Secret Techniques For Grooming A Dirty Horse
By Madeirey
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1st Apr 2012 •
10,007 views
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28 comments
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If you are trying to sell a horse you know it is hard because it can be extremely difficult to transform that horse into an eye catching, clean showcase horse. Well, I am here to help! I have had a lot of experience in grooming dirty and disgusting horses and have mastered the technique. Grooming is not for the faint of heart. You will get covered in hair, dust, dirt and other nasty things. A thorough grooming can even get you injured, depending on the horse. If your not ready to get your hands dirty, you better loose those fantasies of getting a horse or becoming a top notch rider.
Curry Combs
Ge out your non-metal curry comb. Metal curry combs are not curry combs at all, they are actually used for cleaning off the brushes. Make sure your curry comb is rubber then proceed to go in hard circular motions all over the horses body, but not the face. Currying is like a massage for horses; they love it. A lot of horses like being curried on their chest and neck. Madeira’s preference is on the shoulder and neck. Don’t worry about the horse looking even worse after the currying because this process brings all the dust and dirt the surface. Be careful on their legs because they are much more sensitive and delicate. I use a much softer curry comb for Madeira’s legs.
Dandy Brush
Once you are done curry combing everywhere except the face, then get out your dandy brush, also called the stiff or hard brush. Use fast and flicky motions where you curried. Lots of dust and dirt should fling up. I usually dandy brush for about an hour. When you are done your horse should feel quite soft. Now, run your hand all over the horses body. “Why?” you might ask, the reason I tell you to do this is to make sure your horse does not have any swollen spots or marks. Also, it desensitizes your horse and is a good way to find ticks.
Soft and Medium Brush
Once you are done with that get out your soft and medium brush. Your soft brush should be soft and your medium brush should be a mixture of a dandy brush and a soft brush. If you don’t have a medium brush that is ok. I just have a huge grooming kit because I love doing it so much. Proceed to use your brushes on your horse, one after the other, in long (but not to long) strokes with a flick at the end. Always brush the hair and toward you, so yes, you will soon become covered in hair and dust. I say do it toward you because it offers more power in your strokes. All together I do about 20 minutes of brushing with my soft and medium brush.
Maine and Tail
Next step, go to the water faucet and rinse of your soft brush, get it nice and wet and clean and flick off the excess water. DO NOT USE IT ON YOUR HORSE. Set it out to dry in the sun. Are your hands wet? Good. Now run your hands all over your horse again. Haha, and you thought I was going to let you keep your hands clean. Your hands should be covered in dust now. Ok, next comes the mane and tail. I use Cowboy Magic on Madeira’s tail to minimize hair breaking and to get rid of tangles. Whatever you do, do not use a detangler in the mane, I will relate later. Start at the bottom of the tail and slowly work your way up. Now you can brush the mane.
Tip: If you use a detangler product don’t squirt it in the mane and tail brush/comb or directly in the tail. What is better is to squirt it on your hand and rub your hands together so it is evenly distributed, then run it though the tail. Your hands will become nice and greasy in the process. Don’t use products such as Cowboy Magic to often, it will make your horse loose the natural oils in the tail.
Now, go back your soft brush and check it, it should be slightly wet now. Rub it on your pants to make it dry faster until it is SLIGHTLY damp. This is very important, it cannot be too wet or it will make your horse stain and that would be a horrible process of cleaning which I will not go into. Once you think you have it to the right dampness brush your own arm; if your arm becomes quite wet the brush is too wet. Brush your pants again and then start lightly brushing the horse in long strokes, but don’t flick to much. The brush will become pretty dirty.
The Hooves
Next step, the hooves. Get out your hoof pick and start scraping off the mud from the hoof wall so the hoof appears as shown below.
As you can see from the picture, Madeira needs her hooves done. next, go ahead and pick out your horses hooves and stretch your horse. Yes, stretching is good for horses as well. For the front legs, after you pick out the dirt and stuff from the hoof you put your hand on the knee and pull it slightly back. Your horse may resist, that’s ok, just keep trying until she calms down. If it gets dangerous, stop. After you stretch it back you bring the hoof all the way forward so the leg is stretched out in front. The leg does not have to be totally strait, you are really stretching the shoulder when you do this.
Hind Legs
Now for the hind legs. The hind legs are a bit tricker because some horses don't like it. After you clean out the hoof you edge forward so the horse is stretching her leg back. Madeira has done this a lot so she automatically stretches her leg backward. That is good! You want that. Then you grab the bottom of the hoof and bring it towards the horses head so it's in a farrier position. Do not pull too hard, it could hurt your horse if you pull too much. You probably have noticed that your farrier does this to your horse as well. Who knew that your farrier was helping your horse muscles?
The Head
I use a very soft and small curry for the face and gently rub it on Madeira’s forehead, face, and cheeks. I always stay away from the eyes. Then take a small dandy brush and gently flick off the dust and dirt and do the same thing with the soft brush.
The Mane
I told you not to put any conditioner in it earlier, and this is why. If you show in English your horse’s mane has to be short enough to braid unless the long, thick mane is in the breed, such as a Friesian or for the mares, you have to clip the mane off. To pull the mane you have to have a pulling comb. They are pretty cheap, less than $5. After brushing out the mane you pick up your pulling comb and select the longest hairs that are under the mane. Don’t pull the hairs that are most visible. Pulling a long mane takes at least a hour. If it is thick, then about 2 or more hours. Both times are typically with people helping you. If the mane is very thick then you would also want to get a mane thinner. They look like funky, toothed scissors. To use them all do is clip one at the top of the mane, adding about three more, slowly making your way down the mane. So it’s like you cut the mane at the top, then cut in the middle, then at the bottom. Don’t worry, all your horses mane won’t be cut off. The length after the mane pulling should be your hands width.
Trimming
On to the more finer parts of grooming. I got my little touch up clippers for only $5, best deal ever. So turn off your little wireless clippers and start with the whiskers. Clip those off and then look up at your horses eye, see those long whisker like things under and above the eye? Those are extremely important! If you clipped those off, then your horse would be at a much higher risk of getting an eye injury. If they are super long I usually just clip back to about two or three inches, or you can just leave them alone. I don’t clip the inside of the ears either, your horse looks like a ugly mule if you do. If there are large amounts of hair growing out of them I just close the ear shut then clip off the excess that is growing out of the ear. I also clip under the head as well around the chin-latch area. I don't clip all the way down to the skin, I just gently glide the clippers over the long hairs so they are shortened slightly and much prettier to look at. Some people also clip the fetlock hair, but I don’t because I’m too lazy. Again, if the fetlock hair is breed related, such as a Clydesdale or Friesian, then don’t cut them! You would sorely regret it at the next show. Ahhh, yes! I forgot about the jolly good bridle path cut. You will love this, it makes haltering and bridling so much easier. You must grab the forelock and see where the hairs are connected, don’t cut those. You will want to clip down so it's a nice buzz cut about 1-2” long where you put the bridle and halter. Make sure you don’t cut the forelock unless you want to cry in horror or bang your head on something next to you. Screaming may also come into play.
The Tail
On to the tail. Take your mane and tail brush again and brush out the tail. Start at the top with your hands and run your hands down so the tail is all together and about 2” in diameter. Then take your clippers and trim it until it's even. You can also make it the “proper” length and stick your arm in-between the dock and your horses bottom so the tail lifts. You will want to cut the tail so it is mid-cannon bone with the tail still being slightly lifted.
Finally, a nice, clean, happy horse. At the end your horse should look like this, and yes, this was in one grooming from the first picture at the beginning of this article.
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IggyPogo
Thank you, and heck yeah! Pogo's getting a spa treatment this summer. :) Also I'd like to say that if your horse has trouble lifting his hooves, squeeze the chestnuts on his legs. I usually squeeze release squeeze release really fast until the horse lifts their hooves. Also for trimming, if you are clipping your horse it's sometimes fun to leave some fur on in the shape of a moon or star or heart, or something simple like that. :) Thanks again for the great article!
Thank you, and heck yeah! Pogo's getting a spa treatment this summer. :) Also I'd like to say that if your horse has trouble lifting his hooves, squeeze the chestnuts on his legs. I usually squeeze release squeeze release really fast until the horse lifts their hooves. Also for trimming, if you are clipping your horse it's sometimes fun to leave some fur on in the shape of a moon or star or heart, or something simple like that. :) Thanks again for the great article!
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Apr 1, 2012
• 7,669 views
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Deep as Rhubarb
Nice! I use Cowboy Magic in my own hair, too...
Nice! I use Cowboy Magic in my own hair, too...
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Apr 1, 2012
• 7,691 views
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Starlight Farm
She looks great - no stains! I can't believe you hard brush for an hour, you must stay at the barn for a REALLY long time! D
She looks great - no stains! I can't believe you hard brush for an hour, you must stay at the barn for a REALLY long time! D
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Apr 1, 2012
• 7,696 views
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Mutley Jackson
Oh dear...dandy brushing takes an hour D: Mane pulling takes a couple hours??? The longest Mutley has ever stood still for is 40 minutes O_O
Thank god he has no mane -_-
Great Article! thanks!
Oh dear...dandy brushing takes an hour D: Mane pulling takes a couple hours??? The longest Mutley has ever stood still for is 40 minutes O_O
Thank god he has no mane -_-
Great Article! thanks!
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Apr 2, 2012
• 8,111 views
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All That Jazz
I can't tell you how much I love this. XD
I can't tell you how much I love this. XD
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Apr 2, 2012
• 8,286 views
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Apr 2, 2012
• 8,458 views
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ImaCoolCowgirl
I LOVE Cowboy Magic!! It works so well on horses and humans!
I LOVE Cowboy Magic!! It works so well on horses and humans!
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Apr 2, 2012
• 8,006 views
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Makaela Marie
Haha so glad I'm not the only one who spends over 2 hours a day just grooming one of my horses xD
Haha so glad I'm not the only one who spends over 2 hours a day just grooming one of my horses xD
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Apr 2, 2012
• 8,003 views
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MoonBeam
You go through all that then your lovley clean horse rolls in the mud.
You go through all that then your lovley clean horse rolls in the mud.
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Apr 2, 2012
• 8,201 views
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Emmurr
This is a fab article! I'll remember some of these tips for getting Cara clean, she's always dirty xD Thanks for writing this, it's going to be VERY useful.
This is a fab article! I'll remember some of these tips for getting Cara clean, she's always dirty xD Thanks for writing this, it's going to be VERY useful.
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Apr 2, 2012
• 8,212 views
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FreeRein
Tuh-heet. I thought this was like the. best. article. ever. I love grooming the ponehs, although I can't take too long because they both love the extra treatment. :D
Tuh-heet. I thought this was like the. best. article. ever. I love grooming the ponehs, although I can't take too long because they both love the extra treatment. :D
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Apr 2, 2012
• 8,250 views
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Spirateras
I'm definitely going to try out these techniques. :)
I'm definitely going to try out these techniques. :)
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Apr 3, 2012
• 8,564 views
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weezapony
Oh how I wish I had that much time to groom! I only have like 30 minutes to do all my grooming! I usually get the coat close to that clean, but I never have time for the mane, tail or clipping unless there's randomly a large amount of time. (very rare) Helpful article, though, I see some new techniques that I'd like to try!
Oh how I wish I had that much time to groom! I only have like 30 minutes to do all my grooming! I usually get the coat close to that clean, but I never have time for the mane, tail or clipping unless there's randomly a large amount of time. (very rare) Helpful article, though, I see some new techniques that I'd like to try!
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Apr 3, 2012
• 8,430 views
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Blue Dawn
Such a cute pony!
Such a cute pony!
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Apr 4, 2012
• 8,445 views
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Sapphire Flames
great article!! very detailed, it's great! :D
great article!! very detailed, it's great! :D
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Apr 4, 2012
• 8,422 views
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Laugh and Ride
I really want to try some of these! Awesome article
I really want to try some of these! Awesome article
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Apr 7, 2012
• 8,629 views
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Apr 9, 2012
• 8,441 views
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ArabianBariq
wow you made that horse spotless lol
wow you made that horse spotless lol
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Apr 10, 2012
• 8,448 views
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Run Free
I am totally doing this with Angel tomorrow. She hasn't been groomed in two weeks and has had a lot of access to mud and sand so she needs a MAJOR grooming session *sorry for the caps I'm just emphisising how major it will be* I'll post up before and after pics on the social section for you guys to see how well it works on a mainly white pony :D fingers crossed it works :D
I am totally doing this with Angel tomorrow. She hasn't been groomed in two weeks and has had a lot of access to mud and sand so she needs a MAJOR grooming session *sorry for the caps I'm just emphisising how major it will be* I'll post up before and after pics on the social section for you guys to see how well it works on a mainly white pony :D fingers crossed it works :D
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Apr 12, 2012
• 8,520 views
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Doodles Forever
Really imformative! Well done!
Really imformative! Well done!
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Apr 12, 2012
• 8,447 views
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Bright Horizon
Good article. Helpful tips )
Good article. Helpful tips )
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Apr 15, 2012
• 8,464 views
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Horses4Ever
Just gave my horse his first bath of the season he was sooo dirty XD
Just gave my horse his first bath of the season he was sooo dirty XD
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Apr 17, 2012
• 8,568 views
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Apr 26, 2012
• 8,447 views
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May 17, 2012
• 8,453 views
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Deleted Accounts
so going to use all this infomation for pony camp next week:*
so going to use all this infomation for pony camp next week:*
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Jul 25, 2012
• 6,761 views
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Ponies4Ever
I love this article probably my fav I have read so far
Great job
I love this article probably my fav I have read so far
Great job
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40 days ago
• 7,130 views
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Elii
Great article
I am going to try that today :D
Great article
I am going to try that today :D
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Apr 20, 2013
• 6,798 views
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Topaz Jumper
That is an amazing difference!!! I didn't know what a difference grooming could make to your horse!
Nice job!!!
That is an amazing difference!!! I didn't know what a difference grooming could make to your horse!
Nice job!!!
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Apr 20, 2013
• 6,741 views
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