Grooming Your Horse:  How to, etc

Grooming is essential for people that are using their horses to.  Grooming gives the person information about the horse (multi-tasking).  The horse should enjoy being groomed.  

Information about the horse grooming time will give:

1.   Heath:  shiny coat, that is smooth and laying flat
1. Dull coat is not good.  Change nutrition, check for worms, temperature 
2. standing up coat:  cold horse?  
3. Rough:  not shedded out.  Shedding process varies between horses:  colour (light coloured horses have a lot more hair than a dark horse, warmth of the sun, shelter the horse, health issues, too thin (cold)
4. lumps on the body, scrapes, injuries can be hidden by a long winter coat.  Lumps should be monitored.  Swellings. (wasp? reaction to feed or bugs or product used not he horse?)  
5. behaviour of the horse:  more docile than usual, restless, tail swishing (discomfort indicator), alert, 
6. posture of the horse: resting 1 leg, front leg pointing, both front legs pointing, tense, very docile with head down lower than usual
7. stomping a foot, head shaking (turning to you), ears back, tail swishing, moving away from you, biting (at you or onto something), tight skin, tight muscle

Monitoring the horse is most important because then something can be done before it becomes a “big issue”

Horses should enjoy being groomed.  It should not be torture.  Using good tools helps.  

Good dandy brushes (long narrow, long bristled brush) have:

a) natural bristles (these are quite expensive but last for decades.  Don’t lend)

b) bristles that bend a bit with some pressure

c) have lots of bristles per square inch

d) bristles are about 3” long

Clean with a metal curry comb or brush cleaner after a few strokes

Used:

a) on a horse that lives out

b) after using the curry comb

Stiff, hard brushes are acceptable on dry muddy areas or hooves, but not for general grooming.  

Curry comb

metal curry combs are excellent brush cleaners.  That’s it.

Rubber curry combs:

a) are excellent for cleaning deeply by bringing the dirt to the surface.

b) Good for using on lightly shedding horses

c) massage

d) Use by pressing with all your bodyweight behind it on muscles in circles.  

e) Use very lightly on legs and bony areas.

f) Knock out the dirt every so often. 

g) Oval with strap on back with attacked teeth (v shaped) last longest

Body brush

oval short bristled brush with strap on handle

a) Very dense, hard bristles are best for cleaning the horse.  These are expensive but clean thoroughly and if looked after will last decades

b) Bring out the shine

c) massages the muscles

d) press hard on muscles

e) clean after several strokes

f) remove the horse’s weather proofing

Used after the dandy brush to remove fine dirt.

g) brush with the hair

Mane and tails 

1.  Use a dandy brush on mane if short, not on tail

1. People hair brush (with nylon bristles)
1. Start at the bottom and work up
2. Thick bristles will break the hair and pull out hair.  Some horses object a lot to this.

3. Tack store bristles brushed need to be used carefully as will break and pull out the hair

4. Mane combs are used for braiding (dividing the mane into sections) or pulling the hair.

5. Big plastic toothed combs are ok if used with care

Cloth

For wiping the fine dust off the horse.

Natural fibres are best (linen is traditional)

Sponges: 2

-one for eyes, nose, and mouth 

-one for under tail, sheath and udder

There are numerous other tools for grooming on the market.  These are the basics and most commonly available.

How to Groom

1.  Tie horse.

2.  Use tool in left hand on left side of the horse until go to brush hindquarters then switch to right hand.  

3.  Start as shoulder and work forward to head, then belly then flank (lightly here) then hindquarters.

4.  Keep other hand on the horse at all times.

5.  Stand a bit away from the horse so you can lean in.  Your are massaging as well as cleaning.

6.  If your horse objects by tail swishing, swinging head to you, pins ears and rolls eyes to you, moves away:  your horse is telling you that she doesn’t like it.  You must then figure out why?

a) brush too stiff

b) tight muscles

c) pain from ?

d) bruised

e) pressing too hard on a sensitive area (bony, flank, around the sheath and udder

Ears turned to you means the horse is watching you.  Pinned is when flat to neck and lips crinkle (not good manners)

Could be habit, not you (horse OTTB? been to a busy trainer?)  You need to decide what is causing the reaction.  

Always keep other hand on the horse.  The horse stepping towards you will push you away if your hand is on the horse.  You can feel tensing happening.  Don’t get sloppy because your (current) horse is “ok”.  The next horse you groom may not be.

Keep your feet out from under the horse.  If you get stepped on more than once, then you are not keeping your feet out from under the horse and the horse is not staying far away from you.

Head

I use a dandy brush lightly.

Feet

Pick out front feet by:

1. Stand beside the front leg, facing the rear
2. slide your hand down from the withers down to the hoof, changing to the front of the leg at the knees
3. Horse should pick up by then if accustomed.  Hold the hoof/toe area.
1. if not: repeat run from withers to hoof
2. bump horse with your hip
3. tap with hoof pick  (it is better to have the horse offer the hoof than for you to force it up ..in many ways)
1. pinching a nerve is rude

4. Pick form heels to toe, cleft of frog, around the toes

Place the hoof down (dropping is rude and teaches behaviour you don’t want)

If

1. horse leans on you:  poke girth area with thumb while holding up hoof
2. horse swings leg:  hold on and go with the horse (you cannot out muscle the horse so go with it).  Hold the toe and pull up if possible.
3. horse rears, takes leg away (hold more under the horse, you are pulling the leg out).  Horses with tight elbows cannot have leg pulled out sideways.  It hurts!
4. puts foot down when finished on own (someone has been dropping the hoof so horse knows what to do).  Pick up hoof and then place it down. 

Picking out hind foot

1. Stand facing the rear, inline with hindleg
2. Run hand from croup, around the leg at the hock to the back of the leg, to the fetlock.  By this time the horse should have picked up.  Hold the hoof/toe area.  It gives you more control.
3. Pick from heel to toe, around the toe, frog
4. Place foot onto ground

If

1. Horse pulls leg forward when first picks up:  go with it.  Horses do this.
2. Horse pulls leg from you (bend knees more as the hoof is too high behind (hock issues))
3. Horse pulls leg from you:  pulling leg out sideways too far.  Stop it. You are at fault.
4. Kicks:  someone let go of the leg when the horse swung its leg and taught the horse to kick
5. Stomps down immediately after picking up foot.  tap hoof so horse picks up willingly.  (I think it is a soundness issue but some people think it is a trained response from letting horse put leg down)
6. Won’t left you pick up hind foot:  kicks at you:  stand closer (against the horse) and hold on.
1. Use clicker training and touch leg with a stick:  do not let horse get touch off the leg.  This is what teaches the horse to kick.  Reward what you want.  Ignore the other.

7. Horse leans on you or kicks at you and cannot hold onto hoof:  repeatedly, fast poke with thumb on nearest (flank, hindquarter, ribs?) until horse stops.  (figure this out on your own but works like a charm)

Checking the feet:

1 cracks (toe or quarters) and horse is trimmed regularly (every 8 weeks +/-):  not balanced hoof…farrier issue

2.  spreading feet:  farrier issue if trimmed regularly (every 8 weeks +/-) (horse is landing more on that side)

3.  Smell: cleft in frog goes to heels, black gunk in frog cleft:  thrush

4. Bars:  come from heel along the frog:  should have a ridge then, not a line (new farrier needed)

5.  Angles:  front:  1 straight line along the front of the pastern and hoof;  heel line is sloped to same angle (parallel)

1) coronary band parallel to bottom of hoof on ground (no hills and dales)

2) both sides of hoof wall when looking at front are parallel 

If not ask your farrier.  Need a new farrier.  Feet are the key to soundness.

You want big feet on your big horse.  

A farrier can trim to make feet small.  Some horses are bred to have small feet (don’t buy or breed)

Chips:  soft feet if trimmed every 8 weeks +/-.  Try feeding a supplement (brewer’s yeast, has access to free choice mineral salt?)

Train your horse to like being groomed.  Scratch where the horse likes it and go lightly where doesn’t.  Horse should accept being touched everywhere.

Thoughts

Ears:  

Train horse in 1 session not to accept ears being touched:  when horse lifts head let hand slide off ears.  It is as easy as that.  

Keep hand on ear (just touching) and horse will let you in the end.  Just keep your hand there no matter what the horse does.  Reward with a rub.

Tense muscled horses do not like being groomed.  

Sensitive skinned horses need a lighter touch, different brush.  Massage with your hands to loosen.  

Stroke with your hands to give a good massage and shine.

Manual of Horsemanship (Blue Book) by the British Horse Society is easy to read.  Good for learning good horsemanship but assumes you have a well mannered horse.

New standard in safety is to wear a helmet when handling horses.  In the old days the groom always wore a cap for head protection.

Keep your hand on the horse when going behind. 

Say something when approaching a horse.  Especially if the ears are not turned to you.

Some horses have past issues that you can train out with time.  A little bit at a time.  

Wet horse

Don’t brush.  Wipe dry.  If muddy, dry the mud first. (assuming you don’t have a wash rack

Sweaty horse

Cool, dry then give a good grooming.  This is the best time

Tacking up

Light brushing with good grooming (30 min or so) after working.

Tack areas

If horse is muddy:  clean these areas well and ride.  Then know off the mud with a curry comb.

Must be clean as lots of pressure here.

Where to groom

Out of a high traffic area where the horse can see other horses is ideal.

If find a stall too dark.  But if your horse is not mannerly (kicks, bites) it is a better place than the aisle. (for other people)

A 12x12 or so grooming stall would be wonderful.

I like cross ties as the horse has more restricted movement.  Loose is not an option as then you teach the horse can move off whenever even when you are touching them. (start of hard to catch)

Photographs to come