Daily Horse Grooming Rituals

One of your greatest duties as a horse owner is to become fully acquainted with daily horse grooming rituals. Grooming your horse should be something you and your horse can enjoy on a daily basis. Grooming is not only essential for keeping your horse healthy; it can also help you establish a basis of trust and comfort between you and your horse. Horse grooming helps you keep in tune with your horses’ attitude and demeanor. By making sure to groom your horse on a daily basis, you'll be more likely to notice if he's not feeling well, or if he's suffering from any kind of injury. Of course, not everyone has the luxury of grooming his or her horse on a daily basis. You will need to make a conscious effort to be diligent about taking care of your horse. Remember that this can provide a great opportunity to bond with your horse.

As far as getting started with your daily horse grooming rituals, you should start by finding a halter that fits your horse well. Make sure that the halter is fitted, but that it doesn't fit so snug that you can't slip two fingers between the noseband and your horses muzzle. Follow the same rule when dealing with the headstall behind his ears. The last thing you want is for the halter to slip off as he pulls back, but be very careful, as you definitely don't want to strangle him either.

Begin by putting your halter on the horse, attaching the lead rope and then finding your most comfortable location to groom. If you're more comfortable, you can choose to tie your horse. Then you will want to drape the rope over your left arm, near your elbow. Begin brushing the horse on his left side with a rubber curry brush, starting gently behind his ears. Use short, firm, flipped out strokes. Move down to your horse's neck. Get the areas on top of his back and down to the top of his tail. This will help loosen any dirt that is caught in the horse's tail. Next move back to his shoulder and move down the horses shoulders and front legs. Move down to the horse's belly, up over his flanks to his hind legs. This should do the trick in case there's any dried mud that's matted into the horse's mane. Most horses enjoy this and these motions will visibly calm them. The teeth on the rubber curry brush tens to dig in just enough to stimulate the blood circulation and satisfy those itchy spots that the horse simply can't reach on his own.

Next, you may also want to use a stiff bristled body brush to move off the dust and dirt you already loosened with the rubber curry. Begin gently behind the horse's ears, brushing away any of the caked mud or dirt on the horse's cheeks with this brush. Brush along the horse's mane, paying special attention to the dip on his spine. The area directly behind the withers is where the saddle would sit. This spot has a tendency to collect dirt. You will definitely want to make sure to remove these before a workout. Otherwise, you may find that your horse is more susceptible to get saddle sores. Continue brushing with a stiff brush all over the horse's body. Work the area under his belly where a cinch or girth would lie. Try to flip your wrist as you go. This is a good trick for flicking the dirt off his coat. Use this brush on other key areas of the horse, including his legs, hooves, pasterns, and fetlocks. Use your brush to gently make a back and forth motion along the coronet band. This will also help loosen any caked dirt without irritating your horse's sensitive skin. Other prime grooming areas include the insides of the fore and hind legs with this brush. Be very careful around the teats on a mare as well as the sheath on a gelding or stallion. These areas include fine, short hair, and care should be taken to remove dirt from these areas. If your horse has particularly sensitive skin or hair, you can choose to use a softer body brush. A terry-cloth towel is another good choice for treating sensitive areas to remove debris.

After the process of brushing, next you'll need a hoof pick to clean your horses hooves. Cleaning your horse's hooves includes removing any rocks, mud, manure, or other objects. Start with the left front hoof. Carefully lift the hoof and hold it in your left hand, supporting the hoof. Hold the pick in your right hand and begin at the widest part of the frog. Make sure to push the sharp point of the pick away from you and your horse.

Every time that you engage in your daily horse grooming rituals, you'll notice that you and your horse will begin to bond. The more that you handle your horse's hooves, you'll find that your horse will become more willing and tame when it comes to picking up his hooves. Most horses do not enjoy having a leg snatched out from under them. In general, horses are known as prey animals and fleeing is their first defense. When you take a hoof away from a horse, this action can often seem threatening to him, so take extra care not to seem threatening. Continue to clean the horses hooves, finishing up the near side first, the right front and then his right rear. When finishing up, be careful not drop his hoof back to the floor where you are finished with a hoof. This can be very uncomfortable for a horse. Set the hoof down gently and carefully. Your goal is to establish daily horse grooming rituals that will make the horse more inclined to greet happily the next time you go to groom him.

It can be easy to neglect the horse’s mane, forelock, and tail, but these parts of your horse's anatomy are an important part of the grooming schedule. Start with your horse's ear, moving through the mane and the tail comb. Begin at the ends of the hair and move the comb down the hair shaft. Work your way up to the base of the mane. Do this until you've combed through his entire mane. This will be easier if you keep the combed sections separate from the uncombed hair using plastic clips. These can be purchased on the cheap from the health and beauty aid section of your local drugstore or shopping store. The mane has no strong feeling, but you should still be careful not to pull too hard while combing.

Although there is no discernable feeling in the mane, be careful not to pull through the tangles. This can cause a break in the hair shaft and result in a ratty-looking mane. Pull the tangles apart with you comb and your fingers gently for the best possible results. Commercial detangling sprays specifically for horses or for children can also be quite helpful when caring for the mane. The children's version tends to be gentler and are often less expensive if you are looking to save money. These products can also be used on the horse's tail. The tail can be a mystery if you've never groomed one before. Due to its close location next to the horse's hind feet, some horses simply do not appreciate having their tails combed out. The dock of the tail is known to be very sensitive, so make sure you treat it gently. Begin at the end of the tail and work your way up to the base. If your horse's tail has been neglected, this may often become a long and involved process. The same guidelines apply to the tail as do the mane. Try to pull out the tangles with your fingers and comb, separating them as you go. This can help keep the combed hair from getting mixed in with uncombed sections. It's time to take care of the face after you've finished with the tail, paying special attention to the forelock, face, and ears.

Some horses will tolerate or even enjoy having their ears cleaned, scratched, and rubbed. You should strive to make cleaning and inspecting your horse's ears part of your daily horse-grooming schedule. There are many insects who seek out horse's ears, including gnats, flies, ticks, and noseeums. These require special care. Make sure the horse is comfortable with you handling his ears. Take special care gentle with the ears. These are especially gentle, so you will want to clean them out with a cotton or terry cloth rag in order to remove any excess dirt and scabs. Make certain to apply fly spray to his ears as this will make him much more comfortable during the months when the flying insects are out for blood.

It's important to have a soft hand when you're cleaning your horse's face. Horse's skin is surprisingly sensitive, especially in the facial area. Using a body brush is important in order to move some of the dirt out of the horse's face. Choose a brush with very soft bristles. Another good option is a damp towel, which also tends to work well. Push his forelock aside to the top of his head. In the are between his ears, brush or wipe in the direction of the hair growth. Make sure not to groom against the direction of the hair growth. Continue this movement all over the horses head, making sure to wipe out the inside corners of his eyes. Take care to wipe the horse's nostrils out as well. Try to make this a part of your daily horse grooming rituals. If you do a good job at regular grooming, your horse will become accustomed to your touch on every part of his body. This will aid in building a bond of trust, and help your horse become easier to handle. Try to make the daily grooming rituals enjoyable and consistent.

If you manage to make grooming sessions enjoyable, your horse will begin to look forward to daily horse grooming rituals like this. This will build their trust in you as their handler or leader. It will also help make your horse better at handling and improve overall performance and well being.