Horse hates having head washed advice ?

NiamhB

NiamhB

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My Mare HATES having her head washed with a hose no matter how much I turn the pressure down to the point it's just a little trickle ! she will rear and throw her head, and its just not safe
She is not pleased by the thought of being sponged or hot clothed on her face but she will tolerate it after I worked her through it going slowly,
I would love to be able to use the hose as she's gray and I really want to get her face lovely and shining bright.
Any thoughts on how I can get her more accepting of the water on her face :):):)

PS. she is in no other way head shy
 
My gelding is the same! He's not head shy just hates being washed ears forwards. I tend to sponge him - he doesn't seem to realise he's been conned lol also de-tanger in his forelock as if I manage to get shampoo in there I can never get close enough to rinse it back out properly. I have contemplated dry shampoo!! lol Hose is off limits with him totally head wise . . . I'm just lucky he's bay!
 
No horse really enjoys having their head washed. I mainly work with young horses and have taught many to tolerate having their head washed.
I generally loop lead through a tie up ring and hold the end so you can give and take the lead as necessary. Hose the body so they understand what you are doing (if your horse isn't good at being hosed work on this first, they need to stand politely against the wash bay wall wait till you have finished washing one side then move right over to the other wall when asked without fuss). Once their body is hosed (I work from legs up to the hind quarter, then forward) I go quickly from top of neck to face and back to neck till they settle and stop the fussing.
Do NOT let them spin their butt at you or try and squash you, push them back over while continuing to hose and give a growl.
Do NOT remove the hose from their body if they rear or carry on as you are teaching the horse that this is what they need to do to make you stop.
DO praise profusely and remove hose from their body when they keep their feet still.
If the horse is genuinely sensitive then I put the hose nozzle on a mist/rain setting and aim it so it 'rains' down over the horses head and keep it 'raining' till the horse stands still (however long that may take) and praise profusely all 'still' behavior. You still need to make sure you dont allow the horse to barge, squash or move about and correct it and put it back where you want it with out removing the hose!
You DO need to have a well surfaced wash bay preferably with a solid wall in front of the horse so it cant get hung up by legs through rails.
Most hosing issues are man made, poor aim with the hose (water in ears), removing the hose spray off the horse when it plays up, letting the horse squash you and/or move about and be rude etc.
 
I spend my life washing racehorses....
Exactaly as Fawaz says above. All babies and new horses (well not all be but a lot) object, sometimes seriously object but pretty much all accept after a while. We have never had one that stayed impossible, although still have one or two who dislike it. It's patience and perseverance!
The only horse I've failed to get his head washable is my own 😂 He's retired so its not an issue but tried for years!
 
I absolutely accept that what the previous two posters have said is the correct way to train a horse to accept having their head washed. And in a professional setting that is entirely understandable.

But for me - in a domestic setting - there are battles to be picked and I'm not sure that is one for me. I have to confess being old I was always taught not to put a hose on a horses head and so have just never done it. But we have had ones who are head shy where you can't rinse the shampoo out with a sponge. So we just don't try. They do have to accept being damp sponged or hot clothed - that is something I would be prepared to fight about because there may come a time when they need that for health reasons. But for the speed of using a hose - to be honest I personally wouldn't bother.

Plus - we don't know how old or experienced OP is. This is mid easter hols and we have a lot of new posters. I really don't want to encourage a young person, or someone with less experience, to start this type of battle in an area where we don't know they are safe. I don't want the next headline in H&H to be "Teen tragically killed in wash bay accident..." Safety first!
 
NiamhB said:
My Mare HATES having her head washed with a hose no matter how much I turn the pressure down to the point it's just a little trickle ! she will rear and throw her head, and its just not safe
She is not pleased by the thought of being sponged or hot clothed on her face but she will tolerate it after I worked her through it going slowly,
I would love to be able to use the hose as she's gray and I really want to get her face lovely and shining bright.
Any thoughts on how I can get her more accepting of the water on her face :):):)

PS. she is in no other way head shy
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I think you should ask yourself why you are trying to force your horse to accept something she is desperately trying to tell you that she doesn't want you to do, and that isn't necessary.
 
I've had horses that didn't mind me hosing their heads, so I hosed them. I've also had horses at hated having their heads hosed, so I didn't. Pretty simple really
 
I regularly bath my grey but I don't put the hose anywhere near his ears or his head - instead I hot cloth those parts. He loves it - must be like getting a massage or a facial!
 
NiamhB said:
My Mare HATES having her head washed with a hose no matter how much I turn the pressure down to the point it's just a little trickle ! she will rear and throw her head, and its just not safe
She is not pleased by the thought of being sponged or hot clothed on her face but she will tolerate it after I worked her through it going slowly,
I would love to be able to use the hose as she's gray and I really want to get her face lovely and shining bright.
Any thoughts on how I can get her more accepting of the water on her face :):):)

PS. she is in no other way head shy
Click to expand...

to be fair a lot of horses don't like the hose on there head one of mine would be very unhappy if I put the hose anywhere near his head, I personally don't like to wash there heads with the hose as you can't control the water going into there eyes, and I know myself I can't stand soapy water in my eyes and I would be very unhappy with someone forcing the issue, I think you have to be a bit more understanding and put yourself in the horses position, if she will tolerate water and a sponge just stick to that why cause her to rear and get really angry about it.
 
ycbm said:
I think you should ask yourself why you are trying to force your horse to accept something she is desperately trying to tell you that she doesn't want you to do, and that isn't necessary.
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This exactly. Be happy that you can sponge or hot cloth her face - surely gentle close contact cleaning is better for your relationship with her.
 
If you really want to get the hose on her face I would just go very slowly and work up. So first stage I would hold the hose next to you and ask her to take a step towards you with you holding the hose at your side. When she takes a step put the hose down and give her rubs/a treat. Back her up. Then hold the hose in front of you and ask her to take a step towards it. Most important thing is that when she does take a step to put the hose down and give her a reward! Keep doing this and just carry on increasing what you're asking - so, you'll be asking her to put her nose on the hose, stand there while you put the water near her face etc. Just a little at a time to build her confidence and remember she needs a reward - so if she shows you more confidence or wants to put her nose on the hose make sure you take it away and give her a rub/treat as soon as she does what you're asking so she knows it's the right answer!

However the hose is very cold and their face is sensitive so it might just be something you could get her to do but she won't like :( Is there no way you can use a warmish bucket of water and sponge to do it? If she has a problem with this as well then you could use the above but with the sponge and she should eventually start to like the whole process as she gets a say in it and gets rewarded!

Think of it from her point of view. If I said to you hey come here I'm gonna pour this freezing cold running water over your head you'd be like errr NO THANKS!! But if I said hey I'm holding the hose, if you take a step it goes away. You'd be like sure ok I'll take a step! Then after a while if I say hey maybe touch the water with your nose and it'll go away you'll be like ok I can do that! Then it'll touch a little higher up your nose before it goes away. You see the idea? You can't do it all in a day though! You could just work on it throughout the summer. :)
 
Arzada said:
This exactly. Be happy that you can sponge or hot cloth her face - surely gentle close contact cleaning is better for your relationship with her.
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I have never hosed off my horses' faces, not even the one grey I've had - I wash them with a soft cloth and warm water or hot-cloth, they enjoy this. If you have a breed with a long forelock then hotcloth the roots and gently fold the ends back under the headcollar to wash with the rest of the mane. Much better to have a horse who enjoys bathtime than not!
 
Mine gets a hot cloth from about 6" behind his ears forward. He's fine with having his body hosed and will tolerate his neck as long as I stand in front of him and point the hose towards his back end so there's no chance of any water getting anywhere near his ears.
 
Firstly I wear a hard hat (I am very risk averse lol). Then I use a small plastic jug that I fill with warm water from a bucket and use this along with a small sponge. I gently sponge the face & forelock with water first then shampoo careful not to get any in their ears or eyes. I always plaster the wet forelock backwards through the ears to wash/rinse rather than do it over their faces. I go slowly and carefully and bribe liberally with treats. Both my horses hate hoses/cold water over their faces/ears and tbh I'm not surprised - but I always get a nice clean face and a relaxed horse with my warm water, jug and sponge!
 
My grey also hates the hose near his head, so I just use a sponge and bucket of warm water with some no-rinse wash added in.

He gets stressed if I try to use the hose which in turn makes me frustrated and annoyed so it's better for everyone to just not even try.

He's very sensitive with his face so I imagine water running down over eyes and sensitive whiskers must be really uncomfortable.
 
Oooooh this is a great idea - warm water and a measuring jug! Still getting the running water effect but without it being freezing cold and harsh/splashy. Will deffo be using this this summer!
 
My horse was very headshy when I first got him & although he has got much better, he still hates having his head bathed.

Personally, I use no rinse shampoo as I find this much easier to bath day-to-day with (I use it when sponging down or hosing off after exercise) so I would use a soft brush or cloth and dip this in the a bucket of no rinse shampoo mixed with water and get it as much excess water off as possible before brushing my boy’s face. I’d then repeat with clean water to get as much as the no rinse shampoo off.

It might not get as good results as a full on bath of the face, but we don’t show so it doesn’t need to. My horse is happy with this method and so am I :)
 
I dont hose the face, I cant imagine any horse would get used to it. I just use a sponge, sponge water all over his face then rub shampoo in and sponge lots to get off. I rarely have to wash my mares face (and she is grey - WHITE), I just brush her face really well and am lucky enough that she comes off ok!
 
I never wash faces with soap - I use a wash like the barrier mint or lavender one with a hot cloth so there's no rinsing involved. I own a grey and this does work a treat.
 
My mare absolutely adores a bath on a hot day but I don't hose even her face. I don't want her to get soap or even water in her eyes. Just use a sponge a d take great care with it.
 
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