A forelock burr "popped" with me a few weeks ago and one seed lodged in my cornea. I didn't feel it for a few days, but when I did I went right to the eye doctor and got it out. It went thru the contact lens and into the cornea - destroyed the lens and made my eye hurt for a day or two, but it could have been a sight-losing situation. Anti-biotic eye drops are horribly expensive, too. No horse has ever been injured here, but now I put a cloth over their eyes when doing the forelock.

[Finogirl]

Ouch that sounds really nasty.

[Soltera]

I'm very thankful to have health insurance that covers emergency eye visits. It happened on Wednesday, and I went on Monday. If I'd waited a few more days, it could have been a total loss. Cornea is a funny critter...

Funny thing is that it didn't hurt so bad that I would have gone to emergency room; just a little irritation. Evidently the burrseed has something on it that creates trouble. Beware!