Do you often wonder how many times per week you should groom your horse or pony? Some owners religiously groom daily, while others may pick up a body brush once a week, but what is the right answer?
The truth is, the amount of time you spend grooming your horse will vary. It’ll depend on your own time each day, how dirty your horse is, whether or not your horse wears a rug … and the list goes on. Aside from picking your horses hooves out, that should be done at least once a day, here we take a look at some recommendations.
Recommendations
As a good rule of thumb, grooming should be completed in some form at least once a day. It boasts benefits such as health monitoring and maintenance and building the relationship between you and your horse. But it is also key in developing and maintaining a shine to the coat!
In a herd environment, horses will groom each other daily. As owners, we can replicate this by using the brushes in our grooming kits.
As long as our horse enjoys it, a quick, daily grooming session will do no harm to their skin or coat health and will aid in improving shine and condition. Grooming aids blood flow to the skin, increasing nutrient transportation to the large organ and hair follicles, which results in healthy skin and a shiny coat.
However, you must consider your horse’s lifestyle and the brushes you are using! When horses live outdoors, we want to reserve some of their natural oils to waterproof and nourish the skin and coat. Therefore, it is recommended to use a stiffer brush, such as a dandy brush, to reduce the removal of these vital oils.
How often should you bathe the horse?
Unlike grooming, bathing horse’s should not be completed regularly as shampoos will completed dissolve and remove any natural oils on the skin.
Shampooing should be done as necessary for the best results, as well as your horse’s skin and coat health. Necessary occasions to use shampoo may be just before a show or when treating a medical condition. Otherwise, try to stick to warm water to dissolve stains and dirt on the coat. Keep stains at bay by using a shine spray.
Shampooing manes, tails and legs can be completed more often to remove unwanted stains as the skin in these areas often goes untouched by the shampoo and water or are areas of low irritation.
Why do horses role after bathing?
Horse like to take care of their own skin, and rolling is a way of them completing this self-care. Rolling helps to remove hair, exfoliate the skin and scratch hard to reach spots.
Through a grooming session or bath, you may encourage or stimulate your horse to roll by loosening dead hair and skin on its coat.
Is there a quick fix to a shiny coat?
Using shine sprays is a great way to get a shiny coat quickly! They help dust and grease slip away from the hair and condition the strands to become supple and soft. Just don’t apply any near the girth area, as the saddle may slip when tacked up.
However, apart from shine sprays, there is no ‘quick-fix’ to ensure your horse has a shiny coat. A combination of grooming and nutrition is needed for the ultimate, natural shine which may take weeks to come through!
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Journalist and News Reporter, Everything Horse
Reporting on equestrian news stories, Abby also produces a variety of engaging content for the magazine.