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Winter bathing questions??

1K views 4 replies 4 participants last post by  HalfPass 
#1 ·
Hey everyone!
I know this topic has been discussed on the forum many times, but I thought I would go ahead and post the topic and ask some questions.

My barn does have hot water in the indoor wash area. I am lucky they have it!!! :)

My mare Candi does not have a real long winter coat yet. The weather is going to be really nice tomorrow and I would like to give her a bath. She also sweats pretty quickly when she is worked and I usually have to spend a great deal of time drying her off with towels and then cooling her down slowly when it is cool out.

I will be going out to the ranch around 9 am or 10 am. At that time it will be only 35-38 degrees. I will more than likely do something with my other horse first while the temp creeps up. At 10 am it should be around 40 or so with sunshine and not much of a breeze.
I have mentioned before I have not had horses in this type of climate so I don't know much about bathing when it is this cold.

That being said do you all have any tips for me???

I have a cotton blanket that is waffled and I use this usually after she is worked, and become sweaty. First I usually towel dry her and then walk her out. Sometimes i need to Towel and walk then towel and walk more.

Is this a good way to do it?? Bath her with the hot water then use a sweat scraper for the removal of excess water then do a towel dry and put her cooler on and walk her out? Same as if it were after a workout??

If I could I would use a blow dryer but she is not familiar with them so no go there.

What are some temperature tips to be aware about?
How do you all manage the temps? Persay...if it is only going to be a high of 35 degrees on a particular day with no sunshine...well I wouldn't bath a horse.
Maybe I am overthinking all this, but the last thing I want is to create a problem.

What are some general guidelines or "rules of thumb" that you all follow?

Well that is all I can think of at the moment. Any tips or general rule of thumb info would be appreciated!
HP
 
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#3 ·
Personally, I would suck it up and wait to bathe her until it got nicer. My rule of thumb is if I'M too cold to get wet, my horse will be too. I can bathe Ricci with warm water in my closed barn when it's 50ish and she still gets cold.

If you're willing to blanket or blanket a little heavier, you can give her a clip so it won't take you as long to dry her out and cool her down. It's why I clip. My horse turns into a big sweatball.
 
#5 ·
:wink:Thanks guys.
I decided to not bath her. It got a lot colder than anticipated and I just would rather not risk anything.
I did some research and I think it is best to not do it. She isn't caked with mud and we are not in a "show" so what would be the point!
I will do a spot clean on the grimy area's and leave it at that!
HP
 
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