Hi everyone, 

 I'm having a little issue with my mare. The place where I board, has pine trees all around in the pens and such. Now my gelding is very smart in that way and won't stand underneath them or anything, but it is a different story with my mare. She stands under the trees, also she is almost 16'2, and gets sap all over her face, mane, forelock and neck and body. Sometimes I catch it early enough and sometimes its just to late and she has it dried all over her and covered in dust. 

Does anyone have any miracle postions that help getting rid of it. Since I haven't been able to get rid of it, besides cutting it out. But I don't want her to look patchy...since she gets it everywhere. Any suggestions are more than welcome. I also thought about moving her into a different pen, but all our pens have pine trees in them. 

Thanks, 

Try bathing her with vinegar ? Dawn dish soap should take it off too.

Hi Mtegge!! 

Sorry to hear about your sap problems, but I feel your pain!  We don't have that many real pine trees at our house, but we do have those pesky cedars and they are just as bad, if not worse!  And they're not near as pretty!  The only thing I've found that Really gets this stuff off is WD40.  Yep, the wonder spray.  It's good for so many things.  True, it doesn't smell near as good as Show Sheen, but works just the same.  So of course you should bathe them afterwards, or if it's just a small spot you can scrub it with a dry towel and get it pretty good, but it takes something oily-based and slick like Show Sheen, only WD40 is a lot cheaper and I always have it around!

Let us know!

oh p.s. I would recommend testing it on a small spot first, in case your mare has sensitive skin, but it's never bothered any horse I've ever used it on.

 I don't have suggestions for getting it off, but have you thought about putting a fly sheet or something like that on her and letting that get the sap on it instead of her?

 she does wear a fly sheet, but she gets it all over anyway...her face, mane, tai, legs you name it. I'm still in the process of finding her a fly mask that fits, since she has a massive head. she is one big Holsteiner mare:) 

I will have to try the WD40 on a spot and see how it does and how she reacts to it. she is pretty tough skinned, but i'd rather be safe  than sorry.

thanks for the tipps! i'll let you know how it works out. 

You might try baby oil. We used to use it to get icky black tar off our feet after a day at the beach.

And hey, peanut butter gets gum out of hair, so maybe it will take sap off a horse!

mayonnaise works really well on dried slug, which is about the stickiest gunkiest stuff known to man.  Don't know how it works on pine tar, but is usually readily available.  makes the coat all shiney too.