Basic horse grooming - A discussion and informational video

Just like humans, grooming and looking good starts from the inside.  If you feed a horse what they need to be happy and healthy, their coat and skin will hopefully be in reasonably good shape.  I am not a nutritionist, but it is worth looking into your horse's diet, to make sure they are getting proper food based on their breeding, performance level, their age, the environment they live in, and the climate(s) that they have to deal with.  It goes without saying to make sure that they get all the care they require from their vet and dentist, and that they are wormed regularly.  

I formulate, make and sell natural grooming products.  I believe that my products add a lovely finishing touch to robust nutrition, overall care and a thorough grooming routine of your horse. However, when it comes to taking a direct approach to making your horse shine, elbow grease is the first line of attack.  LOTS of elbow grease.  Additionally, taking the time to groom your horse can also be very therapeutic for them.  It helps increase their blood circulation, it feels good (unless you have a super sensitive horse of course), and it helps you strengthen your bond with them.  Thus hard work, in partnership with the right set of tools and products, can help make your equine show ring ready. 

When I say the right set of tools, I don’t just mean the right grooming instruments, but the ones that go a step further and actually fit the size of your hand, and help you get your job done faster and more easily.  When you are looking at brushes etc., take the time to hold them in your hand, analyze the types of bristles or teeth they have, and even imitate the motion of grooming.  Can I hold this tool easily, or is it too heavy for me?  Are the bristles stiff enough to get off the type of mud that gets caked on my horse when he rolls out in field?  Will the teeth on this curry comb irritate my horse who has sensitive skin?  Of course, the questions you ask will be very different depending on yourself, and your horses needs.  

I learned the basics of grooming when I was a child living in England.  Every horse had a grooming kit which contained a rubber curry comb, hard brush, soft brush, hoof pick and metal curry comb (for cleaning brushes, not the horse!).  These few instruments are tried and true and I use them all pretty much every time I groom a horse.  In addition to this I like to have a mane and tail brush, an instrument for shedding (shedding blade, furminator or something else similar), and a clean washcloth for the face.  There are also some items I have for bathing, but that’s another topic for another day.  

If you work hard grooming your horse, the results will show.  Their coat will be healthier and more shiny; their mane and tail more tangle-free.  The next step would be to consider grooming products.    Grooming products can help enhance the hard work you put in.  They can also help solve minor problems. 

I put grooming products into two categories.  Type one is the kind that gets to the root cause of a problem, type two being that which treat a symptom, but don’t really help solve the underlying issue.  Here is an example.  A horse has a dull, tangled tail. There are products out there that would really help to improve it’s condition over time (ha insert product plug here, The Simple Equine’s Nourishing Avocado Tail Treatment!), and there are others that would create some shine and help get the tangles out without really doing anything to improve the tail.  I myself, prefer the former type of product.  I want my horses tail to be healthy and beautiful all of the time.  The product I use should aid in helping my horse to have the longest and fullest tail possible, so that they can swat away the flies with ease.   The product should also help the strength and condition of each individual hair, which will in turn help to create a more tangle-free tail which is easier and quicker to care for.

So a quick recap - work from the inside out - feed well, provide proper care from the vet and dentist, groom with the right tools and lots of enthusiasm and use grooming products when needed to make your horse look and feel even better.  

The short video below will help a person become familiar with horse and equine grooming concepts. We show foundation grooming tools - curry comb, dandy (hard) brush, body (soft) brush, and hoof pick. Start learning now. 

This video is not an inclusive video of everything that goes into grooming a horse, it is intended to be an introduction. You may or may not agree with what is shown, but we hope that you will be left with information to consider, mull over, or even agree to disagree about.

Tips for grooming muddy ponies and horses

For those of us in the Northeast, it's that time of year, when we are bound to look more dirty than our equine friends by the time we leave the barn.  Everything has melted, spring showers have arrived, and our horses are shedding like bandits.  Shedding also means they feel itchier than normal, and that means they are rolling like mad.  The warmer temperatures also mean that sometimes they get to go out without a sheet.  The result: an almost daily grooming battle, with a crusty, mud-covered, shedding horse.



There are two ways to tackle the cleaning of your muddy friend:

1.  If it is warm enough, you can rinse your horse off with the hose when they come in from the field.  This is the simplest solution, but at this time of the year, it's often not warm enough to do this in New England.  If you are unsure about whether it's okay to hose them off or not on a particular day, ask someone with more experience, such as your barn manager or instructor for guidance. If it's just slightly too cool to do a total body hose off, but I am in a desperate situation, a bucket of warm water and a sponge can be useful to spot wash any areas that really need it.

2.  Brush off the mud.  The key here is timing.  Timing is important because mud must be brushed off when the horse is dry.  If your horse isn't dry, you'll pretty much grind the mud further into his coat, rather than removing it.

• Use a rubber curry comb or rubber mitt to loosen up the dry mud and hair.  Feel free to do this pretty much all over the body, except the face and any sensitive spots (know your horse!). 

• Then take a dandy brush, aka a hard brush, and use short, firm, flicking motions in the direction of the coat to remove the dirt and hair.  Every few strokes, remove dirt and hair from the dandy brush, by using a metal curry comb (never to be used on a horse), or the stall door, or whatever you have handy so that you aren't just moving the dirt around on your equine pal. 

• If your horse is shedding buckets, take the time to use a shedding blade, ferminator or some other product (there are many out there on the market) to continue to remove extra hair.  At this point it's also a good idea to check for injuries and skin issues.  Run your hands over your horses body and legs to make sure there are no bumps, hot spots or anything unusual going on with their skin.

• Then give them a brush with a body brush, aka a soft brush.  I consider this more of the polishing stage.  Use plenty of elbow grease to help bring the shine out of their coat.  Each hair follicle is tied to a sebaceous gland which secretes sebum.  Sebum is what we would consider the natural oil in the coat, and the action of the body brush will help to work the sebum through the coat to create shine. 

• For the face, try to very gently brush off any mud with a soft brush or face brush.  If that isn't working, a clean cloth wet with warm water normally will do the trick. 

• Be sure to take the time to pick out feet properly.  Mud can mean that picking out one foot can take a couple of minutes and the apparent strength of an ox, but it is very important to ensure no hoof conditions are developing and there are no rocks mixed in with the mud. 

If you run into the situation of having a horse covered in wet mud, but needing to ride, my best advice is to use a damp towel or sponge to try and remove the mud from anywhere that the tack will be - face, and saddle and girth area in particular.  You might have to rinse and repeat a few times.  Mud left in those areas can cause rubs and discomfort.  I would personally leave the remainder of the mud, and brush it off after my ride, once it's dry.  Still, before riding, be sure to give the horse a once over making sure there are no injuries or skin issues.  And never neglect hooves, even if you end up looking more muddy than your horse by the time you've picked them out!

The only upside to the "muddy pony" situation is that you usually end up spending more quality time with your horse.  Often times, especially in the spring, they enjoy getting groomed more than any other time of the year.  Here's a video of my pal Jake enjoying a good scratch.  He expresses his delight well, doesn't he :)

Photo/video credits: Andra Constantin

This post is based on experience, learning and opinion.  You may or may not agree with what is written, but we hope that you will be left with information to consider, mull over, laugh at, or even agree to disagree about.  Thank you for reading.