Bath time yet?

[LHIS]

I'd like some advice please! My pony is piebald, but more white than black. Sadly the white is in the places which he lies on, so I have some very lovely yellow and brown patches! I'm desperate to bath him, and i suspect it will take a few tries too to get him clean.
We have warm water, but no nice warm drying area. How warm does it need to be before I can bath him and let him dry au naturale without him being too chilly?

 

[Enfys]

Over 5C ?
What do you mean by 'au naturale', put him back out, or without heat lamps etc ?

I would bath, towel off and then either thatch and leave to stand with hay, or walk dry.
I used to lunge mine after a bath when it was nippy.

 

[be positive]

I would not bath an unclipped horse at this time of year unless it was on medical grounds but do regularly wash the dirty patches, legs, tails otherwise they would end up really filthy and the stains get totally ingrained, use warm water and shampoo on the areas you want to get cleaner, try not to get it on the rest of his body and rinse well, scrape off the excess and walk him about a bit in a cooler or even go for a ride to get him dry if it is not wet under the saddle, if you do just the worst bits regularly you will keep him looking smarter and also find it gets quicker to do with practice.

 

[LHIS]

Thanks both. By au naturale I mean that sadly I have no access to heat lamps or a special wash room, it would be done outside. I'd put him back in his stable afterwards or walk him out to dry him off.

I hadn't actually considered washing the really dirty bits regularly. I will start to do this as some of the dirty patches are quite established, especially on his hocks. He is unclipped as he hasn't done enough as yet to justify a clip - though as our workload increases I will consider if it would be beneficial.

Are there any particular brands of shampoo / trips or tricks you would recommend to get his white bits as white as possible?

 

[Pinkvboots]

I wouldn't bath a horse when it's this cold with a full coat and without any rugs to put on afterwards it will take too long for him to dry, I agree with above buy some shampoo that is for grey horses and just wash the stained bits, if he has yellow stains from laying in the stable the purple shampoo can help with that.

 

[Archiepoo]

i think the only way to keep on top of stains is to spot clean regularly . i use a nail brush and a bucket of warm water (even a flask of hot water added will take the edge of the temperature) and blue baby bubblebath neat onto the wetted stains (£1 in tesco) and purple shampoo is brilliant to kill the yellow stains . i have a piebald and a grey and everyone laughs at me spot cleaning every day lol but my horses dont have ingrained stains and its easier in the long run

 

[LHIS]

Thanks all - as soon as I have the opportunity I will be starting the mammoth task of spot cleaning his dirty bits!
A few of you have mentioned purple shampoo - I've actually used it on myself as I have blonde hair - but are there any particular brands that anyone would recommend?