How can I make my horse's coat shiny and glossy without supplements?? Please Help!!!

A lot of brushing or rubbing with a cloth. Black oil sunflower seeds or oil added to feed.

Feed good quality balanced feed (both hay and grain).

BRUSH, BRUSH, BRUSH!!!!

The more you curry and polish the more you stimulate the oil glands and get rid of the dirt, loose hair, etc.

I completely curry the horse daily, then go over with a medium to soft brush then a finishing brush...every day. I'd also repeat the process after every ride that I didn't hose, so most days he got brushed twice. Totaling about an hour and a half grooming.

Lots and lots of brushing as the others said, and I use canola oil in the feed once a day, about a tablespoon really works............

I brush mine every morning and evening. They do get a supplement, but their shine can't be all supplement.

Corn Oil works like a dream. Also, if you don't want to be dumping corn oil into your horses feed (I reccomend starting with 1/2 a cup a day) you can switch to a feed that uses oil instead of sugar or molasses like Omolone.

Right after I rescued my TB I was giving him corn oil and weight builder instead of extra grain to get his weight up. All of my non-horsey friends loved to come to the barn and pet him 'cause his coat was so nice and soft, I can probably attribute that to his mental recovery as well.

I use a rubber curry. Using a circular motion. It really get's the dirt lifted out. I then use a plastic curry to take the majority of the dirt off. Then I use a medium brush, then a finishing brush. Use small strokes. It really gets the dirt off. I sometimes take a towel and give them a once over. I spray them with fly spray and using a finishing brush, brush that in. I don't always have time to brush my guys everyday but they are brushed at least 4 times a week.

But remember that a good diet for the inside, show's on the outside.

Other than Vanny, my guys don't get supplements and they are all shinny.

Brush brush brush like the others said.

Avoid turning out in bright sunlight, (we turn out overnight in the summer) or if you have to, use a fly sheet to prevent bleaching.

EASY on the shampooing. I shampoo tails, white socks and the rest only gets rinsed off. When you use shampoo, you strip the oil off your horses coat, which is the oil that makes them shiny. Even if they're dirty, just hosing w/o shampoo should do the trick unless your horse is very light colored.

Feed quality hay and grain. They have to be healthy to shine, and they need nutrients. When our distributor went out of business, we had to switch to another feed for a while and within 3 months you could see a huge difference in their coats. We found another distributor and put them back on the better grain. It does make a difference.

Nix the grooming products, showsheen, etc, etc. They put on a temp shine but don't do much good for the coat.

I use flax seed and corn oil. Sorry, those would be supplements. Have too many horses and don't have the time to groom all of them regularly. I get many complements at shows about coat quality - so must be a result of supplements.

showsheen works pretty well. I will brush her more..

Ex the showsheen. It's not good for their hair and attracts dust.

If you feel you must have a product that adds a bit of gloss there are MUCH better choices out there. I like healthy hair care moisturizer, but there are plenty of others.

Back before I had kids and actually had time to myself I learned how to make a hay "wisp". They are a pain to make but what a difference in my horses coat and muscle tone! You hold the wisp in one hand and a soft towel in the other and lightly bang the wisp down on the horse then swipe with the towel. You can learn to make them from directions in "Grooming To Win". My horse had the most incredible shine to his coat when I did it regularly. And he loved it. It was like a massage to him.

I feed a mineral that has a milled flax base and my horses GLOW - even without major brushing sessions. And even my grey is shiny like chrome. I blanket as well to help keep the dust off 'em.

I agree with QHAllAround
A balanced feed is all that is needed.
Supplements only work if something is missing from your feed. Your horse should shine if given a balanced diet!
The horse here was not brushed all summer!

Good hay! You'd be surprised how "bad" a lot of what is sold as horse hay really is... If you board, and have no control over hay quality, then you can try adding black oil sunflower seeds (BOSS) to his grain, or mixing in some with a little grain whenever you're out to ride. You can safely feed up to 6 measuring cups a day, though you should start slow with just 1 cup. They are cheap and usually sold in 50lb bags at feed stores. Just make sure they are Black Oil seeds. The hulls of the striped seeds are too hard for most horses to crunch up well.

Corn oil helps some horses, but it doesn't have Omega 3 Fatty Acids, which are very important to coat health. It is high in Omega 6, which is good of course, but not nearly as important as Omega 3. BOSS, flax seeds, fortified wheat germ oil, and stabalized rice bran are all high in both Omega 6 and Omega 3.

A truely healthy, gleaming coat comes from within!

~Barbara