Too cold for full bath?

allyj

allyj

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Good evening! Ben has a party to go to this weekend, and he's hopelessly dusty, greasy and hairy. It's forecast to be sunny and about 7 or 8 degrees tomorrow. Ben is a dales pony, complete with full feathers and lots of fluff! Is it too cold for a full body wash?
 
IMO, yes too cold (unless you have hot water and solarium to hand !)

It suggest a tail wash, good curry comb and then hot rag
 
Unless you have hot running water to be able to do it quickly without waiting for kettles to boil I'd wash legs/tail/mane properly and hot cloth the rest of his body :)
 
For me the air temp is just too cold for a hairy one (would be different if clipped out as they dry quicker/easier)
 
If he lives out unrugged then yes absolutely too cold. Dont know where you are but here its going down to -3 or 4 at night. If he is rugged and you have access to a hot shower then Id think it ok. If not wash mane, tail and feathers and hot cloth the rest.
 
wash and rinse quickly with warm water, scrape well, re scrape rub with a towel, put a thermatex on and lunge for 10 mins unless you have heat lights. pony will be fine.
 
If you have hot water, then no it's fine to give a full bath, just keep warm water on back at all times, when done, scrape at high speed and put cooler/fleece whatever on immediately and put in draft proof stable, change rugs to dry ones as neccessary. One of my friends horses ( he's a real hard nut) has a full cold hose all winter, even if minus degrees for hunting, he actually turns the water warm on his back he steams!
 
I was planning on riding him out, washing him, walking him round the village a couple of times, grazing him in hand until dry, rug on and out for the afternoon, then in at 4 and rugged up for bed.
 
If you wash his mane tail and legs you may as well wash the rest as there isnt much left of a Dales pony. I have bathed mine in cold weather but contrary to popular belief it is better with cold water as you then dont take too much out of him and he will only get as wet as he would on a cold wet day. Using hot water goes deeper into the coat so I would wash his mane tail and legs with his rug on whip it off wash the rest of him quickly and tack him up and take him out for a spanking trot round the block to get his circulation going again. Rug him up in a wicking rug and when dry rug as normal. If he has a clean shavings bed letting him roll in the shavings will dry him quite a bit too and the grooming later will bring up his shine:)
 
Good advice! He's a hardy boy and has hardly worn a rug this winter, I'll take your advice about keeping the rug on for legs mane and tail and you're right there's not much left after that!
 
Poor old racehorses I know are hoses off with cold water every day after work! They are all furry too as they live out mostly unrugged as a herd in a little field. Doesn't answer your question other than in that they are TBs and survive! But I wouldnt be keen to do it myself in these temps, hot clothing is as good.
 
ive been wondering for ages when i can bath mine!

does anyone think it will be ok to give my tb a bath? hes fully clipped except legs and face, and its really to use teatree on his dry skin. i know he will dry faster as he is clipped but is it too cold for him?

sorry to hijack OP!
 
I'm going through the same dilemma for my boy ATM. We have hot water but no solarium so am thinking mane tail and feather wash and hot towel the rest of him. Have already done feathers and tail this weekend as a precursor. Doing mane tomorrow and hot towelling at least twice before the weekend. Then will do as said on the Saturday ready for the Sunday. Hoping he will at least be presentable.
 
Bathing in this weather? Good lord no! It's not the actual washing, it's the standing about in the cold with a sopping wet hair coat that is not on. I only ever wash mine on a hot day, if they're really sweaty. So about twice a year here. In Spain we wash them before and after work, but it's boiling hot and they are dry in 5 mins. Wash his tail and legs and use elbow grease on the rest of him.
 
Be amazed how clean horses get when you groom then properly.
Does know one actually do this anymore? Body brush and metal curry comb. Half an hour each side and that horse will be gleaming.

Would never bathe in this weather, there is little warmth in the sun to speak of and the air temp is cold.

My advice, groom him. Old fashioned I know ;)
 
I bath mine in cold water no matter what the weather but I don't use shampoo during winter and actually pretty infrequently during summer now as well, just hose with cold water, scrape, rub with towels and rug up until dry, have done this for years and never had a problem, the key is not using shampoo so you aren't taking any oils out of the coat so effectively you aren't removing any of their own protective grease. You'd be amazed how clean and shiny they come up just with plain water.
 
I've bathed my pony a few times this winter, he has been fine. I towel dry him then rug him in a towelling combo with a Thermatex over the top, and walk him in hand, the combo is then removed and he stays in the Thermatex in his stable overnight with a deep bed

He is washed in warm water but rinsed in cold

He hasn't imploded yet
 
Buds_mum said:
Be amazed how clean horses get when you groom then properly.
Does know one actually do this anymore? Body brush and metal curry comb. Half an hour each side and that horse will be gleaming.

Would never bathe in this weather, there is little warmth in the sun to speak of and the air temp is cold.

My advice, groom him. Old fashioned I know ;)
Click to expand...

I do but have to something to get his white bits pristine!
 
In winter I bathe in baby bath as it doesnt take so much rinsing out and doesnt remove as much grease from the coat but brings them up lovely they smell nice too
 
I was a mean mummy and bathed my girl on sunday ready for a show on monday. I used warm water and did front half first with rugs folded back then back end with rugs folded forward. Had rugs completely on to do legs and tail. You've just got to be efficient and move quickly, scrap water off asap etc. I then chucked on a thermatex and went for a walk in hand - best way to get them to dry. also make sure they have a net to much on as all helps keep them warm :)
 
Don't want to hijack the thread, but would someone please explain what hot clothing consists of? Sounds a useful technique.

And as someone who once hosed off my filthy, mud-monster arab mare in winter, sweat-scraped and thermatex'ed her up (she was unclipped but very fine-coated) - I would hesitate to bath a hairy just now....as previously said, it's the drying time that would worry me.
 
Stupid phone!!!!

Dettol, vinegar, baby shampoo or I've used Avon skin so soft oil before.

Take a face cloth or similar, swish and wring out so just damp.

Clean a small section of ponio in a circular motion so you get both sides of the hair shafts.

Dry off the section with a towel.

Repeat till you have done full ponio.

Viola gorgeous gleaming gee gee!
 
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