Owner Shows What It's Like To Wash 'One of the Biggest Horses in the World'

Bathing pets can be a struggle, especially when it's a tussle to get them to stay in the water long enough to clean them properly. But, spare a thought for this horse owner who had the job of bathing an abnormally large horse.

Allison Smith certainly has her work cut out for her when it's time to wash Big John, a Belgian draft gelding she rescued in 2021. Smith, from Charlottesville, Virginia, shared footage of the process on her TikTok account (@ohkaytacos), showing how much Big John towers over her, meaning she even requires a stepladder to clean him thoroughly.

Since the video of "bath day for one of the biggest horses in the world" was posted, it has been viewed more than 4.1 million times and received over 303,000 likes. While many people were left in shock by Big John's sheer size, a lot of responses highlighted how gentle he appears to be.

A horse's height is measured by hands—placing one hand on top of the other and working upwards—and Big John stands at 20 hands tall, impressively. It's thought that Belgian draft horses are typically more than 16 hands tall, which is approximately 64 inches, but WebMD notes that they can often exceed 18 hands too.

The powerful frame of a Belgian horse also makes it incredibly heavy, as they can often weigh up to 2,000 pounds. But despite looking so intimidating, it generally has a very friendly and docile temperament, according to WebMD.

Thankfully for Smith, Big John loves his bath times and is incredibly calm throughout. Writing on TikTok, Smith said that "he loves being scrubbed" with the brush and shows her his appreciation.

Smith set up the Colby's Crew Rescue organization in 2021, which strives to provide a loving home for horses that were going to be sent to slaughter. Smith and her team provide the horses with rehabilitation and veterinary care, before finding a loving forever home where they can be adopted.

Before joining Colby's Crew Rescue in April 2021, Big John was used as a working horse to pull heavy carts. When he first came to her, Smith was astonished to see the open wounds he had from harnesses and whips, and she opted to keep him as a permanent resident.

While TikTok users certainly love seeing videos of Big John, Smith also shares plenty of footage of the other horses in her barn and offers insights about their turbulent backstories.

The clip of Big John's bath time has amassed over 1,800 comments so far, leading many people to praise Smith's work and the care she provides for her horses.

One comment read: "This is the happiest horse in the world. Thank you for saving him and showing him his past life was wrong."

Another person wrote: "He's adorable! It's like hand washing a small school bus."

While one TikToker commented: "It's so beautiful to see how you guys take care of all your horses."

Newsweek reached out to @ohkaytacos via Instagram for comment. We could not verify the details of the case.

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