Advice for bathing in cooler weather

I'm bringing the Thoroughbreds to a hunter pace Sunday morning (Excel for jumping division, Molly for flat), and because it's put on by my Pony Club, my horses need to be spotless.

The problem is, I've never bathed under 60F, and the high for tomorrow is only 54 (no wind). I have access to hot water and plenty of coolers, but I have to bathe them outside, and I'm slightly paranoid hoping they don't get chilled.

Any tips?

I know this isn't what you want to hear but:

1. Brush them until you feel like you need rotator cup surgery.

2. Then take the vacuum to them until you need a second job to pay the electric.

3. Brush again with whatever energy you have left, then spritz them with ShoSheen or whatever its replacement is in today's world.

4. If you have white legs and/or white on the face, use dry corn starch on any stains. It does a great job of removing stains on white or light colored horses.

I'm not kidding. That's what I did six hours before the Christmas Parade the year my horse found the deepest mud hole on the farm to roll in, then come sauntering up to the barn; proud as all get-out of how well he wallpapered himself in this Tennessee clay/mud

I spent four hours on him and that was his first introduction to a vacuum -- the Kirby from the house. I was so mad at him, I didn't care if the Kirby sucked him inside out. He knew I was mad and never flicked an ear when I connected a live vacuum to him

^^^ LoL, the image of an embarrassed horse with a dunce cap on being vacuumed by a seriously red-faced ticked off woman comes to my mind.
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Would love to vacuum Excel, and I can with Molly, but Excel has some....er....problems with the scary black tube . I guess I still have the option of hot toweling, right?

ETA: Would it be manageable if I bathed in quarters, keeping just a smaller area exposed for washng at a time?

That might work - that will be a long process,too

Do you think he'd tolerate a blow dryer, as long as it's set on low heat but put the blower on high????

I see you're in Ohio - what's your weather today and Sunday. We have partial sun with a high of 66 today. If I HAD to bath I'd wait for the sun to come out and hope it stayed out during mid-afternoon.

Sunday will be warmer yet with full sun but you may not have enough time before you need to pack and go.

Weather high is 56F now, I think I'll be safe if I bathe in quarters and dry each section before moving on to the net.

Not sure about the hair dryer....that might be too much fun for one day . I'm hoping to get to the hunter pace without any casualties!

Weather looks a heck of a lot nicer tomorrow, but it won't get warm enough until after we have to leave.

All went fine, my friend came over and we bathed them in quarters, then sheeted them and put them in stalls. Thanks for all the help. Off to the hunter pace!

When introducing a vacuum, don't tie the horse but rather hold onto the lead shank. It is a big mental shift for the horse and the hose takes on less significance. Show the horse the wand and hose from in front so he can see it with both eyes. Too often we just approach the neck or shoulder and get a bit of a reaction. This is because the horse is seeing it with one eye and his vision for things behind his head is poorer than when in front. That is why when alarmed a horse will turn right around to face it, head up trying to better see what it is.

Another grooming tool to have is the rotary brush that can be put on a drill motor. I haven't tried this myself, but I have used a vacumn & a blow dryer on occasion.

I should definitely have had someone hold him rather than tie him, and that's my mistake. However, to my credit, he had been introduced to it plenty of times before and always ends the session on a good note. It seems like we start over from square one each time, though.