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There’s a reason so many owners say they’d ‘never buy a grey again’ – and yet we seem to keep coming back for more!
Is there anything more eye-catching than a gorgeous grey trotting up the centre line? Guaranteed to stand out in any warm-up among an array of bay horses, your grey is nothing short of breath-taking. It’s just a shame it takes three hours of scrubbing to get the stable stains out. We’d never change our greys, but that doesn’t mean they don’t come with a few hang-ups that, if someone offered a magic wand, we might deign to swap out for something a little lower maintenance.
So, without further ado, let’s get into five things that only owners of greys to suffer with….
- The silent seething when someone compliments how clean your grey horse looks – especially when it’s said in a tone of surprise, as though the last time they saw you it looked like you were riding a hippo. We all love a compliment about our horses, but that thinly veiled smugness while they sit on their shiny dark bay somewhat dampens the enjoyment.
- Stable rugs are no-go – it’s waterproof all the way for you, baby. That brand-new indoor rug is no match for a night’s worth of rolling in dirty bedding, so if you don’t want all that hard work bathing to go to waste, you’re stuck with a turnout rug and praying to the gods of stable stains that your horse won’t resemble a coloured in the morning.
- “Oh, I know exactly how you feel – my horse has two socks!” No, you don’t know how I feel. I’ve been up since the crack of dawn trying to make my horse look somewhat presentable – and that’s after he’s had two baths and been stabled overnight, wrapped to within an inch of his life in rugs, bandages and neck cover. Only having to chalk a couple of socks is the stuff of my competition day fantasies.
- Sure, a gleaming grey certainly looks the part in the competition ring, but you can’t seem to achieve that incredible mirror-like shine that his bay counterparts can enjoy. Even a fairly well-dappled backside lacks the allure of that gorgeous glossy black horse that went into the ring before you.
- All it takes is one wrong move and your horse has a racing stripe of black boot polish down his flank. Anything and everything seem to stain your grey – from the grass he grazes on to the rubber from your arena surface. You spend hours upon hours trying to keep him clean only to take a slightly-too-enthusiastic step within 3m of a puddle and your horse suddenly has a stylish pebble-dash look. Oh well, you can always pretend he’s flea-bitten.
But even with all the elbow-grease and worrying about whether he’ll look remotely presentable in the morning, there really is nothing better than pulling a stunningly clean grey horse off the lorry and enjoying those admiring stares. Besides, you love the sense of achievement.