Grooming a horse is the one most crucial step in tacking up to ride. Horses do not clean themselves like cats or humans do so someone must do it for them. When grooming a horse you will form a bond with them and it will help you grow a partnership with them. In this weeks blog we will go over the necessary tools you will need and the correct ways to use them

    To start off I will go over the tools you will need to groom. To make this information easier to understand I will go in order of the steps you need to take. 

1. The first step will include a curry comb, this is a round rubber brush that has short rubber teeth that are in a circular pattern. 

2.The next step would be a hard bristle brush that is usually made of synthetic bristles or plastic.

3. The last step for the body would be to use a soft bristle brush that is made out of pig or horse hair. 

4. For the face you can use all the same brushes, but I would personally skip out on using hard brushes. 

5. The hoofs only require one tool and that is the hoof pick. I prefer a hoof pick that has both the pick and the bristles on the other side. 

6. For the mane and tail you will need a durable hairbrush or comb. 

Once you have the basic brushes you can now get extra supplies if you would like. Here are some supplies I like to use while grooming. 

• Vetrolin Detangler (mane and tail)

• Vetrolin Shine (hair and coat)

• Mustad Thrush Buster (if needed for the feet)

• Shapley’s MTG (mane, tail or scars)

• Feibing’s Hoof Oil (outside of hoof)

    Now that we have gone over some of the basic tools you need, now its time to know how to use them. Starting with the curry comb you will use this to break up all the dirt and hair that is on the horse's coat. You will move the curry comb  in small circular motions that go against the horse's natural coat pattern. After you have completed this step all over the horse you will take the hard brush and go with the horse's natural coat pattern and flick the dirt and hair off. The finishing step is using the soft brush to make the coat shiny again. Moving on to the mane and tail I use about a quarter size amount of detangler and spread it all over the main and tail to ensure I do not pull any unnecessary hair out when I use my brush or comb. The feet you will the hoof pick and get out all the mud, dirt or rocks out of the horses feet to make sure it doesn’t cause any discomfort when riding. These are the basic steps you will take to properly groom your horse.

If you have any questions about how to groom your horse or any other questions about riding, send us an email on our contact form and we will help you out.