Bathing Buddy

Yes, that photo is exactly what you think it is-a miniature horse in a bathtub. Yes, in OUR bathtub! How? You might ask? Well, reasonably simple, really. We just put a halter on him and led him, up the few stairs into the house, down the hallway (yes, we put down mats and towels to prevent him slipping on the lino tile floor!) and into the bathtub (again, with towels to prevent slippage.) We used a few carrots (his favourite!) to help tempt him, but all in all, he was a pretty willing participant. Why? You may also rightfully ask? Well, Buddy has a chihuaha complex-he thinks he's bigger than he is (at least, he's right when it comes to his attitude!) He also thinks he is still a stud. Or at least he did, til one day he escaped thru the space between our gate and fence (which I didn't realize he could do, having already blocked the space under the fence he'd previously escaped from). Buddy then proceeded to get into the pasture containing our stallion and mares, and, more than likely, started hitting on the mares. Nickels' mares. Not a good idea. Now Nickels happens to be an extremely laid back stallion. Extremely. But he's still a stallion. And a lil pipsqueak like Buddy hitting on his mares has to tick any stallion off. The evidence that Nickels is a marshmallow at heart really shows in the fact that Buddy is still walking this earth-being that Buddy is about 300 lbs to Nickels' 1200 lbs!! But he did chew him up very badly, causing a nasty infection on Buddy's back, where all the hide is now peeling (yes, it is nasty!). I have been treating Buddy, and he is healing very well. However, his sores were looking pretty nasty (and I won't mention the smell!), and I needed to clean him up. But you can't very well bath a horse outside when it is -30C out. Nor in the garage. And spot cleaning wasn't working either-he needed a good shower. So, I thought-they train mini horses as guide horses and bring them in the house. Besides, Buddy isn't much bigger than our German Shepherd and I wouldn't hesitate to bath her in the tub-so why not? I have found animals to become much more trusting and manageable after an injury, when they see you are trying to help them. Buddy has been no different-in fact, he's a totally different horse, and becoming a pleasure (rather than a menace) to be around. He was totally co operative, and really seemed to enjoy his warm bath.

(Yes, I did bleach out the tub well after he was finished! : ) )

Afterwards, I kept him in the house for most of the day, til I was able to find my hair dryer and finish drying him off super well. He was then blanketed in his cute red and white striped wool blanket, and put back out. However, he now thinks he should come right in the house all the time, instead of staying in the garage, when I bring him in for his daily treatments!

Just another small snapshot into mi vida loca, here on the farm!