Let’s Talk About Basic Horse Grooming

Grooming a horse is a fun, important part of taking care of any equine. 

In fact, it’s so fun and so important that we would love to share the experience with you!

In the wild, horses often engage in mutual grooming. This is when they groom each other – often standing shoulder to shoulder – and use their teeth and lips to scratch each other’s backs. Wild birds also help with the grooming process, often landing on horse’s backs to rest and pick insects off of them, and even grass and bushes play an important part in the wild horse’s grooming rituals by serving as a scrub brush.

However, as domesticated animals – especially if they are used for work or do not live in a herd – grooming must be aided by a human. While a dirty horse, donkey, or mule is very often a happy equine, this is not so if they are to wear a saddle, blanket, harness, or any other “tack”.

It is the caretaker’s job to ensure that any debris (such as particles of hay, chunks of dirt, or the pokey thorns of bushes) do not end up under any of the tack and thereby irritate the animal. This is also a great opportunity to check your horse for any injuries or health issues you may have not noticed from a distance.

To make a basic horse grooming kit, you can go to any local equestrian or feed store and should be able to find the following tools:

• Hoof Pick
• Curry Comb (metal or rubber)
• Stiff Brush (also called a hard brush)
• Mane and Tail Brush or Comb
• Clean Cloth or Rag (wash-cloth sized)

With these tools you can:

• Remove dirt from your horse’s hooves
• Raise deep dirt from your horse’s coat and remove stains
• Remove dirt from the surface of your equine’s coat
• Detangle your horse’s mane and tail
• Erase “eye boogers” from your horses face

So where should your grooming begin?

Hooves

Let’s start your basic horse grooming at the bottom. A horse’s hooves are thick toenails with a sensitive core. And like any toenails, without proper care, clipping and cleaning, they not only will get very dirty, but could cause health issues for your horse. But how do you clean a giant toenail? Well, you use a hoof pick.

This tool is perfect for getting the impacted dirt and rocks out of the nooks and crannies of your horse’s hoof.

If you have never used one before, watch a video first to make sure you will not injure your horse!

After picking up your horse’s hoof, push the pick into the impacted dirt near the horse’s heel (the fleshy part at the back of the hoof) being careful to not push the pick into any flesh. Then, drive the pick toward the horse’ toe, avoiding the middle of the hoof where the fleshy “frog” is located.

If you did it correctly, a clump of dirt will fall out and you should be able to see the hard bottom of the horse’s hoof below! Now, start back up at a different dirty spot near the heel and repeat until the entire bottom of the hoof is clear of any more large clumps of debris and the frog is clear.

Now that the hoof is clean, take a moment to examine it. Does everything look ok? Have you noticed any squishy spots on the bottom of the hoof? If not, and your horse is walking normally, then you are good to move on!

Grooming Head To Tail

Curry Comb

The curry comb should be the first grooming tool you use on your horse’s coat. They come in two varieties (metal and rubber) and usually look like this:

For our purposes, we will only be talking about the rubber one on the left.

This tool is used to bring dirt that is buried deep in your horse’s coat to the surface. It can also be used on mud spots or stubborn stains.

Gently, but firmly, apply pressure with the curry comb so that its teeth penetrate into the horse’s coat and touch their skin. Then, using a circular motion, rub the horse from the top of its neck to the upper part of its legs. Keep in mind, a curry comb can feel sharp to your horse on any body part that is not “fleshy”, so avoid the bony lower legs and face of a horse while using this brush.

This tool also has the added benefit of increasing the blood circulation to your horse’s skin and coat which will help it stay shiny and strong!

Stiff Brush

Once you have brought all of that deep dirt to the surface using a curry comb, we need to brush it away! Brushes come in many sizes and stiffnesses. If you need to make your horse especially shiny, you will eventually add a medium and a soft brush to your grooming kit. However, for this basic grooming session, a hard brush, like the one below, will suffice.

The secret to lifting dirt off of your horse’s coat and sending it away on the wind is to flick it.

Holding the brush in your dominant hand, start at the horse’s neck and use moderate pressure to sweep towards your horse’s butt in swift, short strokes. Essentially, you should be flicking your wrist so that the dust lifts up and off the horse’s body. With this brush, long, slow strokes, will not help clean your horse, donkey, or mule.

Brush from top to bottom, working from head to tail, until you have brushed every fleshy part of your horse. Continue to avoid your equine’s face, but using a gentler touch, you can use a stiff brush on the bony parts of your horse’s legs.

Mane and Tail Brush or Comb

These brushes come in a wide variety of shapes, but they are commonly characterized by many small bristles. They usually look very much like a human brush, and are used in largely the same way:

Starting at the tips of your horse’s mane, work your way from the tips to the root. Be careful to navigate tangles rather than ripping through them, as some horse’s manes grow back very slowly. You should try to pull as few mane hairs out as possible as you brush.

Brush your horse’s tail the same way. Start at the bottom and work your way to the top in small sections.

Using a dose of detangle on the mane and tail before brushing is not necessary, but will certainly help you untangle any knots and help keep them tangle-free for a while.

Rememeber – it is not necessary to brush your horse’s hair every day. In fact, it is generally considered bad practice. Brushing your horse’s mane and/or tail daily can lead to thinning mane and tail. It is better to brush it no more than once a week if necessary.

Clean Cloth or Rag

As a final touch, you can give your horse’s coat a beautiful luster and shine with a damp cloth. Wring out the cloth until it is like a damp sponge. Lay it flat under your palm and wipe in a steady motion from the top of your horse’s neck straight back to his tail. Do this, fron to back, top to bottom, until you have covered every inch of your horse.

The damp cloth will remove the remaining particles of dust which make a horse look dingy and should leave him with a glowing appearance.

Lastly, when you are completely done, do not forget to wipe around your horses eyes and nostrils to sweep away any “eye boogers” or “real” boogers that might be hanging around.

Yay! Clean Horses!

And there you have it – you’ve groomed your equine friend! Now, of course, this is simply an introductory guide to a handful of grooming tools that are out there on the market. Everyone has their favorite and eventually – through some trial and error – you will find your favorites, too.

No matter what you are using, just remember that the point of grooming your horse is to check its health, prepare it for the activities you hope to do together and, of course, to help build a positive social bond between you. As long as you are achieving those goals, what type of brushes you chose to use is really up to you.

If this all sounds wonderful and you’d like to give it a try yourself, join us on a Scratch and Ride Experience!

If you’d rather leave all that dirt-flicking to someone else, feel free to join us for just the riding portion on a beginner or advanced trail ride!

And if you’ve already booked a ride and want a heads-up on what it will be like, then our guide on “how to prepare for your first trail ride” is right up your alley!