Best Way to "bathe" in the freezing cold?

[sydgscott]

Ok sooo last Friday I had an appointment at my lesson barn for my paint gelding to get body clipped. It was a nice, warm 72° when I bathed him in preparation to be clipped that night…

Groomer texts, came down with sinus infection. I looked at the forecast and the rest of the week was 50° and rainy.

He’s been in a sheet the whole week so he’s 90% clean, but since my pons live at home and are turned out during the day, of course, there’s mud on his legs.

I have the rescheduled appointment for this weekend. It’s supposed to be high 45° low 30° (thanks, Louisiana) so bathing again is not an option… my barn at home, while having a wash rack, is not heated soooo… best ways to “bathe” in the cold? It’s just his legs and a small portion of his neck. Unfortunately, his legs and that part of his neck are white LOL.

I’m just out of ideas and need something more effective than water and sheen on a towel:lol:

[flyracing]

Don’t worry about stain. The coat needs to be debris free and super slick with show sheen for the best clip. If he can tolerate a “mini-vac” ($30 shop vac from lowes or HD), that gets them super clean and is better than a bath before clipping. Cut out a hole in a curry comb for the hose for amazing results.

If you can’t vacuum, then hot toweling and show sheen are you only real option, but it won’t help the clip job much.

[The_Centaurian]

I was going to say hot towel, too. I have brought hot water in a coffee thermos on occasion knowing that white socks have a way of turning poop-colored in the trailer.

[Renn_aissance]

Hot towel him. When you’re done, spray a mix of rubbing alcohol, witch hazel, and coat conditioner on a white towel and rub down to lift off any excess you missed. Show Sheen. My horse rolled in a mud hole and came in looking like Pig Pen (with a Shetland hair coat) the day I wanted to body clip him. Taking two passes over his hair coat really helped.

[skyy]

We always bathe legs in the winter without a concern. After all, the horses come in with muddy legs when it’s not below freezing and we hose the mud off daily, so what’s the difference with bathing?

[findeight]

Agree. If you don’t want to just hose the legs off, just use a sponge and bucket of water. Its really not that cold if the faucet hasn’t frozen, not for the horse anyway…your hands, however, might prefer the hot towel method.

I used Cowboy Magic and a warm wet towel on my grays in cold weather, which I define as below freezing.

[StormyDay]

At 45 degrees its still warm enough to bathe, even with no heat, if you do it right and quickly. Keep a blanket on the horse and wash the legs, then wash the face and neck. Then take off the blanket and wash his body, but you have to be quick about it. Scrape the water off and put on a cooler and a warm blanket

[sydgscott]

Thanks guys! I know a lot of people who bathe their pons at 50-45 degrees, but they’re all up north. My guys are pretty used to the year-around-sauna that is New Orleans so they aren’t used to being bathed below 70 or 80.

I might bring him early to the barn where he’s getting clipped and use their wash stall (with access to hot water) to hose his feet, and just hot towel his neck before I go. I’m pretty good friends with the barn manager (and the owners) at the barn where I do schooling, and she’s always given me the open invitation to use the arena/wash racks/etc. any time before 5PM (when the kids start coming in for lessons) when it’s not super busy.

Will the rubbing alcohol/witch hazel mix be too harsh on the skin? I’ve heard this is effective from a ton of people, but I’ve never gotten around to trying.

[sydgscott]

Thanks guys! I know a lot of people who bathe their pons at 50-45 degrees, but they’re all up north. My guys are pretty used to the year-around-sauna that is New Orleans so they aren’t used to being bathed below 70 or 80.

I might bring him early to the barn where he’s getting clipped and use their wash stall (with access to hot water) to hose his feet, and just hot towel his neck before I go. I’m pretty good friends with the barn manager (and the owners) at the barn where I do schooling, and she’s always given me the open invitation to use the arena/wash racks/etc. any time before 5PM (when the kids start coming in for lessons) when it’s not super busy.

Will the rubbing alcohol/witch hazel mix be too harsh on the skin? I’ve heard this is effective from a ton of people, but I’ve never gotten around to trying.

[findeight]

Never had any irritation from witch hazel/rubbing alcohol, even on pink skin under white markings…but I did dilute it in warm water, more to stretch it out and warm it up then to weaken it though. Did about 50/50 water to either witch hazel or rubbing alcohol for cleaning 70/30 for using as a brace-but not both astringents together, I used the green, mint scented alcohol, smelled better. The popular liniments have astringent ingredients too, so do the stain removing products. Vast majority of horses have no issues.

[FraggleRock]

Baby wipes under a curry comb might go through a few but it works!

[ecileh]

I will second baby wipes. Those things are amazing!

[hunterjumper98]

Definitely agree about hot toweling or baby wipes. They save the save! However, if you can get the debris off with a hard brush and show sheen the crap out of his legs and body, he should be fine to clip!

I personally have been known to partially bathe horses in similar temperatures as long as I have plenty of towels to dry them off with and a nice toasty cooler on hand to help warm them up!

[hunterjumper98]

Definitely agree about hot toweling or baby wipes. They save the save! However, if you can get the debris off with a hard brush and show sheen the crap out of his legs and body, he should be fine to clip!

I personally have been known to partially bathe horses in similar temperatures as long as I have plenty of towels to dry them off with and a nice toasty cooler on hand to help warm them up!