How do grooms get horses to put head down for hosing?

[fordtraktor]

I am generally against spraying faces. My A circuit trainer as a kid was of the die hard “sponging faces” school. Of course, we had a ton of greys, the pure white kind too! But my little TB LOVES his face sprayed – he won’t let me hose the rest of him until he gets a big old face spray and a drink – so I spray him in the face to his little silly heart’s content so I can reach the rest of him. What a weirdo but whatever. I spray – or not – the horse in front of me.

My old jumper is 24, I have had him for 20 years now and he will die of old age before having his face sprayed! He is a delicate flower. he still objects to fly spray and his blankets depending on his mood. He’s been fly sprayed every day for 8 months a year for 20 years. DUDE, GET OVER IT. But I love him for it, it’s part of what made him so brilliant as a show jumper. So careful!

[DMK]

[QUOTE=Dinah-do;8660815]
But I still use a sponge on his face. He likes his body sprayed - does that count??[/QUOTE]

As a mitigating factor for sweepingly inaccurate generalizations? Probably not. But it does make you a charter member of the interweb tubz generation. Does that count?

And yes, I use a sponge too, sometimes in lieu of a sprayer, always to wipe off excess water and the sweat around their ears. That doesn’t mean I skip training 101 for my horses <— sweepingly inaccurate generalization that implies you don’t train your horses if you don’t train them to get their heads safely and comfortably sprayed. Two can play the interweb tubz game!

Next up, Hitler will be invoked.

[beowulf]

Stick me in as someone who won’t spray a face and generally doesn’t like to see it happen. I’m with Dinah, I haven’t seen many horses enjoy that practice. Sure, they tolerate it but I think those that enjoy it are few and far in between.

Sponging, however, I’ll do – I remember my TB from Pony Club days (who was very water and hose resistant) would let you sponge his temples and forehead all day… especially after a nice and trying rally, he’d drop his head and flop his ears and his favorite spot was that upside down ‘v’ that is right above their eyes/under their ears. But you couldn’t hose his face down without him being in the next zip code.

For all intents and purposes most horses find the sponge preferable. I also like the sponge because you can control where the water goes, and prevent the runoff sweat/dirt from their faces from stinging their eyes.

[Saskatoonian]

Hosing the face is barbaric?! I do it with all of my horses and never had one who didn’t get used to it - same as they get used to having their bodies hosed, or groomed, or - golly gee! wearing a halter. Ever seen a foal haltered for the first time? Talk about not enjoying something.

I do have a different technique for introducing it to a dubious horse. I use the mist setting on the nozzle. They barely know they’re getting wet. If you start with a hot, itchy horse, they figure out pretty fast that you’re not going to get water in their ears (and you’d better not!) and that it feels good. Pretty soon they’ll accept that having their faces hosed is no big deal. Kind of like wearing a halter.

[Daventry]

[QUOTE=Saskatoonian;8661329]
Hosing the face is barbaric?! I do it with all of my horses and never had one who didn’t get used to it - same as they get used to having their bodies hosed, or groomed, or - golly gee! wearing a halter. [/QUOTE]

Each to their own I guess, but you cannot tell me that wearing a halter or being groomed with a brush is the same thing as getting sprayed in the face with water and not being able to get away from it or put your hooves up to wipe the water out of your eyes or stop the water from dripping down your forehead.

[Dinah-do]

Wow - at 66 years old I just learned that there is not much difference between haltering a foal and hosing a horse head. Okie dokie. But I still use a sponge and am quite happy to continue. So sorry poor untrained 19 year old mare.

[DMK]

it could be a long way from “barbaric” though…

I’m pretty sure if you polled Robbie on anything other than the softest brush versus washing his face off with a sprayer he totally would have chosen the hose. The only thing he didn’t care for was water in the eyes (that can happen with sprayers or sponges), but as long as you were quick to wipe off his eyes with a towel/sponge, he was happy as can be.

I’ve only had one horse who wasn’t a fan of the sprayer. He’s equally not a fan of the sponge or brush on his face either. He deals with it, because he has been trained to, knows it doesn’t hurt him and since he gets grunge face in the summer I have to keep up with it. He was very good for the first few years and most of these issues came about after he started cribbing and needed to wear a collar in the stall. Since he was still OK getting his ears clipped w/o a twitch, bridling and haltering, I’m not quite sure what the connection with the front of his face is, but he is clear on the connection, so I guess that is all that really matters. But that’s his issue and as long as he tries, I try to meet him halfway as well.

[Pennywell_Bay]

It was drilled into me as a child (by and A BNT, BNJ, reknowned horseman) not to spray them in the face or head. We sponged and wiped.

I chuckled a few years ago when he sternly lectured a groom not to spray them in the face (flashback).

[yellowbritches]

Toby is not a fan of grooming. He’s better now, as I’ve gotten him accustomed to it (I also think he is generally healthier which makes his skin happier). There was a point in time where he probably would have said a curry comb was a instrument of torture. Again, there’s lots of things we ask horses to accept that they find anywhere from mildly annoying to downright terrifying and against their natural instincts. HOW you teach them to accept things is more or less barbaric than the actual thing. Spraying a hose, full blast, at a horse, getting them in the eyes and the ears while they can’t get away? Yeah. Pretty damn awful and I would likely beat somebody with said hose if I caught them doing that. Gently introducing them to the concept in any of the proper ways outlined in this thread. Good horsemanship.

[Foxtrot_s]

Just because a BNT does not spray does not mean it is gospel…just an opinion which we are all entitled to - each to their own with their particular horse’s opinion. Inconsiderate spraying, like into their ears, will make a horse object.
Like clipping, they need to be conditioned.

[Mardi]

[QUOTE=Dinah-do;8660544]
I have never seen a happy horse getting their head hosed. I have seen horse reef back and bust halters, rear up and hit end of lead rope and a few other ugly performances at the wash rack. I don’t like head washing unless it is done with a sponge and not a hose. I imagine that at some point most horses would give up and tolerate it. Barbaric practice.[/QUOTE]

Agreed. The hunter/jumper grooms at our barn routinely stand in front of the horse and hard spray the water onto their face. The horse’s head naturally goes up and back, and the spraying continues and the washing takes longer. The wash racks don’t have rubber mats, so as a the horse leans back and puts more weight on his haunches, his back feet start to come under him and he risks slipping. I’ve told a groom to stop doing that because of the risk, and his reply (along with a dirty look) was “Horses are food” and then a few unintelligible words. Have also seen a groom do this while talking on his cell phone.

For the grooms it’s just like washing a car. They aren’t supervised by the trainers so it continues.

It’s another reason why I don’t use grooms !

[Pennywell_Bay]

[QUOTE=Foxtrot’s;8661500]
Just because a BNT does not spray does not mean it is gospel…just an opinion which we are all entitled to - each to their own with their particular horse’s opinion. Inconsiderate spraying, like into their ears, will make a horse object.
Like clipping, they need to be conditioned.[/QUOTE]

I don’t see anyone who has shared their experiences with BNTs who do it different proclaiming it as gospel (that seems to be done by people who try to convince others to do it their way). People are sharing experiences, perhaps their background is insightful into the way they do or do not do things. People are certainly touchy.

[woodhillsmanhattan]

Let’s not generalize all grooms as being bad horsemen just because they use the hose on a horse’s face. Sure there are bad eggs, but the majority of grooms I have come across are very empathetic of the horses. Most either sponge, or are able to use low pressure hose to get the face. The trick is ear plugs AND starting at the back of the head. I was told to slowly put the hose between the ears and let it run down the face, using your hand to rub the water over sweaty parts so as to avoid getting it in their ears.

I agree with the general consensus on this thread…don’t SPRAY their face and stand there at the end of the line while the horse goes crazy. But a steady stream of water running down the face? I don’t see that as barbaric by any means. Also, I always wipe my their faces with a towel immediately after sponging or hosing, most horses quite enjoy that part. My horse will be a head sponger until the day he dies. It’s just what he prefers. My previous horse didn’t sweat well and he LOVED his face hosed off.

[PaintedHunter]

[QUOTE=Foxtrot’s;8660606]
My ISH’s favourite thing, actually, is a spray into the mouth, he just loves lapping the jet spray…but then he’s a bit dumb and insensitive in some ways.[/QUOTE]

My Perch cross LOVES getting sprayed in his mouth too. It’s the first thing I do when it’s rinse-off time. He looks forward to it.

He also then tries to chew the hose, but hey.

[longtimelurker]

[QUOTE=Mardi;8661502]
Agreed. The hunter/jumper grooms at our barn routinely stand in front of the horse and hard spray the water onto their face. The horse’s head naturally goes up and back, and the spraying continues and the washing takes longer. The wash racks don’t have rubber mats, so as a the horse leans back and puts more weight on his haunches, his back feet start to come under him and he risks slipping. I’ve told a groom to stop doing that because of the risk, and his reply (along with a dirty look) was “Horses are food” and then a few unintelligible words. Have also seen a groom do this while talking on his cell phone.

For the grooms it’s just like washing a car. They aren’t supervised by the trainers so it continues.

It’s another reason why I don’t use grooms ![/QUOTE]

I’m sorry that the grooms at your farm do that. I’m also sorry you used a sweeping and frankly offensive generalization to paint all grooms with the same brush.

ETA: I apologize if you’re ONLY referring to the grooms at your barn. There just seems to be a lot of black / white opinions in this thread.

[PaintedHunter]

[QUOTE=longtimelurker;8661675]
There just seems to be a lot of black / white opinions in this thread.[/QUOTE]

Well what is COTH good for if not sweeping generalizations, judgment, haughtiness and general smugness? It’s like you’re new here.

[FLeventer]

Every horse I have will dip their head down to be hosed. I usually put my hand on the nose band of the halter and they drop their heads. After I run my hands over their eyes to “wipe” them they know its usually over.

I teach every single horse this because its important to my to have a horse that will dip the head to treat a wound or fungus on the head. My new guy sliced open above his eye two weeks ago and I had to scrub it. Would have been horrid had he acted the way he arrived to me with the tossing and shaking when cleaning his face.

I use food motivation for my horses. I had eight horses last year that came and went from my care and every one of them would drop their head for hosing. When I groomed professionally they did as well. I feel its important ground manners.

[crosscreeksh]

[QUOTE=Dinah-do;8660544]
I have never seen a happy horse getting their head hosed. I have seen horse reef back and bust halters, rear up and hit end of lead rope and a few other ugly performances at the wash rack. I don’t like head washing unless it is done with a sponge and not a hose. I imagine that at some point most horses would give up and tolerate it. Barbaric practice.[/QUOTE]

THIS What horse wants a hose blasting water in his face and ears!! Use a sponge!!!

[yellowbritches]

[QUOTE=crosscreeksh;8662005]
THIS What horse wants a hose blasting water in his face and ears!! Use a sponge!!![/QUOTE]
But none of us are saying “blast them!!” We’re all saying introduce them gently and patiently and use gentle pressure, while avoiding their ears and eyes. good grief…

[Mardi]

[QUOTE=longtimelurker;8661675]
I’m sorry that the grooms at your farm do that. I’m also sorry you used a sweeping and frankly offensive generalization to paint all grooms with the same brush.

ETA: I apologize if you’re ONLY referring to the grooms at your barn. There just seems to be a lot of black / white opinions in this thread.[/QUOTE]

My opinion/comment about not using grooms is based on personal experience, and what I’ve witnessed through the years at that barn and at others, as well as at horse shows. I used a fabulous groom years ago, and until she returns from working for a BNT on the east coast, I do it myself and have peace of mind.

BTW, what part of my original post was offensive ? I apologize for offending you; it was not my intent.