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I de-mud my horses with a hose...before I ride them.  I routinely do the
legs and the under the saddle area, and will do the whole body depending
on the ambient temperature and how much I plan to work the horse.  Note
that I live in Southern California, where 40 degrees F is considered
excessively cold.

However, even if I lived somewhere colder, I would probably still use a
hose...and then a rump rug to keep the horse warm enough while it dries.

If you wet the horse down before you work it, then the heat of the work
dries the horse.

I will often, around these parts on warm winter days, hose down a not
muddy horses before riding it, and then "ride it dry."  Whereas if I
didn't hose it down before riding, the horse will work up much more of a
sweat under its winter coat and I will have to "walk it dry" after
getting back from the ride.

There is nothing wrong with starting out on a wet horse.  You can use
work and/or blankets to keep the horse warm while it is drying off.

Starting off with the horse wet UNDER the saddle makes absolutely no
difference at all so I will pretty much always hose off a muddy horse
under the saddle.  In addition to keeping the saddle pad cleaner, it
makes cleaning the mud off much easier.

kat
Orange County, Calif.



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