Horse World

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Grooming your horse is not only good for your horses’ health, but also can be a good way to make the horse feel better.  Knowing the best way to groom your horse, as well as using the right equipment can make the grooming easier and less painful for both you and the horse. 

Following are some tips that you can use when grooming. 

Before you begin grooming your horse before and after a riding session or for their daily routine, make sure they are tied safely to a specific area, because if your horse becomes irritated or spooked, it may cause him to run away or panic. 

Also ensure you don’t stand too closely to the horse whilst you are grooming him as you could trip or the horse could damage your grooming tools. 

Knowing the tools to use for grooming a horse will help keep the horses’ skin and hair healthy and looking good. Investing in the correct tools and knowing how to groom your horse correctly is an important part of caring for him.

Grooming is recommended usually before and after you have finished riding your horse.  However some riders think you should groom your horse everyday. They feel this will keep them cleaner and gives you the opportunity to observe your horse’s body and making sure they don’t have any wounds or irritations on their skin. 

By keeping them groomed you will make sure that they remain healthy. 

The first recommendation for grooming your horse is to pick one side to concentrate on first. You will begin your grooming by using a curry comb or grooming mitt.  These help to get deeper in the horses skin and hair.  It assists in removing the sweat and other dirt to come out of these areas of your horse. 

Then you can use a body brush that has stiff bristles.  Like the curry comb, this will get deeper into the horses hair and skin and take out the dirt.  Most horses will find this a comfortable and relaxing ritual and should stand nicely for you.

Then concentrate on his mane and tail.  There are different brushes to use for these areas because this hair is different.  Try not to let your horse’s mane and tail become matted as it will cause irritation to occur.

It will also stop the tail and mane from being nice and glossy.  You can find both plastic and metal combs to use for this. 

Finish one side of your horse by using a finishing brush.  This smoothes out the hair and skin and give your horse a nice shine.  Some riders also like to use a sponge or soft cloth to go over the horse after the finishing brush to make sure that everything is cleaned off.  This is especially effective for cleaning the ears, eyes, muzzle and dock. 

If you want to take your grooming a step further, you can do several extra touch-ups with your horse.  Grooming spray can be used to give your horse an extra shine. You can also use scissors or clippers to keep the areas where the bridle sits (bridle paths), trimmed for more comfortable riding. This also helps to prevent excessive sweating and skin disease.

Previous Articles By This Author

• Buying Your First Horse
• Equipment for Horses
• Basics of Horse Care
• The History of Horses
• Keeping your Horse Healthy