July 14, 2015

Have you seen this thing going around on social media about putting ketchup in a horses tail to help make it whiter?  I kept seeing it and I decided to give it a try.  I actually did two trials.

Trial ONE – Spike

I was already giving Spike a bath so why not try it?  I washed his tail out like normal, using equine shampoo.  Then I squeezed in a ton of ketchup.  I really worked it in too.  I let it sit, impatiently, for about four minutes before I washed it out.  I brushed his tail out and let it dry.

Result – I think its whiter?  It looks a lot whiter, but I have only given Spike one *real* bath that included tail scrubbing.  So I didn’t really have a control factor to compare it to.  (I also did not get a “before picture)

Trial TWO – Simon

I had also decided Simon needed a bath so I figured, why not try it again.  I have given Simon plenty of bathes so I will know more easily if his tail looks whiter.  Like with trial one, I washed his tail out with equine shampoo, rinsed, and then applied ketchup liberally.  This time I let it sit for closer the seven minutes before washing it out.  I brushed his tail out and let it dry.

Result – It was whiter for sure.  Not like blindingly white, but certainly whiter than it normally comes out with a good washing.

Conclusion – If I have some ketchup laying around and am having an enjoyable pony bathing day, I think I will probably add this into my routine.  If I did halter classes or high end hunters or show ring stuff, I might be more into it too.  But I do not have anyone judging the shade of white my pony’s tail is, so its not that big of a deal to me.  So I am not going to rush out and pick up the biggest bottle of ketchup to keep in my wash kit for every competition I go to.