Health, nutrition, good quality shampoo and elbow grease are the key ingredients to bring out the natural shine of a horses’s coat.
Daily grooming is important. It is the ideal time to catch any problems whilst they are still minor. Do check for injuries and health problems every time you groom. Following a routine will help you become familiar with what is normal for your horse and this means that you will pick up on any changes straight away. Early detection of problems is vital so that they can be treated and resolved quickly before becoming major.
Don’t forget – horses are tactile creatures so generally they like being groomed!
Basic cleanliness is very important and all grooming tools should be kept clean to stop any spread of infection.
Remove stains promptly! The longer stains stay in, the more difficult they are to remove! As you curry, pay particular attention to manure, mud or grass stains – this may be enough to remove them. A knitted nylon pan scrubber is also ideal for removing dry mud from clipped horses.
Minimise the amount of stain removal you have to do (particularly for greys) by keeping bedding as clean as possible and check for grass stains when your horse comes in.
Time for a bath! When the warmer weather arrives it’s time to give your horse a real treat with a good all over bath – take a look at our range of shampoos and whichever one you choose, try applying it with a shower scrunchie instead of a sponge.
You can take advantage of any unusually warm days in Winter/Spring to treat to a bath, but if you can’t bring yourself to rinse in cold weather then use No-rinse Warming Sloshwash with warm water.
If a full bath really is not possible, then at least shampoo areas where stains tend to build up – hocks, elbows, tails. Equiwash works very well on tails and once it’s clean apply Top & Tail Conditioner to repel dust and dirt making maintenance easier. We also apply it to the legs (very sparingly) to help prevent bot eggs sticking.
Off to a show? We have found that Top & Tail is also great for setting quarter markings.