Holiday Horse Giving - Part 2: The Giveaway!

Giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to Casey and Tate who now have a hoof pick to last a lifetime and the best coat spray!


Okay now! I am excitedly rubbing my hands together because I have a holiday gift for you! Fourteen Carrots is giving away two very useful and enjoyable products. There will be one winner who will receive both of these products. First up, we have the Eqyss Premier Marigold Spray. I have raved about this here and here. To top it off, we have the most spectacular hoof pick I have ever used, the Ultimate Hoofpick, self described as the "jack hammer". I really hate dirty hooves, which is just silly because they will immediately get dirty as soon as you are done cleaning them. In my opinion, this is the end all be all of hoof picks. It is the super star of hoof picks - like the Mick Jagger of hoof picks. I think you will only need one for the rest of your life.

The Jack Hammer

So here are the rules/parameters of the game:

1) You have to donate money - any money, I don't care how much - to one of the three charities listed in Part 1.

2) You have to follow Fourteen Carrots on Twitter.

3) You have to leave a comment below sharing a horse product that you love too and would give away if this was your blog.

4) It would be just lovely if you also liked Fourteen Carrots on Facebook, but this isn't a requirement.

The giveaway is only open to people who are in the United States. Contest ends 12/25 and will be shipped out after the New Year.

The Horse Used It Up #2

Ida finished up a few products before she went back to her original home. Here they are in no particular order. And yes, I "intelligently" keep these empties around the house, patiently waiting until they are blogged about.

Sound Hoof Conditioner
So, the hoof is like a modified fingernail, right? I think of this as like a nice hand cream, a nail conditioner, or a cuticle cream that I would use on my own hands and nails. The product smells like cake batter and the primary ingredient is essential fatty acids. I am not dependent on this product per se, but I do like to have it around. I will purchase again for sure, once the winter season is over. I suspect I am going to be dependent on it when I move to Texas though (because it is so dry there).

Perhaps even more than the product itself, I totally dig the small business model of this company as well as their overall ethos and social/environmental responsibility. This hoof conditioner is all natural and environmentally compatible. It isn't petroleum based. I can attest to this being totally nontoxic if ingested, because the barn dogs at my stable were constantly licking it up off the ground after I shellacked it on my horses' hooves; and they never died.

Cowboy Magic Greenspot Remover
I find it essential to have a spray around that is multi-usable on saddle, boots, and horse. I don't know about your equine companions, but mine get covered in their own apples whether they are in a stall or in a field. And they slobber hay all over me, which of course I love. It is definitely gentle enough to use on their coat and skin. The product has a lovely botanical and non-synthetic fragrance, which is clutch for me. Here are a few of the ingredients: glycerine, honey extract, rose flower extract, sage leaf extract, nettle flower extract, matricaria flower extract, peppermint leaf extract, comfrey extract, horsetail extract, witch hazel extract. It does have parabens in it and sodium laureth sulfate, which I find annoying but not a deal breaker. Will I buy it again? Yes.....if I don't find something I like more. The botanical ingredient list is really wonderful, which should be enough for me really. The problem is.....and this is so shallow....the branding. Now I love Lonesome Dove as much as the next cowgirl but I actually ain't a cowgirl. I jump fences and shit! If they called this "The Foxhunter's Etheral and Special Fox Urine Multi Purpose Cleaner," I would have my holy grail multi-purpose cleanser.  

Farnam Thrush-XX
Let me be clear: I *'&%* hate this product. It's my least favorite horse product of all time. I will never buy it again. Why? The smell is ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE. And even if I didn't actually get the product on me, just holding the bottle was enough to transfer the scent onto me for hours. Furthermore, no matter how much I would wash my hands I still stunk. The smell gave me migraines. Furthermore, I found it awkward to apply. Plus it is aerosol based, which isn't all that hot for the ozone layer. There are way better options than this. I am far happier with Thrush Buster.

Mustad Tuff Stuff
Before Ida came into her stall for the rainy times here, she had some pretty muddy areas in her field. We all know wet hooves are the penthouse for microbes. And thrush just irritates the shit out of me. Not the horse. Just me. The Tuff Stuff did the job of being like a rain coat for her hoof. I will definitely repurchase as a staple in my stash.

Eqyss Premier Spray - Marigold Sent 
I love this stuff. I've actually blogged about it before, here. I have slowed down on my use of this, mostly for cost saving reasons. When I have the extra change in the future, I definitely will repurchase.

And lastly.......Uncle Jimmy's Licky Thing

I know it isn't all used up yet, but it will be a while before it's back in the house. You'll let that slide, right? This is an Uncle Jimmy's Licky Thing and I bought the value pack. Want to hear a funny story about this Uncle Jimmy's Licky Thing? Well, the interesting thing about a horse is that its anus is level with its mouth. I hung the Licky Thing so that it was at a good level for Ida to play with (with her face). One day, I noticed that there was horse apples on the Licky Thing and I thought to myself "Huh? How did she defecate on her suspended toy?" Then I realized that a horse's ass is level with their face. When they are turned around with their lower gastrointestinal tract towards the Licky Thing, low and behold horse apples will appear on the Licky Thing. Ida loved her Licky Thing. It certainly is a boredom killer for the stall, which is what it is billed as. I will certainly repurchase refills. 

The Horse Used It Up! #1

"I used it up" are always one of my favorite types of beauty blog posts. When I say that I love to talk about products I have completed, I really mean I could wax poetically for an obscene and unnecessary amount of time. That said, I will try to keep these posts reasonably brief and leave the loquaciousness for full product reviews, in which you have consented to a diatribe about that particular product.

So, tally ho then.

Farnam Nature's Defense 

Farnam describes this as their "Water-Based Fly Repellent Spray." And it is a concoction of the supposed anti-insect essential oils: citronella, clove, mint, and thyme. Let's see here, I paid about thirteen bucks for 32oz of this. I personally only use the non-pyrethrin based repellants on my geldings, and I find this one to be as good as any other. I do like having both an SPF and non-SPF based fly repellent (I do recognize this desire to be a bit excessive and over-thinking of the situation). I use the non-sunscreen based repellant at night time when there isn't going to be any sunlight. This one serves my non-SPF needs and I definitely would repurchase. Plus, the label has this pretty vintage looking water color scene of wild-flowers that makes me happy.

Espree Aloe Herbal Horse Spray

I've been through two bottles of this gem so far. I dig it because it not only has the fly repellants but also contains coat conditioners and sunscreen! This is the fly repellant I use when the horse is going back to his pasture during the day. This one contains these essential oils: citronella, cedarwood, and eucalyptus. I believe that Espree considers the aloe to be the coat conditioner. I certainly would repurchase this. It is about $16 for thirty two fluid ounces.

Eqyss Premier Spray - Marigold Sent

I love this spray so much that if I could only have one equine horse grooming product, this would be it. It is multi useful to the extreme. I predominantly use it as a conditioner for my gelding's coat. I use it to psychologically calm down myself and Luke before or after a ride - does this work? Hell if I know, but it makes me feel like I'm at least trying! In a pinch, I use it as a spot cleaner for him or myself. The thing to know about this product is that the scent is somewhat strong and you've got to like floral scents to enjoy it. Personally, I really love the smell and the scent inspires sunshine and warmth to me. Though I have to admit it is somewhat fragrance-y. I notice sometimes at the barn people exclaim "Is someone spraying perfume?" but I just keep applying and don't admit that it is me. I've gone through two bottles now and plan to buy a gallon, which I've figured to be a ten dollar savings if you buy the equivalent in the 32 oz spray bottles. So, it ain't cheap but I think it's quite worth it. 

SmartPak Smart Calm

This is SmarPak's brand supplement line version of nervous system support. Specifically, they describe it as "A cost-effective, non-herbal formula that supports proper nervous system function, helping to manage skittishness." It's a concoction of magnesium, taurine, inositol and vitamin B1. These are some of the basics of human nervous system supplementation as well. I bought this because my boy Luke had a hard time adjusting to his new life when he came to live with us at Clay Station Ranch. The pellets are pretty inexpensive - like twenty four bucks or something; had many great reviews; and I was sort of throwing anything I could at the horse to help him calm down and adjust. I also wasn't really sure of the horse's nutritional status prior to coming into my life. Did it work? Hard to say. I made a lot of changes all at once: pro-CMC, hock injections, multi-vitamins etc. I am not going to continue him on it. However, I don't think it hurts to give a horse a boost of magnesium and b-vitamins when you are trying to solve some behavioral issues. I found this to be good quality and a reasonable price. 

Our beloved Hanoverian, Getty