What to ask?
Many horse owners ask the question, “How often should I bathe my horse?” And to be honest there is no one answer! The answer to that question really depends on a few different things like, does your horse show? What are its living conditions? How often does your horse get ridden? Do they have any fungal or skin problems? Most horses don’t need daily bathing because this may lead to dry skin. Typically hosing to remove any sweat, mud, or loose hair will do the trick! That being said, when you do decide to bathe your horse, you want to make sure you have all the necessary tools and do it in the most effective way.
Before you grab that halter and lead, you will want to make sure you have your horse bathing supplies ready. We suggest grabbing a rubber curry, sweat scraper, our Natural Healing Horse Shampoo, mane/tail detangler, sponge, towel, and of course either a hose or bucket of water! Once you’ve grabbed your essentials, it’s time to bathe your horse.
Once you’ve got your horse out, you will want to groom them first to loosen up any hair or dirt and to also check them for any cuts or skin conditions. Once groomed, you can grab your hose and begin to dampen your horse’s coat with warm water. Start at the bottom of their legs and then work your way up to their body! Most horses don’t mind being bathed, but if your horse does, you can do this with a bucket of water and a sponge. Keep in mind you will want to wash your horse in sections, starting with sudsing up the body and legs, then moving on to the mane and tail, and the face last.
We recommend using our Natural Healing Shampoo to wash your horse, because not only does it clean your horse’s hair for a shiny coat, but it also helps to heal any wounds or skin fungi such as rain rot! Our shampoo has been formulated with the Matico plant which is a natural antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, and wound healer.
Once you have your horse’s body covered in soap, you can use a rubber curry to help scrub any extra dirty spots (grey horses, we’re looking at you!) then rinse all of the shampoo off. Next, you can move onto their mane and tail repeating the same process. Lastly, we suggest washing their face. Not every horse enjoys this, so those who are not fond of having their face sprayed can again use the bucket and sponge! You will want to give your horse one more final spray to ensure that you have removed any excess soap.
Next, grab your sweat scraper and remove any excess water, and at this time you can also double-check that you have removed all the soap. When you pull your sweat scraper across your horse’s body, if you see any soap bubbles we suggest giving them one more thorough rinse. Finally, we move on to brushing your horse’s mane and tail. You will most likely want to spray in some type of detangler to help make brushing through knots easier!
Once you have completed giving your horse a bath, you should make sure your horse is completely dry before putting them away. A freshly bathed horse will almost always roll, and trust us when we say there is nothing more heartbreaking than seeing all your hard work get destroyed by a mud puddle! Our favorite thing to do while waiting for our horse to dry is to either hand graze them or sneak in some extra cuddles. We hope our bathing tips help to provide your horse with a happy and healthy bathing experience!
