Grooming
Grooming your horse is very essential to their health and slacking off in the grooming department can very well lead to health issues.
First off you should start with picking the hooves. Stand next to your horses shoulder facing their tail. Push your shoulder into your horse's so it shifts it's body weight. Next start at the shoulder and run your hand down their leg until you reach their fetlock(lower leg). While still pushing your shoulder into your horse squeeze their fetlock(lower leg) until it lifts it's leg. Some horses require some clucks to encourage them to lift their leg.
Once your horse has lifted its leg hold the pastern(ankle) firmly about a foot or two off the ground. Then take your hoof pick and use the metal pick part to scrape dirt from the hoof. Make sure you get as much dirt out of the hoof as possible. After you've picked most of the dirt out use the brush part to scrub the hoof to get the remainder of dirt left on the hoof. When you are done just set down the hoof and repeat until all four of your horses hooves are clean. Also DO NOT use the pick part of the hoof pick on the soft triangle part of the hoof, known as the frog, because it is sensitive and the pick may hurt it.
Next you use the curry comb. The curry comb it a rubber or plastic tool used to break up dirt in you horses fur. Start at your horses neck and make tight circles with the curry all over your horses body. Make sure that you always go in the direction of your horse fur.
After your horse has been curry combed you may use the dandy brush, also known as the hard brush. If you feel the bristles they should be very firm and rough. Just use very strong stokes all over your horses body until the dirt picked up from the curry comb has been brushed from the horse's body.
Once you've finished with the hard/dandy brush you move onto the soft/body brush. If you feel the bristles they are significantly softer than the hard brush's. This brush is used to polish or shine the coat by removing any remaining dust from the coat. Just use long sweeping strokes down the horse's body until your horse is noticeably shinier.
First off you should start with picking the hooves. Stand next to your horses shoulder facing their tail. Push your shoulder into your horse's so it shifts it's body weight. Next start at the shoulder and run your hand down their leg until you reach their fetlock(lower leg). While still pushing your shoulder into your horse squeeze their fetlock(lower leg) until it lifts it's leg. Some horses require some clucks to encourage them to lift their leg.
Once your horse has lifted its leg hold the pastern(ankle) firmly about a foot or two off the ground. Then take your hoof pick and use the metal pick part to scrape dirt from the hoof. Make sure you get as much dirt out of the hoof as possible. After you've picked most of the dirt out use the brush part to scrub the hoof to get the remainder of dirt left on the hoof. When you are done just set down the hoof and repeat until all four of your horses hooves are clean. Also DO NOT use the pick part of the hoof pick on the soft triangle part of the hoof, known as the frog, because it is sensitive and the pick may hurt it.
Next you use the curry comb. The curry comb it a rubber or plastic tool used to break up dirt in you horses fur. Start at your horses neck and make tight circles with the curry all over your horses body. Make sure that you always go in the direction of your horse fur.
After your horse has been curry combed you may use the dandy brush, also known as the hard brush. If you feel the bristles they should be very firm and rough. Just use very strong stokes all over your horses body until the dirt picked up from the curry comb has been brushed from the horse's body.
Once you've finished with the hard/dandy brush you move onto the soft/body brush. If you feel the bristles they are significantly softer than the hard brush's. This brush is used to polish or shine the coat by removing any remaining dust from the coat. Just use long sweeping strokes down the horse's body until your horse is noticeably shinier.