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Horse Grooming & Care
by Marie Sberna
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Overview
Four sound feet are indespensable to good horse performance.
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Grooming and conditioning your horse is a vital part of having a healthy, happy horse that will give you many hours of enjoyment. The sleek, well-groomed, muscled condition of a show horse is the result of four major factors: balanced nutrition, proper health care, regular exercise and conditioning, and good daily grooming.
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Grooming the Body
Use a rubber currycomb on your horse's entire body, except for the legs, mane and tail. Use circular strokes to loosen dirt and dead hair, starting at the neck and working down. As you brush, clean out your currycomb frequently. The currycomb is an excellent tool to remove dirt, mud, loose hair and sweat marks.
A dandy brush or stiff-bristled brush should be used after the currycomb. Good brushing with a dandy brush requires some elbow grease. Use short, strong strokes with a flip of the wrist at the end of each stroke to remove dirt and dead hair. Brushing the hair along the natural direction in which it lies aids in removing dirt.
Only a soft-bristle brush should be used on the horse's head. A horse's head is very sensitive, and the previous brushes could injure him or make him "head shy."
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Grooming the Mane
The length and style of horse manes varies among breeds, and even among different riding styles within breeds. For all breeds, however, the mane should be kept clean and free of knots and tangles. Use a brush or a comb to gently remove tangles from the mane. A bit of coat polish can help speed the process and help tangles come out easier. Take care to avoid breaking the hairs as much as possible, because rough combing and hair breakage can create a fuzzy appearance along the top of the mane.
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Grooming the Tail
The tail should be clean and tangle free. Use a brush to smooth the hair, then gently remove tangles with your fingers to avoid breaking the hair. When brushing the tail, start at the end. Brush and untangle about 4 inches of tail, then move up the tail and include the next 4 inches, and so on until the entire tail is untangled and brushed.
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Grooming the Feet
Properly caring for a horse's feet includes keeping them clean, preventing them from drying out, and trimming them so they retain their proper shape and length. Have a farrier trim or shoe your horses regularly. Clean out the horse's feet daily, or at least clean them out before and after you work your horse to be sure there's nothing is in the foot--such as a stone--that could cause injury.
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Exercise and Conditioning
In order to perform well, a horse must be properly conditioned and trained for the job he is expected to do. He needs regular exercise and proper training to develop stamina, suppleness, muscular strength and agility.
The safest and best conditioning for a young horse or an out-of-condition horse is hours of walking and trotting. This process is called "legging up," and it not only helps condition the horse's muscles, tendons, ligaments and bones, but also allows the rider time to develop basic skills.
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Nutrition
Horses are herbivores--animals that feed mainly on grass and other plants. As such, their digestive system is designed to consume small amounts of feed over the course of the day. Domestication has changed the feeding habits of a horse to two large meals per day, which can disrupt the horse's digestive system and result in colic.
The goal in feeding a horse is to meet her needs and maintain her health and condition. In order to accomplish this, the horse must receive adequate amounts of the proper nutrients on a daily basis. There are five types of nutrients which horses require: protein, vitamins, minerals, energy and water.
