hosepipe help!

TJ&Ozzie

TJ&Ozzie

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15 September 2011
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Colchester, Essex
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Well I learnt something new yesterday. My 23 yr old TB who I've owned for 6 years is petrified of hose pipes!!! I've recently moved my boys to our new house and have never had the luxury of a hosepipe/running water. I rented land previously and was forever carrying containers of water about.

So yesterday with 2 hot gee gees standing in the field I thought i'd bath them...pony wasn't a problem (had him 16yrs, he's grey so is used to a pamper!) moved on to the orange monster and he was reduced to a quivering wreck at the sight of the hosepipe laying on the floor and when I picked it up he exploded!! Now he is a bit of a wally with some things so it wasn't a total shock but I kind of thought that being an ex racer he would have been hosed!! Clearly not so I welcome any tips on helping the old boy overcome his fear of the scary hose pipe :o
 
I loaned a heavy cob who was terrified of the hose, you can de-sensitise them it just takes time and patience. I started with the aim of doing feet, then moved onto legs and eventually most of the body. Took me months, but regular practice and patience paid off. I also found to start with that if I got his feet wet with a bucket and sponge before I turned the hose on it somehow seemed less traumatic, no idea why! If anyone else was being hosed i would tie him up near them to watch as I felt it was good for him to see others having it done and not being bothered by it. Start with a dribble from the hose rather than a blast. I also found using a watering can was a good start before turning the hose on!
 
I have an ex-show horse who was "terrified" of hosepipes when I first got him ... Now I'm sure he was completely taking the pee in this case but still had to go through the years of desensitising! Now he'll stand nicely to be hosed so it's definitely possible.

Because he got so worked up about it, I used to just bring the hosepipe out and lie it on the floor near him when grooming. A week later when he was confident with this, I switched it on and let water really gently trickle out. Did this every day, made a little stream out of it and then led him through the stream.
Then moved onto his hooves, and gradually over the weeks went higher up the legs, the the body, then the tail, then finally the neck. Started off each section with a trickle, then slowly increased it to a sprinkle effect! He does still tend to lose it a bit on the neck but is hugely improved from when we first got him.
Good luck :)
 
Hehe glad it wasn't just lugging water around for years. Moved to yard with running water and same as you, my grey (had 13years) was fine and ginger monster was shaking she was so scared. As always with Saf food bribery was the solution, once she realised i had a pocketful of treats she came round gradually.
 
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