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Bathing tips

2K views 24 replies 11 participants last post by  cbar 
#1 ·
So this afternoon I was working with my 2.5 year old filly. Did a bit of groundwork with her, then took her for a hand walk down the road.

Since the weather has gotten to be pretty nice out, I figured I would try to get her used to the hose/water today since I'm sure I will eventually want to bath her. Wow! Was I ever surprised. She has shown herself to be very calm/level headed in most situations. But she does not like water!

Everytime I picked up the hose she would try to bolt. I was doing this in my driveway, so at least she wasn't slipping on pavement or anything like that. So I decided to put her to work and made her do circles. Then I invited her back in to where the hose was....trying to show her if she came back in she could relax and get scratched. At first I wanted to get her feet wet, but my goal soon turned to just having the water running out of the hose without her bolting. it took longer than expected, but I was finally able to hold her there while the water was running. I called it a day with that.

Guess my question is...how did everyone else get their horses used to water and bathing? I used to work on the track so we had to train all our babies for this, but there were always a couple people around to help. I'm all alone and really want her to just learn to relax....I don't want to force her there by having someone hold her for me.

I'm open to suggestions and interested in everyone's feedback!
 
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#2 ·
I am in the get it done camp, so no one has to agree with me,, but I have had to wash many horses over the years, for their first shows, ect
I don't tie them solid until they are accepting of being washed. Some horses accept it easier then others, but all learn that it does not hurt them, and to even enjoy it on a hot day
I have a hot and cold water tap, on the outside of the back of our house. (learned to do that, after having washed horses with cold water, at our former house, at times when it was very cold.)
I thus have a water splitter, and can adjust temp.
My horses learn to respond to a chain shank, run under the chin, as I show some of them at halter. One can also use a rope halter. I then attach it to a lunge line, so the horse can move, until he gets used to it, but can't bolt. I then start at the feet, and then continue on to the entire body. Most horses learn very quickly that it is just water, and will then just stand there.
I don't spray the face itself, until the horse is very solid and relaxed about having the hose on the rest of his body, and when I do go on to the face, turn the water down to a soft trickle.
When the horse gets to this point, I just tie him solid, with a plain halter and cotton lead.
As a point of interest, went with friends to watch the chuck wagon races, and had VIP invites to the 'behind the scenes'
Those horses were washed , using pressure washers, which each of those rigs had, along with huge tents with stabling, before and after each race.
 
#3 ·
I used to hold them, instead of tie them then slowly start at the hooves. Then when I was apprenticing with a trainer, she tied them solid in a wash rack and turned the pressure on 1/2 way with a mist spray nozzle, seemed to work with less fuss. So that's what I started doing. I have no real wash rack just my son's old basketball area, it's cement, I have a carriage hook against the wall to tie them and the hot & cold water splitter at the back door. I think the key is the adjustable spray nozzle really.
 
#4 ·
I was using an adjustable spray nozzle...and had it on a soft spray. I was thinking of just tying her up and getting it over with, but I really think she would have busted my hitching post in half. I decided to use a rope halter on her and just took my time....I've never had a horse react this strongly to water.
@Smilie, the first times you bathe them before tying them solid, did you just have someone hold them? I might have to enlist someone's help I guess. I'm sure that once she realizes it won't kill her she will relax.
 
#6 ·
No, I just held the horse myself, thus the long lead shank, or lunge line. A horse can 'dance abit', but can't get away, and you can easily follow with the hose, while the horse realizes moving around is futile, and also that it is just water, thus give up and stand. It just makes them feel less trapped , for that first introduction.
I would not tie a horse solid for that first bath
Seen some wreaks at shows, in wash racks, where horses never subjected to abath, paNICKED and went down, on the cement
 
#5 ·
I would work on getting more of a solid foundation on the halter and giving to pressure before working on the bathing. If she bolts through the halter when she sees the hose on I wouldn't take her out onto the road. Imagine if she spooked and took off. Once she respects the halter more you should find you have less trouble with the hose. I mean she will still be frightened but you will have more control to help her through that fear.
 
#12 ·
Nah, I'm with Smilie and Foxhunter. All horses have to adjust if they haven't been hosed before. It doesn't mean they don't respect you or the halter, it's just a challenging task the first time. It's up to the handler to make sure the spray is gentle, the weather is not too cold, and that they're not wrapping the horse up in the hose or creating a scary "snake" that chases them. Best intro is on a hot day after the horse has been worked, so it feels good.

No reason to hard tie them, freak them and risk injuring the horse. I personally don't find that saying horses will "rarely" toss themselves over backwards and break something means it's acceptable to risk that yours might. At first what the horse probably sees is a giant snake spitting venom at them. Freaking out about that might be a sign of intelligence.

I've had horses that really dislike water and also are spooky types, but they all learn to tolerate hosing after a couple times.
 
#8 ·
I did the whole "Hold and let them circle" thing for a long while, but I am so over that now it's not even funny.

Find a tree. Tie them to a sturdy branch or the trunk with the rope above their head. Spray the hose next to them (Not on them yet) and let the horse freak out. Let them pace or snort or pull back or whatever. When they relax, stop spraying. Relaxing = scary things go away.

Same concept working up. I tend to start at the back though, not the legs. Legs are much too easy for the horse to freak out over and get away from. I just never stop spraying no matter what. Unless the horse has totally thrown themselves into an actual life threatening situation, I keep spraying until they stop. Even if one pulls back so hard they are sitting on their hind end - Because I know they can get back up. They are fine.

Usually takes me one or two days of this and I can bathe solidly for the rest of their lives. In the summer heat I would just hose him every day. It's not an optional ability so better just to get it out of the way.
 
#9 ·
Noting that I am not saying tie the horse on cement (Like Smilie said, easy to wreck and hurt themselves) but I am still all for just tying the dang horse up and making them get over themselves.

I tend to not react when horses react to things. If they throw themselves over backwards and I go to coddling them and telling them I'm so sorry and avoiding the situation, they just learned that throwing themselves on the ground solves the problem they wanted to solve. Not really a good deal on my part. I'd rather them be upset at me for a minute or two than teach them they can get away with something just by throwing a tantrum. With common sense you won't get one hurt, and very rarely are horses so stupid as to actually toss themselves over and break something.
 
#10 ·
I always did what Smilie does, with inexperienced horses. To this day I don't tie a horse to bath them - just throw the rope over the fence and have at it, lol

I use "shower" on the adjustable nozzle.

While some folks aim the water hose at the horse's face, I have never done that. I wash and rinse by hand.

While this shouldn't affect your young horse, I have had and still have horses that cannot stand the shock of cold water on their backs. Two involved vertebra and sacrum injuries.

The third one is now 22. He never has liked his sacrum area hit with cold water right away. If I soak him with warm water (that I have to carry from the house), shampoo him up, then rinse him with the cold water hose, he is ok.

As others have commented, it depends on the horse - some like baths better than others. To his last day, my 29 yr old Arab never wanted to hear the word bath unless it was 90 degrees and humidity to match. he wanted me to blink my eyes and make him clean without having to get wet:)

Polar opposite of the Arab was the TWH in my avatar. He was such a water dog, I could say "let's get a bath, go pick your spot." and point to the paddock. He would walk out of his stall and go stand where he wanted me to bath him that night. No halter, no nothing.

I learned early on to never say "you're almost done" because all he heard was "done", would politely turn around and head back to his stall full of clean shavings, lol. He was my best bud for 24 of his 27 years.
 
#11 ·
One of my horses I taught to bathe by taking him into the wash stall and pulling him against the wall, holding him. Just started at his feet and worked my way up. Letting him circle wouldn't have solved it with him so I made him stand against that wall and deal with it. He isn't a panicer, doesn't get scared of anything, and was just throwing a tantrum.

Other one I went slower with. Took him to the middle so he could shuffle a bit, still didn't let him circle as there was not much room. Just went slow and quiet and asked him to stand whenever he moved. That one would rather freeze than panic.
 
#13 ·
I was taught , if the horse is very upset about it, and maybe will panic if tied, to hold the line, and work the water onto them from the feet up. if they most move, they can , but only around you, and you don't take the water off them until they stop. then you give them a break, and start again.

I don't bathe the horses much, so maybe I am not aware of the better way.
 
#14 ·
Sorry I probably should have typed my post better. Most certainly they can jump around, shy or run in circles but I wouldn't call that bolting. Bolting to me is to yank straight through the halter and head for the hills. Maybe I misunderstood what the op was saying.
 
#15 ·
She wasn't bolting as in running into me and through the halter. But she would go back on her hind end just start backing up...and I can't get into a tug o' war with her. I may think i'm strong, but I'm not THAT strong :) Just like trying to drag a horse onto a trailer...it is near impossible.

So as soon as she sat back and started pulling back on me, I got after her and made her work in circles. Then invited her back in and tried again. Is this just a futile effort?? If she was just dancing around in circles I think I could handle that, but trying to pull my arms off...I just couldn't hold her and try to 'chase' her with the hose. LOL...I can only imagine what that would look like.

I am going to try again tomorrow...see if she remembers our lesson. I'm kind of trying to make it her idea to come and get a bath....figuring it's better than running in circles. If that doesn't work...I might try to tie her up and just spray near her and let her deal with it. I don't like the idea of her going nuts, but I'm hoping she would figure it out quickly.

We have no cement on our property..just dirt, gravel & grass, so at least her slipping and falling isn't really a concern.

Definitely open to more suggestions. Guess if I tie her up I'll have to switch the rope halter for a nylon one. These are the times when I wish you could reason with a horse.....
 
#16 ·
Have you got a smaller yard you could start her in? I let mine walk in circles. I use to try to get them to stand still but found I was spending more time trying to get them to stand still then hosing them so I just let them go around and leave the water spraying on their hooves till they stop then take it off and give them a pat. Rinse repeat until they work out standing still gets the hose to go away. Usually by that point they have realised the hose actually isn't a scary monster and don't mind it. I wouldn't give them their first bath on a cold day as I can imagine that wouldn't be very enjoyable. I also stay well away from their face until later down the track when bathing is already a non event. It's usually all over and done with in a few minutes and they've got the idea. But they wouldn't try and yank the lead out of my hand by that point anyway. I let them move so they don't feel trapped but they all have a healthy respect for the halter by that stage.
 
#18 ·
this is an important thing to instill in a horse; when in doubt, go forward. a horse that chooses backing up as its' answer to stress will have that come out in other situations, too.

it's part and parcel with whtat the others are talking about in getting a horse to tie well. the whole thing hinges upon the horse learning to 'come off the rope' when they put themselves into a bind.

I mean, when they , by pulling back, put themselves into a tight situation, they must learn how to get relief from that. and that is by 'coming off of the rope, or, coming off of the pressure"

and THAT is by coming/going forward. yes, they may go sideways, but they are still moving forward.

if this is not instilled strongly in a horse, you will have trouble leading, trouble loading in a trailer and other things. oh, you might not notice it until the doo-doo hits the fan, but the issue is there.

I ride a hrose that has trouble with this. he is not good at tying. he is anxious in a trailer, he has set back a few times, and with water on his legs, he wants to either freeze in total tension, or, back away.
but, if I am on the ball, I do not allow him to go there, and instead, I open the door for him to go forward, instead, and he will move around me.

admittedly, he is not a baby, and his issue with water is relatively minor, and he WILL come off the rope, just barely.

it woudl benefit him to spend some time hard tied. but, he is not my horse, and I am not a trainer.

if your horse starts to back away from you in panic, you have to get that idea changed ot her moving forward, around you, and keep te rope short enough that you can pull her head around to you quickly if she start to line up facing away from you, because if she does that, she CAN and will bolt away from you and be GONE!
 
#19 ·
Everyone has made some good points and definitely some things I will try to work with her on. She is puzzling.. @tinyliny, I have hard tied her and have done some 'patience' tying and she is really good about tying. This is the first instance where she has backed away like this. I really hope this doesn't become a habit for her and would really like to nip this in the bud right away! I will try shortening the rope b/c that could be my first error.

As foxhunter has suggested, I will also try to get her head turned and spray towards her back feet. I have (I hope) done enough groundwork with her to establish a level of respect, so I doubt she would run right through me.

Unfortunately I don't have a small pen or yard to work with her in...so I"ll have to make due with what I've got for now.

It's supposed to be 28 celsius here today. If I was a black horse in this heat I'd want a cool bath!
 
#20 ·
Everyone has made some good points and definitely some things I will try to work with her on. She is puzzling.. @tinyliny, I have hard tied her and have done some 'patience' tying and she is really good about tying. This is the first instance where she has backed away like this. I really hope this doesn't become a habit for her and would really like to nip this in the bud right away! I will try shortening the rope b/c that could be my first error.


This is why I hard tie them when I bathe. Sorry, I'd rather have them freak out and learn they can't get away by backing up then get one who thinks they can pull back as a solution to every problem - And let's be real, there is no human alive who could hold onto the rope of a horse who pulls back. I know my tree won't budge though. If they throw themselves on the ground - I guess they throw themselves on the ground.
 
#22 ·
My semi-feral gelding was introduced to being hosed by the simple expedient of hooking the spray nozzle to the round pen fence and making him lunge (on line) through it. Once he quit trying to dodge it and realized it was just water, and relaxed a bit, I started walking him through it, then had him stand in the spray. Now, I get the hose and spray nozzle set up for a bath and he's trying to play with it. Loves taking a running hose end in his mouth!

Like you, I had to teach him while working alone and there was no way I was going to win a tug of war with him.
 
#23 ·
Well, the other day I tried to just hold her and she went flying backwards again. I just decided i was done playing tug of war with her. So she got tied to a tree. Didn't like that much, but she didn't throw herself or anything. She seemed ok to get her chest sprayed and she liked playing with the nozzle with her mouth, but freaked every time I sprayed her feet.

Was going to try again the following day, but our weather got kind of crappy and too cool to bathe. And now we have NO water (plumber is coming out). So hopefully this weekend I can try it again. @Change, I like that idea and maybe something I will try next time I'm working with her.
 
#24 ·
The only problem with a rope halter is that it may tighten up and be hard to undo if he pulls back. Would be in your best interest to tie it in a slip knot.

Glad to hear you had a better time with him after that. I would just keep at it every day, he will learn.
 
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