Hot horse shower recommendations

Leo Walker

Leo Walker

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I am sick of having a filthy horse and having to wash her off in cold water. Are the horse showers any good? our water pressure is ridiculously high so no issues with that, but I dont really want to have to plug one in to the electric. Ideally I'd like to be able to take if off the yard and use it with buckets or similar, but as that would only be a few times a year its really not important.

Is there an issue with some not being safe as well?

This is an idea thats just come to me now, so I've done zero research
 
From what I recollect, most don't have the gas safety certificate that should come with all new gas appliances.

I believe Hippo ones do.

But, having been out off the idea as the cheaper ones did not have the certification, and seeing many FB posts featuring burned out ones, I did not purchase one, so am not 100% sure of the exact legalities.

I understand that many are not correctly shielding the gas bottle and have the wrong regulator on or something.

ETA, I did a quick FB search and our very own Alec Swann had a post on HHO FB page on this very issue. ... https://www.facebook.com/groups/HHOForumMembers/search/?query=showerking&epa=SEARCH_BOX

Yes, it was this FB post that stopped me asking OH for one of these last year. The comments are awful. Especially poignant when it is the post of someone you knew online. I know there will be many people who say "I have one and it has been great!" and that is all well and good, but there are far too many others who have photos of burned units etc for my liking.
 
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On a positivé note, i have had a shower king for 2 years or so and it has been very reliable. It runs off a propane bottle which is an extra cost when you first buy if you don’t have one to hand. I suspect that the unfortunate cases are often incorrect use / abuse. I do rug it up at night as it is in an open barn and the internal heat exchanger will freeze and break it. But it is one of the best horsey things I have wasted money on over the years.
 
I can’t see the post either!
My neighbour has a shower king and really rates it. She runs a livery and has several hunters to do over winter. So it gets a lot of use. I think she had the 15 lpm model? (Would that be right?! I know it’s not the cheapest two but the next one up)
I’ve used it a few times and it really is lovely. It’s one of my wanted items!
Then another neighbour has bought a cheapo ebay version and to be fair has had no issues with that either
 
I have a shower king and it’s been great. The only thing I will say if it’s windy the gas will go out but other than that Fabulous
 
I think they catch on fire because people let all the crap & dust collect on the top, so when the fumes come out it catches on fire. I’ve got a hot horse shower, it’s a few years old now, been used a lot & no problems. But I always keep it covered so it doesn’t get full of dust & drain & cover it in cold weather
 
I had a friend who's shower set itself on fire! It was very lucky that she and horse didn't go up with it. If I remember right it was quick thinking on her behalf that saved the day, but I don't remember the make, etc.

Watching with interest as I'd like one some day.
 
I dont really want to burn alive but I would really like one. It doesnt seem to be happening to people who buy exactly the same units to use for camping or dog washing, so theres clearly something about horses and yards thats contributing. If you could work out what then you could take steps to avoid it.
 
Friends (SK) caught fire not long after ownership iirc, had a hippo since which hasn't caught fire. Kept in the same circumstances.

She's definitely a practically minded person with regards to these things. :p
 
Leo Walker said:
I dont really want to burn alive but I would really like one. It doesnt seem to be happening to people who buy exactly the same units to use for camping or dog washing, so theres clearly something about horses and yards thats contributing. If you could work out what then you could take steps to avoid it.
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I’ll find out which one my friend used. It was a few years ago that it happened now and I’m pretty sure they’d had it for a while and used it previously with no problems. They had to call the fire brigade though, it went up good style!
 
Leo Walker said:
I dont really want to burn alive but I would really like one. It doesnt seem to be happening to people who buy exactly the same units to use for camping or dog washing, so theres clearly something about horses and yards thats contributing. If you could work out what then you could take steps to avoid it.
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I imagine dust? Horses and yards are generally dusty areas where someone with a camping shower might be using it in cleaner environments and packing it up to move. Dogs? Maybe more indoor, again less dusty?
 
beingachicken said:
I imagine dust? Horses and yards are generally dusty areas where someone with a camping shower might be using it in cleaner environments and packing it up to move. Dogs? Maybe more indoor, again less dusty?
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I said this above, people leave the top uncovered & all the dust & crap collects in there, when it gets hot it catches on fire & then they moan that it’s unsafe 🙄
 
but then people have a different one, in exactly the same conditions and it's fine?

Leo as a (much cheaper) alternative you can fill battery powered bike (etc) washers with hot water, I've used one on horses post hunting and was quite impressive and warm given that it was a few hours later.
 
Ive got a hippo shower. Its fab. I did have a gas engineer install it, although it was probably the easiest job hes ever had to do, but it gave me peace of mind. The shower is fab, and warms up lovely, and the shower head/ attachments it comes with are fab as well.
 
ester said:
but then people have a different one, in exactly the same conditions and it's fine?

Leo as a (much cheaper) alternative you can fill battery powered bike (etc) washers with hot water, I've used one on horses post hunting and was quite impressive and warm given that it was a few hours later.
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Ester...any idea what make you used, I was looking at the horse showers but think I'd rather use a battery one
 
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I'm thinking of getting a battery pressure washer as ester suggests. Then just using a couple of flasks of hot water to take the chill off. Or maybe a camping kettle......
 
It's one of these, though she said worth shopping around as can be got for nearer 70. It does apparently have a home made insulation jacket from hello fresh insulation lol :D. It was filled in the early morning and we didn't use it until 2ish iirc and it was still warmish on a pretty cold day.
https://www.wiggle.co.uk/mobi-v-17-portable-bike-pressure-washer/
 
The battery powered horse option seems to be hitting the being sold on second hand now (I cannot remember the name!) but both temperature and pressure were quite limited and the price ££
 
I have a mobi washer...really good, and as ester says,fill with hot water before leaving in lorry...cover with a rug to insulate, and water still really warm when wash off after XC at end of day. Horses arrive home clean/comfortable and dry.
They are only moderate pressure, but more than enough to clean mud and sweat off a horse.....mine absolutely love them.
 
Would the largest one of these be any good? I keep seeing adverts for these: https://www.muddaddy.co.uk/collections/all-mud-daddy-products
I'm thinking of getting the small version for the dog - he absolutely hates cold water, but we don't have a sink in our utility yet (and won't for a long time) and I don't like washing him in my shower as mud gets everywhere.
Says suitable for horses too... Just not sure it holds enough water/keeps it warm for long enough for what you need.
 
Re fire, as other people have said, I'm sure getting covered in dust and hay etc could cause it, but you absolutely must do 'the bubble test' when you install to be sure there is no gas leak. I saw someone on FB complaining their shower had caught fire and the supplier wouldn't do anything because they hadn't done the test which is to prove your gas connection is and there is no leak. Its essential for safety
 
If you have electricity at the yard this sort of setup works well for me. You need:

1. Big tea urn like this https://www.nisbets.co.uk/buffalo-manual-fill-water-boiler/gl347 (£82)
2. Large Bucket (£5 max if you don't have one already)
3. Submersible battery operated pump with shower head. Something like this (not the exact one I have I can't find it any more) https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Recharge...-Powered-Outdoor-Camping-Travel-/372068952935 (£18)

Cost = about £105

Heat water in urn, put in bucket, add cold to get right temperature (it's quicker to let the whole thing boil while you get horse in / muck out then do this rather than heat to a lower temperature as you run out of water quickly if you don't bulk it up with cold and have to heat more half way through) put pump in bucket, hold shower head over horse and Bob's your uncle for considerably less than the price of a hot horse shower and safer by the sound of it! If the horse is very tall it helps to put the bucket on a portable mounting block or something else to give you some height. One urn-full plus cold is plenty for a full bath on a 17hh horse and the pressure's surprisingly ok.
 
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