How to Groom Your Horse
Grooming your horse is a pleasurable part of the day.
It is a wonderful personal time to bond with your horse and to inspect him for any injuries.
To groom your horse a good attitude and a good stocked grooming kit is needed.
Firstly horses pick up on your mood, if you go storming into his stable with a chip on your shoulder; you've just made your task more difficult.
No doubt your horse is not going to be calm and cooperative, at least until you simmer down.
The grooming kit should be clean to get the best benefit out of your hard work.
I always find it easier to use the hoof pick and clean out all four hooves first.
If you have never groomed a horse before this can be a little nerve racking.
We all know horses kick, so make sure you know how to approach a horse and where to stand.
Use a rubber curry comb to work over your horse's body in circular motion to remove clods of dirt and loose hair.
Work on one side of the horse first and move to the other side before using another brush.
A curry comb is for the body; I do not use it on the mane, tail or head of the horse, nor should you.
The curry comb brings the dirt to the surface of the coat and then you use the body brush to go over the coat again to brush the dirt away.
Brush in the direction of the hair growth.
Use the curry comb to clean the body brush during strokes.
You can bang the curry comb on the floor, or the heel of your shoe to clean it out.
Next clean your horses head with a brush or sponge.
You can purchase a small body brush just for the head, or simply use a clean sponge to wipe the head.
The mane and tail are cleaned next.
Your routine could vary slightly on a daily basis.
For example if your horse rolled in mud, you would brush the mud out of the mane before getting the coat to gleam.
Doing the mane last would leave you with bits of mud clinging to your no longer gleaming coat.
How long you spend grooming your horse is really up to you.
If you do a quality job you will have lasting results, a good healthy shiny coat.
Grooming is an important part of caring for your horse.
Learn to do the job well and every day the effort will be less.
It is a wonderful personal time to bond with your horse and to inspect him for any injuries.
To groom your horse a good attitude and a good stocked grooming kit is needed.
Firstly horses pick up on your mood, if you go storming into his stable with a chip on your shoulder; you've just made your task more difficult.
No doubt your horse is not going to be calm and cooperative, at least until you simmer down.
The grooming kit should be clean to get the best benefit out of your hard work.
I always find it easier to use the hoof pick and clean out all four hooves first.
If you have never groomed a horse before this can be a little nerve racking.
We all know horses kick, so make sure you know how to approach a horse and where to stand.
Use a rubber curry comb to work over your horse's body in circular motion to remove clods of dirt and loose hair.
Work on one side of the horse first and move to the other side before using another brush.
A curry comb is for the body; I do not use it on the mane, tail or head of the horse, nor should you.
The curry comb brings the dirt to the surface of the coat and then you use the body brush to go over the coat again to brush the dirt away.
Brush in the direction of the hair growth.
Use the curry comb to clean the body brush during strokes.
You can bang the curry comb on the floor, or the heel of your shoe to clean it out.
Next clean your horses head with a brush or sponge.
You can purchase a small body brush just for the head, or simply use a clean sponge to wipe the head.
The mane and tail are cleaned next.
Your routine could vary slightly on a daily basis.
For example if your horse rolled in mud, you would brush the mud out of the mane before getting the coat to gleam.
Doing the mane last would leave you with bits of mud clinging to your no longer gleaming coat.
How long you spend grooming your horse is really up to you.
If you do a quality job you will have lasting results, a good healthy shiny coat.
Grooming is an important part of caring for your horse.
Learn to do the job well and every day the effort will be less.