Saturday, July 19, 2008

11 Steps to Bath Your Horse After a Ride (got info of web)

1. Untack your horse and find a place to bathe him.
Said place must have a hose and a place to tie your horse. Then, tie him up.

2. Locate a sweat scraper, a sponge (optional), and a bottle of shampoo.
It doesn't have to be horse shampoo - in fact, Suave Naturals works great

3. Turn the hose on very low.
So you don't spook your horse with a sudden blast of water.

4. Let your horse get a good look at the hose
so he has an idea of what that thing is that's making him all wet.

5. Gently trickle water down the horse's sides, neck, and legs.

6. Lift up the horse's tail and wash down there (just to get it over with)

7. Squirt some shampoo on your hand and gently rub it onto the horses side and neck. Make sure you really rub it in.
Right or left - start with whichever side you want.

8. Rinse the horse very well, then scrape the excess water off with the sweat scraper.
Repeat this step until you no longer see any white soap suds when you use the sweat scraper.

9. Repeat steps 7 and 8 with the other side and the legs

10. Lead the horse around for a few minutes until he is dry

11. Put him back in his stall or paddock

Tips:
1. If your horse doesn't like water, put a blindfold over his eyes or try to let him drink from the slow flowing hose.
2. Give your horse a massage while you rub the shampoo in, it will really relax him.
3. Keep rinsing until you don't see the lathery mixture of shapoo and sweat.
4. You may want to use a curry comb to smooth out your horse's coat afterwards.

Warnings:
1. Don't let him get his legs wrapped in the hose!
2. Some horses are scared of, or don't like water. You may need a blindfold and/or extra handlers.
3. You shouldn't do this every time you ride - it will damage your horse's skin. Sometimes just a quick rinse is enough
4. Don't spray the horse's face with the water!

Things You'll Need:
1. Horse
2. You
3. Halter
4. Lead rope
5. Mild shampoo
6. Sponge (optional)
7. Blindfold (if needed)
8. Sweat scraper
9. Hose
10. Towel to dry his legs especially around tendons

Got information from:
http://www.wikihow.com/Give-Your-Horse-a-Quick-Bath

No comments:

A canter is a cure for every evil.
~Benjamin Disraeli

Valley Likes:

  • Apples
  • Attention
  • Carrots
  • Celery
  • Company
  • Grain
  • Grass
  • Having her ears scratched
  • Hay
  • Swimming across the lake to visit her horsey neighbors
  • Wide open space to run and buck :)
No hour of life is wasted that is spent in the saddle. ~Winston Churchill

Valley Dislikes:

  • being locked in the back pasture
  • being away from my other horse, Mississippi
  • being ridden
  • Having to stand still
  • anything I want her to do
  • being ridden in a direction that is not towards the neighbors horses or the barn
  • The 'Jolly Ball' I bought her. Lol
  • Being tied up without food to eat
  • Having her hoofs picked (although, she cooperates)
  • lunging
  • Taking worm medicene
In riding a horse we borrow freedom.
~Helen Thomson

Things That Valley Does...

  • bites sometimes..
  • bucks
  • swims through lake to get out of pasture to visit horsey neighbors
  • chase my dog
  • anythin to be stubborn. She likes being stubborn.
  • Gallop and buck when I put her back in the pasture after she's been out for a while
  • Licks my hands
  • Tries to eat grass while I'm leading her
I bless the hoss from hoof to head -From head to hoof, and tale to mane! -I bless the hoss, as I have said,From head to hoof, and back again!
~James Whitcomb Riley


A lovely horse is always an experience.... It is an emotional experience of the kind that is spoiled by words. ~Beryl Markham

The horses paw and prance and neigh,Fillies and colts like kittens play,And dance and toss their rippled manesShining and soft as silken skeins;...~Oliver Wendell Holmes

Names I Call Valley (in order of what I call her most)

  • Valley
  • Vales
  • Silly Goose

Our first day!!

Our first day!!
Adam, Valley, Me