I'd love to see a lesson on this too!
I imagine teaching the horse to stand still first, is a vital part.
Love the idea of the brush attached to the hose! I have one such brush too - will definitely try that! My boy has no problem with the hose touching him or moving around hi, but I suspect that water sprouting from it will make him nervous.

Yes, I agree, a lesson on bathing would be nice. If I can recommend something for you to try. When I first introduce a horse to bathing, I first let them see the hose, smell it, then rub it on their body to allow them to get used to this strange looking thing that is shaped like a snake! Then I slowing let the water run out with minimum pressure and again, letting the horse see, smell and TASTE the water. Bring it to his/her mouth and usually they will drink from it - it's a funny thing to watch 'cause sometimes they will play with the water too! Then let it run on their feet then up their legs and when they are ok with that, take the hose and get really close to their shoulder, so that they aren't feeling the full water pressure and let the water run down their side, down their legs and etc. When the horse claims down and realizes your not frightened, they will get a costumed to the water. Gradually increase the water pressure based on the comfort level of your horse and increase to the different areas of his/her body. They will have some areas more sensitive than others, so be mindful of that and treat those spots accordingly.

My gelding first hated baths - I could hear him say: "You're going to do what now?" He is much better about it now and I think he likes it, because I let him drink from the hose and I let him play a bit with it too (under strict guidance, of course). Have fun with bath time!! :)

Here in my part of Spain they tend to spray the horses in the face with full on pressure(so the horses have told me!) so you end up nearly always having to do a lot of work to desensitize the horse to it and make it a pleasant experience .I work first with standing still on loose line then standing still with hose pipe, just running there on the ground ,near his feet, when he did I could then have him stand still with the hose running down his fore legs and little by little could wash him normally,always standing near him and using my free hand caressing over him.The sprinklers in the grazing area were also a help as the horse learned from his stable mate he c'd walk though it and relieve himself of horse flies!Another help is to start a bath after working the horse and he has already had a roll,snort and a shake off in sand ,he is far more relaxed that way and enjoys the cool.I do not spray the faces until they are already opening their mouths and drinking the water playfully,and then only with fine mist spray.I then towel off,face first.

what a great lesson idea, I would be very pleased to see this one. We have a shower room, can I get him in there? No way, I try to show him there are no spooks in there,gentle coaxing, nope had to bath him from a bucket in the yard.

One thing I would add to the wonderful posts is that you can start to teach the horse to stand still. Let the horse move when you put the water on his body, but take the water away when he stands still. Then bring the water back to a place where he is reasonably comfortable (like his feet), working it slowly up the body. If he starts moving around, don't get mad, just smile and keep the water right there until he stops. Then take it away for a moment (or just take it back to his feet, if that is a comfortable place for him)--even praising him. He will soon learn to stand still while being washed. No yelling or jerking.

I agree with Dakotasmom, that is what I did with my 3 year old Dales and now he just eats the grass while I merrily hose away, he got used it very quickly, and even better, there was no yelling and no jerking, just fun, and pure relief for him from the heat! I would love to see a lesson on it too!

I would love to see this lesson! It would be very handy to know!

Weeell......All this is very useful, indeed! I´ll tell you our experience......
I haven´t properly tried to bathe Willow but I sure wish I could.
She is 2 and half years old and very gentle but as I don´t want to press her and I am doing everything alone I am trying to figure out ways... you know.
So far, she plays "hide and seek" with the hose and has a ball!. I have tried to direct either the gentle sprinkler or the slightest flow at her feet but she just walks away. Yet, when I am on the other side of the fence and filling her water container she comes to me in her playfulrr mood and with "that look" and what she wants is for me to arch the hose so there is "rain" falling in an arch under which she loves to dart from one edn of the field to the other. She gives me that look as if daring me to wet her and I swear there is glee in her face when she runs under the arch of water.
I am beginning to use the Dually halter but I go very slowly. Still, I´ll bear in mind what you all wrote. And will let you know after her first proper shower. (Although now it will have to wait until Spring as it has already turned quite cold in the North of Spain. She did enjoy the real rain this weekend, though!
Christy

Hooking the lead rope over a 6foot high branch so you can play the rope in and out and horse can move but not crush you or escape is a help, and gently you can desensitise to the spray.I don't ever tie for this.

I am in the process of introducing my new youngster to being hosed (she is 2 1/2 years old)... when I bought her a few weeks ago, she freaked out just when I filled her drinking water up with the hose! However... since commencing work with the wonderful Dually halter, I am very pleased to announce that she stood on a loose rein for me a couple of days ago whilst I hosed her legs and a little of her chest (it was getting too cool to do the rest of her body). I also really like Dakotasmom's suggestion of taking the hose away when she stands still! :-)

Before introducing your horse to the hose, i would just let your horse get used to the feel of the water on his body using warm water and a sponge. That way you can keep the sponge against the horse's body and walk with him if he tries to move away and then take it away easily once he stands still. Once your horse is used to the water, it will be a lot easier to help him get used to the hose rather then trying to introduce the water and hose at the same time. All the best with your youngster.

I would love to see this lesson and also perhaps a lesson on using fly sprays. I can spray next to my horse onto a rag and rub the horse down. Spraying directly is a definite no for now...

Can I just add - I would like Monty to show bathing a horse both with a hose and without. My horses are in a field and there is a water butt which we use to fill their buckets of water for but we don't have any access to running water.

Seeing a soap and bucket bath would be really helpful as my gelding Smokey had a freak out when I tried to wash his mane in the summer. He hated the water dripping off his mane and kicked out - very frightening for us.

I tried showing him the sponge, putting small amounts of water on him and walking away etc and none of it made any difference he just hated that water dripping off him and really kicked off. It was a really hot day too - so the water butt heated up by the sun therefore the water wasn't cold.

Not everyone has access to hoses/running water so I think it's imperative that we can see both sets of bathing scenarios.

Yes would love to see a lesson on washing a horse an getting them to stand still an not walk all over me

I can happily inform you all that Horses & Baths, spray bottles and all other funny thing with water is filmed as we speak! If you have any specific suggestions please tell us! Warm Regards CI Ann Lindberg/Sweden

Ann - that's great, can't wait to see it on the Uni.

Me too!

Me too - sounds great!! its sooo hard getting them to stand STILL!! :)

For lack of good opportunities, I haven't put much training into my youngster in the ways of hosing his legs, never mind his body. He has been washed, of course, but only with buckets and sponges. Mind you, he is not the least bit afraid of the hose itself. I can, in fact, wrap it around him. The sprouting water, however, is what he feels is a bit unnecessary.
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Yesterday, I finally had the chance, and made a discovery that I wanted to share in the hope that it might be of help to someone else.
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With the shower head set for "mist" we did a lot of "approach and retreat" with slow advances of the water so he would learn to accept its proximity, and then move that boundary closer and closer.
Most of the time, however, he backed away when I got too close for his taste. He came back readily enough, but we sort of quietly danced back and forth.
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The break through came when I remembered what a NH trainer here in Sweden (Lisbeth Johnson, I'm sure Ann knows of her) showed at a clinic: Staring at a part of the horse means "Move it!" (Simply put!)
And while my boy hasn't paid much respect to my attempts at this before, I became aware of, as I worked with the hose, that I was staring very hard at where I had the water = his front legs.
No wonder he stepped back with my eyes being reinforced by the physical barrier of the water!
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So I averted my eyes completely while bringing the spraymist closer to his forelegs. And what do you know! Then I could actually let it wash over his hoofs and cannon bones for a couple of seconds, and he stood with no tension in the rope. :)
Repeated this a couple of times before I finished the exercise and praised him tons. I'm sure I will have to start from scratch again next time, but now I know *how* to start.
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The hardest part in this was to see what I was doing while looking away. My eyes hurt after squinting sideways so hard, I thought I'd go cross-eyed! *LOL*

'COOL' Kicki!! Great advise - never herd that before :)
Thanks :D
Charlotte

Just shows how we can sometimes accidentally train our horses to do the opposite of what we want! It is sometimes hard to remember that we are prey animals and to think like a horse - well done for making the discovery, I am sure that soon he will be ignoring the water completely.

YES yes yes! I would love to see the proper introduction and incremental steps to washing your horse for the first time and the right procedures and tools to use, as well as a shampoo that his healthy for the horse and the environment. It would also be nice to see indoor and outdoor scenes. Thank-you :)

Hi, my youngsters, yearling & foal, played with the water from the hose whilst I filled up their water trough. The foal was particularly taken with the turbulent water, first sniffing it & then feeling it with her whiskers. Her brother grabbed the hose & tried to splash his sister! Yes, lessons on introducing bathing to horses will be fun. Cheers, Jo.

Once introduced to a hose I tend to run the hose up a horses leg then put my hand under the end of the hose when it reaches the shoulder, so that the horse doesn't have the water pressure straight on their body. At least for the first few times until the horse is happy to have water running over them.

I responded to this two years ago, but I wanted to let you know that since the past summer, my boy is readily accepting to be hosed all over - exp. on a hot day or after work. :)
He stands fairly still with little to no tension in the line, but I better not drop it, or he will take the opportunity to go look for something to eat. LOL! Hosing the hind legs was the hardest part, but once that obstacle was surpassed, the rest was a walk in the park.
One of the things that helped most was the consistency of the training; that we stopped for a hose off the legs every day regardless of whether it was neeeded or not. It wasn't important if I got to clean him either. Sometimes I just turned on the water, moved it over his feet and left it at that. It became part of the routine of being brought in from the field. Eventually, he stopped by himself by the hose and waitred for me to entangle it and spray.

Great stuff Kicki :-)

Yes this will be good my horse plays with hozpipe.