Sudsy Bathing Steps
What you need:
Hose w/nozzel
Shampoo & conditioner
Bucket
Lukewarm water
Sponges
Towels
Sweatscraper
Liniment (optional)
What to do:
1. Start out with a dirty horse.
2. Wet the horse down thoroughly, starting from the legs and up. Don't wet the face yet.
3. Take some shampoo and mix it in a bucket with water. Take a sponge and dunk it in, then scrubbing it over the horse's body. Or apply shampoo directly to the body, mane and tail, and scrub in, working it into a lather.
4. Rinse thoroughly, making sure you don't miss any shampoo, for if you do and it dries, your pony can get some major dandruff! And it'll be pretty itchy and miserable for your horse.
5. Take a different, clean sponge and wet the horse's face down. Apply a drop of Johnson & Johnson's Baby Shampoo to the sponge and scrub it gently to the horse's face. Be careful not to get it into the ears and eyes, even though the baby shampoo is tear-free. Take a different clean sponge and rinse the shampoo on the face off. Be careful not to get the water and shampoo in the ears and eyes. Or take the hose with the nozzel and turn the hose on low pressure and rinse the face off.
6. Apply conditioner to the mane and tail, and a little to the coat, but not much or not at all around the saddle area. Rub in lightly, wait a few minutes, then rinse out. If it's leave-in conditioner, apply a very small amount to the mane and tail, and you can apply a little amount to the coat. Leave it in if it's the leave-in kind.
7. This is optional, but I do this all the time when I bathe horses: mix about a tablespoon of Equicare Vetrolin Liniment in a bucket with some water. Dip another clean sponge in and rinse off your horse with the liniment, scrubbing pretty well on the legs, back, shoulders and hindquarters. It soothes aching muscels, freshens the horse up, leaves the coat shiny, healthy and smelling great. With excess mixture in the bucket, carefully dump the rest over the horse's back and hindquarters. Don't take the hose and rinse it off; that mixture is for leaving in.
8. Take a sweatscraper and scrape off any excess water.
9. Towel off your horse, and/or walk him around to dry off or put him on a hotwalker. Take a small cloth and gather it up in your hand to dry the face, ears and around the ears. Make sure the cloth doesn't flap in the face, for it may spook the horse.
TIP: Take a chamois cloth and soak it in a little bit of baby oil with water, and let it air-dry. Then rub your horse down with it.
Recommended products: For shampoo, Quic Silver and Quic Color are great color-enhancing shampoos! Quic Silver is for any light colors: any greys, whites and palominos, etc. Quic Color is for any dark colors: blacks, browns, bays, chestnuts, etc. Gold Nugget shampoos are great shampoos, too. They leave your horse exceptionally clean and shiny, plus it smells great! For the conditioners, Quic Conditioner 1 from Exhibitor Labs (related to the other 'Quic' stuff) is a great conditioner! Gold Nugget Six-Way Conditioner also works exceptionally well.
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