Do you want to get your horse to shine like the rock star they are?
This blog is going to give all the tips and tricks of grooming your horse to be show ready! I have researched what all the professional groomers have given and taken their suggestions and put it all in a nice little blog post here for you to have!
You will find info on how to get your horse to shine, get their whites to pop, clipping techniques, braiding/banding style inspiration, what to have in your grooming box and as an added bonus a place where you can find grooming products that the pros use!
START WITH YOUR DAILY GROOMING ROUTINE
I researched what some of the best professional groomers do with their horses and below is a combination of important things to add to your daily grooming routine so that you can monitor your horses' health closely and be able to potentially spot any health changes!
To start the process off you will want to:
- Visual check up
- A full boy inspection: ask yourself these questions
- Is there something different from yesterday?
- Am I seeing something, feeling something different.
- Is my horse acting different?
- When taking my horses vital signs, are they normal?
- What are my horses' reactions to being touched and moved around.
- Is my horse giving any reaction or feedback?
- Does my horse have any swelling on his/her body anywhere?
- Does my horse seem sensitive or tense up when I'm touching a certain muscle group?
- Is my horse telling me that it feels good or bad?
- Look at the inputs and outputs
- is my horse eating and defecating normally?
- Pulse
- Check out this video here to learn how to check your horses' pulse.
- Hydration Levels
- Check this quick video here to show you how to quickly check your horses' hydration levels.
- Temperature
- Learn how to take your horses temperature in this video here!
- Body Brush
- For caked on mud, start with a curry comb to remove as much dirt and debris as possible. Then move onto a medium bristled brush to get the smaller dirt and dust off your horse. It's a good idea to really focus on the areas where the tack will be in contact with the horse so that anything that can be a possible irritant can be removed.
- Brush Mane/Tail
- Brush the mane and tail to get all the knots out. Using cowboy magic is a great product to use to get the mane and tail sleek and shiny!
I wanted to add that there are SO MANY ways to care for your horse's mane and tail! Some are to encourage growth, or to keep clean for the next show! I'll write a blog post that will be a deep dive into mane and tail care!
So keep an eye out for that blog post!
- Pick the hoof
- Its best to clean the hoof really well. Not only to get out all the muck, but to also remove any rocks, or debris. It's also an opportunity to check for any bruises, possible abscesses, or thrush. All of which will need to be medically treated.
- Bath
- The next step would be to bathe your horse if they need it! This video here is a great resource for anyone that may want a few extra tips on how to bathe your horse!
- Clipper
- This is where you can clipper the bridal path, ears, under the chin, the whiskers (if that is something that is allowed or if you want to clip the whiskers) and also the feathers.
- If you are planning on body clipping your horse, there is a video that I attached to this blog in the section "Body Clipping" if you would like more information.
ONCE YOUR HORSE IS SQUEAKY CLEAN!
MANE & TAIL
As your horse is drying you can start on caring for their mane and tail! Depending on your riding discipline, there are several styles that you can do with your horses mane and tail. Below you will find several options of banding/braiding that I grabbed off the internet as inspiration for your next show!
While in the western disciplines, you mostly will find mane and tails to be more on the natural side, nicely brushed out and shiny, or sometimes they will have a little wave to them from single braids in the mane and tails. In the western show world, banding with a little braiding is a very popular style. Banding is small rubber bands (any color usually, but white is the current style because the white pops against the mane) It creates a style that is neat and tidy, while also showing the beauty of the horse's mane and tail! People have gotten very creative on the banding styles, and all are beautiful show stopping options!
In the English world, intricately created braids are nothing short of works of art! Similar to the banding, there are so many amazing styles out there! The braids create a neat and clean look while still showing being able to stand out to the judges! Now, I will admit that I personally don't know much about the English show world, but I appreciate and admire the beauty of the grooming and the amount of time that it takes to create these works of art!
If you want to learn to create these styles, YouTube is a great resource to learn how to do these styles!
HORSE TAIL HACKS
We all love a nice thick long horses' tail! But sadly, it's very difficult to have your horses tail like this naturally! Sometimes its genetics, other times it's because a naughty horse got ahold of a chunk of your horses tail and chomped it off! There are a ton of way to encourage your horses' tail to grow long and tick, but sometimes we can't wait till it's grown out!
And fortunately, there are tail extensions out there to add that length and volume! They come in all colors, and you wouldn't even know that the tail is fake!
And as an added bit of fun, put in a bunch of colorful extensions in your horses' hair!
WHITE HORSE GROOMING HACKS
AS A GREY HORSE OWNER MYSELF...I TOTALY GET IT!
WHITE HORSE GROOMING HACKS
We love our light-colored horses! They are show stopping beautiful! But they are also the ones that like to lay in the mud and get grass stains all over their body! Not to mention their yellow mane and tails!
There are a million tricks out there to get your white/gray horse to shine, but I've put together a few helpful videos from my favorite Professional Equine Grooms! These videos have a ton of great tips to help you get your white/gray horse to be show ready!
BODY CLIPPING
I'm going to be super honest; I don't know a thing about body clipping! But I know that it's an important part of grooming your horse, especially during the winter! So I'm going to leave it to the experts to better explain the importance of body clipping, how to do it effectively!
Click here to watch a video on body clipping
Click here to read an article on body clipping
again, I want to thank PRO EQUINE GROOMS for all the amazing education on grooming our horses!
