Rain plus Dirt plus Thibodaux equals…

So people have asked if we have to bathe the horses and if so then how long does it take? The answer to the first part of the question is yes, the horses must be bathed nearly every day they work. The second part of the question is not so simple. It takes anywhere from thirty minutes to two and a half hours. Why such a range?


Exhibit One today will be Thibodaux. The first photo shows Mr. Mud Pie happily eating dinner, but you don’t get the full effect at this distance.

Check out the close up … yes, that is hay stuck in the dried mud on his hind leg. On this day he decided that maybe pigs had something to that whole wallowing in the mud thing and quite possibly he had been born into the wrong species. There is a small run off pond in his paddock that fills during any substantial rain. When the sun comes out it begins to dry up. Thibi and his sister, Evangeline, loved it best in its muddiest phase.


Evangeline getting ready to roll in the “mud hole”.

So the cleaning process begins.

First, we pick out the feet. This removes any dirt or tiny stones that might have gotten stuck under their hooves. I will be posting a whole blog about this soon. Exciting, I know. Try to restrain your anticipation. No, I jest. It will actually be really cute.

So we start bath time with a rinse. You can see a small white spot where the spray from the hose has started?

And the water continues to work its magic.




Boy, was he dirty!

After the water comes shampoo and conditioner for his mane and tail. A full body scrub with very sudsy water paying extra attention to his legs and feathers (the long hair near the base of his legs.)

This is followed by more rinsing. Then comes the fun part. Braiding. This is where the greatest amount of your time can be spent. A simple braid in the mane and tail will take about 15- 20 minutes depending upon dexterity. More ornate braids or hair-dos can take up to an hour especially if you add in flowers or ribbons.

And then Presto! You have a beautiful, clean Thibodaux; all shiny and ready for his harness. Man, I love that “new-pony” smell. I can’t even count the number of times that people have come up to sniff our horses. It makes all the hard work worth it when you run your hands over their soft warm bodies and know the difference between the before and after. As I get them I will post more photos of our handy work on our life sized My-Little-Ponies.