Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Bath day

So yesterday we had our first triple digit day.  When I read the forecast Monday night, I filled a couple big tubs with water Tuesday morning.  Sure enough. 106' here (warmer in town) with 40 mph winds - blast furnace, anyone?  The horses were standing behind the barn swishing when I got home.  Nasty flies, even with the wind.

It was down to 99' at 7:30 - a good time and temp for baths.  Not soap and water baths, but sun-warmed water rinses with some tea tree wash I got back when Rufus was so itchy but never had the opportunity to use.  It's supposed to be good for skin, and since it doesn't require rinsing off, I figured it would be a good day to try it out.

Sunny was our first victim.  The directions said to mix approximately 2 ounces of wash in two gallons of (preferably warm) water.  I mixed a bucket - it didn't look like enough to wash a whole horse...  Maybe I should get him wet first? 

Initially he wasn't thrilled and sidled away from me, but when the wind hit him and cooled off the spot I'd just doused he stopped moving.  By the time I was ready to rinse him with the tea tree stuff, he was standing still just stomping the flies.  While I worked on his body, my mom used a stiff bristled brush to work it through his mane and tail.  That definitely felt good.

It was warm enough that he was drying off almost before I could do the second side.  While my mom finished up, I collected Thunder.  I was anticipating the same sort of sidling that Sunny had done, but other than one sideways glance at the bucket when I poured it across his back, Thunder appeared to enjoy his turn.  And once she realized I wasn't expecting to stick her feet in the bucket, Amyra stopped making her usual cranky face and looked almost unconcerned.  Or at least as unconcerned as she ever looks. 

But Rufus took the gold star - although giving it to him would have required waking him up, because he went to sleep.

Post-wash once they were dried off I fly-sprayed them and turned them back out in the orchard pasture where they could roll on grass and not dirt.  Dried off, they were really soft as if they'd been out in the rain, and they smelled a bit like herb tea.  Have to say, that was the easiest bath-time I've ever experienced.

No pictures, thank goodness!  Setting a new fashion trend in shorts and knee high rubber boots I definitely was not - lol!

2 comments:

Kellie said...

Boy what a HOT day!

I wonder if the tea wash would also help with flys/ticks/bugs?

Nothing like being a fashion leader lol

Wonderful that you are getting to spend so much time with your folks.

Our Jenny will never be lame or anything, but about once a year she'll show a horozontal crack in one of her hoofs that seem to indicate she had some kind of abcess break out the hoof wall. It will appear out of nowhere and with no indication there was ever a problem - And since we didn't realize there was a problem, how do you prevent such a thing? Boggles the mind.

SunnySD said...

Not sure how much longer my folks will stay now that the heat has hit, but it has been fantastic having them here for so long.

Poor Jenny! One of the farm owner's mares when we were in Mitchell had that happen just like you describe. I have no clue what you'd do - is it from easily bruised feet? Diet? Footing? None of the rest of them were prone to getting them. Weird.