My yearling colt has always been afraid of water. I was almost to a point of being able to bathe him, when a tornado hit the barn he was boarded at. Now, he rears and flips whenever it starts raining and bolts when I fill their water. Any advice on how to safely work him through this?

That is a bad response to water, poor baby. I am not a trainer, so this is just advice from experience with my mare.

No, Liberty. That's helpful. He lunges really well, it's one of the things he's really good at. I will have to try that. And his buddy, my 24 year old gelding, LOVES water, so maybe he will help. I might dig out the kids' sprinkler we have somewhere and use that. The 24yo loves it and I could lunge the baby near it, slowly creeping him towards it. The old guy will stand over it so it sprays up on his tummy, chest, and neck lol!

I am not entirely sure about a horse that is that terrified of water, but my horse used to HATE water. He would walk through creeks and such, but running water was a no go. He would break hitching posts, halters, lead ropes, you name it. What I ended up doing was working him up to a good lather on a hot day, then started hosing his legs. The key here is to keep the water on him as he is moving, then the second he stands still turn the water off and let him rest. He will soon learn that when he stands still and takes it in, the pressure will be released. Getting him hot and sweaty isn't necessary, but I have found it sure doesn't hurt anything (with it being a youngster I would suggest being careful, you don't want to work a young fella so hard at such a young age). Hopefully that helps?