I’ve started working on teaching Chewie how to take a bath!
Here in Texas, our daily highs are around 100 F.
Even this morning, when I arrived at the barn at 7:30 am, the temperature was already 80 F.
The hot weather should make our training easier, as a bit of cool water on the skin can feel refreshing when it is so hot.
Components, components, components!
With baths, many people just focus on teaching the horse to tolerate getting wet. But, there’s a lot more that goes into taking a bath.
There are lots of new things the horse has to be comfortable and happy with. For example, a hose may look and sound strange as it is dragged on the ground.
And, there’s lots of behaviors the horse may need to do. For example, if the horse steps on the hose, the person needs to be able to cue the horse to take a step backward.
My goal is to systematically teach Chewie all of the component skills that she needs for taking a bath.
Finding a successful starting point
When teaching a new behavior, you starting step should be something your horse can already do.
With Chewie, I started by giving her a sponge bath with a dry sponge. We’re actually practicing two skills, both of which Chewie could do already.
Skill 1: Can I rub something, such as a sponge, on different parts of your body?
Skill 2: Can you stay while I take a step away, pick up something, and then come back to where you are?
Chewie thought that practicing with the dry sponge was a piece of cake!
By starting with a task that Chewie could already do, we have a solid foundation for this behavior. Now, we can gradually expand on the dry sponge bath and add new components to it.
I think our next step will be to add a bit of water to the sponge!
I’ll post more in the future as we continue working on this training project.
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