How to Groom a HorseWhat you’ll need:
Rubber curry comb: Plastic or rubber brush with dull teeth used for loosening dirt and mud.
Metal curry comb: Metal comb used for cleaning brushes.
Dandy brush: Stiff-bristled brush made for removing loose dirt, mud and hair. It can be used on the mane and tail.
Body brush: Soft-bristled brush made for removing dust and any remaining dirt.
Hoof pick: A metal utensil made for cleaning out the inside of a horse’s foot.
Hoof oil: To keep the horse’s feet healthy.
Stable cloth: To give the horse’s coat shine.
Sponge: To clean the dock.
For those of you who don’t know what grooming a horse is, grooming (or as it is sometimes called: currying) is when you brush a horse or pony with a series of brushes to get him clean. It can be an easy job or a hard job, depending on how dirty, big, and fuzzy your horse is. If your horse is stabled, a full grooming is good at least every other day. If your horse lives out in a pasture most of the time, he shouldn’t be given a full grooming unless he’s about to be ridden, because grooming a horse removes the natural oils that keep his coat waterproof. You should be sure your horse is dry before you groom him. Wet mud is almost impossible to remove. If a lot of work is put into grooming, it can improve his circulation and muscle tone. If you’re like many young adults, you may find the concept of walking up to a 1,000 pound animal a bit scary. Just keep this happy thought in mind: Humans have been riding and caring for horses for over 4,000 years, and our species still survives!
So you want to get that big, hairy equine clean. To give a horse a full grooming, just follow these steps: Body, hooves, mane/tail, and dock.
The horse’s body:
First, gather your things and walk to the horse’s left side.
Next, take the rubber curry comb and rub it in firm circles all over the horse’s body, except on his head, and go softer on sensitive areas, like the knees and hocks (the “knee” of the hind leg). Loosen any dried mud and loose hair.
Then take the dandy brush and brush it down firmly in the direction of the hairs. Use long strokes, to get as much of the mud, loose hair, and other debris off as you can. Don’t use the dandy brush on the horse’s head; they are too prickly.
After you’ve completed the previous steps, take the body brush and brush the horse completely in the direction the hair lies, including the head and legs. Use your body weight to deep clean the coat and skin. If your horse is exceptionally dirty, you may want to repeat the step with the body brush several times.
Tip: If your horse is shedding, use a shedding blade to remove the dead fur.
The horse’s hooves:
Have you ever heard the saying, no hoof, no horse? Well, it’s true. Without healthy hooves, a horse can’t function well. Thinking about this will help you want to keep your horse’s tootsies clean and healthy.
The first step to clean a horse’s foot is to pick out the hooves. Start on your horse’s left side (as always), facing his hindquarters, and run your hand down the left foreleg, lean your body weight against the horse’s shoulder, to make him shift his weight to the other foreleg, and push on the front of the hoof to lift it. Use the hoof pick to clean out the horse’s hooves. Be careful not to poke the horse’s hoof, and be especially gentle around the frog (the V-shaped formation in the middle of the underside of his hoof). Some horses have been trained to lift their feet when you press the chestnut (the bone-like material on the inside of the leg. Try this if your horse doesn’t lift his feet when you ask him to.
When the first hoof is clean, move to the hind hoof of the left side, pick up the hoof and clean it. When both left hooves are clean, move to the right hind leg. Don’t go to the right foreleg after you finish the left feet. Do the feet in this order: Left foreleg, left hind leg, right hind leg, right foreleg.
If you want, you can put hoof oil on the hooves. Hoof oil isn’t an essential part of grooming, but it helps keep your horse’s hoof healthy and good-looking. To put hoof oil on your horse’s feet, follow the hoof sequence above. Rub the outside - or the wall - of your horse’s hoof with the stable cloth to remove any dirt before you put the oil on. Make sure the oil hasn’t separated, then dip the brush into the oil and paint the hoof, avoiding the hairs above the hoof. Do this to each of the hooves.
Mane and tail:
After all the steps above are completed, you can brush your horse’s mane and tail. Start with the mane. Separate the hairs of the mane, and then brush it out with a comb or the dandy brush. To do the tail, separate the hairs of the tail while standing to the side of your horse. Then, starting at the bottom, brush the whole tail.
The dock:
The dock is the part of the horse in the very back below the tail. Nobody wants to clean this part of the horse, but it has to be done. It’s best to wear gloves to do this. Wet the sponge, gather the tail, and wipe downwards. Wash your hands, the gloves and the sponge afterwards.
The very last step to groom a horse is to wipe him down with the stable cloth. Make sure it’s clean from the hooves, dampen it, and wipe the whole horse in the direction the hair lies, to give his coat a glossy sheen. Now you and your glamorous steed can hit the trail!
Notes:
1. Don’t stick your head in right in front of or behind a leg. When she was six, somebody you may know (OK, it was me, Kristen), stuck her head in front of a horse’s foreleg when she was about to climb up at a birthday party, and received a bump on the back of her head roughly the size of Nevada.
2. Don’t put your hands under a horse’s mouth, as they sometimes bite.
3. Don’t stand behind a horse because you might get kicked.
4. Don’t go up to a strange horse and assume that he/she is open to grooming unless someone told you.
5. Horses do not have nerve endings in their manes, so they shouldn’t mind you if you have to tug at them.
6. Don't stand under a horse's head, because he may bump your head or mistake your hair for hay, you don't want that kind of haircut!
