Whats your money saver?

Was just thinking of this. Us horse people are so trendy at using stuff from the dollar store or giving things a second life. What are your tips and tricks? Here are some of mine.

Hoof blackener: liquid shoe polish. Apply hairspray over the hoof after
for shine and buff with a cloth. Doesn't dry out feet like others,
doesn't come off as easily yet it's usually off by the next morning.

Baling
twine cutter: Another piece of baling twine. I often forget my
leatherman. Fold the other piece of twine in half, put it under the
uncut piece and saw. It breaks easily.

Longer lasting fly
spray: I mean it stays on your horse. The water based evaporates off
quicker than the flies can land on them so I mix 75% fly spray 25%
hairspray. The result when shaken (every use) sticks to the haircoat.
Works especially well with wipe. Remember to shake.

Baking
soda: Add water for sunburns, rashes, cuts, rot, scratches etc. It
neutralizes the acids in the PH of the skin enabling the ailment to
heal.

Cleaner saddle pads: and halters too! use the power
washer from a good distance. It's the only way I can get my waffle
weave pads clean without putting them through the wash (no word of a
lie) 6 times.

White horses: Laundry detergent, liquid and the blue kind. mix it with a 25% vinegar.

Diluting shampoo: goes a lot longer way and takes less time to clean out.

Miracle
grow: once you use the fertilizer in their 12$ hose contraptions just
add your own shampoo and wash your horse with it. Cheaper than the 30$
horse versions.

Mane
and tail detangler: (NOTE: Don't use this if your horses chew
eachothers tails) When you get those big dreadlocks use WD-40, an all
purpose lubricant. It give the hair that magazine model shine and
de-tangles better and cheaper than anything on the market. Plus, wd-40
is SOOOOO handy around the barn. It un sticks anything.

Cactus
cloth: God I would be lost without mine. The new ones are stiff so I
soak them in boiling water with 1/2 cup fabric softener a few times.
They become really floppy and easy to use.

Water buckets: When going to shows and bringing water just stick a garbage bag inside a pail, fill it and tie the bag.

Pledge:
For shining boots, leather, beta, biothane (but not the seat of your
saddle, woops!) it keeps the dust off longer, especially tall boots.

Head bumper: A pool noodle for 1$ cut a slit down the middle and stick it on the top ledge of your trailer door before you unload your horse in case he hops he will hit the noodle instead of the metal.

Hard to worm horses: Naigen is a royal pain to worm. She knows its in her grain she won't eat it so we have to wrestle with her. I get an empty syringe and start syringing her applesauce, yogurt, molasses etc and then sneak the wormer in promptly followed by more of the yummy stuff. Works every time especially if you have a foal that you never wormed just giving them some sweet syringes full can make them want to be wormed.

For those of you who still have to use bits occasionally

Bit cleaner: Cinnamon toothpaste. Not only does it clean dirty bits the horses love the flavor it leaves behind.

Copper bits: Use ketchup on them. The acid eats away the tarnish leaving you with a brand new looking copper bit.



So whats your tips and tricks?

Great stuff. I'm making notes

My biggest money saver? Natural horsemanship (sorry to use the N word but you know what I mean) Saves wasting money on bad advice from trainers about how to cure your horses multiple behavioural problems.

Second biggest - natural (as far as feasible) horse keeping - 24/7 turnout, no rugs, shoes, pointless booting or bits, plus equipment to solve the problems caused by the other equipment...

Also - forage in hedgerows for supplements instead of buying expensive tubs of herbs which are probably shipped from abroad. Nettles, rosehips, dandelion, cleavers, comfrey... grow some mint in your garden, it grows like a weed.

I make my own fly spray too - never did buy an effective one. Whereas pure apple cider vinegar with a squeeze of neem oil, a generous shake of citronella oil and a drop of washing up liquid to emulsify it - works a treat.

For nubuck treeless saddles - buy a cheap skin emollient cream from the chemists, smooths and darkens it, looks fab.

Instead of using sponges which are unhygienic and get bound with soap scum, grease etc buy several cheap face flannels in various colours. Use white for eyes, different colours for nose, dock etc. You can wipe their whole face with a wrung out flannel - Z loves a cool face flanneling on a hot day Also great for tack cleaning as they are mildly abraisive but won't scratch, much more efficient than sponges. At the end of the week throw them in the boil wash with your towels!

For mild conjuntivitis in summer (caveat - call your vet if its the first time your horse has had it or it doesn't respond to treatment) wash with camomile tea that has been allowed to cool and add a dab of manuka honey to the corner of the eye. You may need to mask afterwards to stop the flies going for the honey! For a very mild case, the tea alone should do it.

Make pads for your horse boots by putting your horses hoof on a gardeners kneeling pad. Lift the hoof and you should see a nice imprint on the pad. Cut round it and ta-da!

Don't buy high visibility kit from equestrian wear manufacturors. In fact, don't buy anything from them unless it's a specifically equine thing - anything with a picture of a horse on the label carries an instant mark up. Go to sports stores for high visibilty wear and tapes, breathable waterproofs, cold weather gear etc.

That's all from me for now - if I remember any more I'll post them

My favourite money saving thing is to use those eco cloths that you can buy these days. You can get expensive ones (my first one came with my new cooker and was so good at cleaning the cooker with nothing but water that I started using cheap ones for all sorts of cleaning) but most supermarkets, pound shops and markets sell cheap ones. They are the best thing for cleaning grease and dirt off tack and do this job really quickly. I like to use laced reins and these are dificult to clean any other way. You only need to rub with a damp cloth and wash in hot water after use. They work well on muddy boots too and any metalwork. Bits come up reallly clean and shiny but of course I don't need to clean them any more. This is more of a time saver than a money saver as you do need to oil or soap your leather after cleaning.

I like to save the new type of ketchup bottles to use to get rid of ragwort rosettes. The ones with a lift up cap and some sort of plastic valve over the nozzle so that you can squirt out the ketchup. I fill them up with glyphosate weed killer and spray the rosettes when I walk the dogs in the fields. Obviosly I only do this in the fields the ponies are not using for grazing but its amazing how regular spraying of small amounts keeps it under control without buying expensive sprayers.