All posts tagged skunk

Packing was put on hold…

August 12, 2015 

We are flying out of Baltimore today on our England-Wales trip. Yea! After work yesterday I ran around town taking care of last minute things. You know, like a vet appointment to update the dogs shots.  (Why did I think the day before I leave town was a good day to set that appointment?) Picking up socks. (How is it that I do not have enough pairs of socks to make it through a week?  And that does not include any that match.)

I got home and got the packing under way.  Feeling good about my progress I decided I had time to get a short ride in on both ponies.  I had not been able to get in a ride the past few days and the ponies we’re excited for attention.  I tacked up Poe first and headed out for a leisurely hack around the farm. About ten minutes in Daisy came racing across a hay field to catch up.  As she got closer I noticed she was running funny,  ducking her head to the ground, dragging her face… Uh oh. 

When she got closer I could smell her. Skunked. 

I cut my ride off and headed back to the house and quickly put Poe up.  I got out my dog-de-skunk kit. It consists of a bucket loaded with a bottle of dawn dish soap, a bottle of peroxide and a large box of baking soda.  *Just add water and a stinky dog*  So I did. 

Sadly it appears Daisy was sprayed in and on her mouth. She has skunk breath. The face is so hard to wash.  She is tolerant and well mannered so I got my scrub on and finished up with just enough time to feed ponies before dark.  

She dried out and the one spot is still a little rough.  So this morning she is getting another scrubbing.  And my hands too. They also smell like skunk.  

Ok, ready, steady, go!!!!

A snap chat story recap…  

  

  

  
   
 

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by riderofchaos on August 12, 2015  •  Permalink
Posted in International Trips, Pony Stuff
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Posted by riderofchaos on August 12, 2015

https://blueridgepony.com/2015/08/12/packing-was-put-on-hold/

Getting the Skunk Out

The professional de-skunk product I poured on the blanket, and following the instructions, allowed to evaporate, did make a big difference.  But Simon’s blanket still smelled strongly of skunk.  A friend recommended a recipe, which also turned up repeatedly on internet searches, so I decided to give it a try. 

I filled a bucket half way with warm water and then added in two large bottles of hydrogen peroxide, half a large box of baking soda and about 2 tablespoons worth of Dawn dish soap, stirred it around and watched it fizz up some.  Then I put the blanket in my bathtub.  Next I poured a third of the mix onto the blanket and scrubbed it around some.  Then I left it sit for about twenty minutes.  Next I squirted it off and repeated the process two more times until I was out of mix. 

After I had scrubbed and soaked it a few times I put it in the wash machine and let it run through two cycles to get all the soap, baking soda and peroxide out.  The next morning I stuck my head in the wash machine and did not smell skunk.  Woo!  But when I pulled it out I did.  Boo. 

I went back to the store and restocked on ingredients.  Then I placed the blanket back in the bathtub and filled it with a few inches of warm water.  Then I filled a bucket half way with warm water and added in 3 large bottles of peroxide, a massive box of baking soda and a few very generous squirts of Dawn dish soap.  I mixed it up and then poured it onto the blanket, scrubbed it around some and then left it sit for about a half hour. 

I ran it through two more wash cycles in the machine and pulled it out and did not smell skunk until I put my nose up to the blanket.  So I filled the washing machine with hot water, poured in one bottle of peroxide, about a cup of baking soda and a swirl of Dawn and then let the blanket soak in there for an hour before I closed the lid and let it run. 

I eventually pulled it back out, sprayed it with water proofer and stuck it in the dryer to bake in the water proofer.  I am done.  It still has a little smell, but then so does Simon.  And they are just going to have to wear it off each other. 

The homemade solution worked really well, and was incredibly cheaper than the special cleaning agent I used initially.  I would certainly use it again.

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by riderofchaos on January 24, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Pony Stuff
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Posted by riderofchaos on January 24, 2012

https://blueridgepony.com/2012/01/24/getting-the-skunk-out/

Simon and the Skunk

Last night I walked into the horse field to the smell of skunk.  I thought, ‘gee, a skunk must have been snooping around the barn last night.’  And I went on into the barn, and the smell vanished.   ‘Oh good’ I thought, ‘it didn’t get into the barn.’  And I went out the back to let Simon in.  And with him came the smell.  Which is when it dawned on me, that a skunk didn’t spray the fence or the field, it sprayed Simon. 

Awesome.

Dogs get sprayed by skunks, not ponies.  And try as he might, Simon is not a dog. 

I had vague images of Simon standing in my bathtub with a shower cap on his head while I poured buckets of tomato juice over him.  But I suppose I was lucky (???) and it was *mostly* on his blanket. 

We are –roll with the punches – types, so we went for a pleasant little ride around the field, keeping an eye out for any stomped skunk carcasses and enjoyed the brisk weather. Then I put a different blanket on Simon and prepared to de-skunk his good one.  Luckily (???) I had a mostly full bottle of skunk odor remover from when Ash, my husband’s dog, had rolled in skunk a few years ago, so I soaked his blanket in it, per the instructions.  You are suppose to let it sit and evaporate and its suppose to take the smell with it. 

Not surprising, I applied the do-odor-er outdoors after dark last night and it froze.  So I am going to have to see, scratch that, smell, how it did later this afternoon.  When I walked outside this morning it hit me like a good morning sucker punch to the face and made my eyes water.  I have a feeling Ill need to purchase another bottle, reapply and then wash his blanket in hot water and then reapply the water proofer.  If it were an old crappy blanket I would just toss it because all this cleaning and water proofing adds up in cost, but it’s a relatively nice, purchased late last winter, heavy weight Amigo that wasn’t exactly cheap, and it fits him so well (praises to Horseware Ireland and their PONY CUT line!!!). 

The joys of having a mischievous pony. 

My "artists" rendering of Simon in the shower

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by riderofchaos on January 19, 2012  •  Permalink
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Posted by riderofchaos on January 19, 2012

https://blueridgepony.com/2012/01/19/simon-and-the-skunk/