Establishing-a-Grooming-Routine-strip1

How to Establish an Effective Grooming Routine for Your Horse

Regular grooming is an essential part of any horse’s care. Grooming promotes circulation and pain relief with massage-like brushstrokes. It also helps keep your horse clean and free from parasites and irritants like dirt, debris, and even fungi. Additionally, grooming provides you with the regular opportunity to closely inspect your horse for signs of injury, soreness, swelling, and infection. Horses that are groomed regularly tend to be healthier because these types of problems are detected early before they’ve had a chance to worsen.

Establishing Your Horse's Grooming Routine

Start With the Right Brushes

Every horse owner should have the right tools on hand to ensure their horse gets the proper grooming. In this order, your horse’s regular brushing routine should include:
  • A curry comb to loosen dirt, debris, and dander from your horse's coat while also promoting increased circulation
  • A dandy brush to remove all the loosened debris from your horse's coat
  • A finishing brush with soft bristles designed to distribute your horse's natural oils throughout its coat for a healthy and attractive shine

Determine the Proper Schedule

While show horses will likely be set on a more frequent grooming routine, every horse should be thoroughly brushed at least a few days per week. Bathing schedules will vary, but less is usually more when it comes to maintaining a shiny coat. Shampoos and soaps strips the coat of its natural oils. Rinsing with clean water will help remove sweat without removing helpful, natural oils.

Leave the Tricky Tasks to Your Veterinarian

While some geldings will tolerate sheath cleaning while unsedated, many will not and its much safer to have your veterinarian perform this task with your horse properly and safely sedated and restrained. Your veterinarian will also evaluate any masses or abnormalities during a thorough sheath cleaning.Your horse only needs a sheath cleaning every 6-12 months, more often can cause irritation.

Remember That Beauty Starts on the Inside

Even the best grooming routine can only do so much to improve the health of a horse’s skin and the appearance of its coat, tail, and mane. A balanced and healthy diet that’s also rich in omega 3 and 6 fatty acids will do wonders to improve skin health while creating a lustrous, shiny coat.
We welcome our clients to talk with our equine veterinarians about the types of grains or other nutritional supplements that can be added to your horse’s diet to improve skin and coat health.
Establishing-a-Grooming-Routine-strip2

Get Expert Grooming Advice From Our Equine Veterinarians

At Advanced Equine of the Hudson Valley, our equine veterinarians specialize in providing top-notch care to horses while also providing our clients with the knowledge and tools to help them raise healthy and beautiful horses for any purpose. To learn more about horse grooming or establishing a proper grooming routine for your horse, we welcome you to schedule a consultation with an equine specialist at Advanced Equine of the Hudson Valley today.