Horse Grooming Tips

damp rag to rinse.
Never use dish soap or other harsh detergents to bathe your horse. These will strip the oils from the coat and possibly irritate his sensitive skin. Equine shampoos and conditioners are formulated with a gentle pH while also being equipped to handle horses coarser hair coats and the tough dirt they get into.
Its crucial to rinse well. Soap left in the coat dries it out can cause itching and dandruff and leaves a dull finish instead of the bright and shiny glow you want. To make sure your horses coat is soapfree rinse and then use a sweat scraper to squeegee excess water from the coat. If you see soap bubbles rinse and repeat until the water runs clear.
To repel stains from your horses clean coat and add extra shine apply coat polish spray while hes still damp. Horses dont require a full bath that often a rinse with plain water will usually suffice to remove dirt and sweat after a workout.
Unravel a Tangled Mane or Tail
The gentlest way to detangle is to do it by hand although you can also use a widetooth plastic comb. A mane and tail detangler makes the job easier so that the strands of hair slip apart without snagging and breaking. Many coat polish spray products also double as detanglers.
Apply the product evenly through the hair. Then start detangling from the bottom of the hair working your way up. Work in small manageable sections. To remove burrs foxtails and large knots apply detangler directly to the problem areas.
Once you can easily run your fingers through the hair you can use a brush or comb if you wish. If you opt to brush hold the hair in one hand close to the top in order to avoid pulling on the root and

then brush belowagain working from the bottom up.
Tips for a Tidy Trim
Another key part to grooming your horse is trimming so follow these tips.
Some light cleanup work with the clippers will take your horses look from shaggy to sleek. Highlevel competition often calls for a more stringent standard of trimming but this isnt necessary for most horses.
Small clippers with a No. 10 blade are sufficient for this simple trimming job. Make sure your horse will tolerate the sound and feel of the clippers before you start. Youll be mainly clipping with the direction of the hair growth to remove just