How to Bath a Horse and Make it Enjoyable, Too!

Horses love to spend time outdoors and owners love to exercise them. This combination can leave the beautiful creatures sweaty and dirty so it's necessary to give them a bath in order to restore their natural glow. By following these suggestions you can turn this experience into an enjoyable one.

Make sure you have a big bucket of warm water. Most barns have a hose attachment but it will only produce cold water, which no one wants to bathe in, least of all a half-ton animal than can be high-strung on occasion. If you don't have a warm water attachment at your barn go inside and fill a bucket with warm water.

Get a clean, big sponge. Keep in mind you're going to be covering a lot of surface area. Even though your horse will get dirty again sooner than later you don't want to bathe him with an old sponge that contains a lot of bacteria from weeks of dried sweat and dirt.

Use a quality soap and shampoo. Most pet superstores carry specialty shampoos for your horse that will bring out the shine in his coat and leave his mane clean as well as manageable. If you can't locate specialty horse shampoos or wash normal body wash and shampoo will do.

Start toward the horse's neck and work your way down the chest area, using broad strokes. Try not to scrub too hard unless there's a particularly stubborn spot as horses, especially in summer, don't have a lot of protection between their skin and nerves. Think about giving your horse a massage - this will help turn the experience into a pleasurable one for the animal.

Once you've cleaned the chest and neck work your way down to the legs. Pay close attention to your horse. If he's calm you won't have to worry as much about getting kicked while you're bathing his legs. If he's agitated wait a bit for him to relax before starting in that area. You definitely want to use that strategy when cleaning his rear quarters and buttocks.

Finally, use the shampoo to clean his mane much the same way you would with a small toddler. Be careful not to get any in your horse's eyes. After your horse has been sufficiently lathered now it's time to rinse the animal. Be very careful to use warm water, even if it's the middle of summer. Horses do not react well to cold water being splashed on them and will likely bolt if this happens.

If your horse is standing still after the bath you can use a large towel to dry him but if he chooses the popular air-drying method that's okay as well.