THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 3, 1994 TAG: 9409030068
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Larry Maddry
LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
CAN HORSE shampoo put new life in your pony tail?
Out at Acredale Saddlery on Indian River Road in Virginia Beach, assistant manager Linda Moore - who uses Mane 'n Tail products herself - laughed about some of the customers.
First-time purchasers of horse products for themselves are a little embarrassed, she confided.
``They will tell you they are buying it for their horse. But I can tell they don't own a horse by the way they talk. Then they break down and ask if using the stuff will make you neigh, paw the ground or eat oats.''
It's no joke.
Thousands are going into feed stores and tack shops for shampoos and conditioners because they say the horse products work better.
Horse shampoo is generally a little cheaper than human shampoos, too. At Acredale, Mane 'n Tail sells for $8.75 for a 32-ounce bottle.
``I use the horse shampoo and conditioner myself,'' Moore said. ``They make the hair grow faster and thicker, and shinier. My horse, Divine Gin, likes it, too,'' she said.
And Moore hasn't pawed the ground more than once or twice since she started using it, she said.
The secret about horse products for humans has been let out of the barn, and it has even clopped into some pretty swanky places.
A horse hoof strengthener manufactured by Barielle's of Great Neck, N.Y., costs $14 an ounce at upscale retailers like Neiman-Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue, despite the horse head on the label. Yep, men and women are using it to strengthen their nails.
Kimberly Saufley, an employee at Deyong's Saddlery in Newport News, says the word is spreading about horse products.
``Lots of women hear about them at their beauty parlors,'' she said. And once they've tried the horse products, their nagging doubts - sorry, I couldn't help myself - seem to disappear.
Saufley says a product called Hoof Maker is also selling well. ``It's a paste you rub on with a cloth that is used on horses' hooves to condition them and keep them from drying out.'' Folks buy them for their nails.
``We also sell quite a bit of Bag Balm,'' Kimberly said.
What's that?
``It's used on horses' udders, but it is a nice lotion for the hands,'' she replied.
Saufley says she uses horse shampoos and conditioners and recommends a conditioner called Show Sheen by Absorbine that ``makes human and horse hair shinier and softer.''
At the Carousel Tack Shop in Virginia Beach, more women than men seem to be using the horse products, including saleswoman Roxanna Camp.
Camp uses horse shampoo and said her horse, Megan, used it as well.
``I like it. It leaves my hair thicker. It has lots of protein,'' she said.
The horse shampoos she has tried smell like flowers rather than hay or leather saddles, she reported.
It seemed like a good idea, so I bought a bottle of horse shampoo myself over the weekend.
Using it, I found that I sang more often in the shower. But that's about the only difference I noticed between regular and horse shampoos.
Except for kicking the shower stall every now and then. by CNB