Easier said than done, of course, to a rescue pony not use to that kind of thing. I have no idea if he ever had a bath in his life but I suspect not. Last summer Bonnie would bring the hose out to spray on the horses to help keep them cool, but Gobie wanted none of it.
The first step was just getting him wet, so as soon as there was a weekend in the 80s I brought him out to meet the hose. Bonnie had an old one with an adjustable nozzle attached to the house, so I took him under the trees and tried it out. Gobie was decidedly not a fan. I did manage to get him wet, but he was terrified of the thing. He backed up, ran around in circles, and pranced around with his front feet. But he got wet, and we ended on a positive note.
This weekend I came prepared with some shampoo and a new hose. With the new hose I could attach it to a water source closer to the fenced in work area, it was coiled for easier handling, and the adjustable nozzle was all new and pretty water tight so it didn't make any scary hissing water noises.
All in all it went rather well--and extremely well, I'd say, because I was doing it all myself. It's a bit tricky after all, to manage one nervous horse in one hand, and manage a crazy hose in the other. He was much more calm this go around, but still wanted to run about in circles. It was also brutally hot--which was helpful because I could tell in his moments of calmness that he did enjoy how the water cooled him off.
Things did get a bit dicey when he stepped on the hose. It's coiled, remember, which means that if he stepped on it just so it would wrap around his leg. Horses generally don't take kindly to feeling like their legs are trapped so he would start kicking to remove the bother, which would sometimes mean the hose would wrap even MORE around his leg. Removing such a thing from a bit panicked horse can be dangerous--you run the risk of getting kicked, or your fingers stomped on. But, as a testament to the great trust between us, Gobie was very good at listening to me asking him to stop, and then allowing me to deftly removing the coiled bit. It was dangerous at times, but entirely successful and most especially, built the trust between us even more.
On to the pictures:
Dry pony, pre-bath.
All wet, and looking a bit silly.
Some consolation noms.
Here also, for your viewing pleasure, a video. This is directly after his bath. I was hoping he would take the opportunity to dry off a bit and roll in the grass, as opposed to the dust (and therefore mud). But, as you can see, he thought about it but never did roll. Fortunately he dried off pretty quickly and rejoined his friends.
The aftermath of the bath:
Halter and lead rope drying in the sun.
Now I need a bath...!
My other motive for giving Gobie a bath was to help manage all the beastly little flies harassing him.
The crazy jerks have been awful this year, biting his poor little legs and ears. After his booster and vaccinations he was feeling out of sorts--so we called the called the vet and the recommended we give him some bute. I also suspected the flies were bringing him down, too, so the bath was part one in trying to manage them. After he was clean I slathered a bunch of SWAT on his legs and in his ears to help sooth the bites and to kill and repel the flies. The stuff works magic and highly recommend it. The next day he got some fly spray over the rest, and I tested out some equispot on him. Not sure how much staying power either of those will have, but we will see.
Bonnie suggested I try a fly mask on him, too, so that may be the next step. Meanwhile the horses are all trying to beat the heat by staying out of the sun and in the shade.
