How to Groom and Wash Your Horse
Grooming (the process of brushing and picking your horse's hooves,) your horse is one of the most basic, and necessary things you need to know about when owning a horse. By doing this, you are not only cleaning your horse's coat and hooves so that they are free of dirt, rocks and loose hair, but also connecting and bonding with your horse. Through brushing your horse, your horse learns that your touch is soft and kind, and that you would never hurt them. When brushing your horse, your horse can also sense your feelings and almost in a way that's not quite like humans, understand you. Horses pick up on even the slightest change of mood, or feeling. And they mirror your heart: if you are feeling nervous and anxious when riding or leading your horse, your horse knows, and will also start feeling anxious and not sure of what your doing or asking for. Same goes for if you are getting frustrated with your horse and irritated, your horse will get up set with you and not be willing to do what your asking or wanting.
But now for actually grooming your horse. Equipment you will need are:-A curry comb. The curry comb is the first brush you use. It is used in circular motions on your horse's skin. (Although not anywhere near the head as it is too rough, and do not use on top of the horse's spine.) The curry comb brings up all the dirt and muck that's hiding underneath the hair so that you can brush it off. Firmly brush the horse's coat, not super gently.
-Dandy brush, also known as a Body Brush. The dandy brush is used to brush away all that loose dirt you brought up with the curry comb and to make the horse's coat smooth and free of any debris. When brushing the horse's coat, brush in the direction of the hair growth.
-Soft brush. The soft brush is used to brush your horse's face, legs and spine. Because it's softer than the body brush, it won't irritate any part of your horse's skin.
-Hoof pick with brush. The hoof pick is specially designed to clear out any debris and/or rocks that are stuck on the sole of the hoof. You can usually buy hoof picks with a little brush stuck on the other side of the pick to brush the sole after picking out bigger chunks of dirt, mud, rocks etc. This does not hurt.
-Comb. Almost any comb will do. This is used for the mane. Gently stroke down with the direction of the hair.
-Hair brush. The hair brush is used for the horse's tail. Because horses have really thick tails, the bigger the brush, the better! (Obviously not too big.)
Now that I have listed all the tools used to groom your horse, here's a video explaining how to groom:
#1. Using the curry comb, rub in circular motions on the horse's skin. Use firm but not rough pressure:
#2. Using the dandy brush, do long, flicks following the hair growth direction:
#3. Now using the soft brush for the face, legs and spine, do the same as if you were using the dandy brush:
#4. Using a brush for the tail, start your way at the very end of the tail and slowly work your way up the tail, making sure to smoothen out all knots:
#5. Using the comb for the mane, do as you would do for the tail; start at the tips of the mane and work up, smoothening out all knots:
#6. Then lastly is the hoof pick. Here's a quick video showing how to pick out a horse's hooves: (But if your horse is barefoot, you would dig the hoof pick around the insides of the hoof wall to remove the dirt from there too, if there were no shoe there.
#1. Using a hose, with room temperature water, hose down the horse's body, starting at the hooves and working your way up the legs and then doing the belly, going up and then to the spine and back to the rump. When doing the head (only if your horse is OK with it's head being sprayed) you start at the horse's shoulder and work your way up the neck, slowly. If your horse starts to panic once you've reached the head, straight away take away the hose from the3 horse's head and don't pray up there. Instead, use a wet sponge to clean away all the dirt from the horse's face, going around the eyes and ears and muzzle. (Nostrils and around mouth) Tip: A lot of horse's like to drink from the hose. Make sure you get all underneath the horse's body not just on top. The horse must be fully soaked in order for you to start applying shampoo.
#2. With the shampoo, you will squirt a little 5 cent coin size in your hand and apply it to the horse's legs. One leg at a time. Use a bit more shampoo for each leg as you run out of it in your hand. Once you've applied the shampoo on the leg. rub it with both hands to make sure the shampoo is really cleaning the hair. After you have rubbed in the shampoo really well on the leg, rinse it thoroughly with the hose to ensure there is no shampoo left behind, as if it is left to dry, it can irritate the horse's skin and even sometimes do some damage to it. Repeat this whole process with the other three legs. Now for the upper body. Apply about a 10 cent coin size of shampoo on the palm of your hand, wipe it onto one side of the horse's body (on the side of the belly) and then really scrub it into the horse's coat. If you need more, squirt more of the shampoo onto the horse's body. Fully shampoo one whole side of the horse's body, including the neck (not the head though) and the rump at the back. Then with the hose, rinse off all the shampoo really well. Then repeat this same process on the other side of the horse.
#3. Now for washing your horse's mane and tail. Hose down the mane and make sure it is fully soaking. Squirt shampoo all along the mane, going length ways, and rub it in well. Then rinse off the mane really well and squeeze it out. And if you are going to use a de-tangler for the mane apply as much as you want to the mane and use a comb to brush the mane when it's almost dry.
Now for the tail, you will need to fill up the bucket about 1/4 of a way and squirt a little bit of shampoo into the bucket. Using the hose, fully drench the tail, starting at the dock and going down to the tip of the tail. Apply about a 5 cent coin size of shampoo on the dock and rub it in. Add shampoo to the rest of the tail then bring the bucket up to almost the hock, as high as you can, with the whole tail sitting in the bucket and let the tail soak in the soapy water for a minute or two then bring it out and rinse out the whole tail, again starting at the hock and making your way down the tail to the end. Squeeze out the tail as well as you can to prevent it from dripping water.
I hope this article helped you and I hope you enjoyed!
If your horse is suspected with a health issue, consult your vet straight away.
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