Making your horse look beautiful and amazing is not the only reason for grooming him. There are many more benefits to it than that.
Beginners may know that the horse needs to be brushed but they don’t know how to groom a horse or the necessary reasons for it. Find out how!
Why should you regularly groom your horse?
Diligent, detailed, regular grooming of your horse stimulates the horse’s circulation. It helps to condition the horse’s muscles also. It can coax oils to release in the skin. This can help the skin to behave as a barrier for bacteria and many diseases. It also gives your horse a gorgeous, shiny coat.
Another benefit to grooming your horse all of the time is that you get to know your horse’s body. This will help you to notice anything out of the ordinary about your horse. Things like scrapes, bumps, scratches, or anything else.
Groom your horse before you take him for a ride. This enables you to be sure there is no dirt that will rub against his skin under the tack and irritate it.
When a horse is in a herd, they will usually groom each other. There are lots of reasons for this. One of those reasons is because it helps the horses to bond. This means when you take the time to groom your beautiful horse, you are like another member of the herd to him.
Things to have in your grooming kit
Most people have grooming kits for themselves and we put all kinds of things in them that we will never even use. In your horse’s grooming kit, there are only a few things that you will need constantly.
When you are learning how to groom a horse, you will learn that these are the main essentials that you need for the kit.
Metal Curry Comb
Metal curry combs aid in getting rid of mud and shavings on your horse as well as help to improve his skin’s circulation. They also give you a great way to clean off your blankets and brushes. Make sure that for your horse you only use the circular one. The square ones are for cleaning only the brushes.
Rubber Curry Comb
Some horses simply do not like a metal comb. Also, for the really sensitive areas, a rubber comb is better.
Hoof pick with a brush
Having a combination brush/hoof pick takes up a little less room in your kit and it keeps you from having to look through your kit for the brush once you have finished picking out your horse’s hooves.
Grooming gloves
These gloves are amazing after you bathe or wash off your horse. It makes his coat shine to an absolutely beautiful shimmer and will smooth his hair down.
Body brush
After you get all of the dirt out of your horse’s hair, then your need this brush to get it all off of his coat. Body brushes are usually soft enough to be able to use around his legs and his face. Now, if you have a horse that is extremely sensitive, add a face brush to your kit, this will help.
Mane comb
It’s alright to use your body brush on his tail and mane but if you want the job done right with less fight then get a mane comb. It works a lot better for getting the tangles out and that makes for easier braiding.
Sponges
When it comes to the sponges, I suggest 4 different sponges with 3 different colors. They can be any color you want but I use yellow for the horse’s face (2 of them), black for the horse’s anus (1 of them), and red for his genitals (1 of them). Remember to replace these sponges on a regular basis.
Discount stores always have plenty of different colors and the sponges are ridiculously cheap. You can also buy special sponges just for horses at any tack shop.
Baby wipes
These are such wonderful inventions and have so many different uses for everything. For your horse though, wipe your horse down to tame his hair but it also removes sweat, dirt, and grass stains.
How to groom a horse – a step by step guide
1. Tie up the horse
Using a “quick-release knot” tie your horse up because it will make grooming him so much easier if he can’t move around all over the place.
2. Hooves
The first thing that you need to do when you start to groom your horse is to clean his hooves. While doing this make sure to check his feet and legs for any abnormalities that require medical attention. Remove any rocks or stones (or anything else) stuck in his foot to make him more comfortable while you do the rest of his grooming.
3. Currying
Start on the horse’s neck (not the head) and in a circle motion, work downward in the direction of his tail with a “metal curry comb”. This removes any loose hair and dead skin cells. His coat has oil in it, and it brings this oil to the surface of his coat making it shine. The more you do this the more his coat will shine.
When currying his head and his legs, use the rubber curry comb.
4. The horse’s body
When you are done with currying the horse, take the body brush and use “short flicking motions” firmly, to brush his entire body. This should get all of the dirt and hair off of him. Put a lot of work into this step of the process because it will make his coat shine more.
Make sure that every few strokes you run the curry comb through the brush to get out any hair and dirt.
5. Delicate areas
Once you are done brushing and cleaning off your horse’s body then it is time to do the sensitive areas like his nostrils, eyes, genitals, and anus. As stated above, use different colored sponges for each area.
Dampen the sponge and wipe each area to wipe any debris or dirt. If your horse seems to be a little unhappy with this, be gentler. But, if he really doesn’t want you to do this then stop. Try again another day.
6. Tail and mane
This is where you are really going to run into a lot of tangles.
Mane
Start with the body brush. This will enable you to remove dirt and mud from the mane. Once all of the mud and dirt are out then use the mane comb to get the tangles out. Take your time and be as gentle as possible.
If it’s too tangled, get some Horse Mane & Tail Detangler and spray it on his mane. Then try to comb through it again. If you comb his tail every day, that will make it a lot easier with a lot fewer tangles every day.
Tail
This is usually the most difficult part of your horse to clean and brush. Mainly because of how tangled and filthy the tail gets. This makes the hair on the tail break so easily. You’ll need to wash his tail on a regular basis. If, for whatever reason, you don’t have the time to wash his tail regularly, then get some baby wipes and wipe his tail down. This will help to keep it clean until you can wash it.
You can also use the detangler on his tail to help you be able to brush it.
Just FYI – A horse’s tail grows exceedingly slow. It can take as much as 3 years for your horse’s tail to grow to its full length.
White markings
If your horse has white markings, it may be a little harder to get clean. There are a few things that can help to remove discoloration and stains.
With white “socks”, keep them trimmed short and use the purple or blue shampoo. This will clean them and brighten them.
Does your horse have a tail that is starting to turn a dull yellow? Believe it or not, use ketchup. This restores it to the natural color. Cover the tail with ketchup, leave it for 15-20 minutes. Rinse the tail off and there you have it!
If you have a horse with white on his face, consider using a leave-in shampoo. This helps to get rid of even grass stains. Afterward use a wet, warm washcloth to wipe his face.
Shine!
Okay so this step isn’t actually necessary but if you take a couple of minutes to do it, your horse’s coat will shine even more.
Use your grooming glove and run it once more all over your horse’s body. From the top of his head to the tip of his tail. It gets rid of the static build-up from grooming and also any hair that has managed to get back on him.
Clean blankets
Always make sure to clean your blankets after grooming your horse. You don’t want to put a dirty blanket on a freshly groomed horse.
Run your metal comb over it and it will get rid of any hair, dried sweat, and dried mud, or dirt. Do this every time you groom your horse, and it will make it easier the next time.
Wash your blankets on a cold wash cycle every week. Using cold water keeps your blanket from shrinking.
Clean your brushes
Clean your brushes after every grooming. If you don’t clean them then you’re just putting dirt right back onto your horse the next time you brush him.
Hand wash them with a little bit of soap then let them dry naturally.
Conclusion
Now that you have learned how to groom a horse, have fun with it. I promise you that your horse is going to love it.