Your preferred temps for bathing?

[susanne]

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What minimum temperature do you consider acceptable for outdoor bathing? (For your horses, not you!)

I've always held out for hot days, but I know this is a bit silly.

We only have run-in shelters -- no closed stalls -- so I bathe them early enough to dry before evening..

 

[Riverrose28]

Well, I'm a cheater, I have access to hot water outside and a indoor that is pretty warm even when the outside temps are low, but, when bathing outside I like the air temp to be at least 70 degrees, and if it is sunny the sun will heat the water in the hose. I also put up a portable stall in the sun, on the grass, for them to dry, you could also use a fan to blow air on them or even a portable dryer if they are acclimated to one.

 

[RhineStone]

We have (unfortunately) had to bathe horses in temps that are around 60 or less. I don't like to but sometimes it just works out that way. We don't have it done yet, but we have started to install a hot water faucet on the outside of our house. Then we will run a hose to the horse. My mom already has that set up and it works great. No more cold baths regardless of the weather.

If we have to bathe in low temps, I have a clean wool army blanket handy that we can throw over the horse until he is mostly dry. We may have to flip through a few blankets as they get wet. The wool helps wick the moisture out of their coats while keeping them warm. We got the blankets at the local army surplus store for way less than the fabric at the craft store. I use heavy spring clips to fasten the blankets under their throat and belly. Obviously, I don't turn them out until they are dry. Giving them a bag of hay while they are drying also helps them produce heat for themselves and keeps them occupied.

Myrna

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

I try to only bathe horses when it is very warm out in spite of having access to hot water, so they don't have to shiver in a cold shower.I always think of how it would feel if someone were to soak me down and even warm water feels cold pretty darn quick when you are outside. I do sometimes show in late May and often its not very warm here yet then, so I bathe with very warm water and then bundle the horse in warm blankets. Never had a sniffle or drippy nose from one yet tho.

 

[susanne]

Castle Rock and Reignmaker...you say "warm" or "hot" -- what temperature qualifies as that for you?

I ask because what I consider warm in Oregon probably seems rather cool in Florida or Southern Cal, but may seem hot in BC.

 

[Marty]

I have an outside wash rack and no hot water at all and my water coming from the hose is cold.

I don't always put a number on the temp. If its a sunny day, no breeze, no rain in sight, then I can probably pull it off on a fall day. I keep them out of the draft for sure and I do put a sheet right on afterwards, and expose them to hay and then remove the damp sheet in about 30 minutes. Then when I know they are dry I will add a new sheet.

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

I would say that it's usually above 75-80 here when I would bathe,

I'd say that would be about right, altho I would prefer it to be 80 rather than 75. The water temperature I would use would be something like a very warm bath for a person but I can't really give you a temperature there. I just test it on my own skin and try to get it as hot as I comfortably can. I did wash a horse here on a day that was probably in the low 70s this year but it had a skin condition and I felt I had too.

 

[wingnut]

Our first show of our club's season is usually the first or second weekend in May....so whatever the temperature is then. Like you I don't have a traditional barn, just two run-in shed/tack room combos that we've divided, added doors and turned into stalls (left open for free access 98% of the time). I fill up a muck bucket (or two) with hot water from my washer faucet (in the basement within 50 feet of where I'm bathing). It takes several trip with a bucket to get the hot water that I then cool down with water from the outside faucet. I try to use this as much as possible to get them wet and wash. Then I'm left with the hose water to rinse, which I try to do *very* fast. I then "squeegy" as much water out as fast as possible, then throw on my Kensington Roustabout blankets that actually wick away the moisture while warming them up. They are then stalled.

With luck, I may have found someone locally who has a wash stall at her farm that said I was welcome to bring my horses over to wash. She's installing a warm water line this fall so by next spring when I might take advantage of her offer, I won't have to go through my current process. In return for doing this big favor for me, I plan on offering to do something for her in return....or buy her a gift card to our local mill (if she uses them).