# Bathing/Washing horses in winter - best method?



## Sadiemay (26 October 2010)

Hi,

My ponios coat is quite scurfy and greasy despite being groomed most days.  I wish I could wash her down but obviously as its so cold its not an option to give her a conventional bath.

I tried a waterless horse shampoo but its did bog all except leave her even more dusty looking and scurfy 

She is clipped out so it will make any method easier I guess as once rugged she will dry quickly.  

Can you recommend a effective way of semi bathing/washing down a ned in Winter?.  I have no hot water on tap but I do have a kettle 

Are there any good waterless or non rinse shampoos that you can recommend to me?

Many thanks
Sadiemay


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## applecart14 (26 October 2010)

Sadiemay said:



			Hi,

My ponios coat is quite scurfy and greasy despite being groomed most days.  I wish I could wash her down but obviously as its so cold its not an option to give her a conventional bath.

I tried a waterless horse shampoo but its did bog all except leave her even more dusty looking and scurfy 

She is clipped out so it will make any method easier I guess as once rugged she will dry quickly.  

Can you recommend a effective way of semi bathing/washing down a ned in Winter?.  I have no hot water on tap but I do have a kettle 

Are there any good waterless or non rinse shampoos that you can recommend to me?

Many thanks
Sadiemay
		
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I'd just go for it!  I'd get every thing you need, bucket of hot water, sweat scraper, rug, sponge, shampoo and swill with cold hose and then apply soap and hot water, and swill off with hose again, sweat scrape, apply rug and put on walker or walk in hand for a little while.  They will soon dry.  Sometimes messing around doing a bit here and a bit there takes twice as long and they get bored and cold too.  I washed my horse down sunday morning prior to a show, yes it was cold but i rugged him up afterwards and he dried quickly.


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## ISHmad (26 October 2010)

Use a hot bucket of water, put a cloth in for as long as you can bear it.  Wring it out really well and use it against the coat to wash your horse.  People put all sorts in the water, including lavender wash or Dettol.


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## Tnavas (26 October 2010)

Add half 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup of fresh ground Linseed to your ponys feed each day, this will look after his coat from the inside. I buy the seeds whole & grind in a small coffee grinder each day.

Buy a small bottle of Nizeral - it's a human anti dandruff shampoo from a chemist, after work use a bucket of hand hot water, mix in half the bottle of shampoo, a sponge and working quickly work this into his coat, especially mane & tail. Scrape off residue and then rinse with hand hot water, scrape, either put on a sweat rug & preferably a wool rug over and hand walk or walker or lunge un rugged until dry.

If it's too cold then use a bucket of hand hot water with a squirt of baby oil, swish around and soak towel, wring out well and then rub over coat.
Don't stress so much - it's winter - hosing/bathing in winter is not good as it removes the protective grease from the coat.


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## Lilyhead (26 October 2010)

Depends on the colour of your and how much arm strength you have....talcum powder is great for cleaning the coat in the winter. Million times easier if you have a grey or a light coloured coat, and a lot of brushing if you have a bay! It works like the dry shampoo for people, absorbs all the grease! Just needs a lot of body brushing and a patient horse who doesn't mind smelling like a small child whilst hiding in a cloud!


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## peewit (26 October 2010)

ISHmad said:



			Use a hot bucket of water, put a cloth in for as long as you can bear it.  Wring it out really well and use it against the coat to wash your horse.  People put all sorts in the water, including lavender wash or Dettol.
		
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I quite agree... having a disgusting coloured who loves sleeping in poo despite more rugs than a saddlers... hot clothing is great, especially if they're clipped, try and do it at least three times a week ( I put 3 drops of fairy liquid in boiling water) and then just do a full bath if really disgustingly filthy - it's amazing how much scurf and grease hot clothing lifts out - but don't be afraid to scrub with your hot cloth


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## Jericho (26 October 2010)

hot clothing with magic cowboy green remover (think its called that!) on a clipped horse. I have to clip my grey mare otherwise she is impossible to clean and take anywhere. Feel a bit mean as she lives out 24/7 - rugged appropriately of course - and is only really clipped so she is presentable when we go out (hack / dressage a couple of times a week). I tried just a bib clip last year but still had to bath her fully every time we went anywhere and it was horrendous. The washing wasnt too bad - it was getting her dry!  It made my life a lot easier and probably much nicer for her that we werent have to bath everytime and I think she quite liked the hot clothing rub!

I do wash her unclipped legs and tail properly though with blue shampoo at least once a week to keep on top of the stains. As she is a grey she wears a hood and a tailbag for most of the winter, poor mare. Would never have another grey!


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## loopylucifer (26 October 2010)

Go for hot clothing option. Warm water glug of normal viniger (breaksdown the gresse) and glug of baby oil makes them nice and shinny. really good on clipped horses to get rid of the dust and greese


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## Ditchjumper2 (26 October 2010)

I must be a real meanie.  Brought my big clipped out grey in tonight.  Blasted dirty bits with cold hose. Washed dirty bits with hot water, soap and sponge then rinsed with hose. Scraped off, rugged up and he is in ready for hunting tomorrow.


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## Flying_Filly (26 October 2010)

Ditchjumper2 said:



			I must be a real meanie.  Brought my big clipped out grey in tonight.  Blasted dirty bits with cold hose. Washed dirty bits with hot water, soap and sponge then rinsed with hose. Scraped off, rugged up and he is in ready for hunting tomorrow.
		
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Ditchjumper, I must be mean too. Do the same every Saturday ready for team chasing or HT on Sundays. Only way to get a grey clean.


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## Ditchjumper2 (26 October 2010)

Flying_Filly said:



			Ditchjumper, I must be mean too. Do the same every Saturday ready for team chasing or HT on Sundays. Only way to get a grey clean.
		
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Oh good at least there are 2 of us!  My chap lives out 24/7 as his breathing is not great if he is in, so when he comes in he is FILTHY, but as least it is only mud much easier than stable stains!!


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## Boysy (26 October 2010)

Cold water full bath as quick as possible, sweat scrap properly, Easidry grooming towel and then layer the rugs to dry them off, mine never suffer any ill health and rarely even shiver during the bath, they just have a couple during the winter before clipping. If they are going to shiver then it is during the rinsing as obviously the shampoo has washed the warm grease out their coats but it doesn't last 5 mins and then they are warm again. Tis a bit like getting stuck out in heavy rain i spose, uncomfortable for a bit then providing rugs are supplied, no problem.


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## stencilface (26 October 2010)

I am a hot clothing fan, but have never tried with any oils or shampoos - might have to give that a go on my grey.  I cold wash his tail and legs if we're going anywhere, but honestly I couldn't hose him off all over - his little face would not be happy!!

TBH, whilst I like him clean, he doesn't need to be absolutely shining spotless imho - He competes just as well dirty as he does clean!


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## mainpower (26 October 2010)

I hot cloth with surgical spirit the follow up with a "polish" with coat gloss.


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## Elsbells (26 October 2010)

After hot clothing which rug to dry off? Or should I just chuck any rug on?

First clipped horse for me


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## DanaHart (26 October 2010)

Hot towelling with a good dash of Dettol!

Just a note really, my friend works for a hunt yard, and they wash their fully clipped horses after a days hunting with a pressure washer!!  Using this method, the water doesn't really penetrate the coat to the skin, therefore they doen't get soaked and it's very quick, so they don't get very cold - they get well rugged afterwards


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## amandap (26 October 2010)

Evelyn said:



			Add half 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup of fresh ground Linseed to your ponys feed each day, this will look after his coat from the inside. I buy the seeds whole & grind in a small coffee grinder each day.
		
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I've started this as I can't get micronized linseed over here and have been eating it myself in cereal... have to say it seems to be doing wonders for my aching joints!  Useless info for bathinhg a horse though, sorry!


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## LizzieJ (26 October 2010)

Well I hosed mine tonight after riding   It is quite warm here tbf tonight but even after hunting I wash down - legs with hosepipe, rest with bucket of warm water


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## KVH (27 October 2010)

elsbells said:



			After hot clothing which rug to dry off? Or should I just chuck any rug on?

First clipped horse for me

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Shove a fleece or cooler on him


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## Sadiemay (27 October 2010)

Hi all,

Thanks alot for the replies.

I dont think I could cold hose her in this weather, she is an old girlie and I would be worried about giving her a chill, she is such a wuss at the best of times. If she was younger I would probably give it a go! 

I think I will go for the hot clothing method as it seems quite popular and effective. 

So is this just a case of wringing out a cloth is hot water and rubbing against the coat.  If I add any dettol, oil, or other things mentioned do I need to rinse off afterwards to avoid any skin irritation? 

I am curious about the use of surgical spirit, is this effective?

With regards to feeding Linseed for coat/skin condition, it is OK to feed a horse prone to laminitis? I am not sure 

Sorry for all the q's!

Sadiemay


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## Caz89 (27 October 2010)

Every other day I use baby wipes over the clipped coat and once every few  week my clipped out boy gets a weekly hot water and baby oil "bath"

Get a bucket of boiling water and add baby oil. Leave until it cools enough to put your hand in. Then use one of those brushes that has a sponge in the middle and simply in small circles massage the baby oil water into the coat... Use as much water on the bush/sponge as you like I usually have it dripping then with a plastic curry comb brush horse over.  It leaves the coat so soft and shiney and gets rid of all dirt and scurf without stripping the horse naked and covering them in freezing water!! Also makes it much easier to brush dirt and scurf off over the week


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## Caz89 (27 October 2010)

Sadiemay said:



			Hi all,

Thanks alot for the replies.

I dont think I could cold hose her in this weather, she is an old girlie and I would be worried about giving her a chill, she is such a wuss at the best of times. If she was younger I would probably give it a go! 

I think I will go for the hot clothing method as it seems quite popular and effective. 

So is this just a case of wringing out a cloth is hot water and rubbing against the coat.  If I add any dettol, oil, or other things mentioned do I need to rinse off afterwards to avoid any skin irritation? 

I am curious about the use of surgical spirit, is this effective?

With regards to feeding Linseed for coat/skin condition, it is OK to feed a horse prone to laminitis? I am not sure 

Sorry for all the q's!

Sadiemay
		
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Personally I wouldn't use dettol... 1 it stinks and 2 it's likely to cause skin irritation.... I use it once and it literally looked as though my horses skin was shedding like a snake!! Never again will I use it but I guess it's personal preference


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## Achinghips (27 October 2010)

Anyone ever seeen a dry shampoo for greasy, hairy horses?  Gap in market perhaps?


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## loopylucifer (28 October 2010)

with hot clothing no need to rinse coat. wouldalos add i rub baby oil into the areas they get mud rubbed right in like at top of neck help stop it sticking.


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## Durham (28 October 2010)

Sadiemay said:



			With regards to feeding Linseed for coat/skin condition, it is OK to feed a horse prone to laminitis? I am not sure 

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Linseed is very good - so long as you feed it cooked, micronised or as oil, it is strongly recommended for laminitic horses that need condition, as fat is metabolised quite differently from sugar.  I think someone mentioned raw linseed, though.  That is OK for humans but poisonous to horses according to my vet!


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## curran (14 December 2011)

I use WINTER WASH - I got it on ebay last year. Its a spray that you put on sweaty areas after working the horse and it wicks away sweat really well.  You don't need to rub dry before you put the rug on or trurn out. It lasts ages and was pretty cheap.


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## Jackson (14 December 2011)

At the moment, with the big dirt magnet in my signiture, I am using an empty fly spray bottle to spray water and a drop of some coat whitener all over his body, and then brushing over it after I have ridden. He was getting a bit dusty and sweaty, but this has sorted it out and he is all shiny again, and smelling of lavender now


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## RobinHood (15 December 2011)

I line up 4 buckets of hot water, one with shampoo and the others for rinsing and then just be as quick as possible. I soap the tail first so it can soak and then get the rest of horse clean, towel dried dry and rugged (takes 5 mins max) and then go back to the tail. As soon as I'm done he goes on the walker in a thermatex for 20 mins.


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## Mike007 (15 December 2011)

I do wonder about some ideas on this subject. Mucking about with buckets of rapidly cooling water . I use a hose, cold water, as fast as possible . not nearly as prolonged as ****ing about with buckets. Job done solarium or rugs , vigorous rub down .


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## henryhorn (15 December 2011)

Gosh no not cold water in this weather! 
It doesn't take long to fill a few buckets of hot and use them to lessen the impact of the cold water, the best method is the fastest one when you actually get washing..
I wouldn't balk at rinsing legs with a cold hose but not a bath..
The easiest way is plenty of buckets already filled and two people working at once...


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## MerrySherryRider (15 December 2011)

Mike007 said:



			I do wonder about some ideas on this subject. Mucking about with buckets of rapidly cooling water . I use a hose, cold water, as fast as possible . not nearly as prolonged as ****ing about with buckets. Job done solarium or rugs , vigorous rub down .
		
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Que ? What is this 'solarium' of which you speak ? 

Mine get a hot flannel and cold hose on tails and legs and a jog around the yard, trying to avoid the mud.


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## Mike007 (15 December 2011)

I think maybe there is a bit of a culture gap here. I hardly ever bath a horse,probably only immediately after hunting, before driving home. Rarely ,if he is so clagged up with clay that he will be uncomfortable ,at home. Why do people insist on bathing horses so much for nonessential reasons. There is a lot to be said for just brushing the dried mud off in the morning. As for shampoo, never use the stuff on a horse. Why remove the natural oils . Maybe I am old fashioned,but I prefer to groom a horse clean.


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## 9tails (15 December 2011)

If your horse is that scurfy, I'd be rethinking the feed.  I don't wash at all in winter, mud can stay where it is and be brushed off when dry.  Including extremely muddy legs, I learnt my lesson the first year with washing off and creating mud fever.


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## Mike007 (15 December 2011)

9tails said:



			If your horse is that scurfy, I'd be rethinking the feed.  I don't wash at all in winter, mud can stay where it is and be brushed off when dry.  Including extremely muddy legs, I learnt my lesson the first year with washing off and creating mud fever.
		
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Oh so true!


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## meesha (16 December 2011)

I never wash after hunting as often parked on road side, just untack and rug, by time get home he's warm and dry and I just brush mud off. I use stain remover and chalk to get clean b4 go!


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## Theresa_F (16 December 2011)

Feed some linseed to help the coat stay healthy.  Other things that are good for the coat are black sunflower seeds and these with linseed also give great feet.  

I on occasion hot towel my two.  I take a couple of kettles of almost boiling water and put in a handful of soda crystals into a bucket.   I then wring the old flannel I use out so it is damp (and wear rubber gloves to stop my hands being burnt by the  hot water) and then place it on the coat and let it steam the coat a little and then wipe hard.  Rinse and repeat.  The amount of dirt and grease that comes out is amazing and you will need to change the water several times even on what looks like a clean horse.

If the horse is just clipped, let a bit of the heat out so you don't burn them.

My two really enjoy being hot towelled.  The secret is to have the horse slightly damp but not wet at the end.  I then put a thermatex rug on to quickly dry off.

I also do a final go over with hot water with a dash of pig oil (or you can use baby oil) in to give a good shine.  Do patch test first as some horses react to oil on their skin.

You can also add some lavender and tea tree oil to the final rinse water.


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## countrychick (19 December 2011)

Depending on your budget an Anivac Eco Wash is a fantastic bit of kit, my friend has one and saves a huge amount of water too.


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## curran (8 March 2012)

Mike007 said:



			I think maybe there is a bit of a culture gap here. I hardly ever bath a horse,probably only immediately after hunting, before driving home. Rarely ,if he is so clagged up with clay that he will be uncomfortable ,at home. Why do people insist on bathing horses so much for nonessential reasons. There is a lot to be said for just brushing the dried mud off in the morning. As for shampoo, never use the stuff on a horse. Why remove the natural oils . Maybe I am old fashioned,but I prefer to groom a horse clean.
		
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Very true. I don't waste time washing off mud - it's easier and healthier to let it dry naturally then use a rubber curry to get it off the legs so you don't scratch the skin and let infection in.  As I said befor winter wash spray is the best stain remover I've used.


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## LittleWildOne (9 March 2012)

Another big fan of hot clothing here 
I use a dash of methylated spirit in the hot water. I always give the horse a good rubber currying first, which brings the grease and scurf to the surface.
Then hot cloth using water as hot as you can comfortably put your hand in (the meths helps to dissolve the grease ). I use a piece of towelling (about face cloth size is easy to handle). Dunk the towelling in the water then wring it out as much as you can, working quickly so the cloth doesn't go cold, and really scrub the horse in small circles (as you do with the rubber curry), and both with and against the lie of the hair. You need to keep rinsing the cloth in the hot water (the meths again dissolves the grease on the cloth), wring it out again then do the next bit. If the water in the bucket gets a bit too cool, top it up with a bit more hot water. It's the combination of hot water and meths that lifts the grease out of the horses coat. Since the cloth isn't too wet as you've wrung out as much water as you can, the horse won't get cold through getting wet. After hot clothing, groom with a body brush. Short firm strokes (put your weight into every stroke), and clean the body brush on a metal curry comb after every few strokes. A final wipe over with a stable rubber (an old cotton tea towel is good), and your horse will be gleaming .
I've used this method on everything from fit, clipped hunters and showjumpers, to (stabled and rugged) native ponies in their full winter coat.

This pony was stabled at night with daily turnout, being prepared for showing in hand. She was 2yo in these photos, walked out in hand and strapped daily (which also built up muscle), and hot clothed 2-3 times a week.
These 2 photos were taken in February. She is in her full winter coat.


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## arigatou (29 March 2012)

It is a spray, your horse sweat working in areas away from the wick sweat is really good. You do not need to dry before you put on the carpet or trurn a.


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