Grooming is an important part of keeping your horse healthy. It involves more than just brushing its hair. By grooming you get a chance to inspect your horse up close for any injuries and it provides a good chance to bond with your horse. Also, it is very important to do this before riding your horse, as sand between the saddle and the horse's back can cause sores. So can little bits of hay, hay dust and straw. As a former member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who trained in 1961, my dad has hundreds of hours of interacting with horses. As well as receiving 180 hours of formalized equitation instruction, he had to spend hundreds more hours grooming, feeding, and exercise riding. In addition he spent nearly 300 days doing either morning or evening stable duty. This involved cleaning out the stalls in the morning and feeding the horses and in the evening feeding the horses and putting down fresh bedding and a bundle of hay.
To groom your horse you'll need several tools. They are a hoof pick, rubber curry comb, stiff body brush, fine finishing brush, mane and tail comb, and soft cloths. You can keep all these neatly organized in a large bucket. MAKE THE BUCKET SOFT PLASTIC. If the horse decides to kick it, you don’t want a hard bucket flying through the air. The horse could also receive a cut from a hard bucket.
Before you begin, make sure your horse is tied to a secure object and use a quick release knot in case of trouble. Don’t snub the horse too close to the tie up position, but don’t leave enough slack in the line so that the horse can turn its head far enough to bite you if you press on a ticklish spot.
Start your grooming session by lifting up each of your horse's hooves and using the hoof pick, picking out any dirt or manure that is stuck to the frog or sole of the foot. When doing this, make note of any hoof cracks and make sure, if your horse is shod, to see if the shoes are properly fitted and that all of the nails are present and tight. Alert your Farrier to any problems (a farrier is a person who shoes horses and takes care of their hooves).
Next take a curry comb to any areas of your horse's coat that are dirty. Be careful, because a curry comb can be irritating to a horse's sensitive areas and in the bony areas like the shoulders and legs.
Then with a main and tail brush remove any dirt or tangles from the main and tail. It is best to start from the top of the main or tail and work your way down. Sometimes if the hair is really tangled, you can use a grooming spray to help untangle the hair. When grooming the tail be sure to stand on the side of the horse and not directly behind to avoid being kicked. You only have to make this mistake once. If you recover enough to be able to return to riding and looking after your horse, you will NEVER stand directly behind him again. (Dad saw a 250 pound police recruit get kicked 20 feet through the air and into a brick wall. He spent several days in the hospital and was VERY careful around horses thereafter.)
Now, with a good body brush, brush your horse from head to toe. This brush will help to remove all the dirt and dandruff brought to the surface by the curry comb. Use short sweeping strokes, and try to use enough force to get the bristles all the way to the skin. Do this all over your horse's body. Just like a human’s, a horse’s stomach is ticklish, so be careful.
With a soft finishing brush, groom your entire horse to help bring out the shine in your horse's coat. A soft brush will help remove the finer dust particles not already removed by previous brushing.
Finish your horse's grooming session by using a rag and gently wipe your horse's ears and nose, inside and out. Also, you can apply hoof ointment to your horse's feet to help keep them shiny and healthy. By performing a good grooming session each time you ride your horse you are helping to keep your horse heathy and clean. (Note! The Royal Canadian Mounted Police Musical Ride horses are groomed at least once each day and sometimes they get groomed two or three times, depending on the number of shows they do in a day).
Until next time,
Teia
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