Bathing in winter

[tankgirl1]

We only have cold water at the yard. Do people bath with cold water in the winter? How do you make sure they don't get a chill? I'm thinking do it in sections, possibly over a couple of days with towel drying and a fleece?
Thanks

 

[be positive]

I wouldn't bath unless there was a very good reason, legs and tail would get washed the rest would be hot clothed, a flask of boiling water and some elbow grease would be enough to do a reasonable job to make a horse smart enough to go out in public.

 

[catkin]

I would hot-cloth but not bath. If you can either boil a kettle or take a flask of hot water then you could hot-cloth.

 

[tankgirl1]

It's more because her coat is so thick that she is getting sweaty and scabby in the mild weather. I've clipped her neck, but the rest of her was too mucky to clip

 

[Leo Walker]

I clipped Bobbie the other day. I tried scraping the filth off but she was caked. I could have bathed her but same as you, no hot water, so I just clipped. What I found was the surface was filthy but the hair the clippers were cutting through was down near the skin and mud free. I kept a close eye in case it was pulling the skin or hair, but it was fine. The only bits I had issue with was her armpits where mini dreadlocks had formed, so I trimmed the hair back with scissors and then clipped.

 

[rara007]

No bathing over winter here. You could maybe look at 'hiring' a wash box and solarium? Quite a few posh and competition yards have them these days. A bit outside the box I know but...

 

[Michen]

I must be awful, I just wait for a mild ish day (10degrees plus ) and bath with cold water but I work very quickly, done in under five mins and immediately rug up to eyeballs and make sure he’s warm. Have never had him shiver. His mane gets pretty greasy and I find by the time you’ve washed a mane they are so wet you might as well do the whole lot. He’s fully clipped and dries quickly. I always hot wash after hunting though when he’s home.

 

[tda]

Must admit we washed one of ours in cold water before Xmas, she was minging so it had to be done, fleece rug straight on and she was dry in no time x

 

[be positive]

I must be awful, I just wait for a mild ish day (10degrees plus ) and bath with cold water but I work very quickly, done in under five mins and immediately rug up to eyeballs and make sure he’s warm. Have never had him shiver. His mane gets pretty greasy and I find by the time you’ve washed a mane they are so wet you might as well do the whole lot. He’s fully clipped and dries quickly. I always hot wash after hunting though when he’s home.

Bathing a fully clipped horse is fine if you get done quickly, an unclipped one with a thick dirty coat will takes ages to do properly and a very long time to dry, like LW I just get on and clip through the worst, hot cloth afterwards and send the blades in for sharpening, we are due a cold snap which will not help with getting them dry.

 

[Cortez]

I never wash a horse in cold water, not even in the summer. My friend just turns the hose on 'em and scrubs away, then rugs after. Both of our horses seem to survive, but I hate to see her horses shivering.

 

[tankgirl1]

I clipped Bobbie the other day. I tried scraping the filth off but she was caked. I could have bathed her but same as you, no hot water, so I just clipped. What I found was the surface was filthy but the hair the clippers were cutting through was down near the skin and mud free. I kept a close eye in case it was pulling the skin or hair, but it was fine. The only bits I had issue with was her armpits where mini dreadlocks had formed, so I trimmed the hair back with scissors and then clipped.

Maybe I just need to keep chipping away at the mud, invest in some proper scissors and try again

No bathing over winter here. You could maybe look at 'hiring' a wash box and solarium? Quite a few posh and competition yards have them these days. A bit outside the box I know but...

I wish lol!

Bathing a fully clipped horse is fine if you get done quickly, an unclipped one with a thick dirty coat will takes ages to do properly and a very long time to dry, like LW I just get on and clip through the worst, hot cloth afterwards and send the blades in for sharpening, we are due a cold snap which will not help with getting them dry.

Yes she is very very hairy and dirty. If she was clipped out I'd just hot cloth rather than even thinking about bathing

 

[Meredith]

C was white with sweat after our ride on Sunday so I bathed her that afternoon. We had one canter. 2 buckets of warm water for wash and the first rinse followed by a cold rinse. A quick scrape, rub all over with old towels and wrap up warm. I clipped her yesterday morning. It was her 3rd clip. I have never clipped three times before. A friend has been cold washing her horse after every ride and has clipped him fortnightly since October. We have never known a winter like it.

 

[Nasicus]

Hotcloth using a gas camping stove and a little camping kettle? I have one, and whilst I've yet to hotcloth, its very useful to have boiling water available on a yard without electricity.

 

[windand rain]

How about using a showerking shower. Thinking of buying one as have two grey ponies now. I bath in warm water carried in a cool bag to keep it warm from home get it as hot as I can from the domestic tap so not boiling as that would damage the bag and add a little cold for washing from the ouside tap, rinse with the cold hose and then a slightly warmer rinse rug well and either take for a swift trot up and down or pop on the lunge for a few minutes to get the circulation going. They survived for over 20 years doing it this way winter and summer and a good thermatex type rug that is the same more than 20 years old

 

[oldie48]

Little Fatty has a coat like a yak but I find I can get him quite clean using a plastic curry comb and he seems to love it as he has been getting quite itchy in the mild weather we've had recently.

 

[scats]

I’ve been washing legs and tail over the winter so far, but it’s been very warm. I wouldn’t bath in cold weather, there’s always alternative ways to get them clean.

 

[Nicnac]

With a grey who competes, I do bath in the winter but bucket and sponge with a bit of hosing ensuring the areas are well rugged afterwards. I boil a kettle and add to buckets of cold water. HOWEVER, I recently won a competition for The Horsebox Spa. (Google it) OMG! She came out last week and my horse absolutely loved it and looks amazing. He was unclipped at the time as he was so filthy but has now had a full clip and will be far easier to keep clean.

 

[windand rain]

One thing I will say about bathing in winter is to use baby bath rather than shampoo as if its not quite all rinsed out it doesnt matter if you can leave it on a baby it should be ok on a horse. Usual patch testing first applies

 

[Sukistokes2]

I wash tails, legs and neck, with the hose, whenever I need to. Yes i would bath, for a show, or to get rid of sweat and mud.You can bath under a rug , quartering the horse, or let rip and do it as quickly as possible. I scrap off the excess water, rug up once finished and feed hay. No one has died or even got a chill in 40 years so I don't really worry about it and just get on with it. Horses are pretty hardy animals and are going to get wet in the field anyhow. I do have stables to allow them to dry off in. I might not be so bliase if I was turning straight out but then I wouldn't see the point of bathing if thet was the case.

 

[HashRouge]

Little Fatty has a coat like a yak but I find I can get him quite clean using a plastic curry comb and he seems to love it as he has been getting quite itchy in the mild weather we've had recently.

I would think a curry comb and some elbow grease would get the horse clean enough for clipping.

 

[Cowpony]

We only have cold water at our yard so I pick a time when it's not too cold. I did my horse's legs, neck and mane just after Christmas as we were going to a competition and she lives out, so those bits were filthy She's a warm horse anyway, fully clipped apart from her legs. By the time I used the scraper to get the water off her legs it was really warm! As if she'd superheated it in the 5 minutes it had been touching her skin. I still wouldn't have done her whole body at this time of year unless absolutely necessary though.

 

[Goldenstar]

TI have greys they hunt I spend a lot time bathing horses .
I bathed one last night at four thirty after hunting but my yard is set up for it with hot showers and heaters so they are never cold and of course they clipped .
In you case OP if the horse has a skin infection I would bring hot water in containers from home and get the job done with Malaseb .
But I would clip first because if the horse is really thick coated it’s going to be difficult to get on top of the issue .
I have one living out in work unclipped atm he’s been on a break he sweated for the first time today I will clip on Thursday because I know if you let them get sweaty it always causes issues .
I will use new blades get the hair off it won’t look great bath him then clip again in about a fortnight .
I considered bathing before hand but his coat is so thick I doubt I will get rid of the grease so I just going to go for it .

 

[Pinkvboots]

I wouldn't bath a horse in winter with cold water especially not a thick hairy one it will never dry.

 

[hopscotch bandit]

We only have cold water at the yard. Do people bath with cold water in the winter? How do you make sure they don't get a chill? I'm thinking do it in sections, possibly over a couple of days with towel drying and a fleece?
Thanks

I'd do it all in one go and don't really see an issue with it as a one off, but make sure wherever you bath you are away from any drafts. Horses hate drafts and this can lead to them getting a chill quickly. The key is in being prepared so boil loads of kettles of water and have plenty of buckets ready. Be prepared well in advance so the horse isn't one soggy shivering mess whilst you are running around like a headless chicken looking for buckets and rugs.

TOP TIP - Use a bucket of warm water for a final rise as warm water evaporates quicker than cold and its nicer for the horse, easier to scrape off and keeps them warmer longer.

Last time I had to bath my horse it was very cold in the evening but she was covered from head to foot in mud as she had been running around and all her belly, thighs and elbows were covered in wet mud so I didn't feel I could leave her like that, it was such a rareity that she had got herself so worked up and got plastered in mud as a result. So I bit the bullet and did it in one fell swoop but afterwards I put a folded lengthways thermatex rug under her belly so front of the rug with the breast strap was on the one side of her and the tail part was on the other side of her (if that makes sense) and managed to secure it with a rug going over the top. She is very sensible, I wouldn't do this ensemble with a flighty horse mind! This way she dried really quickly and kept warm and was happy munching on her net whilst doing so. She is fine coated and not clipped so I could get away with it with her although I don't think a cob would take too long on its belly but the rest of it would take forever to dry.

I really wouldn't bath in this weather just because I had a show or something like that. In fact it was quite rare that I used to bath to go out competing , just used to wash mane, tail and legs and that was in the summer anyway! I don't agree with bathing to make them look pretty long term as it takes too many oils out of the coat with continual bathing.

 

[Red-1]

I spot treat my mare daily as the poo stains her coat, but we do have hot water and lights, and spot treating is usually bum, neck/face and a bit on her legs.

If the horse has scabs I would certainly wash, but I have found that if you take big containers home, you can fill them with hot water, which will still be hot when you get to the yard. I used to do this when I hunted, take the hot water in big containers, wrap them in old horse rugs, and as soon as we got back to the lorry wash them off in the still warm water, wrap them up, and by the time we got home they were warm and dry.

At home, if one gets cold whilst being washed I lunge them to spin dry, getting them warm from the work makes them dry from the inside out. They can trit trot round until the steam stops rising. Alternatively, the lights I have at home are patio heaters, only £25 each, and really throw some heat onto their coats.

If the horse is scabby from working with a thick coat I would also clip. With yours I may clip first, as drying a thick coat is 100 X harder than a clipped one.