muD MaGic

With four light-colored steeds, Esme is no stranger to #grayhorseproblems.

- ESME HIGGS

In some cultures, it’s said there are over 50 words for “snow,” but where I live, we have about the same number for “mud.” Wet mud, dry mud, sloshy mud, dusty mud, mud that wipes off, mud that sticks, brown mud, green mud, blue mud, red mud. Mud that will never come off your boots … I could go on.

With all this mud where I live, you may be wondering, “Esme, was it really such a great idea to have four gray horses?”

That’s a good question, and it’s something that happened completely by accident—I promise. (You can meet them all in our profile on Esme in the March/ April 2023 issue of Young Rider.) However, all these grays have given me a special skill—you might even say a super power—and that is “how to get ponies clean.”

Almost every day, I have to get photos or film of my horses and ponies looking sparkling clean and beautiful, so almost every day I have to clean them. Here are my top tips for getting your horse clean, tidy and photo shoot ready.

PREVENTION

Instead of spending hours cleaning, it’s better if the horses don’t get dirty in the first place!