Grooming For Horses

Grooming is very important to a horse’s health and overall well  being.  Grooming isn’t just cosmetic; your horse needs to be groomed every day to stay healthy. Grooming is also a good time to examine your horse and check the horse for any bumps or bruises or other injuries.  Here are some tips collected from horse owners all over on ways to groom your horse more effectively:

• Use whitening toothpaste to whiten socks and white face markings. Rub the toothpaste onto the white areas with your hand or a soft sponge and rinse clean. The white will be blinding.

• Use cornstarch to freshen up white socks or white hooves, especially before going into the show ring or whenever you want your horse to look great.

• To detangle a really matted tail or mane, take a gentle dish soap and wash the tail with that and then work out the tangle with a stiff brush.

• Baby wipes are a great way to “spot clean” your horse.

• Use a chamois or microfiber cloth to “dust” your horse after grooming. It will remove all the fine dust and hair that even the softest brush won’t remove.

• If there’s no time to give your horse a bath but the horse really needs one, use a dry shampoo and a soft sponge to wipe the horse down.

• Use a shine product like Show Sheen on your horse immediately after a bath and any barn dust that settles on the coat will slide right off.

• If your horse has a pink or white nose always put some zinc oxide or sunscreen on the nose to protect it from sunburn.

• Always brush in the direction of the hair growth except when you’re currying. Use small circles when you’re currying to loosen dead hair and dust.

• If you can’t wash your muddy or sweaty horse, let the mud or sweat dry and then brush it off; don’t try to brush it off wet or you’ll just spread it around.

• Use color enhancing shampoos to bring out the natural tones and highlights in your horse’s coat.

• Horse Grooming Box Essentials
  
  When you first buy a horse you’ll probably be tempted to go buy every product that they sell in the grooming aisle but horse owning veterans know that you don’t need a lot of fancy products to keep your horse healthy and looking great. If you want to put together a no frills, cost effective grooming kit that can go from the lesson ring to the show ring, here are the products that you need to have on hand: