I have a question on Bathing my horse????

Question

My hose water is very cold, is that ok to use or am i better off using warmer water from the house, its pretty humid outside, so any advice will work, and i also need to no which of these shampoos would work best, i dont have horse shampoo and this will be his first bath since he got here so which is best : Garnier Frutis, Personal Vitiamin Shampoo, Suave, VO5, ummm or Dandruff shampoo the generic kind Thanks

Answer 1

Cold water will be lovely on a humid summer day for your horese! Any shampoo will be good- if you wants the hair to be shiny use extra shine shampoo!

Answer 2

Cold water is OK, as long as it is hot and humid out. We have a sink connector, that connects the sink faucet to the hose. Then we make the water cool, but not freezing cold. Any shampoo would work, just don't use blonde shampoo on a bay horse. And make sure that you get all of the soap off, or they could itch. Since you don't have a sweat scraper you can use your hand? Just push in the direction that his hair is going. When you are done with that, put him in the pasture, because horses like to roll after baths. That way he will roll in grass and not dirt. The next time you go to the tack shop remember to grab a sweat scraper! The ones that look like a half circle with the rubber on one side and the handle are best for our horses.

Answer 3

You can use cold water - just get your horse used to it first by starting at the legs and working your way up. You can pretty much use any shampoo - different kinds will do different things for his coat, just like they do for people's hair :)

Answer 4

I just bathed my horsey too! haha his first bath also, well what I did is not like freezin cold especially if your in the shade but like a happy-medium like not too freezing but not like pee-water, you know?

  

Shampoo- vo5 would be the best hands down out of the selections. I know people that use that regualary  o their horses and it does no harm!

sweat scraper- uh um er.... if yu have a SAFE, SECURE, NOT SHARP object, maybe metal

Answer 5

As it is his first bath it is probably best to do as they say on the tin (well of hair dye anyway) and check on a small part of him that he has no reactions to the shampoos! Garnier Fruits sounds nice! Actually I have a question within an answer - Does anyone think that flies would be attracted to particular smelling shampoos or that citrus shampoos would act as a deterrent?

Answer 6

the cold water is fine, just make sure it's hot enough(the air not the water)- about 14+ degrees celcius, and if your horse doesn't like it so much then try starting from the legs, and work your way up

Answer 7

if you are going to wash your horse with cold water you have to make sure it is not too hot out. if your horse is sweating or very hot before you are going to hose him off this could be very dangerous. a horses body temperature is higher than ours. you know what the cold hose feels like? it feels even colder to your horse. when horses are hot and are trying to cool themselves down they move their veins to the surface of their skin. this is to help the blood to cool. IF YOU SPRAY THEM OFF WHEN THEY ARE HOT YOU CAN ACTUALLY KILL THEM.  the cold water can cool their blood too quickly causing the veins to constrict and the horse to have a heart attack. i would be very careful using cold water and only use it when you absolutely have to. the most comfortable water temperature for a horse would be the temperature of a warm bath or a hot tub. it may feel hot to you but remember that their body temperature is higher then yours.

my advice would be to use warm water from the house. any shampoo is fine. just make sure to rinse it out well. if you're going to wash their face though id use baby shampoo.

hope this helps :)

Answer 8

dnt use human shamppoooos it can give them skin irritations. use horse shampo that you find at your local horse shop.....

Answer 9

If its warm out, like 80 degrees or so, you are fine using the cold water from your hose.  Just make sure that you use a sweat scraper to remove excess water from your horse when you're done with the bath.

As far as shampoos, you can use basically anything that you like, but I really like the Fructis stuff.  It makes their manes and tails really soft.  I buy regular horse detanglers for coming out their tails though.  You just want to make sure you don't bathe your horse too often or you will really dry out their coats.  If you want to clean them between workouts, just hose them off with no shampoo.

Have fun!

Answer 10

Would you like to get squirted with a very cold hose?

I would suggest warming the water you would use and if possible to mix the water to make it less cold, that would be better.

They CAN and DO take cold baths when necessary, but they would prefer lukewarm water to freezing cold, hard sprayed water.

Shampoos for people are just fine, they're just a bit expensive for the horses and may lather quite a bit.  Any you've mentioned above would work for a horse.  Just watch for dry skin - perhaps even adding a human conditioner like you would your own hair or a coat conditioning spray would be a good idea as well.  Feeding some sorts of oils and natural products have been proven to keep the coat in good condition as well.  Cocosoya oil (coconut and soybean oil) is a good thing for thier coats - or even adding a table spoon of canola oil will help keep the coat healthy.

Answer 11

cold water is fine if it's hot and humid.....i don't think the kind of shampoo you use matters too much. use the one with the lightest scent. you don't want the scent to irritate his nose! good luck....

Answer 12

Use warmer water.  Cold water will rinse just as well of course, but I really can't imagine that any creature would appreciate a cold full-body hosedown.  (Even if the horse doesnt' flinch when you spray him with a cold hose, it doesn't mean he doesn't dislike it!)  You can fill a few buckets of water, cover them with something to keep flies and debris out, and let them warm up in the sun for a day or so.

Use the least heavily fragranced shampoo you have - probably the Suave stuff.  

As for not having a sweat scraper, you can use your hands.  Start at the top, obviously, and do his legs last.  Sometimes you can find little rubber squeegees at the drugstore or dollarstore, meant for cleaning glass.  As long as they have foam or rubber over the blade, you could use one of those.

Answer 13

Cold water is fine in hot weather.  Be sure to spray the legs first and long enough for the blood circulating through them to be cooled....then as it circulates through the body it helps to prepare the horse for the hose to be sprayed up onto the body...I usually do the legs for several minutes before I start moving up onto the body.  Horse shampoos are formulated to reduce sudsing so don't use human shampoo. I never shampoo a whole horse...I do spot clean areas that plain water won't clean up.  If you do use it, try to find one that is scented to repell insects, not attract them.

When it's humid the water doesn't evaporate and dry nearly as well...the sweat scraper would be best to remove excess.  If you have a rubber curry it will be better than nothing.

Answer 14

first off, you definitely don't want to be spraying hot water on your horse, but if it is colder than a normal temp, start at the legs so he can get used to it. They aren't as sensitive. But... He should be fine if its hot and humid. If the water is like ice-cold then fill a bucket with room temp to chilly water & sponge him down. If u dont have a bathing sponge then use a brand new kitchen sponge. I use VO5 on my dog, but then again horses and dogs aren't the same. But I mean it wouldn't kill the horse. The next time u are out shopping u should most deff get mane n tail. Also get a sweat scraper. Since u dont have one, u could use your hand until you get 1, but make sure you get most of the water off since leaving extra water dripping of their skin could cause skin diseases. Hope that helped:]

Answer 15

Water should be not too hot, but not too cold either- that can lead to colic! Probably the temperature of your hands after you've been standing outside for a while- kind of room temp. It's an exact sort of thing, but trust your instincts.

Start by just lightly spraying his hocks, then slowly work your way up, that way it gives him time to get used to the water. When he is really accustomed to it spray his hind quarters and withers, then gradually ease your way up to his neck. Be careful in this area- they can get very tense up there. Don't bathe their head.

I never use shampoo- I just work with what I've got. If he's really dirty I would use an old body brush and work your way into the dirt in his coat with that. If you really want to use shampoo, try your darndest to get some horse shampoo, or at least something all natural.

Answer 16

for the shampo i sugggest sauve and cold water is fine

actually i think it is better than warm water because horses r used too cold water so hot water might mes up thier water emotions(how they feel about water)

Answer 17

the cold water shouldnt be a big deal. just let him get used to it. start rinsing him at his legs and slowly work your way up.

what color is he? if hes a light color like palamino, grey, or white... i suggest laundry detergent! it cleans all the tough spots and makes them really shiny. make sure its just normal detergent;; no bleach.

if hes darker;; any moisturizing shampoo will work.

Answer 18

I always use cold water straight from the hose and they never seem to mind. Vo5 shampoo is great - pick one that smells nice, you always get a really good lather with that. I would only use anti dandruff shampoo on the pony because he is prone to getting scurfy.

If you don't have a sweat scraper you could use a plastic ruler or something plastic straight and fairly bendy or just towel him off and then put a cooler rug on him and stable him till he's dry I suppose but really it would be worth nipping out and buying a scraper = they aren't expensive and they do save a lot of trouble.

Answer 19

I do not worry about the water temperature unless the weather is very cold too. Usually in summer, horses appreciate any kind of hosing off, once they are used to it. As for shampoo, if it is safe for you it is safe for your horse. I personally prefer Amway's L.O.C. all purpose cleaner as a horse shampoo because it does not strip oils, and yet its coconut oil base tends to kill fungus and acts as a mild insecticide.

I often save creme rinse samples, or buy it on sale and use it on m horses' manes and tails.

Using a wash cloth on the horse's face works well, being careful to not get any water or soap in his eyes. I like to turn my hose sprayer to a fine gentle mist for rinsing the face.