You’ve Got Horse Hair..!

Unfortunately, because Bridwell competes in endurance riding with Cliff, she rarely gets the chance to show off her gelding’s long mane. It’s a demanding discipline, in which horses and riders face a variety of challenges, including riding over difficult terrain and facing such extreme weather conditions as scorching summer heat, blowing dust, biting winter wind and rain. Bridwell and Cliff are tough competitors; the duo is currently at the top of the leader board in their region and ranked seventh in the nation. However, at the end of a tough day of competition, following the thrill of winning a 80-km race or having Cliff earn the Best Condition award, Bridwell must then face the damage that a day exposed to sweat and the elements has done to her hair – and Cliff’s.

I have very long, thick, red hair that is highlighted naturally. People always ask me if I color my hair, and I also get asked all the time if I highlight Cliff’s mane to match my hair, and I don’t. We just naturally have the exact same color hair. I get a lot of compliments on my hair, but most people don’t realize what I nightmare it can be to take care of, especially after an endurance ride. When I finish a 80-km ride, my hair is completely knotted, even though I put it up under my helmet. And then I have to wash it with the hard water in my trailer. No matter what products I use, it’s a big fight just to try to comb it out. As a result, my hair gets broken and frizzy, and I can’t even run my fingers through it. Bridwell says she faces the same problems with Cliff’s mane, namely tangling, matting, breakage and frizz.

In dire need of a solution, Bridwell agreed to take the Cowboy Magic® Challenge and use the Try Cowboy Magic® Rosewater Shampoo, Rosewater Conditioner and Detangler & Shine™ on both herself and Cliff for a week.

Cowboy Magic® was founded by horseman, Jim Cummings in 1979, who decided to reformulate the very best and most expensive human hair care detangler for equine use. “I marketed it to horse owners as an affordable product they could use on both their horses and their own hair,” says Cummings.

From the success of the first product, Detangler & Shine™, grew the Cowboy Magic® line of quality concentrated grooming products, which can be used on both horses and humans: Rosewater Shampoo, Rosewater Conditioner, Super Bodyshine®, Greenspot® Remover and Shine In Yellowout™.

Try All Cowboy Magic® products are subjected to multiple tests at leading clinical laboratories to ensure the highest quality product for consumers. The RIPT Test (Repeat Insult Patch Test) is of specific importance because it is the industry standard test to determine the potential for skin sensitization and allergy development in a product. The RIPT Test (performed under the supervision of a licensed dermatologist) determined that Cowboy Magic® products are non-irritating, clinically tested, allergy tested and dermatologist reviewed.

It didn’t take Bridwell long to discover that all this was true. She liked the products instantly. “I like a shampoo that lathers well because I feel like the more it lathers the cleaner my hair is getting,” she says. “But at the same time, I don’t like to have to spend forever and a day rinsing it out. The shampoo lathered up without having to use a handful of it, and it rinsed out easily and quickly. When I used the conditioner, my hair felt silky and smooth, not gummy, which is a problem I have with a lot of other conditioners. I could actually run my fingers through my hair while it was under the water, which I usually can’t do.”

Bridwell says that if she had known the Detangler & Shine™ would work so well, she would have started using it a long time ago. “I will never go without it now. Because my hair is curly, it can be very frizzy. The Detangler really cut down on the frizz, and it holds the style longer. I used to have put a lot of hairspray on my bangs, which I don’t really like. It seems like my hair has better ‘memory’ now. I style it, and if the wind blows it, it falls back in place.”

The first time Bridwell used the Rosewater Shampoo on Cliff, she liked it just as much. “As with my own hair, I liked that it lathered up nicely and spread around the hair easily. I didn’t have to use a whole lot. I also liked that it was easy to rinse out. The shampoo was not at all drying and it made his hair shiny and soft. I was actually surprised to see how shiny he was.”

Bridwell says that what she liked most about the conditioner was that it rinsed clean and she could run her fingers through his mane when it was wet. “It made the hair easy to separate. When it dried, there was no film or residue. Instead, it was very light and easy to manage.” Days later, Cliff’s mane and tail still had that clean, just-washed feel.

Because Cliff is an endurance horse, he doesn’t live the life of a show horse. He lives outside in a large paddock where he can move around, stretch his legs, run, play and graze. The biggest problem Bridwell faces with Cliff’s mane is keeping it detangled. But because she hasn’t been able to find something that worked, she just keeps it braided all the time.

“I would really like to show off Cliff’s mane, but I am afraid to leave it down,” says Bridwell. “It’s extremely difficult to take care of. I have to keep it braided all the time because it’s so long that it gets sticks, pieces of grass and burrs in it, and I can’t pull them out because the hair just wraps around them. I tried a lot of other products that were supposed to work as a detangler. I would use them, but as soon as his mane dried, it would tangle up again with just a flip of his head.”

After using the Detangler & Shine™, she found she could leave his mane down without it getting tangled.

She also noticed that the Try Cowboy Magic® Haircare-products reduce breakage. “Before I started using them, when I would take down the braid, I would notice breakage,” says Bridwell. “Now, when I take the braid out, I can just run my fingers through it and there isn’t a lot of broken hair. Another thing I’ve noticed is that it seems to help protect his mane over his withers, which usually gets matted from my saddle pad. It’s not doing that now.”

The Cowboy Magic® products still had one more test to pass—an endurance competition. “After doing a 80-km ride, my hair is a mess,” says Niki. “I can never get a brush through it. Add to that the fact that I have to wash my hair with ‘trailer water,’ which is the hard water from a hose that I put in the water tank of my living quarters trailer. I just dread it, because no matter what products I use it is a big fight to get my hair combed out.”

Cummings explains why the Rosewater Conditioner works with hard water when other products don’t. “I developed the Rosewater Conditioner to help remove hard water deposits from hair,” he says. “In the process, we discovered that the new formula also removed chemical deposits from city water, further improving after-shampooing results.” As it is massaged into the hair, it loosens and dissolves the mineral and chemical buildup on the hair. Rinse, and the buildup rinses away. Rosewater Conditioner also contains silk proteins and panthenol, which penetrate the hair and skin, adding moisture.

Bridwell packed up her trailer, loaded up Cliff and headed to Oklahoma for the Indian Territory 80-km ride. She and Cliff won the ride in record time and earned the Best Condition award. After the ride came the moment of truth—would the Rosewater Shampoo wash away 80 km's of dirt and sweat, and would the Rosewater Conditioner help her beat the battle against the hard water?