Brushing Your Horse for Beauty

Brushing your horse is a laborious task that can simply be brushed off, but it is a required daily ritual for most horse owners. Brushing them not only keeps their coat clean and shiny, it keeps harmful irritants and bacteria away from their delicate skin. Gather your brushes and abide by these steps to properly brush your horse.

Work with a rubber curry comb to brush the entire body (except the head) in a circular manner to loosen dead hair, burrs, hay, or other foreign materials. Your horse will grow to enjoy this treatment. Use short, firm strokes. Start working behind his ears and continue on down his neck and back, then on to his sides, under his belly and on the legs. After using the curry comb, use a stiff-bristled brush to brush the whole body of the animal. This time, brush towards the natural direction of the hair. Short, quick strokes are ideal and make sure you don’t miss out the creases and the underside of his belly.

What a beauty!

To finish up, you need to use soft bristles. This type of brush can be used on the head and legs, where there is not too much flesh over his bones. Do take caution when brushing near the eyes.  Horses might swing their head around when you least expect it. Flick the soft-bristled brush in an outward motion to eliminate speck of debris from your newly-groomed horse.

A Few Reminders:

• When using rubber curry, be gentle especially when you are working on the bony parts.
• Purchase those brushes that have hand straps and those that fit comfortably in your hand.
• When grooming your horse, use safety precautions in general.
• Do not make use of metal mane comb or curry comb to work on the horse’s body. They are simply meant to brush the mane and tail.