After the ketchup experiment, I decided that I needed to try something more heavy duty to pull the yellow stains from Cupid's tail. While picking at her tail I did realize that sections of hair at the top are growing in "blonde" so it is very possible that the bottom section is naturally blonde. But because there was fading from the ketchup, I do believe that the yellow is staining.

Tail after the ketchup experiment

Today's experiment consisted of V05 strawberry shampoo and conditioner, and Dawn Dish Soap (the blue bottle). I know several people who use Dawn as their primary shampoo for their horses but have never tried it myself. I do keep a large bottle in my tack locker for bucket and bit cleaning purposes.

To start I soaked Cupid's tail with water and spread the strawberry shampoo through it. This was then combed through to remove as much surface dirt as possible. The shampoo smelled great and really got all of the surface dirt out, but did not do anything to remove the staining.

After the initial shampoo

After the shampoo was fully rinsed off I coated Cupid's tail with Dawn, avoiding her tailbone. This created a ton of lather that I used on her feet. Lately, we have been having issues with scratches and I wanted to remove the excess grease from the ointment. I allowed the Dawn to soak into her tail for approximately 10 minutes while I soaked her hay cubes and conditioned her mane with Cholesterol Cream.

Clearly super thrilled about standing around while she got bathed

Rinsing the Dawn from her tail did take forever. The suds kept bubbling off the tail which did make me a bit nervous about possibly leaving too much residue that would attract dirt. Once the Dawn seemed to be rinsed out completely I coated her tail in the strawberry conditioner to restore moisture. While massaging the conditioner into the tail I discovered that there was still Dawn in the tail. Yay for soap suds mixed with conditioner.

I left the conditioner sit while I put away our tack and then rinsed it out. Thankfully the conditioner and the remaining bits of Dawn completely rinsed out within a few minutes. I left Cupid to dry on the cross ties. Once fully dry, I sprayed the usual hair moisturizer onto her mane, tail, and coat.

Overall the Dawn did seem to remove some of the staining from Cupid's tail. It was not a miracle product but it was good enough that I would use it again. I do believe that it dried out her tail a bit more than desirable, but it was not as brittle as it had been when I first got her. As you can see we're slowly getting the tail back to a clean and acceptable color, but it's a long process due to the amount of staining I allowed to build up.

Not bad but still a long way to go

My dream horse was always a pure black with a small star and an angled snip. Owning a grey was the complete opposite end of what I wanted. Grey horses are a pain to get clean and seem determined to be as stained as humanly possible. Cupid, thankfully, is a bit picky about where she rolls and lays down. Plus she has a HUGE mud/water/pee spot phobia so I don't need to worry about those stains! But no matter how prissy my girl is I still have to deal with the typical grey stains, including a lovely yellow stained tail. Thus, I introduce the new post series "Grooming the Grey". 

Sweet and innocent, but awful to keep clean

*Note* Please use all suggestions with caution. I can only speak to my own experiences with all products recommended.

Before - A lovely black/grey fade to yellow tail

Hours of digging through Chronicle of the Horse led me to discover several alternative methods for cleaning stains out of a grey horse. One of the stranger methods involves soaking their tail in ketchup. Supposedly the acidity of ketchup pulls the yellow stains from tail hairs without causing as much damage as bleach. Because I had an expired bottle of ketchup in my fridge I figured this would be my first try at turning Cue's lovely grey/white, black and yellow tail into grey, white and black.

Step one was to shampoo the tail with Shiny Silver Ultra from Sally's Beauty Supply. This was on sale last year so I grabbed a few bottles. It does brighten Cupid's coat and mane, but only takes a little bit of the yellow staining out of her tail. I figured a clean tail would allow the ketchup to penetrate better. 

After the first shampoo

After the shampoo was completely rinsed out I coated it with ketchup. Naturally, Cupid kept swishing her tail getting ketchup water all over the barn and me. Because the bottle was almost empty I stuffed her tail into the ketchup bottle as far as it would go. I did not go past her tailbone because the staining was not too bad at that point and I did not want to irritate her skin. 

Ketchup coated tail

The ketchup sat on her tail for approximately 10 minutes while I stuffed her full of carrots. Because I wanted to ensure that it was all removed I reshampooed her with the Shiny Silver after I rinsed the ketchup out. I was also afraid of her tail smelling like ketchup and getting eaten off by one of her pasture mates. After both shampoo and ketchup were completely rinsed out I covered her tail with a deep conditioner. I used Suave 2 Minute Super Conditioner Intense Moisture because it has been hanging out in my shower forever and I wanted to see it gone. 

Shampoo and Conditioner

Once the conditioner was rinsed out and her tail was dried I was pleased to see that the yellow was faded more than shampoo alone would have done. and that her tail was not dried out. It was easy to comb through and felt healthy. 

Post-ketchup in the sun

Overall, I don't believe the ketchup would have been a good last minute treatment before a show but it was a good "get the tail back to normal" option. I would do this again, but next time I would attempt to leave the ketchup in longer. 

Post-ketchup tail in the shade

On Sunday, I had the honor of running both the Celebration Half Marathon and my fastest half marathon since I moved to Florida!

I woke up at the lovely hour of 5:00am and arrived at Celebration around 5:45. Thankfully, I was able to find parking and relax (more like nap) for a bit before heading over to the starting line.

The start was clearly marked with the various pace groups and I decided to line up between the 2:30 and 2:45 group. My goal for this race was to run consistently between an 11:00-minute and 12: 00-minute mile. I really wanted to try for a sub 2:30 but because I had been sick the entire week leading up to the race, I figured I would be better off trying to stay with a consistent pace.

The race started and I settled into my pace. I went a bit fast at the start to find a nice spot in the pack but settled into my run/walk intervals after about 5 minutes. The first mile was completed at an easy 11:51, the slow speed felt wrong but I knew that I was making the right choice to hold myself back. Mile 2 took 11:17, and as I neared the end of it I realized that I really had to use the restroom. Thankfully I knew that there would be one around the 2.5-mile mark so I hustled through that half mile in 6:40 to get there with time to waste. Unfortunately while pausing my Garmin I bumped it and ended the activity, so my data for this race is separated into two different Garmin entries. I swear, I'll eventually learn how to use this watch!

From mile 2.5 to approximately 6.5 I was able to maintain a consistent pace between 10:57 and 11:45. It was at that 6.5-mile mark that they were handing out gels, so I took my time walking to finish it. I accidentally grabbed the Double Expresso gel and was surprised to find that it worked extremely well for me! The taste wasn't bad and my stomach really seemed to agree with it!

From there my pace ranged from 11:00 to 13:17. The 13:17 occurred on a huge stretch of the boardwalk where I got boxed in behind some other runners. Normally, this would have upset me but the scenery was so pretty that I decided to focus on enjoying the race. Once the boardwalk ended I was able to pass the other runners and settle back into a steady 11:45 pace. This section went through the neighborhood and then back onto the boardwalks.

My least favorite part of this race was honestly the last boardwalk section. I knew that the finish line was coming up quickly and was actually disappointed by this. I crossed the finish in 2:40:48, which should be disappointing because I have run faster half marathons, but this was the fasted half I have completed since moving to Florida!

This race helped prove to me that I can race properly and I do have the ability to successfully run a half marathon. My pace was the most consistent it has ever been, and I felt great after the race. Usually, I am exhausted and feel as if my legs are going to give out but this race left me feeling fine! I want to be a sub 2-hour half marathoner, but this race proved to me that I need to focus more on maintaining a consistent pace as opposed to racing against the clock.

After seeing that I can complete a half, in Florida, in 2:40 I have decided to set my goal for Princess at 2:35. That's enough time to shave off and feel successful, but not too much that I'll have to really push myself.

The awesome blanket that was part of the swag for this race!

Overall, I would fully recommend the Celebration Half Marathon to anyone looking for a nice small race in the Central Florida area! I have already decided that I'll be signing up for the 2019 race as soon as it opens!