Thursday Wash Day

The curse of the white horse is that it is so much work to get them to look clean.  Since Grace has a propensity to wallow in the manure at every opportunity, I've been watching the temperatures in hopes that we'll have a day warm enough to bathe her before the expo.  Since that didn't look likely, I took a bucket of warm water and a large sponge out to her paddock around lunch time to get her cleaned as best I can while it's at least in the 40s.  I could bathe her at the expo in the wash stalls, but I didn't want that to be her first experience with a bath in the midst of all the stress of the event.

Rain is modeling the mud that Grace also was sporting pre-wash.

Sabbath the barn cat

I wet Grace down with the warm water using the sponge, which she didn't mind too much.  It made a huge difference just to get the top layer of dirt off her.  Then we lathered up with whitening shampoo and let it sit for a while, and I also washed and conditioned her mane.  Her only objection (and with good reason) was to the hose and cold water for her quick rinse at the end.  Grace is a really good sport.  She let me rinse the soap out, and then put a green polar fleece cooler on to keep her warm while she dried.

The drying process takes a long time when the horse still has so much of her winter woolies, so we went to the arena and worked with barrels, tires, and poles while she wore her cooler.  I set up the barrels so that they formed a narrow chute, and she was happy to follow me right through.  I also led her into a small box which I laid out using jump poles, then turned around first one direction, then the other.  She walked over and around the tires some more, and only jumped a little when I was fluffing up the cooler over her buns.  I don't think she has ever worn blankets or other horse clothes before, but she tolerated everything remarkably well.

When she was dry enough, I removed the cooler and put a sheet on her as my earnest attempt to keep her clean, or at least minimize the manure stains she'll acquire between now and next Thursday when we leave for expo. 

So, Grace, tell us how you really feel about baths.