Horse that wont be bathed.

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littlen

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(sorry second thread of the day :))

Right I have come across another problem with horse, he wont be bathed.

He has always been nervous about new things. He has also always hated puddles and water, although he will walk through them when lead or hacking as we worked on that issue.

Recently we have been showing so obviously he needs to be clean but when I went to bath him for the first time he point blank refused to go anywhere near the hose area. He basically sat back on his back legs and snapped his lead ropes and nearly broke a headcollar too (he was tied to bailing twine, I have now thinned it though) If I hold him he literally pulls back so far and i cant hold him. He is not stupid as he stands just outside of the hoses reach. I got a friend to help but he just swayed his back end from side to side so it was pretty much impossible to get him washed without 3 people holding him. He then discovered he was standing in a puddle and all hell broke loose and I gave up.
I have tried bathing twice and each time he has been exactly the same. I have tried taking it slowly, telling him off, being firm with him etc and nothing has worked and I cant get him to stand nicely. Usually its only me at the yard so I need to be able to do it myself.

I can get it done with buckets, but as he is 15hh and pure white it will take hours, plus buckets dont get the muck out as well as the hose!

Any ideas?
 
I think you need to take a step back and introduce the idea of water gradually. For now you are best forgetting about bathing him as such and work on each of the elements in turn without expecting to get a whole bath in one session.

Do some work in hand with him and progress to working him in hand in the washing area without involving any water. Praise him often and keep the tasks small and simple (e.g. take a step foward, reward, repeat).

Do the same with the hose pipe. Unhook it and work with him to get him to accept the idea of the hose pipe in his stable.

Then work with him with buckets of water (try warm water rather than cold). Wear a hat, be safe and take it slowly.

If all that works well (and you may need as long as 3-6 weeks of little and often) start putting the elements together, e.g. in hand work in the washing area with the pipe or buckets of water in the washing area. If all goes well try bathing again!

Good luck!
 
persistance is the key, my charming horse HATES water as she got stuck in a river as a foal (dont ask!). She would just rear and leg it every time hose or puddle was even within 10 feet of her.

basically, we had to have a lunge line and a long hose and every day just hosed her starting with her legs etc. like you would every horse, a tiny bit a day. once she stood quietly even for just a few seconds we stopped and were nice to her, and that was that for the day.
once they realise wherever they move they cant move away from the stream of water they do chill out.
you need someone to hold the lunge line (with gloves!!) and someone to keep the hose where you want it its really hard to do it by yourself.
she still frightens herself by snorting onto the puddles etc. but at least she is now hoseable top to toe which makes life so much easier.

that sounds really barbaric reading it back but it wasnt! just gets them to learn they cant just do what they want and they should trust you.
good luck!
 
If he's happy with buckets, I'd keep going using sponges etc. I know it takes longer but it is less stressful for all concerned. My friend's horse hated the hose and at 17.3hh, she can dance around alot! Friend got her used to being sponged, feel of water running down her legs, and then gradually introduced the hose again. Once her mare realised that it wasn't a snake and the cold water was quite nice, the battle reduced. Good luck!
 
My foal hates water and I knew she'd hate a bath so last night I gave her a wash. I had all the trimmings of a bath but I began by sponging her down and then once she was used to that a emptied a cup of water over her and once she was used to that came a very wet dripping sponge and so on.

I wouldn't say she was happy but she did get used to it and I got her clean which was my goal. Little by little introducing more water seemed to work and I combined the flowing water with a nice massage of the skin to detract from the fact she was getting wet.
 
Start from the beginning again. Leave the hose lying around the yard and get him used to walking over and around it and leave it around where he's eating. He'll soon take no notice of it. As for bathing, definitely use warm water until he's relaxed about the whole process. I'lve always found that it's the cold water they object to, regardless of where it comes from (and I don't blame them, how do you fancy being hosed off with cold water? brrhhhh!!)
When you do start hosing him, start with just playing the water around his feet and then slowly work up the legs, spraying the body last. It might well takes months but you'll get there in the end. Do you have a spare stable you could wash him in? I had a dippy TB that hated being bathed so I started by doing him in the stable so there a very finite limit to how much he could fling himself around and I could cross tie him. He was OK after a couple of baths in there and then I could do him in the yard.
 
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