By Carolan Norwood
Current Topic: How to train a horse to
stand for bathing. Future Topics: How to give a horse a bath. Why bathe
your horse.
BATH TIME! Do these two words strike fear into the hearts of both you and your horse? When it’s time to clean up old paint, does he dance and prance, or even more dangerous, lunge and rear backwards as soon as the hose gets anywhere near?
Like all good ground manners, teaching a horse to stand quietly while being bathed should begin when he’s young. Unfortunately, some horses miss this vital part of their education.
All too often, it happens like this: You’ve just purchased Paint—he’s the ideal horse for you. It’s a nice warm day and you’ve worked him in the round pen, or gone for a quiet (or lively) ride down the trail. Back at the stable, you pull the saddle blanket off to find Paint’s dripping with sweat. Hosing him down with some nice cool water seems the logical thing to do. You tie him up to the fence, or cross tie him in your wash rack and turn on the water. You swing around and turn the full force of the spray onto his hot back. His response is an instant retreat. Or you’re merely walking toward him when his head shoots up, his eyes are wide and his ears suddenly telegraph pure panic, and before you even get close to him with the water, he sits back and has broken free and is running for greener pastures and tranquility, leaving you to wonder what the big deal is.
Standing quietly at bath time is, generally speaking, something that doesn’t just “happen.” It’s a behavior that’s learned through patient training. Young or old, however, most horses can be taught to stand for bathing.
In Paint’s case, fear is a real factor. As with any fearful reaction, desensitization techniques are in order. It will serve you well at this point to remember one of the basic tenets of behavioral training. It’s pretty simple, but often overlooked. It is that, generally speaking, you’ll get the behavior you reward. We apply pressure when riding to direct the horse toward a response, and the instant that response is exhibited, even in a tentative form, we release the pressure. This provides the reward—the “safe place” for him to be—the place free from pressure.
Remember Paint running away from you and your water hose toward greener pastures and tranquility? You were applying pressure that he perceived as a real threat to him. His response was to immediately look for a safe place, some distance from you and that icy cold, noisy, harsh, splashing stream of water. From Paint’s perspective, you weren’t about to do him any favors—you were the predator about to attack the prey.
Again, patience, especially in this circumstance, will serve you well. Collect Paint before he gets into trouble out there by his lonesome but do not bring him back to the starting point—your planned wash area. Instead, put him in a round pen or other enclosed, secure area near your water hose. Find a very long rope—a lunge line will work— and a pair of gloves. Use a stout support post or fence rail near an upright but DO NOT TIE YOUR HORSE. Merely run the rope around the fence rail or the post as if your horse were tied at the fence. Hold the end of the long line so as to give yourself some room to move a safe distance away from your horse but enabling you to move in closer at will. The point is to give yourself some room. Then if old Paint does decide to cut and run, you’re both in a fairly safe environment. You’ve put yourself in a position where you can begin the work of desensitizing Paint from a safe distance, while maintaining control.
Don’t use a spray nozzle but adjust the pressure for a medium flow. Begin working from his left, or near side. Your plan is to start at that safe distance from him, just holding the running water hose while speaking in a relaxed, calming voice. Keep the hose low. If he is relaxed, put the hose on the ground, walk to him and pet him. Take a moment to stroke him and reward his quiet behavior. Go back to the water hose and repeat the exercise, while casually taking a step in his direction. Your advances should be in the direction of his shoulder. Don’t go past his comfort zone, however. If he begins to show signs of fear, back up to that distance where you both feel safe until he relaxes again. At each step, when you see him relax completely, put the hose down, walk to him and reward his quiet behavior.
Also, at this point, don’t be upset if your horse does bolt backward and get away from you. If this does happen, you can catch him and begin over again.
Your perseverance and patience should win out, but it make take awhile. Much will depend on Paint’s previous training experiences and the level of trust he has in your assurances that everything will be all right. Just don’t give up. Be prepared to take as long as it takes to get the job done, but also consider accomplishing the training over several days if necessary. Each day, begin at the comfort level, and proceed from there until you can actually wet his feet while he stands quietly—that may be enough the first day. Also, you will need to perform the same desensitization techniques working from his right, or off side.
Remember to take your time, always approach and work from his shoulder area, and do not hesitate to step back to your comfort zone when you feel unsafe. Reward him for his quiet behavior at each step.
Also be aware that icy cold water on a cool day or an extremely hot day is not a very pleasant sensation for your horse. Even leaving the full hose out in the sun sometimes helps if you are unable to wash your horse with warm water. Always start at the feet and work upwards—and NEVER STAND DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF YOUR HORSE WHILE BATHING HIM.
Typically horses do not like their faces washed, so it may take some time before you advance to this stage. Make sure he stands relaxed for his body wash before you attempt the face wash. Adjust the water pressure so that it is flowing but not forceful (a mist setting works well), stand to the side and begin working on his jaw area. Soon you should be able to wash his face with some measure of comfort. Use an equine eye safe shampoo and don’t forget to wipe the excess water from his eyes and off his face. Use a sweat scrapper to remove the excess water from his body, especially his belly (dripping water here is ticklish and uncomfortable). For a quicker drying time, run your hands down his legs to wipe off the excess water there also.
Your horse will want to roll in the sand immediately after his bath. Either tie him in a safe place until he dries completely, or you might take the opportunity to hand graze him while you both relax.
Use patience and caution and you will soon be rewarded by a horse that exhibits no fear while being bathed. Bath time, instead of being trauma time, can be the clean finish to a pleasant day with your horse.
Carolan Norwood is the developer of Equine Shine, eye safe shampoo (great for all animals). “It’s for the animals we love best. Horses like to be clean, too.” Keeping their coats clean and free of sweat helps prevent skin disorders and funguses from occurring or reoccurring. It also helps prevent chafing, saddle sores and girth galls.