Winter Bathing

Use the hot toweling technique to clean your horse in cold weather.

Those of us who suffer winter dressage riding in snow and months of below freezing temperatures (with hooves that require an ice chisel to clean) become very familiar with “eau de winter horse.” Our horses haven’t seen the business end of a hose in months, and we futilely brush at dirt embedded next to the skin since Thanksgiving. After months without a bath, and with long, thick winter coats, horses need a good application of water and soap, especially if we are planning to ride in clinics when it’s still cold. For those anxious to have a clean horse, there is a solution: a bath by hot toweling. A somewhat forgotten technique, hot toweling a horse to clean him in the winter can be done either on a full-body scale or just in areas most in need of attention. Overall, hot toweling gets a horse clean, but it is labor intensive and requires large amounts of hot water and dry towels. Dr. Judy Batker, a Wisconsin veterinarian, considers hot toweling to be “an appropriate and safe method of bathing horses in the winter.” She says hot toweling “can be done down to temperatures of 20 degrees Fahrenheit and be safe and effective.” She stipulates that any winter bathing must be done in a covered, draft-free area.

Gather Supplies
Before you begin hot toweling your horse, gather all of your supplies. You will need:

• • Hot water—one or more buckets, depending on the areas you want to bathe.
• • Rubbing alcohol
• • Rags—the “Bag of Rags” from a home improvement store works well.
• • Large towels—10 or more may be necessary to hot towel the entire horse.
• • Cooler or anti-sweat sheet—more than one, if you have them. Wool and fleece coolers draw moisture from the horse to the fabric. Anti-sweat sheets add warmth while allowing air to circulate.

Begin Hot Toweling
1. Start by adding an ounce or two of rubbing alcohol to a bucket of hot water. This will help the water evaporate faster, and your horse will dry more quickly.
2. Grab a rag, submerge it in the bucket and wring it out. It is important to get as much of the water out of the rag as possible.
3. Apply the rag to the horse and begin rubbing. Don’t soak him with the water; just use the heat and dampness to lift the dirt from his skin and onto the rag. Work on one small area at a time, and concentrate on rubbing through the hair to the skin.
4. Once your rag is dirty on both sides, rinse and repeat. When the rag is no longer rinsing clean, switch to a clean rag. If you continue to use a dirty rag, you stop removing dirt. Change water when it cools or becomes dirty.
5. After you have cleaned a section of your horse, such as his neck or haunch, grab a large, dry towel and rub the wet area thoroughly. Cover the clean area with a cooler or blanket.
6. As you move on to other areas of your horse, continue to go back to the parts that are already cleaned and rub with a dry towel to hasten drying. If you hot towel large areas of your horse, turn your cooler inside out or switch it with another when it becomes damp. Walk periodically to keep him warm and to aid air circulation under the cooler.
7. Once you have completed hot toweling, continue to walk your horse, stopping occasionally to rub him with a dry towel. As he dries, fold back the cooler to cover only the wet areas. After he is completely dry, give him several treats for being so patient. After all that work, you are left with a clean horse and a pile of dirty towels to launder.